Craig Nathanson is the author of "Don't JUST retire and die: A new approach to your life and work after 40" and he is a coaching expert who works with people over forty.
Visit Craig's online community at http://www.thevocationalcoach.com. Craig lives and works in Petaluma, California. His office is located at P.O Box 2823, Petaluma Ca, 94953. You can reach him at 707-775-4020 or at craig@thevocationalcoach.com.
Have you ever asked yourself if you are living the life you were meant to live?
Have you ever asked yourself, as you pondered your life, is this all there is?
These are great questions to ask when you reach forty and beyond.
I doubt that anyone will run up to you on Monday morning at work and ask you what is most important to you. Organizational life is concerned with productivity, revenue and efficiency. Whats most important to you and your life are of little value or concern in the organization.
Do you look to your work to define meaning and joy or just to collect a paycheck? Each carries a different result. Those who seek meaning and joy in their work tend to choose carefully what they do; they know what they do helps determine who they are. For others who work just for the money, there is little expectation of meaning or joyjust as long as the paycheck rolls in.
Mistake # 1:
Doing work that brings no joy or happiness
Who made up the rule that says work should bring misery. Go ahead and add up the hours of work left in your life. Calculate up to the day you stop breathing, not the day you retire. A big number, isnt it? Now, how will you spend those hours?
The choice is yours.
Save your life?
After 40 one tends to be more aware of their time left and the things which are undone in their life. While it usually takes a crisis to become more aware, this doesnt always move one to make change in their life, especially in areas which are no longer bringing joy and meaning. The mid-life crisis can come in big or small packages. Illness, divorce, layoff, death of a loved one are big packages. Daily boredom, un-ease, sadness, unhappiness or even depression are simply signs that something is no longer working in ones life. After age 40 and frankly at any age, it is critical to pay attention to these inner signals. Here are the ten critical steps you must take now to redesign your life for more joy, happiness and meaning.
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