The Importance of Goals Later in Life
by
Marty Nemko © 2006
If you don't have a goal in life, any road will take you there.
anonymous
Many older people seem to derive
pleasure mainly by reminiscing or by waiting for their children to
call. That is a formula for unhappiness, for feeling your life is
essentially over.
Even if your drive isn’t what it
once was, it is critical to create goals for yourself, exciting
goals. Even if you don’t achieve them, you’ll probably accomplish
quite a bit in the attempt. Plus, you’ll have experienced the
excitement of going for something big, and may even start to feel
that your best days may still be ahead of you.
Even if you’re not ready to
start working toward that big goal, having it in mind will both buoy
you as well as provide time to further develop that idea.
To start you thinking, here’s a
baker’s dozen of big goals for which being older won’t hurt you, and
may even help. Of course, don’t necessarily limit yourself to these:
+ Run for local office: school
board, town council, etc.
+ Invent something, for example,
a better garden knee pad.
+ Take a group of older people
(single- or mixed-gender) on a long bike ride or hike. In the
evening, talk about your goals.
+ Set up a local, old-fashioned
matchmaking service for older people.
+ Renovate a boat, plane or
home.
+ Create a homework hotline,
pairing students needing help with other students and adults
willing to provide it, by phone, in person, and online.
+ Write an article or even a
book. For example, I’m thinking of writing, “An Honest Look at Race
in America.” Or I might write a book on
how to get a great college education (and a great job) without
drowning in debt.
+ Do a public access cable TV
show in which you aloud read stories to children or adults. (Few
things are as nurturing as being read aloud to.)
+ Create a series of paintings
depicting older people doing great things. Show your work at a local
bank, restaurant, or theater lobby.
+ Volunteer for SCORE, an
organization in which retired executives help people start
businesses, or even create your own such enterprise.
+ Write a stand-up comedy
routine. Perform it at a local open-mike, or even a Hollywood open mike. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be
discovered.
+ Volunteer to work on a
scientific research team. Oceanography? Genetics? Whatever moves
you. If necessary, start by washing test tubes.
+ Take acting classes. Try out
for a community theater play.
Now, apart from any of those
ideas, what’s another big goal you could set for yourself? My big
goal: Make the National Organization for Men a credible voice for
male perspectives, a responsible counterbalance to efforts of
heavily publicized women’s organizations such as Catalyst and the
National Organization for Women.
Kate Wendleton, founder of the
Five O’Clock Club, a national career coaching service, writes, ‘The
reality of death can make us get more out of the time we do have…At
40, 50, 60, you will find that you are now using everything you have
ever learned in your life.”
Now, more than ever, is the time
to set goals, big goals.
The San Francisco Bay Guardian named Marty Nemko “The Bay
Area’s Best Career Coach.” His columns and an archive of his
National Public Radio San Francisco show plus excerpts from his
book, Cool Careers for Dummies,
which, in the Reader’s Choice Poll was rated the #1 most useful
career guide, are free on www.martynemko.com.
Copyright 2006 Marty Nemko, all rights reserved
