A Playbook for Navigating Life

Turning What You Love into What You Do
By Patrick O’Connor

Looking back at the trajectory of my writings over the years, my Road Less Traveled (RLT) series has been viewed as a playbook for navigating life and career. Five years and 20 feature articles in AroundKent magazine spawned two years of blog segments for Boomer magazine on Turning What You Love into What You Do. The primary emphasis of the articles was on the career paths of the successful RLT subjects. The blog segments were a deeper dive into how those subjects turned what they love into what they did in their careers.

Two principles emerged from the articles which informed how the subjects became successful in their careers. First, career themes were evident in the paths the subjects took to become successful. Second, the subjects displayed specific personal characteristics that led to their success. These two principles served as the foundation of this blog to date. Much has been learned. 

Career and life are indeed a journey. Turning what you love into what you do is an ongoing process in both. The focus of this blog will now shift to examine how the RLT and the blog segments provide a playbook for navigating life itself.  Reflections from the first two years of the blog will also guide future segments. 

Reflections
“Reflective thinking turns experience into insight.”  John Maxwell

When we reflect, we look for past experiences to guide us to new spaces and places. This is especially true for the Boomer generation as we have so much experience to learn from and lean on. The following reflections will guide future segments of Turning What You Love into What You Do. 

A three-step process (examine, explore and envision ) was used in previous blogs to give structure to an otherwise  random  career experience. This process (with some modification) is also valuable in structuring personal lives. In navigating life, three steps are reflection, relearning and goal-setting. Examining includes reflection. Exploring includes learning and goal-setting is part of envisioning. This process can be used as a basic skill since it will happen continuously in both personal and career aspects of life. 

The Covid virus affected everyone with an unparalleled domino effect that will last for many years. The crisis really underscored how  interconnected our work and personal lives are. And, as a result, many people now put a greater emphasis on satisfaction and meaning in life. 

Problem-solving and adjusting continue to be a premium for everyone in all aspects of life. People are now doing things they never would have imagined just a few years ago. As with all changes, there are advantages and disadvantages.

Options are more important than ever, which increases the emphasis on lifelong learning. This is a natural response to constant change. Millions of people of all ages now use Zoom and are tethered to their phones. Many Boomer grandparents are helping with childcare and online learning for their grandchildren to enable parents to continue to work. Many moms have been forced into remote work or out of the workforce completely. 

A few blog segments revealed that, in some situations, three parties can win from the same activity. The notion of win-win-win leads to greater satisfaction for more people. This relates to Boomers as they are very active in volunteering, community service and family support. This also leads to psychic income, which is what we receive for doing things for others without expecting anything in return.

The dramatic role and impact of technology in work and personal lives is more evident. We now hardly exist without the cell phone. And this is just one example! All in a matter of a few years!

Navigating Career and Life Go Hand in Hand
Navigating a career aligns very nicely with navigating life since we spend most of our adult time at work. Both aspects of our lives lean on the personal characteristics and career themes identified in the RLT series. Also, both aspects have a direct impact on each other. Maybe this is because they both use a similar skill set. For example, effective communication, interpersonal relationships, conflict resolution and feeling valued  are essential to success at work and at home. 

Coming Up
Turning What you  Love into What You Do will celebrate examples of how to navigate life. The next few segments will look at specific RLT themes (learning from failure, mixing interests, adaptability, etc.) as people apply them daily. Just as the themes and personal characteristics have led to career success, they also lead to success in life at all stages including retirement. 

Each theme and characteristic is important. However, one quality — adaptability — seems to be the most crucial. As such, this seems like a good place to start the next phase of Turning What You Love into What You Do. The next blog segment will examine how adaptability plays out in navigating everyday life.