Greetings! Long but appreciate your thoughts.
Hi everyone. Glad to find this group on 48 Days. As introduction, I am 52 and completing a 30 career in the military. Married with a 8 and 12 year old children. My biggest issue for sometime is what the next chapter is for me and how to get there. I have done alot of research and reviewed what I had always had fun doing as a child and as a an adult. Frankly, I'm still somewhat stumped. My wife is retired from the military as well though not as high in rank as I and she keeps telling me to just take some time off and relearn how to relax. I admit I need to but I actually believe that I tend to lean toward procrastination or some might say just lazy. Don't want to get to love with being lazy.
As a child, I loved airplanes and that was the original reason I wanted into the military. But due to less than perfect eyesight, I ended up in tanks for a while and then switched to communications and computers. I have done that for about the last 20 or so years but the higher I went up the ranks the more I got away from the actual doing and centered more and more on supervision, planning etc. With most of the communications jobs these days, everyone seems to require years of hands-on skills for all personnel in the businesses not just the tech guys.
Likewise, I love cars but other than basic skills, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of wrench turning, money making capability to it for me personally. Also, I have to say that I am still for the most part a introvert. I'm fairly sure that car salesman isn't for me. Not what some would think of for a senior military person but then I haven't changed much since I was 22.
A college friend of mine convinced me to write a fiction novel late last year and we published it on Amazon end of Nov '12. It was really something to do for fun together, sales were not the top priority. It did provide some fun as well as frustration I must say. I have also started writing a WW1 aviation novel that I started years ago but never finished. Still not sure I want to try being a full time writer but it seems to hold an interest even though I have really never been in love with writing. Honestly, I have always stayed away from writing as much as possible. Of course, I have also been thinking of narrating some books on tape. I do love to read and always have so I was thinking that perhaps that would be a good way of earning part time cash.
I guess the last thing I always was interested in was real estate. I know that it is a on again off again industry and RE salesmen are a dog eat dog bunch. But, I had always considered getting into RE investment mostly because I had a uncle that did it for over 30 years before he died. I thought he worked hard but certainly seemed to work his own hours and had time to spend with kids and grandkids. Having younger kids has certainly led me to consider what I can do and still have the time and money to spend with wife and kids.
Sorry for the long windedness of the post but thanks for letting me bend your ears.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Connie Pheiff on -
Happy to meet you and welcome. I hope you find this venue helpful and inspirational.
Connie
-
-
Permalink Reply by Brian Fornshell on -
Hi Monty,
First of all, thank you so much for your family's service to our country! And welcome to the 48 Days community! I too am new, and there are probably many others on here with better advice to give than I, but I did hear of something Dan mentioned in his podcast a while back. There was a gentleman that would restore classic vehicles and sell them on ebay. He made a killing! Going this route, you'd still be a car salesman, but in an unconventional way. The restoration process and online sales venue might appeal to your introverted personality.
Just an idea for you to consider.
God bless,
Brian
-
-
Permalink Reply by Monty Powers on -
Thanks Connie and Brian. I had a friend years ago that redid old classics and sold them as you mention. I noticed after Sandy that there were hundreds of classic cars that were written off by the insurance companies from the flood. Then about a week ago I saw that an old '60 Corvette that was a flood victim was being auctioned off for $60,000. I thought hard about something like that as you say. I guess even flooded, there are some cars that can sell no matter what. As one of my cousins said one time about buying land, 'The Lord only made so much".
-
-
Permalink Reply by Adam Rico on -
Hi Monty,
Welcome to the group - we're so glad you're here. I really appreciate you posting this discussion because I imagine a number of other people have or will have the same sort of dilemma.
If I may ask you a few questions...
Do you find that you have a number of interests and you don't want to settle on just one?
Or are you looking for just one thing to pursue and go deeper into the subject but something is blocking you from discovering what that is?
My Best,
Adam Rico
WorkYouEnjoy.com -
-
Permalink Reply by Monty Powers on
-
Adam...thanks for the welcome and the comments. I have been focused on one thing to be honest and obviously not finding it. I recall multiple times reading books and comments about most folks being able to do one maybe two things really well but after that it became a chore to do only fair on any one with the division of focus.
I have a saying that 'I am not the sharpest pin in the cushion' not being belittling toward myself but only realistic that like most folks, I understand that I have a certain preferred manner to learn and outside of that I have a steep learning curve. While some folks would accept the challenge of med school at 52 or older, to me that's way too much work effort for me personally.
With that said, I may end up looking at several different things for a smaller income on several jobs instead of one larger income for one job.
-
-
Permalink Reply by Adam Rico on
-
Hi Monty,
Often we fall into one of two camps. The first camp are scanners - these are folks who are constantly amazed at the variety of things, ideas, and people out there and feel like they can't choose just one so they don't choose at all.
The second camp are divers - these are people who like to really dive deep into a subject that they're curious about and interested in. However, they have difficulty choosing which subject to dive into because something is blocking them from choosing. It could be a number of things playing into the blockage.
The good news is there are ways to move through each of these situations.
Do either of those descriptions resonate with you?
My Best,
Adam Rico
WorkYouEnjoy.com -
-
Permalink Reply by Michael Kocurek on -
Monty,
What an amazing career. Congratulations and thank you for your service.
The first thing in answer to your question is that Dan recently did a teleseminar called, Second Act Careers. It is designed for those specifically in your circumstance I think. At the very least, it might give you some idea where to go next. Just go to the main 48 Days.com website and query, "Second Act Careers" in the search box.
Second, I wanted to say that I went through quite a transitiion myself in 2012. I have been in sales for 20 years, but came to a place that the success was empty, and I didn't know why. 48 Days To The Work You Love changed everything. I recommend, if you havent' already, that you go through Dan's 48 Days to the Work You Love book, and complete every exercise. Take some time to really contemplate the questions, and look for patterns in your life from the past. You may have to go back a long way since you spent so much time in the military, so be patient. Also, you definetely should listen to Dan's podcast every week, and let him continue to stoke the fires of change. There is no one better at career transition than Dan, and of course our moderator Adam. :) I am confident if you continue the pursuit, you will find just the right thing for this next stage in your life. Let me know if I can help in any way.
thanks Michael Kocurek
-
-
Permalink Reply by Monty Powers on
-
I appreciate your comments Michael. I have only listened to a couple of Dan's podcasts and haven't head the Second Acts one yet. Interestingly to me, Dan lives only a couple minutes from where my cousin leaves. He also lives in Franklin and owns an architecture company.
Anyway, the biggest thing I wanted to do as a kid was be a military pilot, the airlines was boring and no place for me. Then the military wouldn't let me fly due to corrective lens so it ended up being a 30 year ride in other stuff that I really have no desire to do after the military. I like to build personal computers but programming them is not for me.
One of my longtime hangups has been the age that my father died. At the age of barely 60, he passed from pancreatic cancer after a year long battle. I was 16 at the time and an only child. Since then, I have had a problem with the possibility of dying too young and not having spent enough time with kids and family. I know it sounds nutty but when I was just turning 30, I had this impending feeling of being at the half way point to death because of when my dad died. I was a basket case for probably a week or so. Ever since then, I have a issue with not wanting to work until I died and certainly not at my office. I have known of folks that wanted to die at their desk but that's not for me.
So what will I do? Start listening to more of Dan's podcasts for one and as you mentioned going thru the 48 Days exercises. From there, don't know so I will just have to see what happens. I had thought at one time that perhaps my 30 years of being a leader and mentor in the military could dovetail into being a life or career coach similar to what Dan does. However, I am not sure that without a good deal of additional training and credentials would a person of my background be able to move forward.
Any thoughts on this would be welcomed and thanks to you and everyone for the kind welcome.
-
Search
Have a question or want to connect? Enter in some keywords here to see what we're already saying!
Weekly Podcast
Good stuff from 48days
© 2013 Created by Jon Dale.
