Dutra Associates

Unleash Your Peak Potential

Finding Your Passion: Entrepreneurship and Older Americans

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“To love what you do and feel that it matters – how could anything be more fun?”  – Katherine Graham – American Publisher.

According to research conducted by the Kauffman Foundation in 2019, more than 25% of new entrepreneurs were between the ages of 55 and 64. This is compared to just under 15% in 1996. The impact of COVID-19 is continuing to fuel this trend in 2020. As older workers experience layoffs or take early retirement packages due to the pandemic, many are evaluating the possibility of launching their own business.

One of the first things to consider involves determining what will ignite excitement and fulfillment in you. Starting a business is hard work. Pursuing something that is purposeful and taps into your passion will keep you motivated during the inevitable ups and downs. If you are amongst those older Americans who are now considering starting a new chapter in your career, here are some tips to help you find your passion.

Being in the Zone

When was the last time that you were so engaged in what you were doing that you completely lost track of time?  What is it that you were involved with?  Were you organizing, planning, decorating, running a meeting, painting, gardening, helping others, or teaching? Whatever you were engaged in, you were experiencing being “in the zone”.  This is a state of being fully focused, motivated, and passionate – a state where you are doing what you are uniquely gifted to do.

One of my teachers, Laura Berman Fortgang, has said, “your satisfaction will not stem from what you do but from who you get to be while you do that thing.”  We often get caught up in what we are “supposed” to be doing.  This can stem from a wide variety of influences including parents, friends, teachers, and societal pressures to name a few. Forget titles and look at the essence of who you get to be in any business pursuit you consider. It can open up doors you never imagined.

Find what it is that uniquely lights you up. Your passion can be something that you’ve known all your life or you may evolve into it as you notice what you most love. To begin your own exploration, consider the following questions.

Ask Yourself

  • What gets me excited about life?
  • What brings meaning to my life?
  • If I could do exactly what I’d like to do, what would it be?
  • What are my natural gifts and talents?
  • What did I most like to do as a young child?
  • What are my criteria for happiness?
  • What are my values?

Your Next Steps

Once you have jotted down the answers to these questions, it can be helpful to share them with a close friend, a mentor, or a coach to flesh them out and look at possibilities. It’s never too late to embark on a new path. Dreams can be realized no matter where you are in your life’s journey. Take these first steps to open the door to what could be next for you.

About the Author: Sherry Dutra is a Talent Development, Career and Retirement Coach and Facilitator who works with corporate leaders in small to mid-size businesses, across the span of their careers. She helps them to accelerate business outcomes and team performance, navigate their own career path, and transition to retirement with ease using proven methodologies and strategies that get results. If you would like to uncover and address hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your success, leverage your strengths, and accelerate your progress toward the results you desire, contact Sherry for a complimentary consultation.

Who Am I If I’m Not an Executive? – Preparing for the Transition Called Retirement

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Recently, I’ve been hearing a variety of stories regarding business owners and corporate executives who’ve been ready to sell their business or step down from their leadership role and retire, only to back out or panic at the last minute. The common theme among these stories is the concern they were experiencing about what their days would look like after they made the transition to retirement. Without preparation, it can feel like going from 120 miles per hour to zero in an instant.

Retirement, or what I prefer to call ReIgnitement™, requires planning. And, while many have focused attention on financial planning for retirement, few have considered the non-financial aspects of this life transition. Even in companies with strong succession planning processes, the vast majority do not focus any attention on preparing the executive for the next stage of their life. Transitions of any type can create stress in your life, even if the change is something that you have been looking forward to.  When that transition arrives, you can react to the changes that arise such as loss of identity, work relationships, and/or purpose. Or, by taking a planful approach, you can prepare yourself to respond effectively to the transition and ease the way.

This month, I’d like to share a simple tool to help you gauge your readiness for this transition. If you’re roughly 2 – 5 years from retirement, or know someone who is, please use this tool or share it with another to get a quick read on your readiness. If you’re already retired, you can use this tool to pinpoint those areas that might need some attention.

Click on the link for the Retirement Readiness Wheel. The 8 sections you’ll address take into consideration a holistic view of retirement. These sections include the following:

  • Clarity of Identity, Purpose
  • Health
  • Leisure/Travel
  • Home/Residence, Location
  • Marriage/Significant Other
  • Work/Business, Volunteering
  • Financial Resources
  • Optimism About Aging

As you review and rate each section, take a moment to determine what that section means to you. Then, to determine your readiness, circle your level of satisfaction with your preparedness for each of the 8 sections on a scale of 1 – 7 (1 = least satisfied, 7 – most satisfied). For example, for Home/Residence, Location – ask yourself “how satisfied am I with my preparedness on where I’m going to live?” Or, for Marriage/Significant Other, consider how prepared your relationship is for the transition. Go with the first response that comes to mind as you review each part of the wheel. That tends to be the one that is most indicative of the way you truly feel.

Once you’ve rated each section, draw a line connecting each of the numbers around the circle.  What kind of wheel do you have?  How smooth and balanced does it feel?  How bumpy might a ride on that wheel be?

If you discover that one or more areas of your ReIgnitement™ could use some tweaking and you’re not sure where to begin, a coach can help.  I invite you to explore my profile as well as those of my colleagues on the Retirement Coaches Association website to find a coach who is right for you. We help our clients think about and prepare for retirement like never before.  Take the time to plan so that you can hit the ground running when you step into the next phase of your life and career.

About the Author: Sherry Dutra is a Talent Development, Career and Retirement Coach and Facilitator who works with corporate leaders in small to mid-size businesses, across the span of their careers. She helps them to accelerate business growth and team performance, navigate their own career path, and transition to retirement with ease using proven methodologies and strategies that get results. If you would like to uncover and address hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your success, leverage your strengths, and accelerate your progress toward the results you desire, contact Sherry for a complimentary consultation.

Building A Truly Meaningful Retirement

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A retirement coach began her workshop by holding up a $20 bill and asking the group, “Who would like to have this money?”

As audience members raised their hands, the coach said, “I’m going to give this money to one of you,” but then began to crumple the bill up. “Who still wants it?” she asked. All the hands remained in the air.

“Well,” she continued, “what if I do this?” She dropped the bill on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with her shoe. She picked up the bill, now crumpled and dirty, and asked again, “Anyone still want it?” All the hands went back into the air.

“So, why do you still want it?” she asked the audience. One participant responded, “Because it’s still worth $20.”

The coach continued, “That’s exactly it! This simple activity offers new and future retirees a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was never worth less than $20.”

“In retirement, losing the career identity you spent a lifetime creating, and facing new and unknown circumstances, can at times make you feel crumpled up or ground into the dirt. But work is what you do, not who you are. Therefore, leaving it all behind doesn’t affect your true value.”

In order to avoid feeling lost or broken-hearted in retirement, ask yourself:
•Who am I when I’m not at work?
•What aspects of work are going to be the most difficult for me to replace?
•If I was suddenly faced with a financial hardship or troubling medical condition, who would I turn to? Who would get the first phone call? Who has been there in the past?

The worth of our lives comes not from what we do or what we have, but in who we are!

Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are always priceless … especially to those who love you for who you are and what you stand for.

It’s a simple reminder that a truly meaningful retirement is built by not only preparing financially, but also by planning for the mental and emotional aspects as well.

About the Author: Sherry Dutra is a Talent Development, Career and Retirement Coach and Facilitator who believes we each have far more potential than we typically tap in to. She helps you learn how to step into your full potential so you can create consistent, optimal performance for yourself and your team with less stress and more enjoyment. If you would like to uncover and address hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your success, leverage your strengths, and accelerate your progress toward the results you desire, contact Sherry for a complimentary consultation.

The Retirement Plans That Few Consider

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Most people spend more time planning their annual vacation than they spend planning for the non-financial components of their retirement. Now that increased longevity has extended the lifespan of the average North American, people can anticipate living 20 – 30 years beyond the typical retirement age of 62 or 65.  Since this is becoming known as a “second adulthood”, it deserves your time and attention to ensure that this time in your life is filled with meaning and purpose, health and well-being, and social engagement in addition to financial stability. It’s never too early to begin giving consideration to how you’d like to craft this part of your life. Here are three key tips I’d like to share that can help set you on the path to an easeful retirement transition.

  1. Create a plan well in advance

Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” It is an abrupt change from working full-time to having the expanse of 24 hours a day at your fingertips. Once the glow of an extended vacation wears off, you may find yourself clamoring to find another job, if you haven’t decided in advance how you’d like to spend your time. While working in some capacity may be a part of that plan, let that be a conscious choice rather than a reaction to feeling at loose ends.  What would the perfect day or week look like for you in retirement?  Creating some level of structure goes a long way toward staying engaged.  Spend less time thinking about what you’re retiring from and more time considering what you’re retiring to.

  1. Think holistically

Financial security is a critical factor in retirement preparedness. Yet, it is far from the only thing to take into consideration. As you create your plan, look at all aspects of your life.  What is important to you?  What are the values and beliefs that provide meaning in your life? How will you sustain your mental and physical capabilities? Where will there be opportunities for connection to others? What hobbies might you want to pursue? How will you continue your personal development?  How important is it to you to give back in some way?

  1. Communicate

Be sure to include your spouse or partner in your retirement planning.  Do they work as well?  When do you both want to be retired? What do you each want out of retirement? How can you work collaboratively to create a shared vision?  What activities will you do together and where will you explore your interests on your own?  How will you divide home related chores?  How often will you see your children and grandchildren?  What expectations do family members have of one another? Having these conversations in advance and getting on the same page will relieve a potential stressor down the road.

Be proactive and make this significant transition a rewarding and fulfilling next chapter in your life.

About the Author: Sherry Dutra is a Talent Development and Career Coach and Facilitator who believes we each have far more potential than we typically tap in to. She helps you learn how to step into your full potential so you can create consistent, optimal performance for yourself and your team with less stress and more enjoyment. If you would like to uncover and address hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your success, leverage your strengths, and accelerate your progress toward the results you desire, contact Sherry for a complimentary consultation.

What Lights You Up?: Expressing Your Passion in the World

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“To love what you do and feel that it matters – how could anything be more fun?”  – Katherine Graham – American Publisher

Being in the Zone

When was the last time that you were so engaged in what you were doing that you completely lost track of time?  What is it that you were involved with?  Were you organizing, planning, decorating, running a meeting, painting, gardening, helping others, or teaching? Whatever you were engaged in, you were experiencing being “in the zone”.  This is a state of being fully focused, motivated, and passionate – a state where you are doing what you are uniquely gifted to do.

One of my teachers, Laura Berman Fortgang, has said, “your satisfaction will not stem from what you do but from who you get to be while you do that thing.”  We often get caught up in what we are “supposed” to be doing.  This can stem from a wide variety of influences including parents, friends, teachers, and societal pressures to name a few. Forget titles and look at the essence of who you get to be in any occupation or pursuit you consider. It can open up doors you never imagined.

Find what it is that uniquely lights you up. Your passion can be something that you’ve known all your life or you may evolve into it as you notice what you most love. To begin your own exploration, consider the following questions.

Ask Yourself

  • What gets me excited about life?
  • What brings meaning to my life?
  • If I could do exactly what I’d like to do, what would it be?
  • What are my natural gifts and talents?
  • What did I most like to do as a young child?
  • What are my criteria for happiness?
  • What are my values?

Your Next Steps

Once you have jotted down the answers to these questions, it can be helpful to share them with a close friend, a mentor, or a coach to flesh them out and look at possibilities. It’s never too early or too late to decide on the best path for you. No matter where you are on your life’s journey – early career, mid-life, or planning your next chapter – dreams can be realized. Take these first steps to open the door to what could be next for you.

About the Author: Sherry Dutra is a Talent Development and Career Coach and Facilitator who helps you create consistent, optimal performance using all your capacity and potential in both your work and life. If you would like to uncover and address hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your success, leverage your strengths, and accelerate your progress toward the results you desire, contact Sherry for a complimentary consultation.

Beat the Trend and Enjoy the Satisfying Retirement You Deserve

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I recently read that less than half of retirees, aged 50 and over, describe their retirement as “very satisfying”.¹ Additionally, this number is trending downward. In 1998, 60.5% of respondents reported “very satisfying” retirements. In 2012 that number dropped to 48.6%.  This truly saddened me, as I believe that this stage of life offers incredible opportunity for meaning and fulfillment. Additional research is needed to more deeply explore the reasons behind this trend. In the meantime, I wanted to share three key tips that can help you to beat this trend.

  1. Create a plan well in advance

Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” It is an abrupt change from working full-time to having the expanse of 24 hours a day at your fingertips. Once the glow of an extended vacation wears off, you may find yourself clamoring to find another job, if you haven’t decided in advance how you’d like to spend your time. While working in some capacity may be a part of that plan, let that be a conscious choice rather than a reaction to feeling at loose ends.

  1. Think holistically

Financial security is a critical factor in retirement preparedness. Yet, it is far from the only thing to take into consideration. As you create your plan, look at all aspects of your life.  What is important to you?  What provides meaning in your life? Where will there be opportunities for connection to others? How will you sustain your physical and mental capabilities? What hobbies might you want to pursue? How will you continue your personal development?  How important is it to you to give back in some way?

  1. Communicate

Be sure to include your spouse or partner in your retirement planning.  Do they work as well?  When do you both want to be retired? What do you each want out of retirement? How can you work collaboratively to create a shared vision?  What activities will you do together and where will you explore your interests on your own?  How will you divide home related chores?

Be proactive and make this significant transition a rewarding and fulfilling next chapter in your life.

¹ Banerjee,S. (2016). Trends in retirement satisfaction in the United States: Fewer having a great time. EBRI Notes, 37(4), 1-16.

About the Author: Sherry Dutra is a Talent Development and Career Coach and Facilitator who helps you create consistent, optimal performance using all your capacity and potential in both your work and life. If you would like to uncover and address hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your success, leverage your strengths, and accelerate your progress toward the results you desire, contact Sherry for a complimentary consultation.

Tips to ReIgnite Your Life – Part 1

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home-boomersHow do you want to spend your second adulthood? What does that even mean? Well, according to 2014 data gathered by the National Center for Health Statistics, 65 year olds can anticipate a life expectancy of another 20 years. Woohoo! 85! Given that about 75 years ago, 65 was the typical end of life, we’ve come a long way. And yet, we often neglect to create a clear vision of how we want that chapter of our lives to unfold. We have an unprecedented opportunity to live full, vibrant lives. To make the most of our time, we must have a comprehensive vision. While being prepared financially is what most people think about, we all know that isn’t the only facet of life.

Below, I’ve introduced 3 of the 6 key arenas in which to paint the picture of your ideal second adulthood and reignite your life. It doesn’t matter what your age is today, it’s never too early to start dreaming.

Career and Work:
• How interested are you in continuing to work in some capacity?
• What dream career might you now want to pursue?
• How can you create better alignment between your values and desires and the work that you engage in?

Health and Wellness:
• How well do your health practices support your physical well-being?
• How well do you live to the fullest, regardless of the conditions that arise?
• What are your attitudes and beliefs about maturing in age?

Finances and Insurance:
• How well are your attitudes and information about money serving you?
• Are you working with a trusted financial planner to develop a truly workable plan?
• How confident are you that your financial plan will sustain you and your family for this stage of life?

Take a few moments and imagine what you’d like to create in each of these life arenas for the second half of your adult life. With proper planning, you can make this transition a meaningful and fulfilling one.

Stay tuned for my next blog which will cover the remaining 3 key arenas to explore.