Manifest Magnificence - Madison River, Yellowstone N.P.

Words That Convey Unnecessary Haste Are Often Villains of Our Language

Among the various common human desires, tranquility is one that promotes a joyful, healthy life experience. It fosters a fuller, more peaceful life as well as your personal development.

If you pause and feel your state of mind and the rate of your heartbeat, you will likely recognize that the days of your life seem to pass really fast. At that moment, you will probably be more aware how beneficial it is to increase our daily dosage of serenity. I know this to be true.

In the course of time, I have become increasingly aware of the impact that careless language can have on our tranquility. More than that, it is detrimental to the equanimity that is essential to calmly conquer the challenges of everyday life. It is counterproductive to your efforts to perform your tasks with excellence.

New Languages and Lessons

I learned Spanish in my native Cuba and Engli...

Palma Sola Bay, Gulf of Mexico - Florida

How Living With Tranquility and Equanimity Improves Your Quality of Life

To contemplate the passage of time and how each of us perceives it is a subject of wonder since the beginning of…well, time.

Early humans pondered the coming and going of the sun and moon while keeping warm by a campfire near their cave. In the twenty-first century we ponder in wonder about the same rhythms of life as we mark time on a digital clock.

The rotation of the earth on its axis that creates day and night is the same now as it was in antiquity.

The rotational march of the earth around the sun that creates the seasons and marks the years, is the same now as it was then.

So it is that the march of time was and is the same for all of us.

But there are three things that differentiates us as individuals:

• How we choose to use the precious time of our lives.
• How those choices affect our value of how we chose to use our time.
• How we perceive the speed at which ...

Fleeting Breezes of Change

Gulf of Mexico, Florida - 2008

What You Choose to Do is as Important as What You Don’t Do

Your end of career is approaching.

Your vision of this new phase of your life is becoming ever more clear.

You are growing more confident that the dreams born of your imagination will become a reality.

Your smile reflects joyful anticipation.

You take a deep, deep breath that parallels the satisfaction you feel for what you have accomplished in life.

You feel deeply the conviction that you have earned the life that your aspire to live…and it really feels good!

As I wrote these words, they seemed to flow easily. They describe my own life experience and that of others I have guided through this phase of their life’s journey.

A Time for You and New Feelings

This is your time for dreaming, planning, executing and experiencing the emerging reality of it all. Amidst the excitement, it is also a time to apply the skills and wisdom you have developed over the course ...

Soaring to Limitless Dreams - The Teton Range, Grand Teton National Park

Wyoming, USA

On Living Where the Location Helps Create Your Moment

You have been thinking lately about your vision for life after your end of career. It is a “big deal” and there is a lot to think about. The end of your planned career Transition may occur in the near future or perhaps years later…but you know that for you, as for all of us, it will happen.

Besides the personal impact on you and your career, it will affect your family, friends, colleagues and co-workers.

Perhaps you already have some questions and are seeking answers.

Among the many questions that abound, there are two very different ones that you will need to answer in order to have a successful Transition. They are:

• Personal - How do I want to live?
• Practical - Where do I want to live?

The Questions are Common, Yet Personal

I and many others I have helped have faced the same questions…and much more.

Some of the questions are fairly...

Authentic Reflections Upon Ourselves - Tufas, Mono Lake, California

Your Board Can Help You Achieve Personal and Professional Success

When people think about their personal and professional development, there is usually a profound awareness that it is largely the result of their own effort. Further consideration leads to the recognition of those persons that cared about their well-being, who taught and mentored them.

Personal guides that influence people’s lives are personified by parents, family, teachers, coaches, professors and mentors. Sometimes you may learn pearls of wisdom from those you barely know. There are times when your other best friend, a book, illuminates your life.

My Giants and Gratitude

I have benefitted immensely from all of the above, initially during my lengthy, formal education. I recognized early on the enormous value they bestowed upon me and I thanked them accordingly. As time progressed, I felt more deeply than ever gratitude for those who cared for me a...

Rejoice! Dreams on a Blank Sky

It is Essential to First Create a Plan that Provides the Basis for the Date

For most individuals the end of their career, whether relatively early in life or later, is an event they really look forward to. It is a time of joyful anticipation. It is the opportunity for you to create and begin a new life experience. That new life is the manifestation of hopes and dreams delayed. Yet, as it happens with major life events, there are important questions that must be answered.

A very common concern for those that are beginning to envision their future end of career is the need to answer the question: “When?” Whether you are happy and fulfilled with your career experience or not, preoccupation with this and many other questions often abound. These concerns are widespread across vocations and professions.

Particularly for those who are goal oriented, the search for the answer can be very consuming of time and energy. It may tax your emotional reservoir by wor...

Clarity, Conviction and Courage: Stability Amidst Change

West Fork, Carson River - 2013

Three Distinct Phases of Transition You Will Likely Experience

There are two words that are sometimes used interchangeably when considering the end of career as though they have the same meaning: change and transition. However, these two words have different meanings. They are not the same thing and what they describe have distinctly different purposes.

What I Learned in My Journey

My personal experience with change and transition illustrates this point. Years ago, I was diagnosed with colon cancer and then developed other medical problems. Together they created a change that ended my plastic surgery career and triggered my end of career Transition. Thankfully, years later I am cured, renewed and fulfilled in my new career.

My end of career Transition did not occur by chance. It was the result of sustained, focused and deliberate effort over a period of time.  That effort was directed at a par...

Rejoice in Transition - Sierra Nevada

An Unspoken but Common Impediment to Ending Your Career.

The anticipation and the actual experience of the end of one’s career is a major life Transition. It will present you with additional, unfamiliar challenges unrelated to financial concerns. There are a myriad of matters and problems that will require your attention. In the past, the challenge was magnified by the lack of means to learn and prepare for your end of career in a deliberate, comprehensive manner.

Some of the problems are obvious to most of us, others are not. Yet, they are profound, often unspoken and commonly experienced.

Reasons I Frequently Encounter

I serve as a professional consultant and coach to medical professional and other highly accomplished individuals concerning their end of career Transition. I know there are obstacles that prevent individuals from exercising the opportunity to end their career and Transition to the next phase of their lives. These are some of t...

Mount Moran, The Teton Range -  Grand Teton National Park, WY

A New Year: A Fine Time for Introspection and Reaffirmation of Who You Are and Your Life's Purpose

In the course of the 365 days of a year, we live the roles at home and work that we have set for ourselves. We perform our various tasks, whether planned or improvised, usually without further critical reflection. We sail along until life's events get our serious attention.

For most of my life I had lived splendidly. So it was until what I refer to as one of life’s exclamation points brought my career to a sudden halt. Cancer has a very emphatic way of doing that. Treatment was immediate, the cure took longer. Thankfully, cancer is a thing of the past… for real.

As my storm subsided, I began to think about What to do next. I thought of myself as a Plastic Surgeon but that did not provide actionable answers. I then learned that the answer was to be found not in a specific role but rather in how I learned to find the answers ...

Epic Transition - Gulf of Mexico, Florida

Life comes and presents us with a full menu of future transitions. We are naturally prepared for some but not all.

We experience natural preparation as we grow from infancy and our genetic encoding expresses itself as we learn to eat, crawl, walk, run, etc.

As we grow older we begin to learn from our parents, schools, colleges and professional training. We learn early on that we have to work and devote focused effort to succeed at achieving a myriad of milestones. These are the transitions for which there are family and organizations that help prepare us.

Then, there are challenging life transitions for which typically there is no real preparation. I refer to them as "life's exclamation points." They are so profound that they usually shake you to the core of your being. Some examples are divorce, bereavement, mid-career change and "retirement."

It is my preference not to use the word retirement to describe a person's end of career. For ma...