My good friend and business partner, Jim, took part in a research project attended by people all over the age of 55. A local reaseach firm put together the project for a client and was intended to focus on people who might be referred to as '"seniors". The identiy of the client was not revealed to those attending but, per Jim, it was pretty apparent that the client was a financial services firm.
I am not here to comment on financial service firms and their products. What grabbed my attention was Jim telling me how the individual conducting the survey/project could not grasp that the majority of those attending were not "retired" or interested in being "retired". I am using retired in this post to refer to the state where an individual completes his/her life's work and starts to do what he/she always wanted to do. Many people have longed for this period of their lives. No work to go to, no kids to take care of, no responsibilities at all. I understand as this has been the accepted idea of retirement for years. Not objecting to this type of retirement at all. Some strive for it and love it. Others, though, find themselves with a different idea for this period of life!
The root of the word retire is to withdraw or to pull back. The concept of withdrawing from one's active life-style after years of working and struggling might be attractive to some. More power to them. Many, and I think the majority, of people considered seniors have a different idea of how to live the last third of their lives. Some are continuing to work, others are starting new careers or businesses, others explore ideas and ways of living. This generation of seniors, the boomers, has a different approach to "retirement".
The boomer generation is not playing by the old rules. More seniors are continuing in their employment. Boomers are starting their own businesses at a pace faster than any other generation. Seniors are taking steps to improve their health, both spiritual and physical. I guess a good way to express my idea is that the boomer generation does not intend to withdraw from life or to pull back from all that life has to offer.
The point of all this is why did the presenter at the research study attended by Jim find herself unable to shift her perspective as to what was of interest to the attendees. Her ideas were fixed upon the idea that retirement in the old sense was the goal sought to be reached. Whether it was her own perspective or a directive from her controllers doesn't really matter.
I just wonder how much more valuable the study would have been if the presenter could actually listen to those in attendance. I don't blame the framers of the study. They are relying on a preconception of "old people" and were unable to shift when presented with something different. Time might make a difference, I don't know. I do know that if the members of our generation continue to live life to the fullest and not withdraw that changes will occur in how they are observed and approached. No lecturing, no expecting changes in others, just good old fashioned living life to the fullest.
I am not here to comment on financial service firms and their products. What grabbed my attention was Jim telling me how the individual conducting the survey/project could not grasp that the majority of those attending were not "retired" or interested in being "retired". I am using retired in this post to refer to the state where an individual completes his/her life's work and starts to do what he/she always wanted to do. Many people have longed for this period of their lives. No work to go to, no kids to take care of, no responsibilities at all. I understand as this has been the accepted idea of retirement for years. Not objecting to this type of retirement at all. Some strive for it and love it. Others, though, find themselves with a different idea for this period of life!
The root of the word retire is to withdraw or to pull back. The concept of withdrawing from one's active life-style after years of working and struggling might be attractive to some. More power to them. Many, and I think the majority, of people considered seniors have a different idea of how to live the last third of their lives. Some are continuing to work, others are starting new careers or businesses, others explore ideas and ways of living. This generation of seniors, the boomers, has a different approach to "retirement".
The boomer generation is not playing by the old rules. More seniors are continuing in their employment. Boomers are starting their own businesses at a pace faster than any other generation. Seniors are taking steps to improve their health, both spiritual and physical. I guess a good way to express my idea is that the boomer generation does not intend to withdraw from life or to pull back from all that life has to offer.
The point of all this is why did the presenter at the research study attended by Jim find herself unable to shift her perspective as to what was of interest to the attendees. Her ideas were fixed upon the idea that retirement in the old sense was the goal sought to be reached. Whether it was her own perspective or a directive from her controllers doesn't really matter.
I just wonder how much more valuable the study would have been if the presenter could actually listen to those in attendance. I don't blame the framers of the study. They are relying on a preconception of "old people" and were unable to shift when presented with something different. Time might make a difference, I don't know. I do know that if the members of our generation continue to live life to the fullest and not withdraw that changes will occur in how they are observed and approached. No lecturing, no expecting changes in others, just good old fashioned living life to the fullest.
RSS Feed