Meeting Life's Challenges Head On

I received a note the other day from a baby boomer who lives in Newton, Mass. This is a man in his early 60s who has had a successful corporate career in public relations.

Recently he had to make the difficult transition of moving to the next phase of his life. He would say good-bye to the press release of corporate life, and dawn an announcement on his new path of professional life.

Some call this the beginning of the second career. Some call this an “encore career.”

For this baby boomer it’s just the next stage of life. It could be argued that he wants to spend more time with his family, for his eldest child, a daughter, will be getting married in October in San Francisco.

It could be argued that this baby boomer from the western suburbs of Boston just wants to make a contribution to society, for he will be teaching in one of the fine universities that Boston has to offer. It could be argued that he and his wife want to get to the bucket list that they have acquired over the years, for like many baby boomers, travel is an important component.

While these three arguments make up the sum total of the next direction for this baby boomer’s life, what you find in the man from Newton is representative of many boomers at his age and stage. He is a man who has worked hard, built a career, raised a family, and now wants the hard effort to pay dividends.

In some ways, he is an example to many boomers, for he is a man with no mortgage, a considerable portfolio and a plan for his post corporate career world. He is comfortable in his own skin because of two factors: He was a good steward of his finances throughout his entire adult life and he was a husband and father who never lost sight of his priorities.

So as he walks his daughter down the aisle and shakes hands with her future husband in that October wedding, he will know in his heart and in his mind that his past was a success and his future is paved with direction.

You can read more in my book, "In Search of the Baby Boomer Generation."

Rick Bava founded and was CEO of the Bava Group, which became the premier communications consulting firm serving the Fortune 500 community. Bava became known for his popular blog columns “Rick Bava on the Baby Boomer Generation.”  He is the author of "In Search of the Baby Boomer Generation." For more of his reports, Go Here Now.