SOME SENIOR CITIZENS SUCCESS STORIES:
1. Gladys Burrill (from USA) ran her first marathon in 2004 at the age of 86. She completed five out of seven marathon attempts, setting a Guinness World Record for being the oldest (at 92) woman to complete a marathon on her last event, on Dec. 12, 2010.
2. Teiichi (from Japan) who started climbing Mount Fuji every year, since age 89, became the first centenarian to conquer Japan’s tallest mountain (12,385 feet high).
3. Colonel Sanders started KFC, at age 65
· At age 5, his father died
· At age 16, he quit school
· At age 17, he had already lost four jobs
· At age 18, he got married. He joined the army and washed out there.
· At age 20, his wife left him and took their baby. He became a cook in a small cafe and convinced his wife to return home.
· He did several odd jobs. At age 65, he felt like a failure & decided to commit suicide.
· He sat writing his will, but instead, he wrote what he would have accomplished with his life & thought about how good of a cook he was. So he borrowed $87 fried up some chicken using his recipe, went door to door to sell.
· At age 88 Colonel Sanders, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) Empire was a billionaire.
4. Harbhajan Kaur started a barfi business in Chandigarh, selling homemade barfi and a variety of pickles at the age of 90, long after most of her peers had retired. Her success, four years later, has quickly turned her into an online sensation.
5. Fauja Singh is the oldest Marathon runner in the world. He was born in Punjab, ran his first marathon at the age of 89. He ran the London Marathon when he was 101-years-old and completed it in 7 hours and 49 minutes. Living in London now, this 109 year old superman, is the oldest long distance runner in the world.
YOU MUST IDENTIFY YOUR STRENGTHS (SKILLS) & FOCUS ON THEM: You may be good in: ·
Communication Skills
· Leadership Skills
· Accounting Skills
· Negotiation Skills
· Counselling
· Engineering Design Skills
· Coding
· Software Testing
· Playing musical instruments like Keyboard, Guitar, etc
· Dance
· Sports
· Fitness
· Plumbing
· Electrical work
· Carpentry
· Repairs & Maintenance
· Drawing
· Writing
· Painting
· Technical Writing
· Data Analysis
· Recruiting
You may be good in subjects like:
· Mathematics
· Physics
· Chemistry, etc
What can you do? ·
You can conduct training / coaching sessions for School children / College students / Corporate executives, etc
· You can start your own venture
· You can be a Freelancer
· You can join a Corporate as an Advisor
Share your knowledge ·
It can be free knowledge sharing sessions
· More you share your knowledge with others, more you gain
· Your fundamentals will become strong
How does it help you? ·
You can use the opportunity to create the appropriate content
· You can build your own brand which will help you in the long run
· Initially, it may start as free sessions… Eventually, it can lead to `earning’ opportunities
Write a book ·
Instead of only reading what others have written, you can write your `own’ book:
· Story
· Novel
· Motivational subject
· A serious useful subject
· Real life experiences, etc
How does it help you? ·
You will slowly get noticed in the market
· People may invite you to be a speaker
· You may be invited to write regularly in a newspaper / journal / magazine
· You can build your own brand
· Initially, you may start writing for `free’……. Later, people may start paying you because of the readership, reviews, fans, etc……..
Invest in your self-development Study further…. ·
M A / M Sc / M Com
· M E / M Tech / MBA
· Ph.D, etc…. (A neighbour of mine completed his M Tech at the age of 50 years; Later, Ph.D at the age of 65 years)
How does it help you? ·
I have been a Visiting Faculty with Symbiosis International University (Electronics City Campus, Bangalore) since 2012 for their regular MBA and Executive MBA program
· After completing my Ph.D in Human Resource Management (completed at the age of 49), I get regular invitation to conduct sessions for students (Engineering Colleges, MBA institutions & Universities) across the country
· I had a strong industry experience before my Ph.D as well. However, post Ph.D, acceptance has become much better and I am coaching the senior Leaders of a few organisations right now.
· Most importantly, my children have seen me working hard to complete my Ph.D. They know the value of hard work
Start a Library ·
If you have a collection of books at home
(or)
· tell your friends, neighbours, relatives to share their unused books….
· With that, you can start a library in your garage….
Open a shop in your garage ·
Sell something which is not available in your locality
· If there are 10 vegetable shops in your area already, don’t open one more vegetable shop
· Let’s be aware that in the current corona situation, many School Teachers and College Professors have gone to farming and many other odd jobs since many Schools and Colleges are not able to pay salaries to their Teachers and Professors…..
· Since many students are not able to pay their school fees…. Because both their parents have lost their jobs
· This is the reality today
· Hence, opening a shop and running a small business is not a shame….
· In fact, that is the need of the hour today….to educate the younger generation to face the world in a much better way
Acquire new skills
For example:
· Learn music / singing / dancing / cooking
· Cook at home and do home delivery; Bake cakes and sell
You can become an expert in a field in just 4-5 years:
For example:
· I wanted to improve my Communication Skills & Leadership Skills and get certified by an International Organisation
· Started a Toastmasters Club (as part of Toastmasters International, USA) in Hinduja Global Solutions while I worked there as Vice President – Human Resources for India Operations. I was very active and highly committed to my goal.
· Started my journey with Toastmasters in July 2010. Got certified as a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM), the highest honour in July 2014 (in just 4 years).
· After that, I am regularly getting invited to conducted `Communication Skills’ & `Leadership Skills’ workshops for several MBA institutions and corporates
Visit Orphanages & Old Age Homes ·
It is important to spend time with the children in orphanages and the elderly people in old age homes
· We realise that how blessed we are in life
· Many children in an orphanage don’t have parents…..
· Many of them have not seen their parents…..
· They don’t have good food, clothes, education, etc like what we have
· But they are happy……
· How?
· They don’t know from where they are going to get their breakfast / lunch / dinner today…… but
· They have learnt to be content with what they have…..
· Similarly, in an old age home, there are many elderly people living there, who had a good family life in the past….
· Due to various circumstances, they are in an old age home today……
· Is there a way we can help them to find some jobs……
· So that they too can lead a dignified life even now….
A few tips when you get back to industry again ·
Age is just a number
· Accept the new reality
· Be prepared to accept any relevant / suitable position offered by a company
· Have a lot of patience
· Be prepared to report to a Team Lead / Manager who is probably half your age
· Have a resume which has a maximum of 2 pages only highlighting all your critical achievements
· Don’t have a resume of 25 pages to highlight your 25 years of experience
· Be flexible on the salary
· Let me explain with an example:
· May be your last drawn monthly take home salary was Rs. 1 lakh per month
· When you look around, let’s say, you are able to find jobs which are paying only Rs. 40,000 per month
· Don’t keep searching for months together for the Rs.1 lakh per month job……. You may get one (or) you may not get one…..
· Without any further delay, accept the job with the salary of Rs. 40,000 per month…..
· Put your heart and soul in that job; ask for more responsibilities and perform well…..
· Trust me, you will continue to grow in salary and you will be able to make a strong impact again in your career and life
· If you are not satisfied with that job, you can continue to try outside….
· But the good news is that you have some base salary to discuss in the next interview…. This base salary of Rs. 40,000 per month is definitely better than `zero’.
· Don’t show any attitude with people around you
· Don’t keep saying, “In my last organisation, I was the Head of …… Department. I used to manage the client / project / team in ……………….
· Let people come to you for advise. Don’t offer advise to everyone around you when nobody is asking for it
· Take the job very seriously
· Don’t take yourself very seriously
· Share your knowledge and experience with everyone without holding back
· Be cheerful always
· Don’t go to office with a boring face
· Be thankful that God has given you an opportunity to work again
· Don’t demand respect; instead you should earn respect
· Be a Mentor to people in the team
· Provide counselling to the team on areas beyond work: let it be issues related to family / relationship / health / on-the-job performance / career, etc
· Work extremely hard to retain your job
· Rebuild your contacts and network
· Don’t lead an isolated job
· World wants cheerful people, not sad people
· Try to engage in multiple assignment parallelly
· Every assignment need not bring in money
· Don’t compare with your batchmates / friends, etc
· Be content with what you have
KOLA VERI… Kola Veri means `Fire & Passion’.
How do I identity my Kola Veri (Fire & Passion)?
I will share my example:
· Way back in 1991-92 (Karunya Institute of Technology, Coimbatore):
· After the class hours, I used to spend time with 3rd year & 4th year Engineering students sharing my experiences in searching for a job, how to prepare for interviews, what to study, how to study, etc.
· As a Placement Officer, I arranged weekend jobs for poor and deserving students in Coimbatore city & in the Industrial area.
· I was in my comfort zone while I was doing all this.
· I had a tremendous level of satisfaction while doing this.
· It was easy and natural for me.
· I was enjoying what I was doing
You can start loving your job and that can also become your Kola Veri (Fire & Passion).
Is there any other way?
Yes. You can convert your hobby as your job and make it as your Kola Veri (Fire & Passion).
Hence try to convert your hobby as your job….. Then, you don’t need to work for the rest of your life (Best example: A R Rahman)
How does `Kola Veri’ help you?
· When I went to Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), Manipal to pursue my M.Tech program, I did part-time job there (Placement Co-ordinator at MIT Manipal – stipend of Rs.1,000 pm)
· My Kola Veri (Fire & Passion) became `Recruitment’ in the corporate world initially and later became the `Overall HR function’.
· Mali (Manager in Philips): `For Jessy, Recruitment is his first wife’
· You will handle difficult assignments (hiring Software Architects for Philips)
· You will put all your efforts to be the best in your field
· APAC Recruitment Manager with Philips Electronics HK Ltd, based in Hong Kong. The first Indian to do so in the history of Philips, which is more than 100 years old.
· You will do impossible things.
· I have sent my resume to Bill Gates (Microsoft) / Michael Dell (Dell) / Jeff Immelt (GE) while working in Philips HK (during 2004-05)
· In 3 days of sending my resume to Michael Dell, received a call from the APAC HR Head from Singapore
If you need any further support, kindly feel free to contact me on Mobile/WhatsApp: 9731899440
- by Dr J Jessy Christin