This edition of Newsgram is going to shine a spotlight on your  life, your career and the key to it all “adaptation”. It is based on the book The 6Ixth Evolution: Managing Lives and Careers Through Convulsive Time by Dr. Larry G. Straub

Welcome.

Today we’re going to shine a spotlight on your life by taking a look at your career, your education and the key to it all, your ability to adapt.

Not sure if there’s a standardized definition of the term life-long learning but it usually refers to wisdom gained outside the boundaries of traditional education. No one stays in school forever but I’ve always thought it was important to have a natural curiosity; one that gives you a thirst for knowledge — and as you’ll see today, it’s not only important, it’s going to be your super-power in this changing world we are living in. 

Dr. Larry Straub - We need to stay tough. We need to stay on our A-Game and we need to continue to grow and learn no matter what stage of life we’re in. 

That is Dr. Larry Straub and he’s not kidding. I just took a look at my Social Security details. Have you done this yet? You can log onto SSA.Gov and have a look if you’re curious about what kind of benefits can you expect to receive when you retire. And…when is that. I’ll tell you. It means you get more money if you stay in the workforce longer — like 70. If that’s a bitter pill to swallow, buckle up.

Dr. Larry Straub - Hate to be the bearer of bad news but I think people are going to have to work longer. This retirement at age 62 and 65, you know when those dates were set up they expected people to live another five years or seven years. They weren't set up for a society where people are averaging eighty plus years of age now and that’s continuing to increase. and frankly I don’t know that retirement is that good for us. 

As hard as it is to hear that he does make a good point. The social security administration is willing to offer higher benefits if you stay in the work force up to age 70 but beyond the financial benefits working longer can also make you sharper.  Dr. Larry Straub is the author of a ground-breaking book called The 6ixth Evolution: Managing Lives and Careers Through Convulsive Times. 

Dr. Larry Straub - We need something to stimulate both socially, physically and intellectually and I think our brains they’ve proven we have these little tias, these mini strokes throughout our life. Well when you have that intellectual resiliency and you’re accountable for some results I think your brain builds new neural networks around those little dead ends that get forced in your brain so intellectual vitality I think is just crucial for all of us at all stages of our life. 

Intellectual Vitality, write that down. It’s just another of the many things he is giving us to think about in his book. We all know people who lose themselves when they retire. Boredom sets in. Loneliness. Many times they go back to work just to interact with people. Some do it successfully. That is true but Dr. Straub has given us a very realistic look at the future - warts and all — and he also offers up the best way to position ourselves within our careers to survive and prosper.

Dr. Larry Straub - In a lot of ways it’s not rocket science. In many ways it’s kind of almost going back to the future. Its going back to some of the people, grandparents and parents have been telling us for decades. Things for example, just strong and stable relationships, adaptability, being able to kind of be ready for anything, watching your finances, your physical and mental vitality, just trying to stay on top of your game  as much as you can and then just never stop learning. Always keep trying to keep your position and the world is changing pretty fast. there’s a lot of things coming down the pike at us so we just gotta stay as on top of things as we possibly can. 

Hopefully none of this is scaring you. It’s just a wake up call to like what you do. It matters.