Is your learning curve going up?

I was working a crossword puzzle today and came across this clue: “Graphic representation of progress.” The answer: “learning curve.”

Which way is yours pointing these days? Up? Sideways? Not down, I hope!

Here’s a link to my personal learning curve story on the RebootYou website: http://www.rebootyou.com/learningcurve.html. I realized some years ago that I’m happiest when I’m learning – when the curve is pointed up.

I know many people feel the same way. If you need some encouragement to dive back into learning, spend some time on the website (www.rebootyou.com). I think you’ll find lots of inspiration there, including both resources and the stories of people who have reinvented themselves.

Being of (ultra)sound mind and body...

Today I had an ultrasound test to check my carotid arteries. My doctor ordered the test because an earlier CT scan, designed to look only at the brain, had shown an “incidental finding” of “dense calcification” in those very important vessels. He had ordered the CT scan because of some recent incidents of my forgetfulness and a close family member who suffered from dementia.

Although I had shown no symptoms of atherosclerosis – hardening of the arteries --my doctor prudently ordered the ultrasound check to get a closer look than the CT scan provided. The carotid artery is not to be taken lightly. It travels up each side of the neck and branches into smaller vessels that supply blood to the brain. The carotid arteries are a common location for hardening of the artery wall to occur.

Atherosclerosis occurs when fat (cholesterol) and calcium build up in the inner lining of the arteries, forming a substance called plaque. Over time, the fat and calcium buildup narrows the artery and blocks blood flow through it. When atherosclerosis affects the arteries that supply blood to the brain, it may cause a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or stroke.

For some reason, between the time the doctor discussed the CT scan with me and the scheduling of the ultrasound a few days later, I did not become super-worried about the possibility that I would be diagnosed with hardening of the arteries. I realized that this could happen, but somehow it didn’t make me a nervous wreck. Denial? Maybe. Overoptimism? I hoped not.

It wasn’t until the test was under way that I got worried about the possibilities. All of a sudden I realized this could be serious. At one point I could see the images on the screen that the technologist – a sonographer – was monitoring. I’d never seen such images before, but it was clearly some kind of fluid, in some kind of pulsating flow, in some kind of tube. Guess what. My blood, my arteries, being pumped by my heart. O-kaaaaaaay.

Fortunately, the test showed nothing out of the ordinary. I was relieved, of course. But the major reminder for me was that every day we wake up in reasonably good health is a blessing. Every day that blood is pulsing through those arteries the way it is supposed to is a gift. And we should never take a single one of those days, or our health, for granted.

Walking the Walk

A longtime friend of mine, currently a business executive, has an employee who is facing retirement after 20 years with their company. This individual is unsure of what she might do after leaving, and is anxious about her future. My friend wanted to help make the employee’s transition as smooth as possible, and at the same time provide her with more than a pat on the back and a “thanks for your two decades of service.”

He asked me to meet with her and offer her some advice and suggestions, based on my experience to date with RebootYou.com. His request was gratifying, but it also made me a little nervous. Dispensing advice from the comfort of an arm’s-length website is one thing. Meeting face to face with someone at the “retire/reboot” crossroads, and offering personal counsel, is something else altogether.

The meeting is coming up in about a week. I’ve prepared some thoughts on what I might say, and printed out some pages from the website. I have a book and some other resources that I’m going to give her.

This will be a test for me. I’ve talked the talk for a few months, and now I have to walk the walk. I hope I can provide value for this woman. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Time for a mega-resolution!

I was at the gym on Jan. 5 and the place was packed with hard-working exercisers. Almost every treadmill, elliptical trainer and stationary bike was in use. The free weight section was so crowded it was hard to find any open space.

“All the New Year’s resolutions people are here,” said my trainer. “Next week the crowd will be much smaller and by the end of the month it’ll be back to normal.”

Whether or not you keep those resolutions you make every year, it’s a good time to think about a mega-resolution: reinventing yourself. January is a time of renewal, and there is no better time to kick off a new career than right now.

Our website, www.rebootyou.com, has all the resources and inspirational reinvention stories you need to restart your engines. So take a look, take the plunge and discover the many benefits of rebooting yourself.

And who knows? Along the way, you may be able to check off some of those “got to lose a few pounds this year” items on your resolution list!

Hoping You 'Hit' All Your Goals!

The following piece has been making the rounds on the internet. It was sent to me as something comedian George Carlin said, but a quick Google search indicated that the Carlin attribution was a hoax, that he never said this. Whoever wrote it – and I will give credit to anyone who proves authorship – I got a hearty chuckle out of it, and I wanted to pass it along:

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life. You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony. YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I Was JUST 92."

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

Phil Knight -- Rebooter (or maybe Re-Shoe-er?)

I just read a remarkable story in today's Wall Street Journal (Dec. 3, 2007) about Philip H. Knight, the billionaire founder of Nike, the world's largest sportswear company.

It turns out that Knight, renowned for his seclusion and secrecy, has been quietly attending creative writing classes at Stanford University for three years. He has told fellow students that he is writing a novel. And he has been a full participant in his classes -- sharing his homework with other students, debating themes and characters in novels and, with his wife, Penny, hosting after-class get-togethers with students at Palo Alto bars.

Knight is an exceptional figure on the Stanford campus for reasons other than just being an older "adult student." He has given $102 million to the Stanford Graduate School of Business (from which he garduated in 1962), funded a professorship at the business school, donated a graduate school building and made gifts to the athletic department.

Edward Schwarzschild, a novelist who visited one of Knight's classes, is quoted as being struck by his unassuming approach to learning the writing craft. "He could easily import someone, fly them up in a helicopter," Schwarzschild says. "But he wanted to be a part of a true workshop, as an equal. He didn't want to be CEO. He wanted to be Phil Knight, the student."

Makes me want to head for a Nike store and re-shoe myself.

Pleasure, Purpose and a Reason for Living

The New York Times had a sobering article on Nov. 27 about the incidence of suicide among older Americans. Although people 65 and older make up only 12 percent of the population, they represent 16 to 25 percent of the suicides. Four out of five suicides in older adults are men.

The article, by Jane E. Brody, noted that while depression is the main precipitant of suicide at all ages, social isolation is an important risk factor for suicide among the elderly. "And older men, more so than older women, often become socially isolated," Brody wrote.

Dr. Gregory K. Brown, a suicide specialist at the University of Pennsylvania, recommended that older people make every effort to prevent depression in the first place by maintaining a regular cycle and planning activities that "give them pleasure, purpose and a reason for living." He suggested "social activities of any type -- joining a book club or bowling league, going to a senior center or gym, taking courses at a local college, hanging out at the coffee shop."

Dr. Brown said any activity a person is capable of doing can help ward off depression. Rebooting yourself into a new career or pursuit is certainly one way to stay active in the later years and maintain good mental health.