Speaker

Never in history have so many people lived long sections of life after they have given up their major career efforts. Experimentation is in the air for people who don’t know whether to call themselves seniors or elders or grown-ups, and who are creating an encore careers, or traveling and having more fun, or grandparenting mightily. Carl Jung addressed the psychology of the second half of life, and this workshop is aimed at how we apply these lessons over the multiple and soulful challenges and opportunities of the second half, last third,last quarter, or last fifth of life.

In this workshop, we will cover:

• managing the inevitable losses and taking advantage of the gains
• the role of imagination and courage when society is only partially helpful at best
• balancing adventure and duty; fun and weekly chores; self and friends; relationships and commitments
• life reviews and imagineering the next chapter.
• what we won’t cover in depth: wellness and finances, which are two areas that have already spawned mini-industries to support elders in those areas

So many people today feel “called” to find more in their lives beyond the usual definitions of success, to live lives of purpose and meaning. Answering Your Call is directed to people who know they are on the planet for a reason and want more than encouragement; they want to be precise about it. John Schuster helps audiences address questions like: Am I really hearing the call, or is it something else, like wishful thinking? How do I deal with times of doubt? Why does it seem like it takes so long to discover my call? Is it possible to have more than one calling in a lifetime or even operating at the same time? How do I best handle saboteurs who seem to want to squelch my desire to live a called life…and what if I’m my own saboteur? This presentation provides exercises that appeal to our practical side as well as inspirational examples from history and literature.

Participants will learn:

• some common and not-so-common calls
• how to endure the saboteurs and find the evocateurs
• how to confront the ego and approach the edges of ignorance

Brain research is exploding and there is a lot of good news. We used to think we lost brain cells and our minds slowly eroded away as we age. Now we know that while some cells are loss—we are born with excess capacity—that with some luck and good  practices we can extend our brain health and get better at many tasks our entire lifetime. Young brains are better at some tasks, older brains are better at others, like the pattern recognition that leads to wisdom. Alzheimers and dementia are a fact, but so is aging wisdom and learning new skills at any age.

Topics:

• the basics of the brain: complexity that knows no bounds
• what practices seem to work: skill-building, new challenges and relationships that matter
• fun and work: passion and active learning; only certain TV and entertainment is useful
• the externals: community, friends, play, and purpose: the happiness and meaning factors.

Leadership is a state of mind and action, not just a position you hold. One crucial test of leadership is whether an individual has a positive or negative memory of the work they did with the leaders they had. Tormentors may get results, but they sabotage people in the process. True mentors and leaders get results and evoke peoples’ potential in the process. In this speech John P. Schuster vividly describes how to tap the desire to improve and activate our potential for developing others into a daily reality in any setting. He outlines the mindset and the skills of coaching and mentoring so that others’ talents are permanently enhanced.

Participants will learn:

• the three steps for tapping others’ imagination by accessing your own
• how to avoid the four common mistakes that cause many leaders to miss the deeper opportunities to create capacity in others
• how mentors and coaches identify the critical times when learning is the most likely