The Optimism Advantage: 50 Simple Truths to Transform Your Attitudes and Actions into Results

Chapter 5. Optimists Update Their Gifts into Recyclable Assets

"Today technology can replace whole new industries, so you have to stay flexible. To survive today, you have to be able to walk on quicksand and dance with electrons."

—Frank Ogden

Are you ready to look with fresh eyes at your opportunity landscape? You've already worked at getting a better handle on your purpose. In this chapter, you'll look for a connection between your gifts and current trends that will intersect with that purpose in a meaningful way. You want to put your gifts to work in a way that makes a difference and a living!

In a constantly changing world, it's a lot easier to remain optimistic when you keep turning your gifts into recyclable assets that make a difference where it counts for you—and for those you serve. Today's job market is not the place to be good at something that's no longer needed. So ask yourself: Are you sending resumes for positions that are no longer viable? Is your present career positioned for the past or for the future? Do you have a Plan B in place in case you lose your present job? Are you daring to use this time of change as an opportunity to pursue your dream career?

Record-setting UCLA basketball coach John Wooden shares some advice that rings true for every age: "It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." Don't assume that your education ends the moment you complete college or graduate school. Those who find the most success are those who participate in lifelong learning. ...