W A N T E D!
ANYONE...
who believes our best days are ahead of
us and
wants to play an active role in creating that future.
Our recent recession and the rapid rise of other economic powerhouses such as China and India have prompted many to proclaim that we are in an inevitable decline that happens to all great nations. We don't share that view.
That said, we don't believe our continued greatness is a foregone conclusion. It's a future that we can create. We believe the creativity and resilience of the American people is second to none and will see us through the current economic crisis and assure that we have a great future.
Every one of us has a role to play in creating that future. We're looking for leaders who believe in the need for nenewal and who are willing to lead in that process. It doesn't matter what role(s) you've played up to now. What matters is what you do today and the days ahead.
We're dedicated to helping people improve their quality of life—at home, at work, and in their communities. We know the task is daunting.
- We offer a life-planning process that raises people’s awareness of all the factors that affect quality of life and empowers them to take responsibility for their own lives, their families and their communities.
- Our overarching goal is to make life-ploanning programs and materials available in communities throughout our nation.
- Recruiting and training facilitators in the life-planning process is a core strategy in pursuing that goal.
We need your help.
We need your creativity, your voice and your energy. Here are some specific ways you can get involved.
- Get a copy of The Life-Planning Workbook and work through it to see if you want to become more deeply engaged.
- Share your experience with others you think might be interested.
- Become a Life-Planning Associate.
- Become a Life-Planning Facilitator. If you are an experienced trainer, you do not need our sanction to facilitate a Life-Planning Workshop. If you've had no experience in training or running workshops and you want to learn how to do it, check out the options here: Life-Planning Facilitation.
For more perspective on our approach, please read the material on our Challenge tab. For a deeper look at the life-planning process, please see our Life Planning tab or visit our sister site: Life-Planning101.com
Contact James Vaughan (james@partners101.org) if you're interested in bringing the life-planning process to your community.
W A N T E D!
Women of all ages...
to lead a
revitalization of American communities.
Why Women?
Because women get it. They understand why community matters and they have the leadership capability to do the job.
Why a Revitalization of American Communities?
The recession and the lingering high unemployment rate have exacerbated an already declining quality of life in communities across our country. Here's a brief summary of our dilemma and our challenge:
- As social creatures, we are members of many communities—families, neighborhoods, social, religious, and work groups of all kinds, political parties, nations, and finally, a shrinking world community.
- At the core, each of us is creating our life experience through the choices we make every day and each is responsible for the quality of our own life.
- Collectively, our choices create the conditions that exist in our communities, large and small, and so we share the responsibility for what’s happening around us.
- Our families are in trouble. We have too many kids growing up in single-parent and broken families without adequate supervision and loving support.
- Our schools are in trouble. We have too many kids dropping out and even those who graduate are not getting a quality education.
- Our communities are in trouble. We have too much violence of all kinds—too much crime—too much drug abuse—too many Americans living in poverty.
- Our world is in a mess. Our pursuit of the good life is wasting precious natural resources and destroying the earth’s capacity to support life.
- We are all in this together. If any of us is to have the kind of safe, healthy communities we would like to live, work, and raise children in, we must work together to create these conditions for everyone.
- Everything is connected. It is not possible to isolate our problems and solve them one at a time.
- There are no quick fixes. Our mess was created by the collective choices of many people over a long period of time and it will take time and many people making better choices to improve it.
- There is hope. We can transform our communities into nourishing places to live. We can pursue the good life without damaging the earth’s ability to support us and future generations.
Contact James Vaughan (james@partners101.org) if you're interested in bringing the life-planning process to your community.
W A N T E D!
SENIORS with verve...
who have no intention of retiring in
the traditional sense and
want to define the next phase of their lives.
We use the term "senior" advisedly to refer to everyone over 55, but we are aware that there are many people in their 60's and 70's today who don't behave like seniors—they have more energy and zest for life than many in their 40's and 50's. It turns out that aging is a very personal process despite the expectations that our culture lays on us.
The notion of retiring at age 65 is rapidly becoming obsolete. Someone turning 65 today can expect to live to 83 and many will see their 90's. That's a long time for a healthy person to fill exclusively with leisure activities. Even those who are financially able to do so often find they miss the meaning and satisfaction that comes from making a contribution at work.
Many seniors are choosing second careers out of necessity because their jobs have been eliminated and they can't afford to retire. Others are doing so because they want to pursue a lifelong dream, explore a different work experience or make a difference in the community.
Consider the potential impact of the Boomer generation (everyone born between 1945 and 1964 and estimated to be about 79 million people).
On Jan. 1 of this year, the oldest of the Boomers turned 65, and every day for the next 19 years, about 10,000 more will cross that threshold.
But according to a 2009 Pew Research survey, Boomers reject the idea that old age begins at 65; they think it starts at 72. About half of all American adults say they feel younger than their actual age, but fully 61% of Boomers say this. In fact, the typical Boomer feels nine years younger than his or her chronological age.
By the sheer force of numbers alone, Boomers will redefine what it means to grow old in America. They will live longer and work longer than previous generations. Of course this will place greater demands on the social safety net, but at the same time it offers great potential for productivity and growth.
We believe Boomers can benefit personally from using the life-planning process to manage and direct their own lives, but more importantly, they are an ideal group to organize and facilitate life-planning groups aimed at building community. The typical Boomer has accumulated a wealth of knowledge from working and living in many different communities. There's no substitute for the wisdom and perspective gained from this experience.
Contact James Vaughan (james@partners101.org) if you're interested in bringing the life-planning process to your community.
W A N T E D!
RETURNING VETERANS...
who want to reconnect
with their core values
and decide where they want to go next.
Transitions are a normal occurence in all of our lives, but there is probably no transition more dramatic or difficult than leaving a war zone where you have to be prepared to kill or be killed at any moment and returning to everyday civilian life where you're expected to be a calm, loving parent and spouse. This has always been a challenge for returning veterans of war, but it is made even more difficult for those fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan because so much of the fighting has occurred in cities and towns where it has been difficult to tell the enemy from ordinary civilians and because the tours of duty have been so long for many soldiers.
The families of veterans have also borne a disproportionate part of the burden of our 2 ongoing wars. They too can benefit from a LifeDesign Workshop with or without their military member.
The LifeDesign process provides the opportunity to renew and recenter—to reconnect with core values and priorities—to rebuild relationships. It will be most effective when experienced in a workshop led by someone who has already made the transition successfully and is willing to share with others who are going through the same transition.
Lance Corporal Tim Lang, who lost a portion of his right leg to a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2006, embodies the spirit of what's possible after a tragic loss:
"To me, there are two types of people who have suffered a life-changing experience: ones who won't let anything stop them and ones who will find any excuse to not do anything."
Please contact James Vaughan (james@partners101.org) if you're a veteran interested in bringing the life-planning process to your fellow veterans and their families.
W A N T E D!
ANYONE WHO IS OUT OF WORK...
for any reason and wants to do a careful assessment
of their options before looking for their next job/career.
Losing your job can be a traumatic experience in any circumstances. It's especially dispiriting for many today who realize that the job they lost will not be coming back and that the jobs that are available to them in today's global economy may pay less and require additional training.
That's part of the reality for some 15 million unemployed or underemployed Americans today. Consider another part of that reality:
Losing your job just might be the best thing that ever happened to you. It gives you the opportunity to discover and pursue the work you truly love—the dream you've always wanted to pursue, but thought you couldn't.
Life Planning provides a way to get crystal clear about your values, your strengths and your priorities. Most people feel a renewed sense of self-confidence when they complete The Life-Planning Workbook. While it's not intended to be a job-hunting manual, it can certainly help you prepare for the job-hunting process.
Even more important is the possibility that life planning can help you get clear about work that you can be passionate about. If you can discover that, you'll be on the path to a completely different life, and "work" will never have the same meaning to you again.
For the price of lunch (The Life-Planning Workbook) and a 2-day investment of time why not give it a try?
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