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I’m sitting looking out on the white soft sand of Crescent Beach in Siesta Key and savoring some career changing lessons.
Mom, who is 82, and I traveled here to spend a week at a place she and Dad came for years. They headed south to spend warm winter days away from the chilly Pittsburgh, PA weather. We haven’t been back for twelve years. The snowbird trips braked to a halt when Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimers. He died four years ago.

And here we are overlooking the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico advancing and retreating. Last time, I walked this beach with my Dad. One day, he asked how I was doing, and I said terrible. I was miserable at work as an in-house reporter and columnist for a leading daily newspaper. It was a great job, just not for me. He simply said, “quit.” He believed in me.

I did….the next week. And I started my own business as a self-employed author, writer, blogger, speaker and expert on personal finance, retirement, and now, career transition. This week got me thinking about my personal truths of changing, staying relevant, growing, and trying new things, as I grow older. You might be able to relate.

Truth No 1: Do what you love. I followed my passion and have my dream job. Dad gave me good advice. But I now work harder than I ever did. And it doesn’t matter. I like being my own boss. This is exactly what so many of the career switchers I have interviewed over the years and for my current book told me repeatedly.

Truth No. 2. Keep adding to your skills. The old haunts here on Siesta Key are still here and are thriving. Hallelujah. They’re serving steamed shrimp, oysters on the half shell, key lime pie….ahh…just as I remembered.

But they’ve built up, too. In each case, the core of the restaurant is the same, but they have added on outdoor decks and covered porches. The menus have been tweaked. There’s a waiting line for tables even post-peak Spring break time.The lesson here is clear. You need to continually improve what you have to offer, build on to your skill set, but never lose the core and soul of what makes you special. Remain true to your heart, but invest and grow into your future.

Truth No. 3. Not everything changes with age. That’s good to know in the fast-paced work world we all must embrace. The song can remain the same. Mom and I returned to this famous beach, rated by Conde’ Nast Magazine rate as one of the best beaches in the world, and it’s the same soft calming vibe. If anything, it’s better, as we make new memories to keep the old one’s company.

Nature inspires and conspires to remind us of the relentless regularity of life marching onward decade by decade. I stand beside a pure white seabird, about as high as my knees. I swear we walked this beach together before. His raffish patch of white feathers flings from the back of his head as he stands perfectly still with yellow-rimmed eyes flashing to and fro. Taxicab yellow webbed feet and skinny black legs are firmly set in the shifting sand. He’s keenly watchful of where his next meal is coming from, scanning the water before him, but free to fly–kind of like a freelancer.
Thanks, Dad.

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“You Have More Money Than You Think” — the title of the introduction sets the tone for this upbeat and money-wise book, All the Money in the World, by author Laura Vanderkam.

Vanderkam writes about finding inner peace with your finances, looking at money as a tool to bring joy to your life.

Not so easy. “Money is a powerful thing. It is also complicated,” she writes. You bet.

A journalist by trade, she examines the way we earn and spend money, and how we can all do better, at least in terms of how it makes us feel. She started asking people via her e-mail list: “If you had all the money in the world — not literally, but all you wanted — what would you change about your life?”

The answers were a mixed bag . They ranged from “I would never empty the dishwasher again” to “I would work less and travel more” to “I would buy a couple of networks and cable shows and cancel all reality shows.”

So what will it be for you? Vanderkam gets your mental money wheels spinning. She comes to the conclusion that people who are “happiest about money operate under three premises of wealth, a word that has less to do with quantity than with outlook:”

• I have enough. There are some people in this world who have more, but also plenty who have less.

• If I want more than I have now to achieve big goals, I can figure a way to get it.

• Every dollar is a choice. How I earn it and spend it are up to me.

Her chapters have whimsical tinges: In “What Else Could That Ring Buy?” she discusses the somewhat ludicrous expense some people take on for weddings. The average couple, for example, spends $5,392 on an engagement ring. With that amount of money, “a set of new parents could pay a babysitter $50 a night for 107 nights so they could have time to themselves or go neck in their car like teenagers,” she writes.

Vanderkam’s voice is compelling. She pulls you into her world with kids and the choices she and her husband make in terms of where they live, whether to spend on swim lessons for those kids, or splurge on frozen king crab legs for dinner, and so on.

It’s a refreshing take on money that’s not lecturing or telling you what you must do, but rather exploring out the possibilities of money and how if you change the way you look at it, it can transform your world and those of people around you.

Vanderkam has done a thorough job of reporting both via her own interviews and pulling from a range of studies. She goes the next step to put it all into a friendly, chatty perspective that readers can relate to.

Instead of keeping a money log of what you spend each day, she suggests not just tracking those figures, but writing down what you enjoy and value about those expenditures.

Find ways to generate income apart from, or, in addition to, a regular salary. The culture of moonlighting has taken hold with a vengeance, she writes. And that’s OK if it is something “more flexible or creative or fulfilling, and possibly even an opportunity to explore a new career path if you’re successful.”

Her mantra: Train yourself to think like an entrepreneur.

• What skills do I have or can I learn that I enjoy using? Doing calligraphy, playing an instrument, proofreading?

• Which of these skills will people pay me to use?

• How can I find these people?

“If you start thinking this way, you’re bound to come up with some way of making a little extra on the side, or potentially finding something you’d like to try as a full-time gig,” she advises.

Vanderkam is irreverent when it comes to the keeping up with the Joneses mentality. Let’s take homeownership. She surmises most of us overspend on houses and cars. The difference between spending 33% of one’s income on housing and 25% is 8% to spend on other things. Which in the context of buying happiness can cover a reasonable number of dinners out movie tickets, weekend trips, or even a cleaning service to free up time to enjoy these experiences, she observes.

There’s plenty of positive discussion of parenthood here. In fact, she devotes a chapter to the cost and happiness involved with raising children and another on teaching kids about the value of money.

Not everyone will buy entirely into her thinking. While tips on helping kids get a money sensibility is spot on, other bits may not resonate with everyone. For example, “Parenthood may not make people happy, but looking in the rearview mirror, few people think not having children was the right choice,” she writes.

Her evidence is based on a 2003 Gallup poll that surveyed childless adults over age 41, who found that if they had to do it over again, only 24% would have had no children. She and her husband have three.

A “How to Buy Happiness Handbook,” a series of interactive journaling questions, brings the book to an end. These are meant to focus your mind on your relationship with money, from getting it to spending it to sharing. She asks, for example, looking at your possessions, which do you consider your best purchases ever?

Take the time to answer these, and you might start seeing money is a new way — maybe it really can buy happiness.

Kerry Hannon is a freelance writer and the author of What’s Next? Follow Your Passion and Find Your Dream Job

Nicholas Lore is a bit of a renaissance man. In his younger days, he was a denizen of Greenwich Village, soaking up the sixties with his boarding school roommate John Sebastian, founder of folk-rock band The Lovin’ Spoonful. He studied psychology, Eastern philosophy, anthropology and literature.
Lore later worked as a CEO, an entrepreneur, a manufacturing plant manager, a psychology researcher, a blues musician, an artist, a well driller, and a paper boy. “But I still had no idea what to do with my life,” he says. “Work was just a way to make a living.”

In 1981, Lore founded the Rockport Institute, developing a pioneer program in the career coaching field, and for the last three decades he has guided thousands of clients — from all walks of life and ages — through the steps of choosing a new career, an entrepreneurial path, or just finding a better-fitting job in their present field.

“I haven’t worked a day in my life for over 30 years,” Lore, now 67, says with a chuckle. “I have been having fun doing something I love to do and am absolutely passionate about. It is an elegant match with me.”

Lore recently released an updated edition of his 1998 bestselling book, The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success. In an interview with SecondAct.com, he talks about his eclectic career, career coaching and how people can really find jobs that fit.

SA: What are the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to changing careers?
NL: People don’t put in nearly as much time and attention to it as they really need to. The average man spends more time deciding what kind of car to buy. They don’t treat it like the wonderful big question it is. The second thing is that we listen to the little voice in our brain that is always trying to minimize risk. It is just biology at work trying to keep us safe. The brain doesn’t like risk and does its best to talk you out of anything risky. It wants to instantly return you to your comfort zone.

SA: How hard is it to start a new gig when you’re seen as an “older” worker?
NL: Job search is difficult for everybody. The ways most people go about it don’t work very well because essentially people want to hire people they know or someone they trust. They are not necessarily looking for the best person. They are looking for the person who is going to fit in. The secret is to make it personal. Forget all the jobs that are advertised now. You are probably not going to get one of those jobs. They are always going to hire the younger guy — always, always. And so when you have some unusual circumstance, which could be age or other things, too — you are green or 10 feet tall — whatever it is…you have to make the case why you are the person who is going to both do the job brilliantly and fit in.

SA: What’s new in your revised book?
NL: Nearly half of the book is new, mostly better ways of helping readers design a career that fits perfectly. After 31 years of career coaching, our work still constantly evolves. The material has also been tweaked based on amazing new neuroscience research. We now know a lot more about how the brain works, and that allows us to create more powerful ways of helping readers look at their lives, their talents, their personalities, what’s important to them, and what work will be the best fit.

SA: You call your coaching holistic. How so?
NL: I’ve always thought it was important to look at a lot of different parts of a person and have clients make choices that fit the whole person because if you get one important piece of the puzzle really wrong, it can ruin your whole new career. The talents people have are multiple, and they are like instruments in a band, so you have to know what instruments you have in your band, and you have to know how to play those instruments together in harmony.

SA: What’s the key to your coaching program?
NL: The great majority of people we work with are intelligent, complex — people in midcareer who don’t want to put up with waking up in the morning going “Uuhhh…this again.” The first thing to do is have a client look for clues. They become a career detective looking for clues about the fit between themselves and the working world.

SA: What is the best way to do that?
NL: To find clues, look at your life and what turns you on, what excites you, what matters, what you do well, what you care about — your MO in terms of doing things. That’s why I think it is very important to have a broad perspective and really examine everything you can find that may have impact — even what you watch on television, what song lyrics mean something to you, what you don’t like or do well in your present work. Everything is useful. Jot it down. It takes investigation, self-observation.

SA: How important is passion to finding a great job?
NL: It’s a clue. There are plenty of things, for example, I am passionate about… like sailing, but I wouldn’t want to be a charter boat skipper. There are things to be learned from that, though. As a clue, what I learned is when you’re sailing, you’re making hundreds of little decisions all the time. I like constantly problem solving. You need to put together a clues list that becomes a definite components list and then turns to career ideas.

SecondAct contributor Kerry Hannon is a Contributing Editor for U.S. News & World Report and the author of Whats Next? Follow Your Passion and Find Your Dream Job.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors forecasts that as many as 3.5 million “green” jobs will be created by 2028. If you have a passion for the environment, or are thinking of pursuing a full- or part-time job that is eco-friendly or environmentally focused, here are some tips from Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz.com:
Job-Hunting Help

How to find a green job.

Check out these job hunting sites: GreenBiz.com, Idealist, Treehugger, BrightGreentalent, LinkedIn, StopDodo, SustainLane, Treehugger.com, SustainableBusiness.com all have information on green jobs.

Search keywords.

The three words companies will list in online green job descriptions are: energy, efficiency and waste. Also search the words “green” and “nonprofit” in the jobs section of the big online job boards.Network. Join a discussion group for environment and green careers or green business on LinkedIn.

Troll green conferences.

There’s a cornucopia of green forums and conferences around the country that can be tracked down with a basic query to a search engine. Green Festival, for example, lists upcoming events around the country.Contact nonprofit environmental groups. Ask whether local nature clubs or national and global advocacy organizations have any openings. Some may be volunteer or board positions, which can be a great way to get in the door and in line for a paying job.

Go back to school.

Check in at your local community college or university to see whether they have any environmental job fairs or lectures.Attend Earth Day events. You’ll meet everyone from entrepreneurs and advocacy groups to local utility representatives and solar installers. Talking to them about job opportunities will give you great firsthand information.

Stay put.

While the mayors’ report indicates green job growth in large metropolitan areas like New York, Washington and Los Angeles, cities like Pittsburgh and Boston also make the list. “There are as many jobs open in the middle of country as there are on the coast,” Makower says. In Detroit, for instance, there’s lots going on with the Great Lakes and clean water and revitalizing the manufacturing economy. Think start-up companies making wind turbines and electric vehicle batteries, and more.
Kerry Hannon is the author of What’s Next? Follow Your Passion and Find Your Dream Job.

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For those of you looking for a job or a different career, there’s some good news: Green jobs — that is, those with an eco-friendly focus — are expected to grow in the coming years. In fact, a report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors forecasts that as many as 3.5 million green jobs will be created by 2028 (PDF) in everything from generating renewable power to retrofitting buildings.

What’s more, if you want to go green in your next job, you needn’t worry about having to have a green résumé. Many of the skills you’ve developed in prior jobs are exactly those you’ll need in the new market. If, for example, you have technical skills in engineering, architecture, accounting, marketing or project management, you’ll find job openings at solar energy firms, renewable energy outfits and others.

 Even established businesses are adding workers and jobs with a green focus. What employer doesn’t want to find ways to shed waste responsibly and cut utility bills with efficient energy use? It takes people who have been project managers, worked a sales beat and are handy at media relations to run even the small-scale eco-friendly programs now under way and get the word out about them to the outside world.

Passionate about environmental issues? Find a green job! — Photo by Noll Images

Interested? Here are five jobs to consider, depending on your skills and interests. Pay varies based on factors such as experience and where you live. Salary figures are primarily derived from U.S. Department of Labor data.

1. Green building consultant

The nitty-gritty: If you’re genuinely interested in building a post-retirement career with a green bent, it’s worth the time and effort to head back to the classroom. In general, a background in architecture, engineering and construction will give you a firm foundation. Older buildings, in particular, are getting serious facelifts. States, counties and cities are offering incentives targeted at green building projects. You probably need a grasp of (or the burning desire to learn) the technical aspects of building construction, say, the nature of leaky windows, the best ways to use natural lighting, energy-efficient heating and air-conditioning systems (HVAC), plus water-smart features such as low-pressure faucets and toilets.

Pay range: Salaries can run from $75,000 a year in Portland, Maine, and San Antonio, Texas, to $118,000 in New York City.

 Qualifications: The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program offers certification that leads to a credential as a green building specialist. That’s your calling card to offer strategic advice on a wide range of building projects. The Green Building Certification Instituteprovides information, as does its parent organization, the U.S. Green Building Council.