TransformingYourCareerTransformingYourself

As the post-WWII economic boom was kicking in, optimism surged about lifting much of America into the middle class. That was from immigrant families clawing at barely making a living, lack of having a real education and a certain crudeness about etiquette.  During the late 1950s and early 1960s the oldest of us Boomers were indoctrinated by high school guidance sorts and our direct homeroom teachers that we could be all we aspired to. Wild, I could become a writer, I was encouraged. We just had to 1) Go to college and 2) Fit in. The personal essay for those college applications mandated evidence of being well-rounded. That is, blending in.  And, for too many of us, the nightmare began: The struggle to take on the protective coloring to appear to fit in. Yet, come on, few of us closet outliers fooled ourselves or probably others that we functioned perfectly within the box. The suffering could be profound. In my mid 20s I tried psychoanalysis, convinced I needed to file down the...

  "Flowers, wine, an Hermès bag, $10,000 in Bergdorf Goodman gift cards, spa time, an Apple Watch, “1 million amex points”—that’s a list of some of the gifts Epstein sent Kathryn Ruemmler, the new [Epstein Files] documents show." That's what The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, after the most recent dump of the records of communications between Jeffrey Epstein and big names. Other media such as the New York Post also enthusiastically detailed the cozy relationship between former Latham partner and current Goldman Sachs top lawyer Ruemmler and the man she called "Uncle Jeffrey."  Back on January 19, 2026, The Wall Street Journal published a very long form expose on what was already known about that. The obvious question left hanging was: So, what was Goldman going to do about this? There were statements that the board was solidly with Ruemmler. But some of the comments following the article smirked that such language is code that this Friend of Epstein i...

  Some of those analyzing which types of work function had been targeted in the latest round of Amazon layoffs came up with this: " ... the further away you are from doing the actual work, the more at risk you are." Amazon itself has labeled that new reality the "culture of ownership."  That approach to work used to be called "rolling up your sleeves." That is, not overseeing operations but actually doing them.  You might think of doing the work as, well, blue collar. Didn't we knowledge workers assume this: The majority of those on the assembly lines in production facilities - the blue collar workforce - aspired to get off the factory floor into management - that is, catapult into white collar? Push paper. Make decisions. Wear dress clothes to work. Have a shower in their office. Maybe not. Maybe we were projecting our own revulsion about doing real physical work. Keep it abstract.  Currently, if we position what's going on at Amazon as a model o...

  Some parents, once proud their offspring is doing well in college, now are in a panic. What is being majored in is a field that is structurally contracting. Sure, there are some jobs but not many and midlevels are being forced out. So, the question is: Should the degree be completed? That's what they ask me. Well, that depends. Since there is already a loss of faith in degree-getting the answer is not going to be to switch majors. At least, not in the situations I am called upon to review. Essentially these factors are critical in the decision making about continuing with college: How far along is the student and how much money would still have to be invested to complete the degree?  If it's in the early stages, as the old saying goes, that's like throwing good money after bad. One parent of a freshman plans to have the son transfer to a certification program at the community college at the end of the year. Therefore, in the future, if the young adult wants to add on to c...

As most of us were struggling to define who we were and concealing insecurities in high school there were those who dominated. They excelled in all the categories which mattered so much back then. Those ranged from popularity to academic brilliance. And then we probably never heard about them again.  Recent research on extreme early success by Arne Gullich explains that phenomenon. It's essentially about peaking too early. Gullich is a sports scientist at RPTU University Kaisers-lautern-Landau in Germany. The study appears in Science Daily.  An engaging narrative about that is published in January 17 - 23rd 2026 edition of The Economist. Spoiler Alert: Those not so locked into a single category of high performance usually have the staying power to develop into the achievers of our society.  The reasons for this are many. They include: Trying a lot of things instead of honing one skill or identity. In the process, discovering the source of the true genius. Not burning out....

Blame it on living so long? Along with that are blips like being forced early into retirement and not being located (based in the serenity of rural areas) where there are part-time jobs and gigs?  Smart, educated older knowledge workers are among those the Census Bureau assigns to the poverty designation : "In a stunning warning for the rapidly-aging U.S., poverty rose for  seniors  in more than 800 counties over the past five years, according to new  Census Bureau  estimates." The result, Rich Dad Poor Dad Robert Kiyosaki has been warning for a while, can be homelessness.    I see that coming for a Mensa (certified as having a very high IQ) who seemed to assume they were too smart to have to worry about money.  Typical also is the former professional who lost the big job and is waiting for the next big score rather than pulling in income from any kind of work. Explicitly one informed me in a complimentary consultation that they were not goi...