Sara Orem » Newsletter

Change After 55, A Questionnaire

admin — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:47:23 +0000

Change may be the theme of our lives, those of us who are older than 55 at least. We have only to watch Mad Men on television to remind ourselves of how much has changed since 1960, a year in which we reached the age of 7 or more. We’ve adapted to change, and we have spearheaded change in the world—for equal opportunities for minorities and women, for more access to education, for a better world in so many ways. And we’ve been busy creating and maintaining careers, getting married and remarried, and raising families. It may now be time for us to change ourselves—to please ourselves.

This survey is foundational for a book project I’m working on. It is about change that people over 55 initiate and experience. My hypothesis is that older people (not OLD people) have more psychic space to think about the way they really want their lives to be, and to create those lives. The space has been created by losses and changes. For most, 55, 60, or 65 is a time to think about changing our professional lives to less demanding (but perhaps more satisfying) lives. It is also a time when children are mostly grown and if they are living at home, they are at least semi-independent. Relationships may also have changed. Perhaps there has been a divorce, death, or remarriage. All of these things contribute to the space that may exist for you now.

The only required field is your email address.

Name

E-Mail Address

1. I feel the need or desire to change something about my life.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

2. I am aware of the ways in which this need for change has manifested itself in my life.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

3. Thinking about change, or acting on changes that I want to make, seems different to me now than it did when I was 20, 30, or 40.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

4. If I described the last change I made (changed jobs, quit working full-time, got married, lost weight) and how I went about that change, the process was different than it would have been when I was younger.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

5. The following characterize some important aspects of change for people who are 55 or older. When I think about change, my top five concerns are in order of importance:

Personal Health

Health of others

Risk taking

Religion/spirituality

Opportunities

Fears

Financial constraints

Freedom from financial constraints

Freedom from prior responsibilities

Hobbies, new interests, adventure

New responsibilities

Work

Relationships

Loss of work identity

6. If I could make a change in my life without effort or pain, and without causing pain to anyone else, this change would enable greater (mark the top three)

7. In approaching changes that I want to make, or have made in the last 3-5 years, I have used the following tools (mark, and rank effectiveness of all that apply).

Made a plan and worked the plan

Used self-help books

Kept a journal

Experimented

Hired a coach or therapist

Just did it

Found a mentor or mentors

Took a class

8. If I took a class about change for mature people, or gathered with a group of people my own age, I would have a lot of questions to ask them about how they changed.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

9. I would have a lot of stories to share in this class or group.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

10. I feel like my life finally makes sense, or has always made sense just the way it is.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

11. Please make any comments about your own ideas about change as a mature person, or your own change process that you would like to make. If you would like Sara to contact you about this research or about coaching for your own changes, please leave your name and email in the comment.