
Helping Baby Boomers Become Golden Executives
So who Is Charles B. Burke?
The Golden Executive was born from direct experience. I
had begun meeting more and more Baby Boomers and Seniors who were
into their
golden years, but life wasn't golden for them yet -- not even
close.
In fact, many were still scrambling to make ends meet.
And
wondering how much longer they could hold things together.
Worse, they were feeling that their "someday" dreams,
the dreams and hopes they'd secretly carried for years, were never
going to happen. A whole generation was walking around wondering, "is
it too late for me? Did I wait too long?"
I was born at the leading edge of the Baby Boom surge (in
1943), so as you read this, I'm already deep into the territory
most Boomers
are just entering. But the truth is, I was living in this territory
long before I ever reached my fifties and sixties. Originally from
Georgia I grew up near Chicago, then returned
south in my late twenties.
By the time I moved to Japan at age
42, I
had
worked in camera shops, photo labs, loading docks, bakeries,
print shops, and department stores. I had painted houses, pumped
gas,
driven taxis, delivered blueprints for a copy shop, and sold
brushes door-to-door. A friend once joked that my career track
looked like
Brownian Motion (that's the term physicists use to describe the
random path of atoms). Guess you
could call me more of a maverick than a herd animal.
I've never been intimidated by variety or change. Nor was I drawn
to conventional corporate employment paths. I like to explore.
However, even though explorers spend most of their time lost, they
do get there… and enjoy dazzling new scenery along the way.
More importantly, they end up marking trails that others can safely
follow. So I became an expert in change simply by living it.
In 1985 I took a wild chance and moved to Japan. This, even though
I didn't speak a word of the language, didn't have a job lined
up, and had no direct experience with the work I planned to do
there.
As soon as I arrived, I dived in to my new career as writer, rewriter
and editor. You know how, when a non-native translates something
into English, it can sound a little strange? Well I became the
guy who took out the strange and made it sound like native English.
And Japan was eager for my services. These days we would call this
a high-paying niche market. But back then I just considered it
being in the right place at the right time.
And by the way, the adventure continues -- after more than 20
years in Japan, I now live in Chiang Mai, Thailand with my Japanese
wife Shioe.
Over the years, while grappling with the kind of problems everyone
faces, I learned many things about improving my life, strengthening
my motivation, gaining new skills, and upping my chances for success
and happiness. In 1998, I began writing down some of these things,
producing three
books and hundreds of articles (many of the articles are available
for free at this website and at my blog, BullsEye-Living.com).
Most of that material was written for a general readership.
But the emails -- many of them from seniors who weren't ready
to quit, but didn't quite know what to do next -- those emails
tugged at me the most strongly. Those emails, those calls, those
requests for coaching finally decided me. And Golden Executive
Coaching became the next adventure in my already varied and exciting
life.
My grandmother sent me my first self help book (I
Can by Ben Sweetland)
at age 13. It was a birthday gift, and she hoped, almost fiercely,
that I'd live a more successful life than she had. So I consider
The Golden Executive her legacy, handed on to you through me. Her
best and highest intentions are still alive, still thriving in
you and me, even though she has long since passed on.
As you face the natural changes ahead of you, you can relax knowing
there's someone who can advise and coach you through it. After
all, I've met and dealt with change my entire life (and survived
very well).
And if you're feeling it may be too late for you, know
this: It
is NOT too late. Unless you let it be. So how do you not let
it be? Here's how -- you fill your mind with dreams, ideas, and
plans
(which you already have, but they may be overshadowed by confusion,
despair or fear right now). Then you learn the right kinds
of action
to take... action that will carry you along
the straightest possible path to those dreams of yours.
One of the surest ways to succeed at anything is to associate
yourself with someone who already knows the path and understands
your experiences. That means finding a mentor or hiring a coach.
And if it's to be a coach, it's best to find one who really understands
your issues. You're a Baby Boomer approaching (or already into)
your so-called "Golden Years." You have things you want
to achieve before you leave. You want to make a bigger contribution
before the game is over. And you just aren't quite sure where to
begin, what to do next, what path to follow.
I hope you find this site a valuable resource in your quest to
be the best possible Baby Boomer -- a true Golden Executive. It
IS in you. All it takes is bringing it out.
I
offer a 1-shot
"Reality Check" Session to clarify where you are,
where
you
want to go, and what you'll need to get there... click
here
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