Second acts

A relative came up to me recently feeling helpless and depressed. He had just been laid off and was wondering what else was out there beyond the more challenging world of employment. Honestly, I was tongue-tied and at that instant did not know what to say considering that I have neither been out of a job nor have been engaged in a business of my own. In the course of our talk, I remembered the concept of the “second act,” which authors Stephen Pollan and Mark Levine define as a process of remaking, redirecting or reinventing one’s life.

I told this family member that he might need more than a job change. At that time, he was feeling like he had been removed from a great job, and was unsure of getting employed again. He was burnt out and jaded and figured it was a good opportunity to shake things up and maybe try something new. He was in a period of difficult transformation, yes, but when positively handled, such transformation can be energizing. Whether you wish to shift careers, migrate to another country, start a business and be your own boss, or drop everything to pursue a dream, you need to consider these basic precepts.

• Welcome change. It is easier said than done, but when embraced, it can be good for the soul and the body. Change makes you rethink everything. When one door closes, another opens. Look at your experiences and plan your next steps armed with your strengths. Or seek out something that will make you jump out of bed in the morning and move with burning enthusiasm. Always have an open mind to see the distinct possibilities, navigate fresh territories and face new tasks. Constantly steer your way through the proverbial hallway of innovative opportunities.

Identifying and capitalizing on the right open door defines your success. For a start, simply do what’s right in front of you at the moment. If you’re in a boat, for example, you need to row that boat on both sides. As the nursery rhyme pushes, “Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream.” Paddle it with energy and evenness and you will have a successful cruise.

• List your alternatives. Erase the notion that there may not be a lot going on right now in the world you’re most familiar with. To your surprise, you may just discover that other parts of the industry you move around in could use your other untapped expertise. Don’t limit yourself to what you are already doing. Everything you already know will come in handy and can be put to good use.

Be more flexible in your second act search. And as you exercise your options, avoid looking for excuses for failure. When you row your boat toward a new challenge, leave excuses behind. Instead, take full personal responsibility in looking for answers. They may be counter-intuitive, inappropriate, and even outrageous solutions, but they can bring results that can get you out of the rut, so you can race on and win.

• Show what you’ve got to offer. Be confident in the thought that you have a lot to share. You already know how to manage a schedule and juggle tasks. You’re probably a better worker than you think you are, even if your self-assurance isn’t at its peak right now. Fear is a strong motivator. Use it to your advantage. You may stumble and fall at first, but you will eventually figure it out because you have to prove to yourself that you are an engine that can still “toot, toot and toot.”

• Just do it. Follow Nike’s call to action. You can do it even if you’re not necessarily making a change by choice because you’re smart and talented. See the second act as an interesting opportunity in front of you. It’s the chance to take a chance, to take a bigger risk than you might not have otherwise confronted. Your present world may be drastically different from your future world, but you’ll meet new leaders, new thinkers and new colleagues you may never have even met if you didn’t take the plunge.

More than any other time in your life, you now have the freedom and flexibility to do what you really want. Formulate your second act by reevaluating what you have, redefining who you are, reinvigorating what you want and recommitting to your newfound path. Years later, you may even be glad you got pushed out of the nest. It may not always be easy and it may make you uncomfortable, but with fortitude and will to succeed, it will certainly not be lackluster. The change will not be temporary and you may end up loving the second act — the new world you’ve decided to put your hand to. Truly, change is good, even if sometimes you didn’t see it coming. These second-act stories can serve as your reminder that life is but a dream, and it becomes so when you follow the road and go with the flow.

Lightning never strikes twice, but Steve Jobs has, transforming modern culture first with the Macintosh and more recently with the iPod. Some call Jobs an erratic and temperamental boss; others call him the most interesting character of the digital age. With the mainstream success of the iPod, and his triumphant return to Apple, Jobs’ story is better than any fiction. It was his second act. Ten years after the leading maverick of the computer age and the king of digital cool had crashed from the height of Apple’s meteoric rise, being forced out of his own company, he rose from ashes in a Machiavellian coup that only he could have orchestrated, and has now become more famous than ever.

Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to three consecutive National Basketball Association (NBA) championships and then abruptly retired at the age of thirty to launch a second act as a professional baseball player. Unable to do well in baseball, he returned to the NBA and picked up where he left off, leading the Bulls to another three consecutive championships.

When J. K. Rowling’s marriage ended in divorce she picked up her daughter and lived in Scotland, to be near her sister. Living on public assistance and struggling to support herself and her daughter, she was overjoyed when she finally sold her first book. Her second act was underway. By 1999, the first three installments in her Harry Potter series had claimed the top three slots on the New York Times bestseller list. The rest is history. She’s is now one of wealthiest women in the world.

Locally, Grace Padaca was a broadcaster until she become a provincial governor — her second act. Fr. Ed Panlilio of Pampanga had his, too — from priest to an elected public official. After all, service to people cuts across church and government lines. Kapamilya artist Willie Revillame had a string of second acts until he found his niche, did well in it, and became rich and famous. Who knows where he will go next?

Live your dream and personal reinvention. When you can lighten up and laugh at yourself, you can spin nightmares into dreams and turn black and white images into high definition colors. You have the choice of habitually suffering the pangs of terminal seriousness — or you can laugh out loud and have the merry heart of the wise fool. –Bong R. Osorio, Philippine Star

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E-mail bongosorio@yahoo.com or bong_osorio@abs-cbn.com for comments, questions and suggestions. Thank you for communicating.