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Personal Transformation Articles

We are living in a real-time world, an increasingly unpredictable reality in which we cannot rely on the past to orient ourselves, predict the future, or inform what we do. In most areas of life, we don’t have control over our circumstances, other people, or even ourselves. But these articles help us remember that we always have a choice in how we relate to anything and everything that concerns us.

 
All Articles
  • All Articles
  • Aging
  • AI
  • Coaching
  • Eldering
  • Leadership
  • Politics

1. Health

Health is the first of five declarations made in the Eldering Ceremony.


2. Happiness

Happiness is the second of five declarations made in the Eldering Ceremony.


3. Self-Expression

Self-Expression is the third of five declarations made in the Eldering Ceremony.


4. Love

Love is the fourth of five declarations made in the Eldering Ceremony.


5. Being Valued

Being valued is the final declaration made in the Eldering Ceremony.


7 Reasons Why Elders Make Great Lovers
(and have better sex)

It’s more than just pills and lubricants that make sex great. Jim explains how our elders have figured it out—and are having the best sex of their lives.


Being Bold in Times of Emerging Change

Ordinary confidence is not sufficient to overcome extraordinary problems. The crises we face today call for boldness. Here Jim and psychiatrist and brain researcher Dr. Srini Pillay offer 10 major life reframes to give you access to the power and possibility of “existential confidence”.


Christmas Letter

What are you grateful for? Jim Selman shares what he’s learned and who he appreciates in this different kind of Christmas letter.


Dreaming of a Dark Christmas

Not everyone is filled with joy during the holiday season. Jim suggests how we can relate to those who feel sad, isolated, or lonely.


Eldering Defined

Eldering is a vision for growing older. It is an opportunity to have the rest of life be richer and more rewarding than you can imagine.


Eldering Principles

Eldering occurs in conversations. Elders practice six fundamental principles when listening and speaking with others.


Eldering: Wisdom in Action

If we are to generate new possibilities, we must transform our traditional understanding of wisdom and action. Jim’s 2008 article distinguishes leadership, coaching, and Eldering as three ways of Being that aim to produce breakthroughs.


Existential Confidence – Part 1

This article, first in a two-part series co-authored with Dr. Srini Pillay, offers a new take on problem solving.


Existential Confidence – Part 2

This article, co-authored with Dr. Srini Pillay, is the second in a two-part series offering us a new take on problem solving.


Homo sapiens ____?

Could homo sapiens as a species choose a different branch in the evolutionary tree? If so, what ‘homo-something-else’ should we become? Jim and neuroscientist Dr. Srini Pillay consider what will be necessary to cultivate in this transition.


If I were a leader…

More reflections on David Suzuki’s “If You Were Prime Minister” national campaign in Canada in 2007.


Inside the Mind of a Troubled Leader

Jim Selman and Dr. Srini Pillay propose “existential confidence” as a solution to self-doubt, uncertainy, and fluctuating confidence in this 2019 article (originally published on Medium).


Living the Questions

What do I want? What should I do? Who am I? Jim suggests a healthy way to relate to these “sticky”questions.


Mid-Life Leadership

Things are not going well in the world these days—and leaders are needed everywhere. Jim redefines retirement, explores the 8 leadership competencies that tend to emerge as we grow older, and invites us all to create a legacy for future generations.


Navigating An Ocean of Moods

Moods are to humans as water is to a fish. They are a medium in which we live and think.


Reinventing Retirement

In this 2006 speech, Selman investigates the conversation we have about aging and shares his three rules for growing older. He then applies those new rules to the five things that are at the core of anything we might want in retirement.


The 5 Relationships

One of the most important questions in life—perhaps the most important—is “Who am I?” Jim shares the empowering framework he uses to answer this question.


The Eldering Ceremony

The Eldering Ceremony is an opening for thoughtful adults to:

  • Declare what they stand for
  • State publicly what they can be counted on to contribute to younger generations, their community and the world for the remainder of their lives
  • Be recognized for who they are
  • Assume their role as an Elder.

The Leader’s Paradox

Can leaders navigate with less control in a world of accelerating change? Jim and Dr. Pillay distinguish six frameworks for doing so.    


The New Year

Jim reflects on the first decade of the twentieth century, what gives him hope, and what we can do instead of making New Year’s resolutions.


The Next 10 Years

The New Year’s questions Jim asks here were the questions that occupied the last ten years of his life.


The Possibility of Eldering

Jim saw Eldering as a collective, multigenerational movement to empower each other and transform the paradigms that limit what is possible for the future.


Traditions and Rituals

Are traditions and rituals becoming a casualty of our real-time world? Jim Selman looks at why they should not in this article, first published on Christmas Day 2018 at www.real-timeworld.com.


What to do?

David Suzuki’s 2007 “If You Were Prime Minister” campaign sparked questions from Jim, the key one being where do you start?


Wisdom of the Ages

What is wisdom? Jim distinguishes the characteristics of wisdom and proposes the key to success lies in following unconventional wisdom.


All Articles
  • All Articles
  • Aging
  • AI
  • Coaching
  • Eldering
  • Leadership
  • Politics

1. Health

Health is the first of five declarations made in the Eldering Ceremony.


2. Happiness

Happiness is the second of five declarations made in the Eldering Ceremony.


3. Self-Expression

Self-Expression is the third of five declarations made in the Eldering Ceremony.


4. Love

Love is the fourth of five declarations made in the Eldering Ceremony.


5. Being Valued

Being valued is the final declaration made in the Eldering Ceremony.


7 Reasons Why Elders Make Great Lovers
(and have better sex)

It’s more than just pills and lubricants that make sex great. Jim explains how our elders have figured it out—and are having the best sex of their lives.


Being Bold in Times of Emerging Change

Ordinary confidence is not sufficient to overcome extraordinary problems. The crises we face today call for boldness. Here Jim and psychiatrist and brain researcher Dr. Srini Pillay offer 10 major life reframes to give you access to the power and possibility of “existential confidence”.


Christmas Letter

What are you grateful for? Jim Selman shares what he’s learned and who he appreciates in this different kind of Christmas letter.


Dreaming of a Dark Christmas

Not everyone is filled with joy during the holiday season. Jim suggests how we can relate to those who feel sad, isolated, or lonely.


Eldering Defined

Eldering is a vision for growing older. It is an opportunity to have the rest of life be richer and more rewarding than you can imagine.


Eldering Principles

Eldering occurs in conversations. Elders practice six fundamental principles when listening and speaking with others.


Eldering: Wisdom in Action

If we are to generate new possibilities, we must transform our traditional understanding of wisdom and action. Jim’s 2008 article distinguishes leadership, coaching, and Eldering as three ways of Being that aim to produce breakthroughs.


Existential Confidence – Part 1

This article, first in a two-part series co-authored with Dr. Srini Pillay, offers a new take on problem solving.


Existential Confidence – Part 2

This article, co-authored with Dr. Srini Pillay, is the second in a two-part series offering us a new take on problem solving.


Homo sapiens ____?

Could homo sapiens as a species choose a different branch in the evolutionary tree? If so, what ‘homo-something-else’ should we become? Jim and neuroscientist Dr. Srini Pillay consider what will be necessary to cultivate in this transition.


If I were a leader…

More reflections on David Suzuki’s “If You Were Prime Minister” national campaign in Canada in 2007.


Inside the Mind of a Troubled Leader

Jim Selman and Dr. Srini Pillay propose “existential confidence” as a solution to self-doubt, uncertainy, and fluctuating confidence in this 2019 article (originally published on Medium).


Living the Questions

What do I want? What should I do? Who am I? Jim suggests a healthy way to relate to these “sticky”questions.


Mid-Life Leadership

Things are not going well in the world these days—and leaders are needed everywhere. Jim redefines retirement, explores the 8 leadership competencies that tend to emerge as we grow older, and invites us all to create a legacy for future generations.


Navigating An Ocean of Moods

Moods are to humans as water is to a fish. They are a medium in which we live and think.


Reinventing Retirement

In this 2006 speech, Selman investigates the conversation we have about aging and shares his three rules for growing older. He then applies those new rules to the five things that are at the core of anything we might want in retirement.


The 5 Relationships

One of the most important questions in life—perhaps the most important—is “Who am I?” Jim shares the empowering framework he uses to answer this question.


The Eldering Ceremony

The Eldering Ceremony is an opening for thoughtful adults to:

  • Declare what they stand for
  • State publicly what they can be counted on to contribute to younger generations, their community and the world for the remainder of their lives
  • Be recognized for who they are
  • Assume their role as an Elder.

The Leader’s Paradox

Can leaders navigate with less control in a world of accelerating change? Jim and Dr. Pillay distinguish six frameworks for doing so.    


The New Year

Jim reflects on the first decade of the twentieth century, what gives him hope, and what we can do instead of making New Year’s resolutions.


The Next 10 Years

The New Year’s questions Jim asks here were the questions that occupied the last ten years of his life.


The Possibility of Eldering

Jim saw Eldering as a collective, multigenerational movement to empower each other and transform the paradigms that limit what is possible for the future.


Traditions and Rituals

Are traditions and rituals becoming a casualty of our real-time world? Jim Selman looks at why they should not in this article, first published on Christmas Day 2018 at www.real-timeworld.com.


What to do?

David Suzuki’s 2007 “If You Were Prime Minister” campaign sparked questions from Jim, the key one being where do you start?


Wisdom of the Ages

What is wisdom? Jim distinguishes the characteristics of wisdom and proposes the key to success lies in following unconventional wisdom.