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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, including our age.

 

 
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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 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

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.


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.


The 5 Relationships

One of the most important questions in life—perhaps the most important—is “Who am I?” This 2021 article shares an empowering framework Jim Selman uses to answer this question.


The Possibility of Eldering

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


Eldering Principles

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


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.


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).


Existential Confidence – Part 2

This article, co-authored with Dr. Srini Pillay, offers a new take on problem solving. It was originally published on May 7, 2019 (Medium).


Existential Confidence – Part 1

This article, co-authored with Dr. Srini Pillay, offers a new take on problem solving. It was originally published on May 7, 2019 (Medium).


The Leader’s Paradox

This article on navigating with less control in a world of accelerating change, co-authored with Dr. Srini Pillay, was originally published on Medium May 19, 2019.  


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

It is more than just the pills and the lubricants that make sex in the second half a wonderful activity. This article, published in 2011 on Huffington Post as “7 Reasons Why Sex is Better After 60”, explains how our elders have figured it out—and are having the best sex of their lives.


Wisdom of the Ages

What is wisdom? This 2006 article distinguishes the characteristics of wisdom, what it is and isn’t, and suggests that the key to success lies in giving up the folly of control and following unconventional wisdom.


Mid-Life Leadership

Things are not going well in the world these days—and leaders are needed everywhere. This 2008 article redefines retirement, explores the 8 leadership competencies that tend to emerge as you grow older, and invites us all to create a legacy for future generations.


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? In this 2021 article, Jim and neuroscientist Dr. Srini Pillay, consider what will be necessary to cultivate in this transition.


Eldering: Wisdom in Action

If we are to generate new possibilities during the current climate emergency, we must transform our traditional understanding of wisdom and action. This 2008 article distinguishes leadership, coaching and Eldering as three ways of Being that aim to produce breakthroughs.


Being Bold in Times of Emerging Change

Ordinary confidence is not sufficient to overcome extraordinary problems. The crises we face today call for boldness. This 2021 article, co-authored with psychiatrist and brain researcher Dr. Srini Pillay, offers 10 ways to cultivate the kind of “existential confidence” we need to be practicing now.