Don't Stop the Career Clock: Rejecting the Myths of Aging for a New Way to Work in the 21st Century (Paperback)

by Helen Harkness (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Don't Stop the Career Clock is a blast of optimism for 40-something boomers and those even later in life who think they are on the downhill slope. Harkness successfully bursts many of the stereotypes of aging. -- Book Page, April 1999

Fortunately, Harkness provides positive ideas and hands-on suggestions to help us change. The last section of the book, "Resetting the Career Clock," is especially valuable, outlining a seven-step plan and backing it up with an impressive array of charts and questionnaires designed to help you reach the satisfying and meaningful work you want. This is one formula that will keep working for a long time. -- Get Up and Go! May 1999

Helen Harkness has some great ideas. The title of her book says it all. If you need to be convinced that you're only as old as you think you are, read the first 72 pages. But if you've grown up without growing old, start on page 73, with the section titled: "Learning a New Way to Tell Time." -- Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 1, 1999

Your career is like a book with familiar plot lines but perhaps unexpected developments. Follow the books for help to find your own happy ending: Don't Stop the Career Clock. -- Associated Press, September 27, 1999

Product Description
As legions of baby boomers approach retirement age, this important call to action outlines the steps to thriving as an older worker in a newly defined work world. Dispelling the stereotypes of aging that prevail in our culture, Helen Harkness champions a radical approach to aging and working for the new century. With inspiring stories of people who created their most satisfying careers at an age when others were being "put out to pasture," Harkness shatters the myth that growing older equals biological, mental, psychological, and creative decline and encourages us instead to reset our career clocks. Her book charts a clear course for rethinking our future and finding career fulfillment in later life, with exercises, self-assessments, and worksheets for each step along the way. Practical information shows readers how to find the order in the chaos of our Information Age, shake loose from old stereotypes to creatively integrate aging and working, tell time different! ly--functionally, not chronologically--and develop success criteria and the action steps needed to get there.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Intercultural Press (April 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891061274
• ISBN-13: 978-0891061274
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #741,657 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't stop your career clock -- rewind it with this book, June 15, 2004

By	Barbara Morris, R.Ph. "Youth Preservation Expert" (Escondido, CA United States) - See all my reviews

While surfing the Internet, I discovered a site where for $2.00 you can purchase excerpts from books on their list. Because of my interest in anti-aging issues, I purchased three excerpts from a book titled Don't Stop the Career Clock: Rejecting the Myths of Aging for a New Way to Work in the 21st Century by Helen Harkness, Ph.D. I was so impressed by what I read in the excerpts that I immediately purchased the book.

If the excerpts were impressive, the book blew me away. I finally found someone who understands how to successfully manage the aging process.

Dr. Helen Harkness is well past retirement age but wisely refrains from revealing her chronological age. However, I can tell you that after meeting her at her office in Garland, TX, she functions as a dynamic, fifty-year old. She maintains an active professional schedule as president of Career Design Associates, Inc., which specializes in individual and organizational renewal through career and management training programs. She has been an English professor, department chair, director of adult education, acting dean of business development, and academic dean and provost at the University of Plano in the 1970s. When I last corresponded with her, she was off to Australia to deliver a keynote address.

Don't Stop the Career Clock is filled with meticulous research to support the author's thinking and beliefs about aging and working. There is something on every page worth highlighting. Particularly helpful for those vacillating between retirement and continuing to be productive in one capacity or another, is the chapter "Seven Steps for Resetting Your Career Clock." In this chapter, Dr. Harkness provides numerous exercises to help you think about what you are good at, and what you might really want to do with the rest of your life. The exercises alone are worth ten times the cost of the book.

What I personally found most helpful is the chapter "Learning a New Way to Tell Time." In it, Dr. Harkness says, ". . . because of our social and cultural expectations, we program ourselves to begin to fall apart at a certain designated age, and we oblige.". She then gives her "live long, die fast" contemporary model for aging which should give hope to anyone over age 65 who has bought into the myth that "it's too late for me".

If you are "middle aged" or older, this is a "must read" book. If you are younger, get a head start on designing a fabulous future for yourself. Don't Stop the Career Clock will show you how to do it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Find your true authentic self, January 18, 2006

By	Sherry Dumois "true to self" (Fort Worth, Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I found out about Helen Harkness from a business colleague who has a graduate degree in business from Harvard University. He highly recommended her books and career counseling. Having taught in public schools for 5 years and then worked in commercial real estate for more than 20 years, I came to a place where I needed a change and a new challenge. I purchased this book and could not put it down! It helped me so much that I purchased her other books. I found all of them helpful.

If you are dissatisfied with your present career and looking for a career change, finding a career for the first time or retiring and wanting to start something new, this is the book for you. Helen helps you sort through and begin to see there are no obstacles (certainly not age)to becoming true to yourself in your work. Helen will help you get in touch with your "true authentic self" and help you see your natural gifts and interests in a way you may never have seen yourself before. Her research is timely and the information will give you insight for your future career. I applaud her work and highly recommend this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Creating a Mindset for Thriving in Senior Life, December 8, 2008

By	David Borchard "Life/career Coach" (Shepherdstown, WV, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Joy of Retirement: Finding Happiness, Freedom, and the Life You've Always Wanted

This book by Dr. Harkness is a little treasure, filled with wisdom insights for thriving in the senior years. It's filled with knowledge acquired from Helen's professional practice, from her research on the aging process and her own life experience as a senior. If you are in the 50 plus years this is one of those books you will want to keep handy as a reference for frequent review and reminders on ways to shape your thinking and living in the 50 plus years. There are so many tidbits of wisdom on pages to keep tabbed with your favorite quotes, such as, "The greatest threat to life and health in our midlife is having nothing to live for that matters to us." (page 31). In my work as a professional counselor and life coach I encourage my 50-plus clients to get the book, mark it up and keep it handy.

David C. Borchard, Ed.D
Career/executive Coach
www.VisionTrac.com