Though retirement party is not ending but rather a new beginning, it may become a splendid opportunity to celebrate certain life accomplishments. As a rule, speeches on such occasions are meant to give credit to the achievements of the retired and hardly ever contain any criticism. At my retirement party, listening equally favorable words from my colleagues, close friends and relatives would be the greatest praise for me because it would imply that I managed to balance my career and personal life.
I would be most pleased to hear that I always managed to allot enough time to my professional growth and my dear and near people. On the one hand, I would like to hear from my relatives that notwithstanding continuous overload, I have always been unselfish and responsive to their troubles.
On the other hand, it would be really pleasant to hear from my colleagues that I have been a good specialist and a good team player. With the present business environment, it is significant not only to obtain deep knowledge and profound practical skills but also to adapt to ongoing changes, focusing on cooperation instead of competition.
Disregarding the generally accepted format of the speeches at retirement parties, according to which they are mostly approving, sometimes even hypocritically approving, the speakers’ words would shed light upon not only my career achievements but also my interpersonal relationships with the rest of the staff which are a significant component of life accomplishments as well. In other words, I consider combining personal and professional growth the greatest possible achievement.
Appraising my current way of life, it can be stated that I am already on track to my dreams though certain changes should be made for increasing the likelihood of their realization.
I do my best for developing my professional skills, trying to balance various dimensions of my life. However, the improvement of my time management and goal stating skills would be helpful for enhancing the effectiveness of all my efforts. Wake (2008) noted that “Consciousness is a continuous process and the only thing that changes is ‘intentionality’” (p. 120).
Thus, watching my intentions is important for selecting the most appropriate methods of their realization and improving the future outcomes. Putting more emphasis on self-organization and soul-searching for defining the major life goals would increase the likelihood of achieving all of them by the day of my retirement party.
Frankel’s view of future orientation is relevant to my situation and allows me to choose the right direction for all my efforts. Frankel (2008) noted that “future orientation implies a determined effort not to be constrained by the past or even the present, but to use all resources to capture the fruits of future opportunities under consistent external and internal threats and technological change” (p. 14).
The choice of the most appropriate vector for all my power is significant because swimming with the stream and living without definite intentions and objectives can be compared to wandering in a forest not knowing the route. Frankel’s concept of future orientation has become an important solution in the process of my soul searching which motivated me to look into better tomorrow instead of being imprisoned in my present.
In general, it can be stated that certain changes in my self-organization and implementation o Frankel’s concept of future orientation would increase the likelihood of realization of my dream to hear equally favorable speeches from my relatives, friends and colleagues at my retirement party.
Reference List
Frankel, E. (2008). Quality decision management – the heart of effective futures-oriented management. Cambridge, MA: Springer.
Wake, L. (2008). Neurolinguistic therapy: A postmodern perspective. New York, NY: Routledge.