This week I received an email from Robert, a reader responding to a recent column I wrote entitled “Shattering Rocks – A Simple Lesson That Will Last A Lifetime”. The feedback I receive week after week as a result of this column and my blog is both humbling and inspiring, but Robert’s email resonated with me on a personal level because he’s facing a difficult professional decision that I am all too familiar with – whether or not to make a career change. While my career change took place years ago at a relatively young age, Robert, like so many in today’s global recession, has been forced to deal with this conundrum later in life which poses a unique set of circumstances, and leads to a topic that is now more relevant than ever. Should older professionals struggling in this economy consider a career change, or should they stick it out and look for new ways to generate revenue within their respective fields? While I cannot make that decision for anyone, I can tell you that either scenario requires a reinvention of sorts. But no matter which path you choose for yourself, remember this: It’s never too late to discover new opportunities, and you’re never too old for new success.

We all know that the economy is cyclical. If you wanted, you could spend hours analyzing data and charts that track everything from the Future Inflation Gauge (FIG) and Leading Home Price Index (LHPI) to the U.S. Weekly Leading Index (WLI). Understanding the triggers that influence how our economy acts, and reacts, is important for a business owner’s strategic decision-making process, but the bottom line is this: The economy fluctuates up and down over time and, since business is inextricably bound to the economy, it too will fluctuate over time. This fundamental reality poses two recession-related challenges for the business owner.

It never ceases to amaze me when I think of how far we have come technologically and how deeply technological advancements have affected the way we do business. Let me give you an example. I’m spending part of the week in a conference in Palm Beach which my company is sponsoring as an exhibitor with a booth and a display with information on our firm and our services for the participants attending the conference. Conference itineraries are generally set up so that participants can attend workshops in the mornings and afternoons, then peruse the booths and displays in the exhibit halls during lunch and breaks. This typically equates to periods of “down time” for booth operators while the participants are attending workshops. In the past, these conference dry spells were terribly unproductive, but thanks to today’s mobile technology, my team and I can be as productive sitting in a conference booth as we are in our very own office.

My son was invited to a birthday party a couple of weekends ago for one of his friends from middle school. Danny, my son, was looking forward to this party for weeks, and since my wife was going to be taking care of errands that day, I was assigned the task of buying Angelo’s gift and taking Dan to the party. Simple enough, right? Wrong. That Saturday morning, before I knew it, it was 11:30AM, and we were running late. It wasn’t until we were half way to Angelo’s house that I realized I had forgotten to buy his present. Now what? Danny couldn’t show up to a birthday party that he was invited to without a gift – much less for one of his close friends – that would be unacceptable, but at that moment I was clueless as to what to get. Danny, however, knew exactly what Angelo, and every other boy his age, would appreciate – an Xbox Live gift card with 1,600 Microsoft Points! At the time I had no idea what that was, but it was easily available in the gift-card section at any corner pharmacy, and it was $19.99. I bought the gift, Danny gave his friend a great birthday present, and the crisis was averted. I was reminded of this recent incident as I reflected upon the events of this past weekend – in particular, something I did, or rather, didn’t do, that bothered me. Yesterday, July 4th, we celebrated what is perhaps one of the most important birthdays of the year – the birth of our great nation, the United States of America – yet how many of us, myself included, brought a present to the party?