February 1st marks one month until I start writing a new chapter in this 66-year-old life of mine. As I leverage my relationship with existing customers by handing them a newly minted business card it will be interesting how many—if any, take a chance on a 66-year-old rookie. Either way, I haven’t had this level of excitement for an awful long time and it feels exhilarating! It also proves, at least to me, that you are never too old to chase a dream if you believe in yourself. During my life in the workforce, it has been fairly easy to see who is moving on, especially those with a normally strong work ethic. I have long held the belief that at least mentally, you have quit your job 6 months before leaving the building. Maybe with the world in such a state of chaos we are too busy with our own issues to pay attention to our comrades and what they may be contemplating. Most I have told seem to be pleasantly surprised and happy for me so I guess I’ve kept a pretty good poker face. I continue to give as much as I can to make my exit smooth, but acknowledge it grows increasingly difficult to not look ahead to the future. As hard as I focus on the task at hand and make every effort to slog on, my heart is already out the door. I remember being in management with a company that cared about building teams for the present and more importantly, the future, so when a key person left there was an excited and energetic person to pass the “baton” too with enough basic skills and street-smarts to succeed. Nowadays, rather than grooming future leaders, business is handed over to already worn-out and overworked sales people. They have neither the time, energy nor the inclination to grow new accounts. Always playing defense with little or no hope of scoring is a sad and depressing game; one I am happily leaving behind.

At this same time, my wife and I have retained a tax attorney on the suggestion of our entrepreneur son. We openly admit to not paying near the attention we should have to our overall financial health and deem this the perfect opportunity to correct that, albeit a little later than most tackle it. New career at 66, the start of Social Security and Medicare and the decision to become an “S” corp—what better time to start fresh right? I listen to the news regarding the pending multi-trillion dollar stimulus bill that already follows a multi-billion dollar stimulus package that was preceded by the original multi-trillion dollar stimulus relief and wonder what the value of a $ dollar bill really is. This is part of the theory behind securing a tax attorney. We believe we will need every financial advantage possible to weather this pending tax apocalypse because the average Joe Schmo doesn’t stand a chance in hell.

I have been wondering more lately what our post-COVID world will look like and what businesses and or industries will still be standing. So much hope is being pinned on the ever growing list of vaccine manufacturers, which makes me curious what happens if they underperform? Since I believe we will all be required to carry a “Vaccination Card” ( just my opinion, not promoting it at all) to prove worthy of travel and congregating, what happens when certain vaccines don’t work as well or are looked on less favorably than others? If you are a business do you really care? As long as people can frequent your establishment because they are vaccinated, no problem. But what about the public? Are they going to travel or “seek-out” those that cater to particular brands because of a perception of being safer rather than simply be vaccinated? I don’t view myself as being particularly paranoid about contracting COVID but I also don’t take unnecessary risks either. I still stay away from large groups or gatherings and wear a mask more often than not, at least when inside a business. Outside, not so much. Like everyone else, I do miss the beautiful “pre-COVID” world and would LOVE to enjoy it again but wonder how much damage has been done to my psyche. I worry more time will be spent thinking about safety and my surroundings—am I safe, did they lie about getting vaccinated, is it too crowded in this bar… then the experience I am there for in the first place. Hopefully this will pass but I think all of us will be looking over our proverbial shoulder well into the future.