Population Shifts Spur New Education Programs
Ole Miss will be dedicating a full department to Applied Gerontology due to population shifts that will create new needs to support an aging population.
By 2050, one in five individuals will be 65 or older. As such they want to help their students learn and think about ways to manage the changes in our society and businesses, etc. to support an aging population while a younger population decreases. By thinking about these changes now, we can start to forecast how to fund such changes as well as the systems that will need to be in place to adjust to the changes.
Another nice element, “the Department of Applied Gerontology is developing a fully online undergraduate minor and online Master of Science in Applied Gerontology to submit to IHL within the year.” So, if someone has an interest in pursuing a career in gerontology, there will be at least one other online path available.
Top Online Training or Learning Platforms
According to Part-Time Money, the five best online education platforms are:
They do a nice job of noting some pros and cons of each platform. Something to consider - some have fees or charges and others are free. Still others like Coursera or Lynda may have relationships with local libraries where you might have access through your library membership. But one thing is important, if you aren’t constantly learning, you could find out that your skill sets can be replaced over time. Education will be a necessary tool for employee development within larger companies as well as a necessary tool for all people as we may have to reinvent ourselves 2, 3, or 4+ times over the course of our future 60 year careers…
How to Identify Trends to Adjust Your Business
In keeping with the theme about trends, I thought it would be good to share this blog by Mark Esposito from Harvard who talks about thinking about tomorrow in order to prepare today.
One consistent theme we have learned with Generation Bridge is that people desire control, but push decisions back until situations arise where they no longer have control. Why do we not take the time to prepare for “unpleasant” potential? Sometimes it’s because we don’t want to admit that negative things “can happen”. BUT preparation doesn’t mean that we are inviting negative outcomes, but rather, it allows us to identify stressors and exhibit control over those stressors when the need arises - maintaining control over as much as possible.
The same is the case in business. Disruption will happen, but with disruption we can find opportunities. If a recession is coming, how do we prepare as individuals or as businesses. The thought processes outlined in this article can help people think through potential change and how we as people or businesses can adapt.
3 Good Things About Death
This post on Psychology Today by Meg Selig in 2018 was a nice look at a grim subject. Some keys to call out here is that she calls out 3 positives about her own death in a humorous way and the reading is actually pretty light.
She also talks about an attitude of appreciation and the impact it has on our happiness. I will be trying the approach of 3 good things each day over the next couple of weeks and will make my own judgment, but I know that as I take time to pray at night, an attitude of gratitude overtakes most conversations I have with my maker. When we note how lucky we are to rotate around the sun on the third planet, in a solar system that makes its way through one of billions of galaxies, it is easy to see that we are VERY lucky to be here living in our world.
Of course the thought of death can be filled with fear, but the more we come to terms with our mortality the better we’re able to cope with the fear and turn that fear into something more productive. It’s a nice read if you get a chance.
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