On Saturday, March 31, the NIU Alumni Association hosted a full day professional seminar at NIU’s Naperville campus. The seminar, “What Color is Your Parachute? Connecting Life Circles for Well-Being” featured John E. Nelson, author and life coach, and was sponsored by the NIU Alumni Association and Verizon Wireless, in partnership with the NIU MBA Program.
Over 60 alumni and graduate students participated in three separate sessions, “Traits and Roles,” “Ages and Values,” and “Experiences and Life Story.” Nelson says, “Whether you’re beginning, changing, or retiring from your career, there are six key elements that drive success and happiness.” In this seminar participants discovered what those key elements were for them and put them on “One Piece of Paper” to create a map for their best career and life.
John E. Nelson is a speaker and coach on the topics of life planning, well-being, and core values. He co-authored, with Richard Bolles, the best-selling, award-winning book: What Color Is Your Parachute? For Retirement. Nelson’s model for life stage planning is the Well-Being Model, and it has been adopted for employees of the federal government, AARP, Fortune “100 Best Companies to Work For,” and others.
Participants interacted in the sessions, comparing life stories and writing down their perceived roles and values. Nelson related these described traits and experiences to career choices and life changes. He spoke about the key to staying on track by identifying motivating values, and using them as a guide throughout one’s career and life transitions.
Participants were engaged, excited, and overwhelmingly positive about their experiences from the day. They liked having the graduate student / alumni interaction, hearing such a dynamic speaker, connecting their life circles relating to careers and life transitions, and taking home one of the What Color is Your Parachute? books.