1 . So often we find ourselves on autopilot—waking up in the same home, putting on the same clothes and taking the same transportation to the same-old job.    1    And while it’s perfectly natural for humans to stick to routine, there’s much to be discovered beyond the limits of our comfort zones.

There is no exception to a man aged 53.    2    He knew it was going to be hard to find another job. He also knew it was now or never to pursue his lifelong dream of owning his own restaurant. But he was too old to compete with the young and too weak to do any labor work.

    3    He didn’t want to spend his rest life sitting around and feeling pity for himself. Also, Mrs. Mockenhaupt actively encouraged him to move on, considering it a perfect chance for two of them to start their own business with plenty of time and without the disturbance of children.

    4    Brian found just what he wanted eight blocks from home—an existing cafe that was underperforming and whose owner was highly motivated to get out of his lease (租期).    5    But the problem was that he had never financially planned for this day. He had to borrow money from friends and relatives. After that, he changed the name to Black Dog Coffee, and made it alive again. Eighteen years later, they’re still there and doing better than ever. Brian says he’s extremely grateful for the decision to make a change.

2 . Leia was fresh out of college when she began working as a member of a business-development team at a company. Though her skills had earned her the job, she was the youngest person in the team. “Everybody else was pretty much twice my age,” she says. “I exhibited” too much ambition’ in the eyes of my superiors. I heard about comments being made behind my back. There were even a couple of times when my superiors referred to my age right in front of me, saying I was too young: “What does a 23-year-old know about these things?”

Leia tried to change her appearance at work. “I changed the way I dressed. I tried to dress older, more ‘ladylike’. I changed my mannerisms and tried to act older,” she says. “It worked, to an extent.” The comments about her age and inexperience lessened, but Leia says she still felt like her growth potential was limited. She left the company soon after.

What Leia experienced was ageism, traditionally seen as something only older people face. For instance, older workers might be judged based on assumptions that they won’t fit into a progressive office or learn technology quickly. A US study showed that nearly two-thirds of workers aged 45 and older had seen or experienced age discrimination. But younger workers face age discrimination, too. In fact, new research shows it may actually be the youngest team members who are bearing the brunt of workplace ageism right now, potentially impacting their careers.

Leia says removing ageism entirely will ultimately require a fundamental change to corporate culture, which has long tied seniority to skill. “We prize years of experience a little too much, and I don’t think years of experience and skill are necessarily correlated,” she says. “Steve Jobs was 21 when he founded Apple. We don’t know how much younger people actually have to contribute. Hopefully, more employers are realizing it.”

3 . For as long as I can remember, I want to be a performer. But when it was time to go to college and decide what I wanted to be for the rest of my life, it didn’t occur to me to choose drama as my major. Making a living as a performer seems impractical to me. So instead of starting drama I started pre-law, and then went to law school like my two sisters did before me. They seemed happy enough, I thought; they worked about 80 hours a week, but they made good money and could afford expensive cars and fancy apartments in the city.

After law school I got a new job and worked as a lawyer for a big company. I had great benefits, including four weeks of vacation a year, but I never got to use any of my vacation time because there was always too much work to do. I worked from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week, and when I was finished, all I could do was collapse into my bed until I woke up to do it all over again the next day.

After five years of this lifestyle, I thought I was going to go crazy. I was unhappy and exhausted, I never saw my friends or my family, and I realized I hadn’t been in a play or musical since I started law school. I thought that acting in a small community play might make me feel better, but rehearsals and performances all took place during my work hours. So I made a drastic decision and quit my job.

I got a small part in a local play and then the lead role. Now I make my living from acting, and once in a while, I do some legal consulting for a little extra money. I don’t get paid a lot for my acting jobs, but it’s enough. I had to give up my big apartment and expensive car, but I’m so much happier now. I see my friends and family, I have free time,and I get to do something I love every day.

4 .

Hot Spots for Retirees to Start Their Encore Career

Encore Career: Vocational School Instructor

Retire in: Los Angeles, CA

Ever since IBM CEO Ginni Rometty coined the term “new collar” to describe well-paid jobs that require specific skills but not necessarily a degree, vocational schools have made a serious comeback. Apparently instructors are in short supply in sunny L.A., where there are 13 jobs at vocational schools for every applicant on the market. This is a great opportunity for skilled retirees since, unlike teaching at a public school that requires a state certificate, the only requirement here is that you be a seasoned expert in your field.

Encore Career: Business Consultant

Retire in: Miami, FL

Consulting is a great option for a retired business professional looking to make their own hours, be their own boss, and earn as much or as little as needed to maintain their standard of living. For every consultant in Miami right now there are 13 businesses hoping to hire them. There’s even greater demand here than in Washington D.C., which is typically considered the consulting capital of the world.

Encore Career: Tourist Wrangler

Retire in: Austin, TX

As the economy continues to boom and more Americans have extra income to spend, the tourism industry has taken off. This is particularly true in Austin, TX, where there were astonishing 36 tourism jobs for every applicant in July. Between four-star hotels, the noisy rock n’ roll scene, and a new food culture, Austin is the place to be if you want to work in service industry.

Encore Career: Supporter of the Arts

Retire in: Charleston, SC

If you’re a Baby Boomer with a degree in the arts, now could be the perfect time to revisit your passion for creativity, especially if you also want to live in the center of southern charm. Between the 14 art galleries on King Street in Old Town, an abundance of acting companies and theaters, and music festivals, it’s not surprising there were 25 jobs for every arty applicant iii Charleston.

Everyone has their dreams. Some people want to be rich, dreaming of becoming millionaires overnight. Others want to be famous, dreaming of suddenly jumping to great fame. I have a dream, too. When I was a young girl, I dreamed of becoming a scientist like Hua Luogeng,     1     was a great Chinese mathematician.

However, I knew that I could not     2     (success) without great efforts. So I studied hard in middle school and college in order to realize my dream.

After graduating     3     college five years ago, I     4     (find) a job as a teacher. Although I was very busy     5     (teach), I never gave up my goal. I read a lot of books     6     (get) more knowledge. I made many     7     (experiment) to practise and apply what I had learned from books. Sometimes, I was so     8     (deep) indulged (沉迷) in my research that I forgot my meals and time.

Now I have made great progress. Several of my research papers have been published. The methods     9    (mention) in my papers have been proven to be valuable. I am very happy. The ladder of becoming a scientist is still far ahead,     10     I have climbed the first step anyway.

8 . My father always told me: “All work is noble.” He wasn’t _______, but he earned a reasonable living. Thanks to his effort, I was able to go to an art college. I, however, wanted to do something _______, something more interesting. I was special!

After graduation, I moved to New York in search of a graphic designer job. It was winter and, ever the optimist, I only brought enough money to _______ myself for about a month. I wasn’t _______ -I was sure I’d find a fantastic job immediately.

Within a few weeks, though, I found myself wandering around the streets having been _______ by every design office in town. My hotel _______ was almost gone and I hadn’t eaten in days. “How had I reached this point?” I wondered as I trembled in my thin jacket.

I was just about to _______ when my dad called. He suggested that I get a job in a restaurant until something else came along. At first, pride made me _______. But I was cold, hungry, and unwilling to go home feeling _______ and defeated.

I entered an expensive-looking cafe near one of the design offices that had turned me away and asked the manager if they were __________. She said they were shorthanded, and offered me a job right away.

__________, I found that I really enjoyed serving people. I started making big __________ right away. Later, the manager learned that I had a design __________ and asked me to design the cafe menus. That led to a part-time job at an advertising company.

Previously, I had never considered being a __________but there I was. I eventually got my dream design job, but that winter I learned not to make __________ about work.