The Tipping Point to Disrupt Aging

March 11, 2016 by

aarp6

Living Boldly at Any Age

I just re-read Malcolm Gladwell’s groundbreaking book, The Tipping Point.  It was on all the bestsellers’ lists a decade ago and for good reason.  Gladwell breaks down how ideas, trends and messages spread like viruses with the help of a very small number of special groups known as Connectors (relationship brokers), Mavens (knowledge brokers) and Salespeople (persuaders with clout.)  It’s takes what he calls the “Law of the Few” for something to become contagious and claims 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people.

Gladwell carries his contagion theory further, stating once an idea is spawned, the formula 80% (work) 20% (people) still applies, needing informal leadership and action from Innovators (Adventurers) and Early Adopters (Opinion Leaders). Then like wildfire, these ideas and trends spread to the masses, or as he calls them the Early and Late Majorities and Laggards.  

“The Tipping Point” makes sense to me, especially with cultural trends, which is where Disrupt Aging comes in.  This new book about living boldly at any age will be available in early April and I can’t wait to read it.  I forecast a groundswell movement to disrupt outdated stereotypes related to aging and I want to be both a Connector/Maven and an Innovator to help make this happen. And considering that 10,000 of us “retire” every day, we certainly have enough numbers and energy to power a movement.  The challenge is, we disown the “R” word and need to come up with another way to describe this next chapter, which has a lot more to do with creative living than retreating.  

So I am writing posts about it, creating and facilitating Re-Ignite groups, and working with clients as they embark on big life transitions, which I like to call The Second Spring of Life.  As we age and begin to consider what these extra 30 years can mean to us potentially, it seems to me that we have a huge opportunity never before seen in history.  AARP is part of this movement, with their campaign to Re-imagine life beyond 50.  Check it out.  We need Innovators and Early Adopters to spread the word and to role model that it’s cool to be older.  You in?

Filed Under: 60 is the new 60, baby boomers, disrupt aging, Fourishing, Life Transitions, Outliers and Technology, Reinvention, Well being Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Feeling Stuck or Getting Back on that Bike as a Metaphor for Life

September 5, 2014 by

determination “Life is like a bicycle:  you don’t fall off unless you stop pedaling.”~Claude Pepper

I was in a funk this morning and rather than look at my “to-do” list one more time and feel overwhelmed and distracted, I decided to take a break and go for a bike ride.

I hadn’t been on this particular hilly, strenuous ride in months, so that alone elevated my mood. Although I must confess as I was leaving I had the desire to be done already with the ride, to just feel good but not have to sweat it out and climb all those hills. I actually coached myself by saying aloud: “You can’t feel good until you do the work. So just start peddling.” It felt like a Nike moment.

And with that pep talk, I was off.

About ¾ into the ride I was feeling the hard work in my calves, yet my brain was in flow, open to problem solving and creative strategies that likely wouldn’t have happened sitting in my office. I felt stronger and engaged and ready to get back to reinvent my day. When I took that final decent into my driveway I was energized and grateful that I had pushed myself to get to the other side.

Getting to the other side of a goal or moving intentionally through a life transition is a lot of work. It takes grit, focus and emotional energy that can be both exhausting and exhilarating. Sometimes, like this morning, I just wanted to feel the exhilaration without the exhaustion. But we all know it doesn’t work that way.

Pages: 1 2

Filed Under: Fourishing, Self-Care, Well being Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Well Being 101

August 20, 2014 by

boardwalk on beach

“Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”  ~Howard Thurman

Flourish is a book by Martin Seligman, known for his extensive research in the field of positive psychology. Within the book I found many takeaways including the acronym PERMA, which is a very helpful tool to build awareness around what encompasses well-being, or flourishing. Basically PERMA stands for Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment. It also happens to be shorthand for personal mastery, which is a happy coincidence since the idea around mastering yourself personally is at the heart of my coaching practice.

The word flourish, as defined by the author, explores what makes life worth living and builds on the conditions that make it so. Things like happiness, flow, meaning, love, gratitude, achievement, growth, better relationships—these all become foundational content related to well being.

The ideal way to create these conditions is through deepening your awareness and deploying your highest strengths, values and pleasures to meet the world with the gusto and flow needed to be mindful your PERMA. In other words, it’s not just one thing that creates well-being, it’s a series of ongoing and consistent patterns, a construct, that enables us to grow and learn our way into a life of flourishing. The book builds a framework to create a roadmap of self-discovery. If applied, your knowledge of well-being will give you the tools needed to break your “flourish code” and open the floodgate to more of what makes your life worth living more vitally and with greater purpose and meaning. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Fourishing, Well being Tagged With: , , , , ,