Boomer Banter, Caregiving, Purpose, Connection

As I welcomed a new year, I found myself contemplating the power of words and their ability to shape our lives.

Instead of setting resolutions I might break or forget, I chose a 'word of the year', a guiding light in my journey of personal growth.

This episode explores my journey with last year’s word ‘acceptance’ and how this year’s word ‘connect’ was chosen. You’ll learn the process of selecting a word that resonates with you and help you inch closer to the life you desire.

1. You can't fail when you have a word for the year. You just keep getting better.
2. Know your WHY and create your vision.
3. Get creative. Develop an image that makes your word fun, colorful, peaceful, impactful and put it someplace where you will see it every day.

Download the WORD of the year worksheet here: https://1drv.ms/w/s!Ao5cYCkwsgDIgZofqcbRw4b4fjvjkw?e=OH7x5j

Download the Vitality Assessment from https://heyboomer.biz

Subscribe on Apple Podcast, Stitcher , Google Podcast. or Spotify

Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram

You can email me with questions or comments at [email protected]

–

Wendy Green is a Certified Life Coach, working with people going

through the sometimes uncomfortable life transition from full-time work to

“what’s next.”

Find out more about Wendy’s 6-week “What’s Next Transition” Coaching workshop

–

Support our sponsor: roadscholar.org/heyboomer

Produced by the the Greenville Podcast Company

This episode was live on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and I started it by reading a portion of the "I have a Dream" speech. Which led to my first question.

"Is hope and positivity the same thing, and how important are they to our mental health as we age?"

Dr. Joe Casciani spent 40 years as a psychologist and manager of mental health practices specializing in the care of older adults. He now has a podcast, Living to 100 and a website called Livingto100.club where he shares inspiration and resources to help adults as we move into our retirement years.

Positivity and mindset highlights:

• Having a positive attitude helps people recovering from an illness or accident.
• We do better when we look for success and look for improvement.
• In other words, you see what you look for.
• A positive mindset can help you stay healthy and live longer.

Resilience highlights:

• Some personality styles tend to be more resilient.
• Resilience can be learned, it may be an untapped skill.
• What can you do when life gets hard? Try to find at least one good thing.

Aging is about adapting to change and staying engaged. We do this by recognizing what we can and what we cannot control.

Books mentioned in this episode:

Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Dispenza

Keep it Moving: Lessons for the Rest of Your Life by Twyla Tharpe

Live Long Die Short by Roger Landry

Episode Takeaways:

1. Be ready to start new chapters. You don't have to let yesterday define who you are today.
2. Look for what's right; become the change you want to be.

Thanks so much for listening.

Subscribe on Apple Podcast, Stitcher , Google Podcast. or Spotify

Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram

You can email me with questions or comments at [email protected]

–

Wendy Green is a Certified Life Coach, working with people going through the

sometimes uncomfortable life transition from full-time work to “what’s next.”

Find out more about Wendy’s 6-week “What’s Next Transition” Coaching workshop

–

You can find Dr. Joe Casciani at [email protected] or

go to his website livingto100.club

Support our sponsor: roadscholar.org/heyboomer

From football player to Certified Financial Planner to podcaster, Joe Allaria is passionate about educating his clients and his listeners.

He spoke to us about the 3 levels of financial retirement.

Level one: Survival - Can I pay my bills when I retire? Typically, people that have this fear have not worked with a financial planner and are simply guessing at their financial state.

Level two: Survival plus - I can pay my bills, maybe take a trip or two, contribute to a charity of my choice.

Level three: True retirement fulfillment - this is where you begin to think about all that is possible now that you are not working.

He answered a lot of our questions about how to approach retirement planning, reviewing you goals and desires.

Joe shared a resource with us called:

10 Questions to ask before hiring a financial advisor. You can find it here. Financial Guides | CarsonAllaria Wealth | Glen Carbon, IL

If you'd like to hear more Hey, Boomer episodes, please subscribe on 

Apple Podcast, Stitcher , GooglePodcast. or Spotify

Follow Hey, Boomer on Facebook and YouTube and LinkedIn.

You can email me with questions or comments at [email protected]

–

Wendy Green is a Certified Life Coach, working with people going through the

sometimes uncomfortable life transition from full-time work to “what’s next.”

Find out more about Wendy’s 6-week “What’s Next Transition” Coaching workshop

–

You can find Joe's podcast at retirementpowerhourpodcast.com

Dr. Sara Hart, who at the age of 74 cycled 540 miles in the AIDS ride from San Francisco to LA is a woman on a mission. She is helping older women find the spark in their lives to light their way in the world.

Sara had an idea that she wanted to do something to address how society sees older women and find ways to turn that around. After a couple of interesting interactions, she realized that PrimeSpark would be her vehicle for change.

In this episode we talked about transitions and how they take time and they can be scary. We talked about how women's roles in our society have changed since the 1950's and 1960's, and that there is still a lot to do.

Sara shared some of the lessons she has learned from transitioning from a corporate career to having her own business and from her own business to being a podcast host and coach.

She also invited us to attend her upcoming virtual conference.

Episode Takeaways:

1. Think about what is most important to you at this point in your life.
2. If you need support, ask for help.
3. Realize that you are enough and that the world needs you!

Thanks so much for listening.

Subscribe on Apple Podcast, Stitcher , Google Podcast. or Spotify

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram

You can email me with questions or comments at [email protected]

–

Wendy Green is a Certified Life Coach, working with people going through the

sometimes uncomfortable life transition from full-time work to “what’s next.”

Find out more about Wendy’s 6-week “What’s Next Transition” Coaching workshop

–

Links for Sara Hart:

[email protected]

primesparkwomen.com

womenover50conference.com

Please support our sponsor, Road Scholar

roadscholar.org/heyboomer

This episode begins the conversation on Hey, Boomer to start to find the opportunities for the generations to build bridges of understanding.

There are so many reasons the generations are separated, which has caused misperceptions, blaming and shaming, going both ways.

We are at time when solutions to things like climate change, mental health, the high cost of education, longer lifespans would benefit from co-generational collaboration. The older generation has experience with social change and could provide wisdom and time. The younger generations have the technology save and energy to bring to finding solutions.

Age segregation also contributes to ageism going both ways. When we are not exposed to multiple generations, we do not understand them. We make assumptions about what it means to be older and what it means to be younger.

My hope, with expanding the vision of Hey, Boomer to include intergenerational and co-generational conversations, is to meet the needs of all generations to feel useful, to make a difference and live a life of purpose.

Bridge Meadows in Portland, OR

Pemberton Park for Grandfamilies in Kansas City, Missouri

CoGenerate.org

Generations Over Dinner

Bridging Differences Playbook

Intergenerational Conversations

Becoming a Better Mentor

Third Act

Eldera

Big & Mini

Sages & Seekers

Civic Saturday

Thanks so much for listening.

Please Subscribe on Apple Podcast, Stitcher , Google Podcast. or Spotify

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram

You can email me with questions or comments at [email protected]

–

Wendy Green is a Certified Life Coach, working with people going through the

sometimes uncomfortable life transition from full-time work to “what’s next.”

Find out more about Wendy’s 6-week “What’s Next Transition” Coaching workshop

Have you had the experience where a healthcare professional seems to speak in a condescending manner to you or to your older parent? Have you been called "sweetie" or "dear" one time too often? How about when the healthcare worker asks a question like "What would we like for dinner?"

Jeanette Leardi is a social gerontologist who realized how ageism was affecting older adults in healthcare situations when she was the caregiver for her parents. She is a writer, speaker, educator and advocate for redefining aging in our society.

In this episode we talk about ageism in the healthcare industry. Healthcare professionals have been exhausted after several years of dealing with the pandemic. Many have left the profession. How can we advocate for ourselves in an environment where doctors and nurses a feeling stretched to the limit?

One thing to remember is that we are consumers of healthcare; we are the buyers and we have rights and responsibilities as the consumers.

We answered the question about what to look for, and how to go about, shopping for doctors. When you think about it, we take more time shopping for a car then we do for a doctor, but our bodies are going to hopefully last much longer than our latest car.

Jeanette explained who should be on our care team and how they would best work together.

We covered her Smart Patient tips, which follow the acronym HEALTH.

• Higher your team
• Enlist a care partner
• Ask effective questions
• Learn about your body
• Take care and control of your care
• Have vital plans in place

Thanks so much for listening.

Subscribe on Apple Podcast, Stitcher , Google Podcast. or Spotify

Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram

You can email me with questions or comments at [email protected]z

_

Wendy Green is a Certified Life Coach, working with people going through the

sometimes uncomfortable life transition from full-time work to “what’s next.”

Find out more about Wendy’s 6-week “What’s Next Transition” Coaching workshop

–

You can find Jeanette at jeanetteleardi.com 

Our website is heyboomer.biz

Our Road Scholar sponsor can be found at roadscholar.org/heyboomer

Mark Twain said, "The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why."

Purpose is your natural way of being and your purpose may change over your lifetime. It is not static. When we leave our careers many of us lose our sense of identity and then we lose our reason to get up in the morning.

Anna Hall worked in senior living communities, and she saw how the residents that had a sense of purpose were more resilient, they were happier, had better mental health and motivation for each day. This sparked her research and the development of The Purpose Equation. 

The secret ingredient that fuels your innate purpose is tapping into your sense of joy. Anna has an experience that she takes you through called JoyFuel. We talk about what I discovered when I went through this experience with her.

We also talked about the impact of understanding our individual purpose and joy, as well as understanding that of our partners or our co-workers improves relationships, increases patience and understanding.

Episode Takeaways:

1. Humans need a sense of meaning to thrive.
2. How do you like to help people? Digging into that can help you discover joy and purpose.
3. Everyone has a purpose inside. It is with you and accessible.
4. Purpose is not a role or a goal
5. Purpose helps improve health, wellness, outlook and mindset.

Thanks so much for listening.

Subscribe to Hey, Boomer on Apple Podcast, Stitcher , Google Podcast. or Spotify

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram

You can email me with questions or comments at [email protected]

Subscribe to our email list at bit.ly/heyboomer-subscribe

–

Wendy Green is a Certified Life Coach, working with people going through the

sometimes uncomfortable life transition from full-time work to “what’s next.”

Find out more about Wendy’s 6-week “What’s Next Transition” Coaching workshop

–

You can reach Anna Hall at [email protected]

Her website is thepurposeequation.com. 

Check out Road Scholar at roadscholar.org/heyboomer. 

Register for the Costa Rica webinar at bit.ly/heyboomer-costarica

Dennis Gillan lost 2 brothers to suicide in the span of 11 years. It took him a long time before he could talk about this loss. Now he has started a non-profit organization called HalfASorrow.org to educate people about suicide prevention.

In this episode Dennis shared how he began to address the problem initially by volunteering on a suicide hotline. It took awhile before he could talk about what happened to his own brothers.

The rate of completed suicides is higher than the national average in the 55-64 year old age range. Illness is a big factor in this group, as is loneliness. As we age we tend to lose friends, we lose groups we were once part of. We lose connection and purpose.

Dennis shared some of the warning signs a person might exhibit when they are contemplating suicide. He also gave us some tips on how to address our concerns directly to the person we suspect is having these thoughts.

The nation-wide suicide prevention hotline is 988.

Episode Takeaways:

1. If you suspect someone is contemplating suicide, ask them, "are you ok? are you thinking about suicide?"
2. If they say yes, ask if they have a plan. Then find a way to get them to talk about reasons to live (like a pet, a child, etc)
3. How to volunteer for a suicide hotline

Thanks so much for listening.

Subscribe on Apple Podcast, Stitcher , Google Podcast. or Spotify

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram

You can email me with questions or comments at [email protected]

–

Wendy Green is a Certified Life Coach, working with people going through the

sometimes uncomfortable life transition from full-time work to “what’s next.”

Find out more about Wendy’s 6-week “What’s Next Transition” Coaching workshop

–

You can reach Dennis Gillan at [email protected]

Or check out the website www.halfasorrow.org

She was a young girl when her family emigrated from Czechoslovakia after WWII. Some of the family was not able to leave, some of the family moved to Bavaria in Germany.

Pipka Ulvilden was raised in North Dakota, and Michigan and now lives in Sister Bay, Wisconsin, an idealic artist community by Lake Michigan. As a single mother she made the decision to be a full-time artist and opened a boutique shop where she sold her artwork. Her shop became known for the olde-world Santas she designed and for the peasant painted furniture.

It was in her shop that she began sharing her grandmother's almond cake.

Right before the pandemic shut everything down, Pipka had made the decision to close her shop. The isolation was difficult after being such a well-respected, important part of the community. Once we could socialize again, Pipka began baking the almond cake, and variations of the almond cake and selling them at the Farmer's Market.

She is still involved in her transition, and she left us with some beautiful takeaways.

Episode Takeaways:

1. Have a positive attitude
2. Don't expect it (the transition) will be easy
3. Put yourself out there - ideas will come
4. Sometimes you have to motivate yourself
5. Make mood boards
6. Instead of retired, be inspired.

Thanks so much for listening.

Subscribe on ApplePodcast, Stitcher , GooglePodcast. or Spotify

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram

You can email me with questions or comments at [email protected]

–

Wendy Green is a Certified Life Coach, working with people going through the sometimes-uncomfortable life transition from full-time work to “what’s next.”

Schedule a complimentary 20-minute consultation and get inspired about life again. https://calendly.com/heyboomer/20min

You can find Pipka's webpage at www.pipkas.com

GSFSpkkb7tjUJzTS8Cce

or you can email her at [email protected]

This is a story of inspiration, of what we can do when we want to and surround ourselves with people who believe in us.

It started out as a story of Margaret Caterisano, the costume designer at Furman University, who started to write plays during the pandemic. She submitted one of her plays to the SheNYC 2022 Summer Arts Festival and her play was selected as one of 9 out of over 300 submissions to be produced.

The episode recounts the journey, some of the challenges and lessons learned. It tells us how Margaret Oakes joined the cast 2 weeks before the production was to go live in NY.

As one might expect, there were some wonerful, inspiring lessons these two talented and brave women shared with us. Lessons of love and family. Lessons of stepping into challenges. Lessons of taking advantage of doors when they open.

Episode Takeaways:

1. "Buy the red jeep."

2. Set challenges for yourself

3. Feel like superwoman

4. "I can do anything."

Thanks so much for listening.

Subscribe on Apple Podcast, Stitcher , Google Podcast. or Spotify

Follow up on Facebook and Instagram

You can email me with questions or comments at [email protected]

– Wendy Green is a Certified Life Coach, working with people going through the sometimes uncomfortable life transition from full-time work to “what’s next.” Schedule a 20-minute discovery call to get some clarity about what is next for you. https://calendly.com/heyboomer/20min 

– You can find Margaret Caterisano at [email protected] 

– You can find Margaret Oakes at [email protected]