Here are show notes for the podcast episode: --- **Episode 4: I'm Giving Myself 90 Days to Figure This Out **Summary:** Michelle, 59, is done wondering "what's next" and decides to find out. In this first episode, she launches a 90-day experiment to build an online business from scratch — with zero audience, zero online income, and zero roadmap. No guru promises, no overnight success story. Just real numbers, real failures, and real results, reported as they happen. **In this episode:** - Why Michelle decided to stop researching and start doing - The frustration with "six-figure" online claims that never explain *how* - What she's testing over the next 90 days: affiliate marketing, content creation, podcasting, YouTube, social media, digital products, and brand partnerships - Her first day in action: setting up a ShopMy affiliate account and what she learned immediately - The bigger question: what does life after 50 actually look like when you're not ready to wind down? **Key moments:** - Michelle's honest starting point: tiny audience, essentially zero online income - The commitment: full transparency on what works, what doesn't, and what costs money - An invitation to listeners who've been thinking about starting something too **Mentioned in this episode:** - ShopMy (affiliate platform) — shopmy.us **Connect:** - Follow along as the experiment unfolds — we're figuring this out together. --- Want me to adjust the tone, add anything, or format these differently for your podcast host platform?

The Happiness Curve: Why We May Get Happier as We Age Michelle Wollet reflects on why she feels happier now despite aging challenges, and shares research on the U-shaped “happiness curve,” which finds life satisfaction often dips to a low point around the late 40s (with one study across 145 countries placing it at 48) and then rebounds. She notes the curve doesn’t account for individual factors like health, money, relationships, and loss, but appears frequently enough to prompt explanations: expectations may calm after the pressure-filled 20s–40s; emotional skills improve; and, per Stanford psychologist Laura Carstensen’s work on socioemotional selectivity, awareness of limited time shifts priorities toward what matters most and more intentional relationships. She also discusses the “positivity effect,” caring less about others’ opinions, redefining happiness from excitement to contentment, and pursuing new plans—like her podcast and business—without trying to prove anything. 00:00 Why I Feel Happier 01:26 The Happiness Curve 03:31 Midlife Expectations 04:34 No Finish Line 05:11 Editing the Guest List 07:18 The Positivity Effect 09:20 Caring Less With Age 09:50 New Plans No Fear 11:15 Is It Just Women 13:41 Redefining Happiness 15:41 I Have Plans Mindset 16:41 This Weeks Experiment 17:47 Closing Thoughts

Leisure Guilt: Why We Feel We Have to Earn Rest Michelle explores why she and her husband Joe feel they must “earn” rest, describing how Joe’s childhood pressure to work and avoid being called lazy carried into adulthood and how she similarly struggles to relax without guilt. She examines research linking perfectionism, achievement, and performance-based self-esteem to compulsive overworking, and discusses “leisure guilt,” the uneasiness felt when doing leisure instead of being productive, which can make time off less enjoyable. Michelle emphasizes that productivity and striving aren’t inherently bad, but questions whether she can decide when enough is enough and truly turn her brain off. She notices she even labels fun as “research” to justify it, and proposes an experiment: intentionally do something purely because she wants to, without making it productive, and simply notice the “you should be doing” thoughts, then report back next week. 00:00 Why Rest Feels Earned 00:18 Joe Never Sits Down 00:48 My Productivity Guilt 03:42 Turning Fun Into Research 04:40 Childhood And Being Good 05:57 Leisure Guilt Explained 08:07 Hard Work Versus Enough 10:11 Where The Rules Come From 10:39 When Productivity Becomes Identity 11:54 Letting Joy Be Enough 12:56 The No Earned Fun Experiment 14:08 Notice The Inner Voice 15:25 Report Back Next Week 16:20 Closing And Thanks

I Have Plans: Home, Life, and Money After 50 Michelle Wollet introduces “I Have Plans,” a show for women over 50 who aren’t ready to slow down and want to carve out time for themselves while still being wives and mothers. She shares that at 59 she feels younger than she looks, doesn’t want to retire, and wants to explore new interests beyond her 41-year real estate career, including travel, decorating, building, entertaining, creating, and learning. She describes a recent business attempt—creating state-by-state for-sale-by-owner packages and offering free help finding agents—that hasn’t worked due to timing, but she views it as a lesson rather than failure. Michelle frames the show around three categories—home, life, and money—and reflects on being overly structured in the past, missing family time, and now wanting to figure out what’s next together with viewers. 00:00 Welcome to I Have Plans 00:46 Women Over 50 Reset 01:36 Make Time for You 02:11 No Retirement Mindset 03:03 Real Estate Roots 03:53 The Side Project That Flopped 06:03 Lessons From the Box 06:24 Three Pillars Home Life Money 08:00 Regrets and Family Time 09:02 Join the Journey

The Emotional Side of Leaving a Home You’ve Loved Licensed real estate broker Michele Wollet introduces “Chapter 3 Lifestyle” by sharing a client story about “Susan,” who delayed selling for eight months despite perfect financial planning because the home held memories of her late husband and family life. Michele explains that a home is “the container of your life,” and that emotional attachment can be stronger than attachment to possessions, jobs, or even some relationships. She outlines five common emotions that surface when considering a move: grief, guilt, fear of the unknown, loss of identity, and complicated family dynamics. She offers five ways to work through them: name feelings, allow emotions without letting them dictate decisions, create an intentional goodbye, talk to someone to be heard, and focus on what you’re moving toward. Susan ultimately sold after honoring her feelings and found community and comfort in her new condo. 00:00 The House You Can’t Leave 04:11 Why Homes Hold Us 06:23 Five Feelings That Block Moves 10:21 Five Ways To Move Forward 12:51 Susan’s Breakthrough Story 14:08 Closing Thoughts And Next Episode

The One Number You Need Before Selling: Calculating Real Net Proceeds Michele Wollet, a licensed real estate broker with 40 years of experience, explains that retirees should focus on their real net proceeds—what actually lands in their bank account after selling—rather than Zillow’s estimate, which can be off by 2% to over 6% and doesn’t account for a home’s unique factors. She outlines how to calculate net proceeds by starting with a realistic comparable-based sale price and subtracting agent commission (typically 5–6%), seller closing costs (about 1–3%), repairs and staging, remaining mortgage balance, moving costs, and potential capital gains taxes (noting the IRS exclusion of $250,000 single/$500,000 married if residency requirements are met). Using a $350,000 example, she shows net proceeds of $310,750 and urges listeners to run their own numbers, seek an honest agent CMA, and evaluate whether the result supports their next chapter. 00:00 Calculating Your Real Net Proceeds 12:07 Opening Hook

What Problem Are You Really Trying to Solve Before You Move? Michelle Wollet, a licensed real estate broker with 40 years of experience, explains that before selling a home in “chapter three,” the most important question is: “What problem are you actually trying to solve?” Using a client story about “Carol,” who almost downsized but realized she was lonely after her husband’s death, Michelle argues many people think they have a real estate problem when they actually have a life problem. She breaks down four common motivations—too much house, needing cash, moving closer to kids, and feeling it’s time—and urges listeners to test whether alternatives (services, modifications, clear family expectations, and real financial math beyond Zillow) could solve the issue. She assigns homework to write the real problem and teases next week’s episode on a key number most people never calculate. 00:00 Chapter Three Begins 00:17 Carol Changes Course 02:02 The One Key Question 03:47 Reason One Too Much House 05:12 Reason Two Need Cash 06:35 Reason Three Near Kids 09:32 Reason Four Its Time 10:39 Paper Framework Exercise 12:07 Carols Real Problem 13:30 Homework And Next Week 14:29 Final Sendoff

Chapter Three Lifestyle: A Sharper Focus on Real Estate Decisions After 50 Licensed real estate broker Michelle Wollet announces a shift in her show Chapter Three Lifestyle to focus more directly on the major real estate decisions people face in their 50s and beyond, noting that homeowners 55+ average over $200,000 in home equity and often lack a plan. Drawing on 40 years of experience, she aims to provide weekly, no-agenda guidance on when selling does or doesn’t make sense, how to access equity without regret, the true math of downsizing, retirement relocation and evaluating new markets, reverse mortgages (who they help and who they don’t), the emotional grief of leaving a long-time home, and what it takes to age in place. She asks listeners to subscribe, leave reviews, follow on social media, and watch for an upcoming free guide for people over 50 navigating housing choices. 00:00 Big Equity Wake Up 01:14 Meet Michelle And The Mission 02:02 Why The Show Is Shifting 03:13 The Real Estate Questions 04:27 What We Will Cover Weekly 05:55 My Chapter Three Too 06:56 Three Ways To Support 07:53 Next Week And Goodbye

Why Coming Home From Vacation Feels So Hard—and How to Make Life Feel Lighter Michelle from Chapter Three Lifestyles returns after being absent due to feeling overwhelmed and taking a vacation, and discusses why coming home can feel heavy instead of refreshing. After a long, cold, dark winter in Michigan, she and Joe traveled from Michigan to Nashville for a day, then through Florida to the Keys, creating a warm, relaxed routine that made returning to work and responsibilities feel overwhelming and even depressing. She describes feeling clearer, brighter, and healthier while away, and noticing that reversing when she returned. Michelle questions whether post-vacation dread signals something off in how life is structured and encourages simplifying, shifting perspective from “going back” to “rebuilding,” tuning out some news, and focusing on personal wellbeing through small changes like stretching, getting sunshine, or taking a short grounding walk. She invites listeners to share thoughts and support others feeling the same. 00:00 Back From Vacation Blues 01:22 Warm Routine To Reality 01:50 Road Trip To The Keys 02:17 Freedom Versus Responsibility 03:44 Make Life Feel Lighter 04:29 Tune Out The Noise 05:19 Small Daily Vacation Habits 06:35 Wrap Up And Call To Action

Letting Go to Live Lighter After 50 Michelle welcomes listeners back to Chapter Three Lifestyles and talks about how to feel lighter after 50 by focusing on subtraction rather than adding more routines or goals. She offers three places to start letting go: physical space (decluttering as unfinished business, including clearing a closet, releasing “skinny clothes,” and building a capsule wardrobe to reduce chaos), emotional obligation (recognizing people-pleasing and the habit of feeling responsible for other adults’ feelings, choosing clarity over obligation), and mental noise (quieting the internal “should” dialogue and letting go of managing others’ perceptions in order to live more intentionally). She encourages doing one small act of letting go this week—one item, one obligation, or one thought—and invites viewers to like, share, and keep going as they design a life that fits them. 00:00 Welcome and Theme 01:08 Why Life Feels Heavy 02:03 Subtraction Not Addition 02:51 Declutter Your Space 03:51 Closet Reset and Identity 05:13 Release Emotional Obligation 07:23 Quiet the Inner Critic 07:50 Choose Meaning and Wake Up 09:21 One Small Letting Go 10:12 Wrap Up and Encouragement