What Easy Aging® Is All About And How I Got Here

Episode 1 | (00:00):

Hey there, I’m so happy you’re here today. I'm pretty excited because this is our very first episode of The Easy Aging® Show. And so today, we're going to be talking about Easy Aging® and what exactly that is, as well as a little background on me. So let's get started. Are you ready? Ooh, me too. Let's go.

(00:58):

Okay, so before we get started today, I wanted to make sure you got your free gift from me. It's called 11 Bucket List Ideas For An Action-Packed Retirement, because let's be honest… Once you hit midlife, we're all focused on retirement, right? 

So whether you're already in retirement or you're heading toward it, this is a great start to get going on your list. I'm gonna leave you a link in the show notes, so make sure you check that out.

Okay, all right, what exactly is Easy Aging®? Well, Easy Aging® means that you understand that at this age you are coming from a place of more —  more life experience, more wisdom, more perspective than ever before. This place of more is what Easy Aging® is all about because Easy Aging® is a mindset. It's an attitude that includes you going after your dreams without apology and reveling in the juicy moments of life that make your heart sing.

(01:50):

It means fully understanding that your brain — yes, your gray matter, that thing sitting on top of your shoulders — that is your very best anti-aging tool. And it's also about understanding that midlife changes don't have to be hard, so let's stop fooling ourselves about that. 

Easy Aging® is focused on taking a lighthearted approach that makes the most of your sense of humor. Yes, you do need to have a sense of humor in order to age gracefully, and it's also about applying fun-sized actions to create permanent change in your life. 

So in this podcast, you're going to hear stories that will make you think, you'll learn simple life hacks that'll make it easy to take action. And you'll hear interviews with experts that will keep you feeling youthful.

Most importantly, you are going to discover life strategies that will help you believe in yourself again. My mission is to inspire you to rediscover your identity, find your joy and live out your purpose with gusto and enthusiasm.

(02:44):

So that's a little bit about what Easy Aging® is. Now, here's a little bit about me.

When my mother passed away in 2016, I was so lost and unsure of my next step. I mean, caring for her took so much of my focus and energy, especially during the last few months of her life. So when she died, it felt like my purpose in life had died. I knew her death would change my life dramatically, but I had no idea what that was going to look like.

So I took some time and when I resurfaced from my grieving, I felt like the big “What Now?” question was just hanging over me. I wanted to find an answer to that. While I had a business for more than 20 years, I knew it was time to just let it go and discover a new dream, a new purpose.

(03:29):

All I wanted was to be passionate again. I mean, do you remember when you were younger? When everything was new and everything was exciting and everything was, “Ooh, look at this! I wanna do that! Look what I get to do!” Remember those days when the level of enthusiasm you could muster was just incredible? Do you remember that? Because that's what I wanted again. I knew there was more out there for me, a bigger life, a better life than the one I was living because at this point, I was just so tired.

Grieving. It just takes the wind outta your sales, doesn't it? I mean, by midlife, you've probably lost at least one person in your life. And it's just such an extraordinary experience to feel that grief coming over you, and sometimes just taking over your life. For a while there, I had felt like I was a little sailboat.

(04:20):

I had a pretty puffy sail. It had a lot of air in it and I was just cruising along in the water at a very nice pace. And then after my mother's death, I felt like that sail just kind of went pffffft… it just flopped down. I was sitting in the water. I was not moving at all. I was at a complete standstill. 

I also think I had fallen into a trap that's kind of common with other midlifers because we commit so much of our time and energy to something. For some of us, it's the kids. For me, it was my work and caring for my mom, and for others, it's something else. But somehow, my identity got mixed up with all these activities I was doing because I kept thinking, “If I'm not doing this anymore, who am I? What's my identity?...

(05:13):

How will I be showing up in the world after this? That thought made me so incredibly uncomfortable. I mean, I was even fearful of it because I had no idea what life was supposed to look like after all of this.

But in spite of all of it, I knew there was more. I wanted to go in a new direction, a direction that would refresh me and fulfill me and make my second half of life fun and exciting. So I set out to reinvent myself.

As a woman of faith, I spent a lot of time praying and pondering my next steps. What am I passionate about? What do I enjoy? What do I have experience and expertise in? No matter how many different ways I sliced it, everything pointed back to 1995, because that was the year I discovered the power of personal development.

(06:03):

The thought of living life on my own terms was so appealing to me, to be able to go after dreams and goals without hesitation —  that was deliciously inviting to me. I've been studying and applying these concepts for more than 25 years in my life, so I knew I could create something that would make my second half amazing. 

I thought that with more than 25 years of experience in personal development and a coaching certification, I really thought it wouldn't be that hard but oh, was I wrong… silly me!

When I started, it felt like it was one forward and two steps back, but I kept at it because I knew good things were in store for me. I knew that the tools and strategies worked, I just had to figure out what would work best to help me live a peaceful and vibrant life in my second half.

(06:52):

So I decided on three criteria.

First, I decided that the path I created was going to be much simpler and easier than the one that I took. I mean, there were times in my journey that —  I'm embarrassed to say —  I was so all over the place. I was trying this, I was trying that, I was hopping from one thing to another to another. I couldn't even stay focused on one thing, and it made me feel so overwhelmed. So I thought that whatever I create, it's going to be simple and easy to use. 

Secondly, I wanted to find a middle ground between the grit, grind and hustle and the woo woo. I hope that makes sense to you because the grit, grind and hustle way of life was just too intense for me.

(07:34):

It's so focused on taking action. I felt like I was always running late, I was always behind. I had no time to breathe. There was not even time to think, I was just constantly running. 

But then again, on the opposite end of the spectrum, the woo woo approach was almost too much thinking. It was almost too much stillness for me because I always kept wondering, “Aren't I supposed to be doing something like, you know, taking an action?” So while I found value in both, each of them left me wanting more. I knew there was a middle ground between the two, and that's what I created. 

Third, I wanted to create something that was light and breezy, because going after your dreams should be fun! It shouldn't be boring or depressing or oh-so-serious. You should be enjoying the journey, even the icky parts of it, because you can find value in the experience and you can see the long-term goal.

(08:27):

So as I put together the pieces to the puzzle, I created a process which is now my three-part proprietary process called The ACE Approach, which stands for awareness, clarity, and ease. And it's an approach that works whether you're a novice or an old pro at the personal development game. This approach will help you answer your own “What Now?” question so you can be at peace with the direction of your life and the legacy you'll be leaving. 

And that's the goal of this podcast, to help you answer that question so you can get clarity on who you are and what you truly want at this stage in your life.

Because I believe you deserve to live a rich, fulfilling life that's all yours, whatever that looks like. And I believe it doesn't have to be hard or complicated to get there. 

So that's pretty much it for today. I hope this gave you some insight into what to expect as we move forward together on this journey of Easy Aging®. 

And don't forget to get your free gift at EasyAgingExpert.com —  there's a link in the show notes. I am so excited you're here. Thanks for spending some time with me and until next time, have a refreshing and peaceful day.