midlifejourney.com

Recently, I was scanning the shelves in the local bookstore. Of course, being a baby boomer, I was in the Self-Help section — I’m always looking for new information to help with my “midlife” life. And I stumbled upon a great book that I highly recommend to all of you.

How Not to Look Old: Fast and Effortless Ways to Look 10 Years Younger, 10 Pounds Lighter, 10 Times Better
What’s not to love about this book? I’ve been struggling with my closet for years. At last here is guidance to help figure out what to keep, what to throw away, what works and what does not. Every woman who is 40+ needs to read this book! She handles everything from hairstyles (get rid of the helmet head look people!) to skin care to the right pair of jeans to wear. Great advice for a wanna look younger person like me.

Here’s just a sample from Chapter 12: Top 25 Clothes That Just Gotta Go (I’m listing just ten from her list. – Check out the book for the full list.)

No matter how attached you are to any of these pieces, it’s time to part company, because they will date you and make you look OL (Old Lady). Don’t even think about keeping them for stay-around-the-house days, as you don’t want to be caught in them if the FedEx guy rings your bell.

1. Holiday sweaters with bells and appliqués (reindeers, teddy bears, bumblebees, pumpkins)
2. Granny/mommy necklaces that tell how many grandchildren/children you have
3. Souvenir T-Shirts
4. Ripped jeans
5. Shoulder pads
6. Over sized blazers
7. Elastic-waist pants
8. Granny undies
9. Penny loafers
10. Bearlike, full-length fur coats

Do you agree? or is there something too precious to part with on your list? Leave your comments below!

The author holds nothing back… and lets you have her stark advice right between the eyes. Even if you don’t agree with everything she writes, the information is worth reading!

The Boomer Generation is online BIG TIME. But can they keep up with the technology? Better yet, can they succeed in this highly competitive world of the online community?

If you are Baby Boomer somewhere in the midlife of your years on the planet, you’ve already lived through some pretty major technological advances. Remember 33 LPs? (They are actually coming back as highly prized collector’s items.) Remember the 8-track? Cassettes?…Boom Boxes? (They’re really big now, as well.)

ipods, iPhones, iMacs, Blackberries, Strawberries, Blueberries?—blogging, tweeting— they are just the next variation on what we already have experienced.

So can Boomers do well in this world of hi speed internet? Absolutely. You just have to decide where and how, and in which direction to put your focus. Wisdom and discernment are called for. You can’t grab hold and join every band wagon that comes down the pike. But you can succeed, and do it well, if you find your niche and really work it.

In the last few months the editors of midlifejourney.com have encountered a number of very successful Baby Boomers who are making second or third careers online by blogging, offering membership sites, creating affiliate sites or even joining online sites where they can do very well playing poker.

Here are a few of the successful boomers we have been following:

Jeff Herring who is a master and teacher of internet article marketing.

Stephen Beck who teaches online courses in webinars and membership sites.

Cathy Perkins, the WordPress Wizard.

Dotsie Bregel, founder of BoomerWomenSpeak.com and the National Association of Baby Boomer Women.

There are dozens of other Boomers doing well online. During the next week we will be reviewing the Best of the Baby Boomer Blogs and exploring the question of what it takes to succeed online. Check back.

If you truly follow your heart’s desire, you can create your dream job! Too many midlifers settle for a job we don’t like, or at best, tolerate.  We spend our days living to work, rather than the other way around, working to live.

If you love what you do, the money and the success, will follow. Things have a way of falling into place when we are clear about what we really want. They did for Jeanne White, the host of The Connect Show on Radio Network Dreamvisions7 Flag Station, WBNW 1120 AM, Boston.

She writes in her biography on the show’s new website, (www.connectwithjeannewhite.com) “I have always harbored a dream to become a radio talk show host.”

Though her heart was focused on broadcasting, Jeanne’s initial career track was in a totally different direction. After earning a Bachelor’s degree from Simmons College, Boston, a paralegal certification from Aquinas College and a Frank J. Manning Gerontology Certificate from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, she became a certified Shine Counselor, working with the elderly population helping them make educated insurance decisions. As if that were not enough, she became a Certified Yoga Teacher through the Finding Inner Peace Yoga School—a far cry from radio talk show host.

But the dream couldn’t be shaken. Her focus on helping and networking with others to solve problems led her to become an advocate of The Starlight Children’s Foundation of New England, dedicated to bringing happiness, hope and an improved quality of life to seriously ill children and their families in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Vermont.

This commitment to helping others brought Jeanne to the attention of Candita Mamet, a regular host of the radio talk show, Healthy Living Guide.

Hearing that Jeanne had always had a longing for the radio talk show format, Candita raised the idea of Jeanne’s starting a new show. “Focus on the people chasing dreams and working at what they love.” Jeanne knew first hand how important it was to follow one’s heart’s desire and she agreed to try. With that, The Connect Show was born.

Today The Connect Show is part of the Dreamvisions7 Radio Network. Their mission: to be a holistic healing network with an eclectic group of radio hosts all with the common goal to help humankind by offering different modalities or programs combined with tools to bring awareness, joy, peace and ease to our listeners both in the local and global arena. The flagship station is WBNW 1120 AM, Boston, simulcast with WPLM 1390 AM & WESO 970 AM plus voice streaming on the Internet connecting Internationally.

On the second Saturday of the month, from 11 am – 12 noon, The Connect Show covers a wide range of topics ranging from business networking to current events. Jeanne shares the key purpose to her talk show: “My focus is to offer diverse, valuable and inspiring topics and resources. My goal with the show is to put people together….to make connections and provide networks and tools that will enhance people’s lives. My commitment is to network people with the objective of making their day to day lives a little easier and happier! As I say, ‘It’s all about connections! Get Connected!’”

Message to all you midlifers: Trying to do everything yourself? Sometimes it is smarter to call for help. Here are the two key elements in making that determination.

. . . . .

I just paid $140.00 to a local small engine repair company to repair my broken lawnmower. It had serious problems that I could not even begin to fathom. Mechanical things like engines, radios, clocks, vacuum cleaners, thermostats: how they work and how to repair them is beyond me. And I don’t care.

If I tried to repair the lawnmower it would have meant hours reading the manual, multiple trips to the local hardware store, broken fingernails, bruised knuckles and a lawnmower that still didn’t cut grass. I know my limits and recognize that although $140. sounds like a lot, it is small change when it comes to the time and frustration I would spend trying to fix the machine myself.

Knowing your limitations and how valuable is your time, are the two key elements in determining when it is time to call in an expert. It doesn’t matter if the issue is fixing a broken vacuum cleaner, managing your household, feeding your family, or developing a new website for your business.

You may think you can’t afford the assistance but the cost of not asking for help could be more than just money. Trying to fix and manage everything takes time: time you could be spending doing something else that you are really good at – that will increase your income. Continue Reading »