6 Key Things Needed to Make the Third Stage of Life Meaningful

I hope you enjoyed a few warm summer months and maybe some time off before the end of the year. For those of you fortunate enough to be retired, time flexibility is already part of your life. For those planning the next stage of your lives, your turn is coming.

I skipped my usual blog in Aug. and decided everyone was too busy or out of town to read it, so now I’m back to check in for the final months of the year.

My book is coming out in paperback in Oct. and is now on Amazon! These next 2 weeks are the pre-order period. I’d like to ask anyone who's interested in purchasing the book to do it, if possible, in the next 2 weeks on Amazon since this is when the algorithm gets set. This controls how searchable the book is, how high on the list it ranks, the final price and how many books Amazon is willing to keep in stock to ship right away.

Maybe you’d like to do some early Christmas shopping! I’d really appreciate it and the link is right here.

For those who prefer hardcover books, I don’t plan to do another hardcover printing, but there are still some left that can be purchased from my website EveryNightsFridayNight.com. Send me an email at [email protected] if you want me to sign them for you or for someone else before they go out.

Last Friday I did a video interview for a new blog, “75 and Thrive” by Karen McCall, a published author, whose book, Financial Recovery, discusses our relationship with money, how to get more of it and manage it better. She read my book, Every Night’s Friday Night (or ENFN as I refer to it) and asked me to be the launch speaker for her new blog. Thanks to my client, Kathleen Metcalf, for referring me to her. People from 50 - 80 are in the “thrive years” of life and many others are already planning for them in their 30’s and 40’s. Thanks, Karen.

Tuesday I had a presentation and book signing at Books, Inc. in the San Jose area. People often ask me what the key things are you need to have to make this stage of your life meaningful so I decided to make this the topic of this month’s blog. I’ll list the 6 key things here and they're also covered in different chapters of the book.

1. Purpose - Whatever creates meaning, it could be work, volunteer activities, care-taking of others, opening a new business, creating a new identity, exploring new cultures

2. Health - Body, mind and spirit, inner and outer life, fitness, pain management

3. Connections - Relationship with yourself, the community, family, friends, avoiding isolation. I just read isolation is the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day and takes 8 years off your life!

4. Assets - Money and Time - Enough to not be worried about it, which doesn’t require wealth or as much as some financial advisors tell you. Time is the greatest asset at this stage and is just as important, if not more so, than money. It’s the thing you can’t make more of.

5. Creativity - Fun, artistic expression, adventure, travel, writing, music, different ways to use your brain than what you’ve done working

6. Legacy - What you want to be remembered for, closure with loved ones, mentoring the next generation, philanthropy, collective social change

We’re headed to Tulum, Mexico this weekend for 2 weeks of #5, the fun and adventure part. We’ll also be doing something I mention in the book which is exploring whether there’s somewhere else we’d like to live for a few months during the year. This can be a way to learn new things, meet new people, be part of a different culture and maybe even reduce your living expenses. I'll let you know what I think after we get back, if we come back that is!