July 5, 2023

Midlife Mastery: Empowering Thought Patterns for a Regret-Proof Life with Master Coach Suzy Rosenstein [Ep. 50]

Midlife Mastery: Empowering Thought Patterns for a Regret-Proof Life with Master Coach Suzy Rosenstein [Ep. 50]

Women in midlife tend to limit themselves–thinking more about what they can’t do rather than the possibilities open to them. Midlife mindset coach Suzy Rosenstein joins me today to discuss thought patterns you may see in yourself and some techniques to dismantle and improve those. 

I hope you found this conversation with Suzy insightful and valuable. If you are enjoying the show, don’t forget to rate and review! 

Episode mentioned on HRT: Navigating Perimenopause and Menopause with Hormone Replacement Therapy and How it Affects Weight Loss with Dr. Rosensweet [Ep. 41]: listen HERE

More from Well with Lisa:

More from Suzy Rosenstein:

Suzy Rosenstein, MA is a master certified life coach and host of the popular podcast for midlife women, Women in the Middle®, with over 1.5 million downloads. She uses her upbeat approach about aging and being an entrepreneur over 50 to help you navigate the sometimes bumpy midlife road better and get the success and results you want with more time to enjoy your valuable time. 

Suzy helps you discover what you really want in your next chapter with the courage and commitment to pursue it so you actually love your life again!

More from Well with Lisa:

Transcript
WEBVTT

00:00:00.100 --> 00:00:01.389
This is the eat well think, well, live.

00:00:01.419 --> 00:00:02.169
Well podcast.

00:00:02.529 --> 00:00:03.640
I'm Lisa Salsbury.

00:00:03.890 --> 00:00:11.750
And this is episode 50 mid-life mastery empowering thought patterns for a regret proof life with Suzy Rosenstein.

00:00:12.164 --> 00:00:17.024
This episode lies squarely in the LivWell pillar of the podcast.

00:00:17.385 --> 00:00:35.895
We aren't talking really about weight loss today, directly, but you'll see the way you may be holding yourself back in your midlife years and how that might be affecting your ability to either get started with weight loss or thinking it might be too late, or even that you can't learn a new way at this age.

00:00:36.225 --> 00:00:44.054
Right in air quotes at this age, you will hear us talking a lot about thoughts that you may be thinking you're not alone.

00:00:44.564 --> 00:00:48.104
About what is, and is not appropriate at certain ages.

00:00:48.494 --> 00:00:52.515
And Susie gives you some great ways to break through some of that.

00:00:52.844 --> 00:00:56.265
She really emphasizes regret proofing your life.

00:00:56.594 --> 00:01:02.804
So take some time to think about what you truly want and don't let age stand in your way.

00:01:03.045 --> 00:01:05.795
You're going to love this conversation with Suzy.

00:01:09.718 --> 00:01:16.618
Welcome to Eat Well, Think Well, Live Well; the podcast for women who want to lose weight, but are tired of counting and calculating all the food.

00:01:17.248 --> 00:01:18.808
I'm your host, Lisa Salsbury.

00:01:19.198 --> 00:01:24.858
I'm a certified health and weight loss coach and life coach, and most importantly a recovered chronic dieter.

00:01:25.468 --> 00:01:31.409
I'll teach you to figure out why you are eating when you aren't hungry, instead of worrying so much about what you are eating.

00:01:32.733 --> 00:01:33.063
All right.

00:01:33.063 --> 00:01:35.614
Welcome to the Eat Well Think Well Live Well podcast.

00:01:35.618 --> 00:01:38.614
I'm excited to have Suzy Rosenstein here.

00:01:39.034 --> 00:01:47.530
She's a master life coach, midlife mentor, and she was my instructor during the Life Coach school training, so it's so fun to reconnect with her.

00:01:47.858 --> 00:01:48.888
Hello, Suzy.

00:01:48.938 --> 00:01:50.198
How are you today?

00:01:50.444 --> 00:01:52.944
Oh, that's so fun that you mentioned that.

00:01:52.944 --> 00:01:58.373
And it's an absolute delight to be here with you today to talk about midlife.

00:01:58.373 --> 00:01:59.004
It's amazing.

00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:00.519
Yes.

00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:05.948
So many I think of my listeners are in this stage or we are approaching it.

00:02:05.948 --> 00:02:07.149
We're wondering about it.

00:02:07.748 --> 00:02:12.786
I was telling Suzy, I recently did an interview with a menopause doctor.

00:02:12.790 --> 00:02:25.330
If you have not listened to that, it's primarily medical more about hormone replacement therapy and the interventions you can do medically, and so I thought this would be a perfect.

00:02:25.391 --> 00:02:33.372
Companion to that episode with Suzy because she talks about the midlife, what is happening in our lives.

00:02:33.372 --> 00:02:39.641
It's sort of separate, but kind of a alongside what's happening with menopause.

00:02:39.912 --> 00:02:45.762
So we're not really gonna be talking about the medical side of menopause that's happening with our bodies, but.

00:02:46.361 --> 00:02:47.921
What's happening in our lives.

00:02:47.981 --> 00:02:51.641
That's where she really excels, is in, in this midlife.

00:02:51.671 --> 00:02:53.831
So we're just gonna jump right in.

00:02:53.921 --> 00:03:02.861
What are some of the biggest challenges you see with your clients or with women that are approaching this age or within this midlife age?

00:03:03.132 --> 00:03:07.002
Well, what typically happens is that it feels like.

00:03:07.826 --> 00:03:09.986
It's just happening immediately.

00:03:09.986 --> 00:03:13.076
Like there was no warning, which is really kind of funny.

00:03:13.076 --> 00:03:31.762
So it's like we've had a lot of time to get ready for midlife, but for some reason we, it usually we get a bit of a shock because of, um, a wake up call or, or, um, Somebody's retiring that we know, or a milestone birthday.

00:03:31.762 --> 00:03:32.901
Oh my God, I'm turning 50.

00:03:32.901 --> 00:03:33.951
When, when did that happen?

00:03:33.951 --> 00:03:34.852
How did that happen?

00:03:35.151 --> 00:03:50.062
You know, we've had lots of time to get ready, you know, or a kid goes to university or, or maybe somebody gets a scary diagnosis in your family or you have, you know, something scary to deal with or, or you know, you have to start taking care of your parents.

00:03:50.331 --> 00:03:57.822
There's so many things that can go on in midlife and what tends to happen is it's kind of, um, A surprise.

00:03:57.822 --> 00:03:59.741
It can be a surprise to many people.

00:04:00.042 --> 00:04:01.901
Kind of like menopause, you know?

00:04:01.901 --> 00:04:09.252
And definitely we're not gonna talk about anything medical, but um, it's an area I interview so many people, I.

00:04:09.776 --> 00:04:18.617
So many midlife women, and I've been doing this for almost 10 years now, and so many of us just aren't aware of what the heck is going on like,

00:04:18.706 --> 00:04:19.067
Mm-hmm.

00:04:19.666 --> 00:04:27.137
and it, it's so interesting because it reminds me of breastfeeding back in the day, like we all knew about pregnancy, what to expect when you're expecting.

00:04:27.137 --> 00:04:27.976
That book was really popular.

00:04:29.172 --> 00:04:33.161
But you know what's really happening with breastfeeding, it was a bit of a surprise.

00:04:33.161 --> 00:04:38.502
I remember having a thought that my kid was a, a barracuda, like, what is going on here?

00:04:38.771 --> 00:04:40.661
Nobody told me any of this.

00:04:40.692 --> 00:04:43.391
And I think it's kind of like that with midlife too.

00:04:43.391 --> 00:04:46.661
It's for some reason it's a bit of a surprise now.

00:04:46.661 --> 00:04:49.872
There are all kinds of reasons I mentioned wake up calls.

00:04:50.502 --> 00:04:54.762
It's also kind of like we've been so used to taking care of other people.

00:04:56.146 --> 00:04:59.177
That we're just kind of like, whoa, something's different.

00:04:59.177 --> 00:05:05.747
Maybe I'm not happy in my job anymore, or a kid is left, or all the kids have left, or there's a change in your relationships.

00:05:06.107 --> 00:05:08.987
And that can happen with your inner circle relationships.

00:05:08.987 --> 00:05:09.826
That's what I call them.

00:05:09.826 --> 00:05:15.677
Like, you know, maybe your partner, spouse, uh, some of the people that are really close in your life, but also your friends.

00:05:15.677 --> 00:05:23.177
There are changes everywhere and I just think a lot of people are kind of surprised that they're not that prepared.

00:05:23.971 --> 00:05:27.451
And so to even recognize what's going on, I wasn't prepared.

00:05:27.512 --> 00:05:36.211
I found like what got me kind of aware was that I was unhappy at my work and I was always very satisfied in my job.

00:05:36.752 --> 00:05:42.122
I was in my career for 27 years in health education, health promotion, addiction, mental health, that kind of stuff.

00:05:43.031 --> 00:05:45.012
And I was very content.

00:05:45.012 --> 00:05:55.541
The last job I had was a 19 year job, and around year 1415, I started to get a weird feeling that I just wasn't content and I didn't know what was going on.

00:05:55.961 --> 00:05:56.831
Well, what do you know?

00:05:56.831 --> 00:05:59.471
I was 45 to 50 In those years, I.

00:06:00.086 --> 00:06:04.122
And it just started to like, it was kind of like a whisper.

00:06:04.742 --> 00:06:05.911
Some boredom.

00:06:05.971 --> 00:06:07.351
I felt stagnant.

00:06:07.862 --> 00:06:08.911
Is there more?

00:06:08.911 --> 00:06:10.382
Is this all there is?

00:06:10.562 --> 00:06:16.562
Those kinds of questions started to come up and I didn't have the larger context and I wasn't prepared.

00:06:16.562 --> 00:06:17.911
It was a bit of a surprise.

00:06:19.141 --> 00:06:20.221
That's what happened to me.

00:06:20.221 --> 00:06:21.512
But I think that's really it.

00:06:21.541 --> 00:06:29.252
We're very busy building families, uh, careers, raising kids transitions, taking care of people.

00:06:29.461 --> 00:06:37.923
Very, very busy in that 20 to 40 typical age range or 20 to 50, and then boom, things do change to some degree.

00:06:38.221 --> 00:06:39.091
Does that make sense?

00:06:39.781 --> 00:06:49.091
Yeah, I, and I think too, for me, in this mid lifetime, There's just so many different things happening when all the kids were at home.

00:06:49.302 --> 00:07:11.471
I have four children and when they were all at home, it was a little bit more regular, even though it was crazy with having, you know, I was looking at photos of when my oldest graduated high school, my youngest was still like in grade school, so I had quite a range, so, You know, of course that's a busy time, but now it's like half of'em are in college, one just graduated.

00:07:11.471 --> 00:07:12.882
We're going to get her ready.

00:07:12.882 --> 00:07:16.031
We've got one left at home and I'm taking care of my mom

00:07:16.031 --> 00:07:20.862
So as the children have left, the care for my mom has increased.

00:07:21.072 --> 00:07:25.211
Not daily or anything, but just, you know, managing her medical appointments and.

00:07:25.411 --> 00:07:31.591
I won't go into all, you know, the, the things that I do there, but it's just been steadily increasing.

00:07:31.591 --> 00:07:46.471
The responsibilities there as my responsibilities with my children at home have decreased, and so the care has just sh shifted where my time is spent, and I feel like there's a little bit also of.

00:07:47.295 --> 00:07:51.375
I don't know who I am anymore if I'm not a mom.

00:07:51.706 --> 00:08:02.475
That is like a stay-at-home mom, taking care of kids, managing the schedules, doing the birthday parties, all of those things that I was very good at that it's like I don't, I.

00:08:02.836 --> 00:08:06.016
Sometimes know how to be a, a parent to adult children.

00:08:06.255 --> 00:08:12.346
I don't know how to be the, the a child to an adult parent who needs assistance.

00:08:12.350 --> 00:08:15.915
Like I, I mess that up all the time with her all the

00:08:16.036 --> 00:08:17.295
Oh, you really said that.

00:08:17.295 --> 00:08:19.216
Well, yeah, it's like an identity crisis.

00:08:19.216 --> 00:08:35.145
And so a lot of times people, you know, especially when we grew up, I'll be 60 this summer, so when I grew up it was 70 sitcom Heaven, Brady Bunch, you know, and all in the family and all those shows, and we had a very classic idea of what our role was as a mother.

00:08:35.836 --> 00:08:50.436
And I don't know, you know, we all have influences from different places, but it's pretty typical that a lot of people who grew up in upper middle class, middle class North America, um, grew up with a lot of these similar influences.

00:08:50.525 --> 00:08:57.066
And so it's just, we have these ideas of what it is that we're who we are, but we don't really.

00:08:57.561 --> 00:09:01.971
Have a chance to, even though we have plenty of chance to, but we don't, it doesn't feel like it.

00:09:02.211 --> 00:09:04.490
To think about who we want to be.

00:09:04.941 --> 00:09:05.480
Mm-hmm.

00:09:05.541 --> 00:09:10.041
And the person I am is that the person that I wanna be, does it fit me anymore?

00:09:10.431 --> 00:09:25.341
So I just always think about the Brady Bunch and maybe that isn't the best, um, example, I don't know if your listeners can relate to the Brady Bunch, but that had a huge influence on my life and, and that really, uh, it's funny because my family situation wasn't normal either,

00:09:27.721 --> 00:09:32.400
the Brady Bunch is interesting because we act like it's this perfect family, but that was a blended family,

00:09:32.806 --> 00:09:33.750
Yeah, it was a blended

00:09:33.811 --> 00:09:34.230
you know?

00:09:34.471 --> 00:09:35.311
But it was a work.

00:09:35.311 --> 00:09:36.321
It was working well.

00:09:36.841 --> 00:09:41.130
yeah, yeah, it was like this ideal blended family.

00:09:41.130 --> 00:09:49.860
But this is where, and, and again, we're not gonna get into the hormones today, but all of this is happening and you're dealing with the hormone issue.

00:09:50.235 --> 00:09:58.096
Like, and you're, you're dealing with all of this stress, which for my listeners often goes to overeating.

00:09:58.456 --> 00:10:07.995
We wanna compensate with food, and so we're having all this happening in our life, and then our body is not doing what we think it should be doing.

00:10:08.076 --> 00:10:11.686
And I think that's just one more layer that's happening.

00:10:11.990 --> 00:10:18.645
Yeah, and I forgot to mention a big layer and it, it has to do with aging and this idea that we're running out of time.

00:10:19.066 --> 00:10:20.745
So as we age and.

00:10:20.745 --> 00:10:23.926
Hit some of these milestones and some of these wake up calls happen.

00:10:24.196 --> 00:10:35.775
There's a lot of that kind of thinking, like even though time is not going any faster than it ever did, and we've been aging since, you know, from the beginning since we were babies, um, we didn't think about it the same way.

00:10:35.780 --> 00:10:43.785
But now there's a huge realization that time is flying by, that life is flying by and we start to think about having regrets.

00:10:44.296 --> 00:10:47.535
And it, I felt actually a little panicky too.

00:10:47.535 --> 00:10:52.966
The night of, uh, the night before my first kid went to university is when I, I really felt panicky.

00:10:52.966 --> 00:11:00.645
Like it wasn't a panic attack, but I felt panicky and the thought was, did I teach him everything he needed to know, like, where did the time go?

00:11:00.645 --> 00:11:02.176
Does he know how to cook five recipes?

00:11:02.446 --> 00:11:03.525
Does he know how to.

00:11:04.230 --> 00:11:09.211
You know, take care of himself and, and be a, a decent human being in all of these situations.

00:11:09.211 --> 00:11:10.140
And I came up with mm-hmm.

00:11:10.380 --> 00:11:11.100
So many of them.

00:11:11.581 --> 00:11:21.630
And the one thing, the one thing I didn't even worry about, which is I should have worried about it, is an understanding of, what I thought was an appropriate expectation for communication once they left.

00:11:22.696 --> 00:11:24.966
Yeah, we, we'd struggle with that as well.

00:11:25.725 --> 00:11:31.426
I didn't bother mentioning that one until I saw a picture of, um, an injury he had.

00:11:31.426 --> 00:11:39.826
He was a cheerleader and, and he had an injury and ended up going to emerge and one of his friends posted a picture online and that's how I saw it on Facebook.

00:11:39.826 --> 00:11:40.635
And I'm like, what?

00:11:40.635 --> 00:11:43.306
He didn't call when he had to go to a emerge.

00:11:45.586 --> 00:11:45.855
I think.

00:11:46.096 --> 00:11:48.706
I think we have to have a little, yeah.

00:11:48.706 --> 00:11:52.186
So it is a very jarring time in life and mm-hmm.

00:11:52.546 --> 00:12:03.015
The other thing that's kind of going on is that we, many of us like to think that we're kind of cool about aging, we're often not as cool as we think we are.

00:12:03.046 --> 00:12:09.365
Like as comfortable, uh, with some of the issues, even know what all the issues are and weight gain.

00:12:10.365 --> 00:12:14.566
In menopause and the type of issues that you're dealing with head on.

00:12:14.566 --> 00:12:19.755
I'm dealing with them too, but mine are in, uh, you know, dealing with a lot of things about identity,

00:12:20.336 --> 00:12:21.566
With your clients, you mean?

00:12:21.731 --> 00:12:23.022
Yeah, with my clients, I'm sorry.

00:12:23.022 --> 00:12:26.951
And yeah, but in, in menopause it's very confusing.

00:12:26.951 --> 00:12:30.522
We don't like the things we used to do that used to work to lose little weight.

00:12:30.522 --> 00:12:31.751
Don't seem to work anymore.

00:12:32.022 --> 00:12:39.522
It's very confusing, you know, if we wanted to lose five pounds before a vacation, Back in the day, we could, we had a few tricks up our sleeve.

00:12:39.522 --> 00:12:40.782
We could usually figure it out.

00:12:41.772 --> 00:12:45.971
And now I, I'm hearing all the time, and personally it's just confusing.

00:12:45.971 --> 00:12:48.611
The same things don't, don't tend to work anymore.

00:12:48.611 --> 00:12:54.471
So there's a lot about midlife that is, it can be very confusing and most of us.

00:12:55.677 --> 00:13:05.037
Maybe I can't say most cuz I don't know if it's most or not many of us, many of us think about what we can't do instead of what we can do.

00:13:05.486 --> 00:13:21.297
And that's the other, uh, perspective shift where there's so much potential because there are so many things that we can do when we, you know, get more comfortable with who, the idea of who we wanna be and what we're capable of.

00:13:22.241 --> 00:13:36.542
Yeah, That really speaks to what I wanted to ask you about some of the most common thought patterns that you're hearing because both Suzy and I are life coach school coaches, so we do really emphasize the thought patterns that are happening for our clients.

00:13:36.991 --> 00:13:44.761
And so I'm sure you hear a lot of the of similar thought patterns in this midlife with your clients.

00:13:44.761 --> 00:13:47.101
And so it sounds like that's one of'em is.

00:13:47.846 --> 00:13:59.216
A lot of what you're not able to do, can't thoughts, but what, what else do you see happening that you might notice if, you know, listeners are like, oh yeah, that's happening to me too.

00:13:59.216 --> 00:14:02.726
And of course, just so you know, we'll get to the solutions here in a minute.

00:14:03.797 --> 00:14:07.856
But, but what do you notice, uh, are, you know, common things that are happening?

00:14:09.442 --> 00:14:10.971
Well, a couple of things.

00:14:10.976 --> 00:14:19.312
One thought that comes up all the time is I'm too busy and I'm too busy to take care of myself, is really the way it comes up.

00:14:19.312 --> 00:14:26.682
So it comes up with weight loss, it comes up with movement, it comes up with sleep, it comes up with drinking too much water.

00:14:28.006 --> 00:14:33.736
Sometimes you don't even go to the bathroom when you need to go because it just, it's, I'm too busy.

00:14:34.246 --> 00:14:40.096
Um, embarrassingly I ended up doing a podcast about my worst mommy moment.

00:14:40.697 --> 00:14:46.667
So this happened before menopause, but clearly thinking I'm too busy was a pattern for me for a long time.

00:14:48.361 --> 00:14:53.402
One time we had a, a ripe mango on the counter and a ripe avocado.

00:14:53.402 --> 00:14:54.601
There was a bowl of fruit.

00:14:55.142 --> 00:14:58.081
And you know, when there's a mango and an avocado, we're on watch.

00:14:58.086 --> 00:14:58.892
We're on high alert.

00:14:58.892 --> 00:14:59.761
When's it gonna be ripe?

00:14:59.792 --> 00:15:00.871
When's it time to eat those?

00:15:02.101 --> 00:15:10.471
And one of my, my youngest son, I have three boys, they're all in their twenties now, and one of them, uh, the youngest one must have been around eight or nine at the time.

00:15:10.471 --> 00:15:13.471
And he's like, mommy, can you cut me a mango?

00:15:14.072 --> 00:15:14.942
I love mangoes.

00:15:14.942 --> 00:15:16.142
Can you cut me a mango?

00:15:16.471 --> 00:15:20.282
And I remember standing there at the island and saying to him, I'm too busy.

00:15:21.241 --> 00:15:25.892
I'm too busy to cut my kid a piece of fruit that he wants.

00:15:26.581 --> 00:15:37.052
Now, I didn't realize any of this at the time, but it was through mindfulness training and going through the self coaching and learning a lot over the years that I realized that that's what I thought.

00:15:37.052 --> 00:15:39.091
And I did not cut him a mango.

00:15:39.091 --> 00:15:40.532
And it happened several times.

00:15:41.131 --> 00:15:54.361
So, I find that so sad and, and just such a depiction of what can really be going on in your mind when you are, uh, you know, really thinking about what, what you're doing.

00:15:54.361 --> 00:15:56.432
And a lot of times it's on autopilot.

00:15:56.642 --> 00:15:58.772
It's not intentional at all.

00:15:59.312 --> 00:16:01.413
Uh, but you just don't know what you can do.

00:16:01.591 --> 00:16:05.552
You just have this idea about what you can't do and that's what you're focusing on.

00:16:05.942 --> 00:16:07.081
So that's one thought.

00:16:07.081 --> 00:16:07.802
I'm too busy.

00:16:07.807 --> 00:16:09.871
The other time that I'm too busy comes up.

00:16:10.277 --> 00:16:12.886
In a sneaky way is reading books.

00:16:13.336 --> 00:16:24.677
I've heard so many midlife women, uh, talk about being too busy to read a book The old fashioned way where you sit down, you don't multitask 10 things and you turn a page and they want

00:16:24.782 --> 00:16:25.022
Okay.

00:16:25.022 --> 00:16:26.101
Does Kindle count?

00:16:26.101 --> 00:16:27.822
I l I love reading on my Kindle.

00:16:28.336 --> 00:16:29.226
kind counts.

00:16:29.672 --> 00:16:30.121
Just making

00:16:30.167 --> 00:16:41.956
au audible's interesting because when you listen to a book on tape or a book on whatever, audible on an app, You can multitask and multitasking is not great.

00:16:42.466 --> 00:16:42.976
Not great.

00:16:42.976 --> 00:16:47.506
And what your brain's actually doing is something that they call switch tasking, which isn't efficient.

00:16:47.777 --> 00:16:50.116
It keeps you at the superficial level.

00:16:50.116 --> 00:16:51.317
It's just not, not great.

00:16:51.317 --> 00:16:54.706
And without going deep into that, just, it's just really not great.

00:16:54.706 --> 00:17:06.406
You can look it up and find all kinds of, uh, research, um, studies and YouTube things about why it's really not, uh, you're not really getting more done and you're not being with your time.

00:17:06.961 --> 00:17:09.451
I gotta, so I gotta push a little bit on that.

00:17:09.451 --> 00:17:13.531
So I tend to listen to, I, I do actually love an audiobook.

00:17:13.892 --> 00:17:23.461
I tend to listen when I'm doing what I consider mindless tasks like folding laundry, ironing, um, driving, maybe that's not very mindless.

00:17:23.761 --> 00:17:26.787
Um, S walking when I'm out on a walk.

00:17:26.787 --> 00:17:39.047
So is that considered task switching or is it only like, sometimes I'll also listen when I'm cooking and I'm not very efficient there if I'm trying to also look at a recipe and then listen to the book.

00:17:39.047 --> 00:17:45.406
But if I'm just like chopping and stuff, so like if I'm doing a physical task like that, is that task switching as well?

00:17:45.656 --> 00:17:57.862
Well, it's a good, it's a good question, and, and I don't actually know which tasks are considered, that would get in the way and which aren't, I don't know that answer, but I would offer you, this is why aren't you in the present moment and do you like your reasons?

00:17:58.162 --> 00:17:58.521
Right?

00:17:58.761 --> 00:17:59.991
So like you, I

00:17:59.991 --> 00:18:00.801
I hate laundry.

00:18:01.166 --> 00:18:01.882
Well, right.

00:18:01.882 --> 00:18:06.412
And I'll also do, I love listening to books when I'm putting on makeup or and podcasts.

00:18:06.412 --> 00:18:08.211
Like that's something I do.

00:18:08.211 --> 00:18:13.672
And I do find it doesn't get in the way and also with driving, but why am I not in the present moment?

00:18:13.701 --> 00:18:16.642
And I think that's the more interesting question, right?

00:18:16.642 --> 00:18:16.701
Yeah.

00:18:16.701 --> 00:18:19.561
Like is it because you have a thought that you're not being productive?

00:18:19.862 --> 00:18:23.422
And that's the next thought I wanted to talk to you about, because.

00:18:23.836 --> 00:18:38.596
We have this idea that we need to be uber, uber productive at all times, and we define what that means, and we don't tend to put things like taking care of ourselves the way we want to on purpose as being productive, right?

00:18:38.602 --> 00:18:40.666
You have to really think about how you being productive.

00:18:40.971 --> 00:18:41.541
Totally.

00:18:41.541 --> 00:18:46.221
And I, I just have to say that is such an issue with my clients.

00:18:46.551 --> 00:18:50.781
I didn't, I didn't take the time to even write down my food today.

00:18:51.172 --> 00:18:52.011
I didn't have time.

00:18:52.011 --> 00:18:58.372
I'm like, I just keep hearing things even though we're not strictly talking about weight loss today or really, uh, almost at all.

00:18:58.882 --> 00:19:01.701
My clients are always telling me I'm too busy.

00:19:01.701 --> 00:19:03.231
I don't have time to plan meals.

00:19:03.642 --> 00:19:05.061
Uh, another big one.

00:19:05.446 --> 00:19:07.487
With, I can think of a few clients.

00:19:07.787 --> 00:19:10.846
I'm too busy with the kids to exercise.

00:19:10.997 --> 00:19:11.896
There's too much to do.

00:19:11.946 --> 00:19:17.247
but they take'em to their sports classes, they take'em to their gymnastics, they all of that.

00:19:17.666 --> 00:19:20.787
But I don't have time for me.

00:19:20.787 --> 00:19:32.727
And so yeah, this self-care piece, whether it's, like you said, the movement or fixing proper meals for yourself, it is really an issue in this time of life, I think.

00:19:33.061 --> 00:19:33.662
I agree.

00:19:33.842 --> 00:19:34.261
I agree.

00:19:34.261 --> 00:19:36.241
And it comes up all the time with my clients too.

00:19:36.241 --> 00:19:38.701
And then, you know what's kind of related to that is.

00:19:39.707 --> 00:19:41.207
The understanding of commitment.

00:19:41.926 --> 00:19:48.257
So when you commit to yourself, it tends to be different than when you commit to somebody else.

00:19:48.257 --> 00:19:57.047
So an external commitment is typically easier to, uh, honor than a commitment that you make to yourself privately.

00:19:57.626 --> 00:20:01.126
And it's really interesting about that one because.

00:20:01.856 --> 00:20:16.797
if you say, like, if you're working with people or if somebody has a goal to lose a couple pounds or to eat more fruit or to drink more water or whatever, they tend to make that kind of commitment in a lighter way, in a way that opens the door to drama.

00:20:16.856 --> 00:20:23.869
I, I literally think of a door, if you committed to yourself the way that you've, um, that you really mean it.

00:20:24.964 --> 00:20:29.704
You can tell very simply, if you think about something you would never miss in a million years.

00:20:29.704 --> 00:20:33.454
So my example always is if I told somebody I would pick them up at the airport.

00:20:34.115 --> 00:20:36.275
This was even before cell phones.

00:20:36.305 --> 00:20:37.144
Just think about that.

00:20:37.144 --> 00:20:40.505
Somebody goes away for a week or two and you're like, yeah, I'll pick you up.

00:20:40.509 --> 00:20:41.105
No problem.

00:20:41.105 --> 00:20:42.125
It could be a kid.

00:20:42.365 --> 00:20:44.555
It could be a parent, it could be your best friend.

00:20:45.095 --> 00:20:46.565
I'm gonna pick you up at the airport.

00:20:46.924 --> 00:20:49.055
What's the likelihood that you're not gonna do that?

00:20:49.638 --> 00:20:50.179
Not at all.

00:20:50.449 --> 00:20:51.169
Like, of course you're going

00:20:51.334 --> 00:20:51.604
Right.

00:20:51.663 --> 00:20:52.354
You're gonna do it.

00:20:52.354 --> 00:20:55.983
What's the likelihood that you're going to write down dinner tonight?

00:20:56.314 --> 00:21:02.433
If you've said you're going to, it's, it's, the door is open a little bit for a negotiation.

00:21:02.784 --> 00:21:03.203
Mm-hmm.

00:21:03.453 --> 00:21:06.723
And that's a, a little bit less commitment, but I.

00:21:06.784 --> 00:21:12.064
If it sounds like commitment when you first talk about it, and it's like that with everything.

00:21:12.064 --> 00:21:23.703
So what we're really talking about with self-care is your ability to, you know, decide what you want for yourself, how you wanna take care of yourself, and how you're going to honor that commitment to yourself.

00:21:24.253 --> 00:21:29.584
And if that is shaky, you know, an expression that is used a lot is then you don't have your own back.

00:21:29.584 --> 00:21:33.753
You're not looking after yourself in the way that you really want to.

00:21:33.753 --> 00:21:34.713
There's a disconnect.

00:21:35.288 --> 00:21:36.153
There's a disconnect.

00:21:36.153 --> 00:21:50.433
So again, when, when you're not really sure and you haven't given careful thought to what kind of a woman you wanna become, do you wanna be a woman who honors commitments to herself in the same way that you honor getting to a doctor appointment on time or picking up somebody at the airport?

00:21:51.064 --> 00:21:55.834
And if the answer is yes, but you're not doing it, then there's a little bit of work that you can do there.

00:21:56.284 --> 00:22:03.423
That type of issue is something that's very common, um, to work on with the women over 50 that I work with every day.

00:22:03.888 --> 00:22:04.398
Yes.

00:22:04.729 --> 00:22:11.449
I love talking about commitment and it's something definitely that my clients really, really need to work on.

00:22:11.479 --> 00:22:15.318
I always say we are the very first person we're willing to cancel on.

00:22:16.203 --> 00:22:17.584
That's a great way to put it.

00:22:17.584 --> 00:22:18.483
It's so true.

00:22:18.784 --> 00:22:19.594
It's so true.

00:22:19.983 --> 00:22:23.884
And that's not the woman I wanna be, but I fight with her all the time in my mind.

00:22:25.294 --> 00:22:26.433
Yeah, for sure.

00:22:26.884 --> 00:22:29.163
So what are some of the solutions here?

00:22:29.169 --> 00:22:35.193
We've talked about a lot of the challenges that we're facing, a lot of the common thought patterns, and I do that too.

00:22:35.463 --> 00:22:38.044
I want, I wanna normalize that a little bit.

00:22:38.044 --> 00:22:39.784
Just that, hey, you're not alone out there.

00:22:39.784 --> 00:22:43.064
If you're having these thoughts, if you're like, I can't figure out how to.

00:22:43.963 --> 00:22:54.634
Make time for myself and, and I think really one of the challenges is that, Teenagers, I always say this, that toddlers are physically demanding.

00:22:54.784 --> 00:22:58.443
We're like in there making their food and giving'em baths and getting them to bed.

00:22:58.443 --> 00:23:11.253
All those like physical tasks and teenagers are very emotionally demanding and I think that can really take a lot more toll on you and they are just so busy.

00:23:11.253 --> 00:23:12.064
You go from.

00:23:12.523 --> 00:23:13.273
Once a week.

00:23:13.394 --> 00:23:18.463
Little classes you've got for your little ones to everyday sports practices for high school.

00:23:18.463 --> 00:23:21.013
You know, they're daily competitive things that you're in.

00:23:21.013 --> 00:23:28.153
You're driving all over who knows where for these things, and then the added layer of taking care of your parents

00:23:28.878 --> 00:23:29.808
Yeah, sandwich.

00:23:29.808 --> 00:23:33.608
You're a big sandwich generation, like what you're explaining and.

00:23:33.769 --> 00:23:49.308
You're, the thing we haven't talked about is that you're also running a business, and I have this, um, well, I'm starting a second podcast and I'm in the middle of interviewing people for that podcast, and my first podcast is Women in the Middle Loving Life After 50.

00:23:49.638 --> 00:23:51.729
But the second one is Women in the Middle Entrepreneurs.

00:23:52.669 --> 00:23:54.618
And so it's about the collision.

00:23:54.618 --> 00:23:57.199
It's where midlife issues.

00:23:57.618 --> 00:24:00.618
Get in the way of you running your business the way you want to.

00:24:01.038 --> 00:24:10.338
And I think the example you just shared is a really good one because the emotional part of young adults or almost young adults, it takes time.

00:24:11.148 --> 00:24:17.179
There's a lot of time for you to put yourself in a place where you're gonna have a conversation at just the right time.

00:24:18.169 --> 00:24:20.959
It, you know, it's tricky.

00:24:21.259 --> 00:24:22.368
It can be really tricky.

00:24:22.368 --> 00:24:24.199
That's, uh, anyway, but you're right.

00:24:24.199 --> 00:24:24.919
It's different.

00:24:25.128 --> 00:24:25.818
It's different.

00:24:25.824 --> 00:24:25.999
But

00:24:26.148 --> 00:24:31.578
because teenagers, they wanna have this conversation at like 1115 at night.

00:24:32.118 --> 00:24:36.669
You're like, come in to say goodnight, and then they're like, you know what, I'm Well, yes.

00:24:36.673 --> 00:24:44.409
This is definitely when I wanna have this conversation all about your boyfriend and when we should talk about anyway,

00:24:45.683 --> 00:24:46.403
That's so funny.

00:24:47.019 --> 00:24:48.818
We, we have all these challenges.

00:24:49.058 --> 00:24:54.909
Everyone that's listening can see themselves here or they can see it on the horizon.

00:24:54.909 --> 00:25:05.308
I do have definitely some younger listeners, but what are like some of the, some of the solutions, how do we make this time of life more enjoyable?

00:25:05.338 --> 00:25:13.163
Because I think that's, Really, a lot of what we want is more joy and peace in our lives.

00:25:13.344 --> 00:25:25.868
I think one of the, one of the antidotes to busyness is peace, because when I feel busy, I feel like I'm, you know, running on empty and just frazzled like a monkey in my brain.

00:25:26.229 --> 00:25:32.469
And so for me, the opposite of that is finding more peace and then of course that joy.

00:25:32.949 --> 00:25:38.169
So how does that look different when we're looking for those kinds of things in midlife?

00:25:39.134 --> 00:25:44.203
I think it all comes down to like boiling it right down to something you can do right away.

00:25:44.203 --> 00:25:46.874
I always say curiosity and compassion for the win.

00:25:47.564 --> 00:26:01.898
So if you're more curious, About what's actually possible for you and what you actually want when you haven't thought about it for, uh, you know, in midlife maybe 20 to 30 years, you haven't really thought about what do I want?

00:26:02.769 --> 00:26:06.068
Um, and if you're younger, you may not have thought about it either.

00:26:06.669 --> 00:26:14.199
Like you may have just gotten sucked into some routine or pattern or direction that you haven't checked in with lately.

00:26:14.288 --> 00:26:16.568
You haven't checked in with yourself lately about it.

00:26:17.048 --> 00:26:32.304
So when you're more curious, And more compassionate, less judgmental about yourself and maybe being, uh, being a beginner again in something that you actually wanna learn, but you're too afraid to, to look stupid.

00:26:32.513 --> 00:26:34.344
I'm taking tap dancing lessons right now.

00:26:34.523 --> 00:26:35.243
Let me tell you.

00:26:35.324 --> 00:26:35.983
Are you really?

00:26:36.443 --> 00:26:41.634
Let me tell you, I am worried about falling down, down.

00:26:41.693 --> 00:26:47.034
I was even embarrassed buying the shoes with all the dance moms, and I was so out of sorts.

00:26:47.273 --> 00:26:48.413
I have three sons.

00:26:49.074 --> 00:27:00.564
I just haven't been in, in the dance world since I was, uh, I don't know, 12, 13, 14, something very young.

00:27:01.074 --> 00:27:05.054
Um, my kids just didn't get involved in that sort of thing, so I, I.

00:27:05.108 --> 00:27:05.919
Didn't go there.

00:27:05.919 --> 00:27:07.509
I got involved in gymnastics.

00:27:07.509 --> 00:27:08.499
That's the route they went.

00:27:08.528 --> 00:27:17.499
You know, so it just, it's so interesting that I even had discomfort, buying shoes, going into a space, trying them on, standing in front of a mirror.

00:27:17.499 --> 00:27:19.838
There was a little floor there making a sound.

00:27:19.898 --> 00:27:25.929
It was so public and I was squirming even that being a beginner can, can really get in your way.

00:27:26.108 --> 00:27:32.919
And a lot of, uh, people have regrets about allowing themselves to be happy to do what it is they really wanna do.

00:27:32.919 --> 00:27:41.044
So in midlife, For sure, uh, probably throughout your whole life, I think you need to think about what you would actually regret and do something about it.

00:27:41.433 --> 00:27:43.233
So I call it regret proofing your life.

00:27:43.233 --> 00:27:44.374
So what do you need to do?

00:27:44.374 --> 00:27:45.334
What do you need to say?

00:27:45.338 --> 00:27:51.894
What do you need to try so that, you know, decrease the likelihood that you will have regrets.

00:27:52.394 --> 00:27:57.064
So with more, um, curiosity, more self-compassion.

00:27:57.979 --> 00:28:01.284
And then a healthy dose of really focusing on what's possible.

00:28:02.003 --> 00:28:08.753
And one of the reasons we get into trouble with that is I think the difference between the what and the how.

00:28:09.263 --> 00:28:17.034
So what you want to do, what you wanna try, who you wanna be, those kinds of questions.

00:28:17.034 --> 00:28:25.074
It's great to really dive into first and get the foundation and not question it, like really allow yourself to want that.

00:28:25.868 --> 00:28:36.368
Oh, I wanna be somebody who has a lot of skills in this area, or I wanna be somebody who's well traveled and really has opportunities to do that sort of thing.

00:28:36.368 --> 00:28:43.439
Or I wanna be somebody Who always makes time for friends, you know, to, to just really think about how you wanna show up with your friendships.

00:28:43.828 --> 00:28:51.959
So really thinking about whatever it is for you, what's foundational, and then ask yourself in a separate breath, how am I gonna make that happen?

00:28:52.288 --> 00:28:59.999
What typically happens is we focus on the how, in the same breath as the what and when you start to ask yourself how.

00:29:00.588 --> 00:29:01.993
You hear all kinds of thoughts.

00:29:02.233 --> 00:29:03.253
It's too hard.

00:29:03.403 --> 00:29:04.844
It's gonna cost too much money.

00:29:05.084 --> 00:29:06.913
Um, I'm never gonna be able to do that.

00:29:07.213 --> 00:29:07.814
It's a waste of

00:29:07.814 --> 00:29:08.054
busy.

00:29:08.564 --> 00:29:09.463
I'm too busy.

00:29:09.614 --> 00:29:14.023
What'll people think all that chatter happens when you focus on the how?

00:29:14.953 --> 00:29:29.203
And I just, I encourage my clients to just focus on what it is you want first, and then think about how separately and allow your brain to go crazy with coming up with solutions when you ask it how it's gonna do something.

00:29:29.594 --> 00:29:33.403
Because that's a type of thing where you, you spin on it in a very productive way.

00:29:33.403 --> 00:29:36.253
Like when you're in the shower, you're thinking, how am I gonna solve this problem?

00:29:36.493 --> 00:29:39.763
And if I know something about women, we are good problem solvers.

00:29:40.034 --> 00:29:40.723
Wouldn't you agree?

00:29:41.173 --> 00:29:42.794
Yeah, for sure.

00:29:42.794 --> 00:29:48.788
So when you just make the decision, this is what I'm going to do, then I'll figure out the how.

00:29:49.088 --> 00:29:50.169
Is that kind of the

00:29:50.378 --> 00:29:50.949
That's kinda it.

00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:52.148
Yeah.

00:29:52.179 --> 00:29:53.739
And, and don't rush the what?

00:29:53.769 --> 00:29:56.588
Like really allow yourself to ruminate on that.

00:29:57.159 --> 00:30:00.368
Um, and I think envy is a great clue.

00:30:00.429 --> 00:30:06.068
I have an exercise that I do with my clients about envy, where you invite envy into your life.

00:30:06.068 --> 00:30:09.979
Like, just allow yourself to notice when you're actually envious.

00:30:09.979 --> 00:30:13.419
Nobody wants to talk about envy, but allow just, you can

00:30:13.588 --> 00:30:18.173
that we consider that much of like a negative emotion, really, or, or.

00:30:18.443 --> 00:30:22.584
Actually an emotion that I would call that my clients would call wrong.

00:30:22.824 --> 00:30:23.094
Right?

00:30:23.094 --> 00:30:26.394
It's wrong to have certain emotions.

00:30:26.723 --> 00:30:27.054
Right.

00:30:27.054 --> 00:30:28.703
But so that's interesting.

00:30:28.709 --> 00:30:29.334
Tell me more.

00:30:29.663 --> 00:30:32.213
Well, just think about, just, you can even think privately.

00:30:32.213 --> 00:30:35.034
You don't need to take out a billboard, but just imagine.

00:30:35.394 --> 00:30:38.903
Let's think, when was I a little bit envious of, of somebody?

00:30:38.909 --> 00:30:39.894
Was it a thing?

00:30:40.284 --> 00:30:41.933
Was it somebody who traveled?

00:30:41.933 --> 00:30:45.773
Was it somebody who, who had flexibility during her day?

00:30:46.284 --> 00:30:50.753
Um, was it somebody that learned a new skill and let's say she took a class.

00:30:51.038 --> 00:31:05.108
She was able to do that, or it doesn't just have to be women, but just, um, just notice when you've been a little bit envious and then instead of being hard on yourself because it's bad emotion, you know, or you don't wanna think that, but, um, just be curious.

00:31:05.114 --> 00:31:07.499
What was it about that situation that I actually wanted?

00:31:07.929 --> 00:31:14.618
What was it about what I learned about that person that I found fascinating or, you know, felt a little bit envious of?

00:31:14.828 --> 00:31:18.909
And then notice it and she's like, wow, if that's really what I thought.

00:31:19.534 --> 00:31:21.278
And that's how it made me feel.

00:31:21.489 --> 00:31:39.548
What can I do with that nugget of data that I didn't even know I felt, I remember one client was talking once about a vacation that she went on, and then she went to a yoga class while she was on vacation in this beautiful place, and this person had a yoga studio on the beach or on the rocks or something really beautiful.

00:31:39.548 --> 00:31:43.618
I can't remember exactly but she couldn't get that out of her mind.

00:31:44.923 --> 00:31:46.844
She really wanted, there was something about it.

00:31:46.844 --> 00:31:56.384
That's what came up when we were doing this work, that that person figured out a, a job, a place to earn a living in such a beautiful vacation worthy location.

00:31:56.693 --> 00:31:57.114
Mm-hmm.

00:31:57.733 --> 00:31:59.804
And I have also had that feeling.

00:31:59.804 --> 00:32:02.443
I met somebody recently on vacation.

00:32:02.699 --> 00:32:02.939
wait.

00:32:02.939 --> 00:32:03.929
Can you tell us the end?

00:32:03.929 --> 00:32:04.979
What did she do about it?

00:32:05.483 --> 00:32:07.784
Oh, I can tell you the end.

00:32:07.784 --> 00:32:12.794
She ended up, um, changing her career and focusing on retreats.

00:32:13.374 --> 00:32:14.638
As a part of her career.

00:32:15.088 --> 00:32:15.598
I love it.

00:32:16.199 --> 00:32:18.959
Yeah, it, it was a beautiful example.

00:32:18.959 --> 00:32:21.479
Like, but she didn't really know that that's what she was craving.

00:32:22.169 --> 00:32:31.420
And I had a situation recently where I was on vacation it was a sailing trip and I didn't meet a ton of people cuz there were only like 10 people on my boat and 10 people on the sister boat.

00:32:31.959 --> 00:32:37.538
But one of the people on the, a couple on the other boat, they didn't have a home anymore.

00:32:37.538 --> 00:32:39.338
They just traveled.

00:32:39.713 --> 00:32:40.584
Nonstop.

00:32:40.733 --> 00:32:46.614
They had some stuff in a container somewhere and, and when I heard that story, I was fascinated.

00:32:46.614 --> 00:32:55.973
I didn't want the whole story, but there was something about being lighter and being able to make decisions quickly, like being unencumbered.

00:32:56.634 --> 00:33:04.554
There was something about that, which it's fascinating cuz I have pets, I have plants, I have like, I can't imagine myself having that lifestyle.

00:33:04.884 --> 00:33:06.443
But what can I learn from?

00:33:06.953 --> 00:33:14.064
That reaction that I had that could just enhance something in my life that I wouldn't normally think about.

00:33:14.499 --> 00:33:20.064
Maybe it's, it's just a little simplification somewhere that you, yeah.

00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:20.970
Nice.

00:33:20.970 --> 00:33:24.414
So I love the idea of being more curious.

00:33:24.444 --> 00:33:26.664
That can help in so many ways.

00:33:26.670 --> 00:33:33.805
Just I think too, um, as an antidote to the busy, like, get really curious about your schedule.

00:33:33.894 --> 00:33:35.994
Are all of these things necessary?

00:33:36.414 --> 00:33:39.979
Are all of these things, things that have to be you?

00:33:40.159 --> 00:33:48.740
I think that can also be helpful when we get curious about our busyness, and that can increase some of the enjoyment during this time as well.

00:33:49.679 --> 00:33:50.618
You know what's so funny?

00:33:50.618 --> 00:33:51.818
Lisa is one of my kids.

00:33:51.878 --> 00:33:54.608
You know, sometimes I'll find myself as a fellow podcaster.

00:33:54.669 --> 00:34:00.247
I'll find myself saying, Oh, I don't have that next episode done and I'm up against a deadline and whatever.

00:34:00.247 --> 00:34:04.626
And I've heard my kids say to me, but Mom, it's your podcast.

00:34:04.626 --> 00:34:06.906
Don't you make up the deadlines, skip one.

00:34:07.356 --> 00:34:08.556
And I'm like, I can't do that.

00:34:08.556 --> 00:34:10.896
I'm on episode 3 0 6, I've never missed one.

00:34:11.527 --> 00:34:12.817
They're like, but you could do it.

00:34:13.297 --> 00:34:14.166
I'm like, you're right.

00:34:14.166 --> 00:34:14.327
I could.

00:34:14.427 --> 00:34:19.447
So now let me think about why I don't want to, and then do I like my reasons?

00:34:19.746 --> 00:34:23.677
You know, but they just point out this idea that we can't, that we don't have.

00:34:24.157 --> 00:34:24.907
Options.

00:34:25.387 --> 00:34:28.387
When we do, we have more options.

00:34:28.597 --> 00:34:30.817
I, I call it more wiggle room than we think.

00:34:31.327 --> 00:34:40.177
If you like your reasons for doing what you're doing, that's one thing, but if, if there's wiggle room and you just haven't noticed it, then there's a lot of room there for possibility.

00:34:40.686 --> 00:34:44.106
Yeah, which really just brings us right back to the beginning of.

00:34:44.786 --> 00:34:46.617
Really notice those camp thoughts.

00:34:47.036 --> 00:34:49.137
What are you saying that you can't do?

00:34:49.737 --> 00:34:53.396
There's so much you can in in this time of life.

00:34:53.947 --> 00:34:55.237
it's not too late.

00:34:55.237 --> 00:34:57.577
And I think that's a big message as well.

00:34:57.577 --> 00:34:59.646
It's not too late to start movement.

00:34:59.947 --> 00:35:06.530
It's not too late to make a change in your, nutrition, in what you're eating, in your relationships.

00:35:07.340 --> 00:35:09.469
It's just not too late and.

00:35:10.190 --> 00:35:14.539
My clients and listeners have heard me say, I'm planning to live to a hundred.

00:35:14.780 --> 00:35:15.590
that's my goal.

00:35:15.590 --> 00:35:17.420
So I'm not even halfway.

00:35:17.840 --> 00:35:20.119
So there's, there's a lot of time left.

00:35:20.119 --> 00:35:33.260
And if you figure too, the first 10 or 15 years of your life, you didn't even really have that many choices being under your parents' roof and you know, being a baby, there's actually a lot more time and decisions to be made during this time of life.

00:35:33.574 --> 00:35:39.710
Yes, but really we have so many ideas about what's appropriate and, and what we should expect from this time of life.

00:35:40.070 --> 00:35:43.760
I caught myself in the last probably four years.

00:35:43.760 --> 00:35:47.269
I caught myself thinking two thoughts about aging.

00:35:47.275 --> 00:35:49.699
That shocked me, really shocked me.

00:35:50.179 --> 00:35:55.010
One of them, and, and I'm somebody who does this work, and I thought I was pretty cool about my own aging, right?

00:35:55.429 --> 00:35:58.940
Uh, one of them is when you get a compliment about not looking your age.

00:36:00.079 --> 00:36:00.829
Think about that.

00:36:01.505 --> 00:36:03.125
Oh, Suzy, you're gonna be 60.

00:36:03.304 --> 00:36:04.355
You don't look that old.

00:36:05.344 --> 00:36:06.574
So somebody says that.

00:36:07.414 --> 00:36:08.704
And then how do you interpret it?

00:36:09.425 --> 00:36:10.775
Oh, you're gonna be 45.

00:36:10.775 --> 00:36:11.735
You don't look that old.

00:36:11.764 --> 00:36:12.755
Oh, you're turning 50.

00:36:12.755 --> 00:36:13.594
You look amazing.

00:36:13.594 --> 00:36:14.525
You don't look your age.

00:36:16.085 --> 00:36:18.065
Now, would you be happy about a comment like that?

00:36:19.099 --> 00:36:21.289
Typically, I think I, I would be,

00:36:21.574 --> 00:36:22.114
me too.

00:36:22.655 --> 00:36:22.865
So what?

00:36:22.871 --> 00:36:24.125
What does that mean?

00:36:24.574 --> 00:36:28.954
So what I realized it meant for me was, oh, it's better to look younger.

00:36:30.094 --> 00:36:30.695
Oh, okay.

00:36:30.695 --> 00:36:30.844
I

00:36:31.030 --> 00:36:32.659
Than than looking my age.

00:36:32.659 --> 00:36:32.929
Right?

00:36:32.929 --> 00:36:34.250
So what's wrong with your age?

00:36:34.250 --> 00:36:36.289
What's wrong with looking your age?

00:36:36.289 --> 00:36:38.389
We have all kinds of thoughts about what's wrong about it.

00:36:38.389 --> 00:36:43.920
So that one really surprised me because I was really excited when people said I didn't look my age.

00:36:45.675 --> 00:36:45.965
Yeah,

00:36:46.190 --> 00:36:47.570
just something to think about.

00:36:47.570 --> 00:36:50.420
Does, you know, in our culture, youth is better,

00:36:51.204 --> 00:36:51.965
that's true.

00:36:52.010 --> 00:36:52.909
is better, right?

00:36:53.344 --> 00:36:53.494
I.

00:36:53.494 --> 00:36:54.514
do get that comment.

00:36:54.514 --> 00:36:58.175
A lot of times when I tell people, oh, I have two in college, what?

00:36:59.164 --> 00:37:00.335
You have two in college?

00:37:00.335 --> 00:37:01.335
Or you what?

00:37:01.505 --> 00:37:02.135
You have four kids.

00:37:02.224 --> 00:37:05.344
I think people say it to be nice, but it does feel good.

00:37:05.554 --> 00:37:05.974
Yeah.

00:37:06.335 --> 00:37:18.965
And I think that is, that is definitely interesting because the underlying, or maybe what, what I call the parenthetical thought, the, the thought in parentheses underneath that is because looking old is bad.

00:37:19.284 --> 00:37:20.239
Yeah, exactly.

00:37:20.659 --> 00:37:23.059
And then another one I found recently and I was so embarrassed.

00:37:23.239 --> 00:37:30.500
I did a podcast about it cuz I thought I'm not the only one who, so I have an amazing friend who's in her early seventies.

00:37:30.829 --> 00:37:34.039
Creative, talented, does all kinds of amazing things.

00:37:34.550 --> 00:37:40.400
And she was excited about, um, this news that she was building a new house.

00:37:41.190 --> 00:37:45.829
And I, first I was very excited and then I noticed a thought, oh.

00:37:46.715 --> 00:37:48.485
Aren't you too old to build a new house?

00:37:48.934 --> 00:37:51.784
Are you gonna get your monies worth out of building a new house?

00:37:52.144 --> 00:37:57.155
Is the market gonna be, you know, serve you if you're this age and building a new house?

00:37:57.485 --> 00:37:59.315
I had all this stuff going on.

00:38:00.019 --> 00:38:04.280
When I had another option, just be happy for your friend who's excited.

00:38:04.309 --> 00:38:07.262
Like she loves her plans.

00:38:07.472 --> 00:38:09.032
Why are you thinking these things?

00:38:09.393 --> 00:38:19.307
And it, it's so interesting that as much as I didn't think I had these ideas about what's appropriate at a certain age, once snuck in, I didn't even know.

00:38:19.307 --> 00:38:23.568
I had no idea that I had a thought like that, and I was so glad I noticed it.

00:38:24.047 --> 00:38:25.248
I didn't say anything wrong.

00:38:25.248 --> 00:38:26.387
I didn't put my foot in my mouth.

00:38:26.387 --> 00:38:30.677
It was all in my head, but it was so good for me to notice that I had those thoughts.

00:38:30.947 --> 00:38:35.418
Would you, could you see yourself having certain ideas about what people do at certain ages?

00:38:35.418 --> 00:38:35.478
Mm.

00:38:36.018 --> 00:38:37.248
Yeah, absolutely.

00:38:37.788 --> 00:38:38.237
For sure.

00:38:38.237 --> 00:38:49.007
What, what's appropriate or I, I noticed too, what's surprising, I have a group at my church of women that play pickleball and one of the women brought her mom.

00:38:49.038 --> 00:38:57.257
Um, and we played doubles and I hit kind of a cross court shot, which was what, what I affectionately referred to as unintentionally.

00:38:57.257 --> 00:38:57.677
Good.

00:38:57.918 --> 00:39:00.378
I didn't mean for it to be, you know?

00:39:01.038 --> 00:39:04.864
And, and she goes, you know, she's 92, right?

00:39:06.005 --> 00:39:09.034
Like, whatcha are you doing, trying to make her run for this shot?

00:39:09.034 --> 00:39:09.485
And.

00:39:10.414 --> 00:39:16.324
And so my underlying thought is like, how could she possibly be here playing pickleball at 92?

00:39:16.324 --> 00:39:20.164
Like, that's not what she should be doing kind of thing.

00:39:20.164 --> 00:39:24.094
And at the same time, I'm like, that's absolutely what I want to be doing.

00:39:24.304 --> 00:39:24.655
Right.

00:39:25.385 --> 00:39:33.840
So it, it is interesting how we, we do have thoughts like, oh, how shocking that you can do this.

00:39:33.869 --> 00:39:45.510
And yet, at the same time, I tell people all the time, well, I wanna make my healthspan match my lifespan, which means being capable and able to do things all the way up till the time that I'm dead, you know?

00:39:45.510 --> 00:39:48.320
And so I do hope I'm playing pickleball at 92.

00:39:48.460 --> 00:39:53.489
So for me to have a thought, like, what is she doing here is,

00:39:53.612 --> 00:39:58.172
Just good to notice because again, as we age, we've been around longer.

00:39:58.443 --> 00:40:07.623
And so, uh, when there's just more time for us to have seen things change, uh, women now there are so many more role models for healthy aging.

00:40:08.083 --> 00:40:10.963
Happy aging, more athleticism later in life.

00:40:10.963 --> 00:40:12.552
All kinds of things.

00:40:12.552 --> 00:40:16.543
Science has improved, equipment has improved, sneakers have improved.

00:40:16.543 --> 00:40:19.663
Like so many things have have changed.

00:40:19.663 --> 00:40:25.693
But you know, in the seventies when I grew up, it, it was very different and, uh, the role models weren't the same.

00:40:25.697 --> 00:40:31.842
So we did, you know, have a lot of these attitudes and thoughts that we've been thinking for a long time, let alone what our own grandparents were up to.

00:40:32.592 --> 00:40:34.947
Yeah, and I'll put one more plug in here.

00:40:34.952 --> 00:40:48.447
Again, not what we're really talking about today, but do do listen to that episode on the hormone replacement therapy because we did talk quite a bit about the hormones, being able to help you maintain your bone and muscle health.

00:40:48.478 --> 00:40:54.867
And so that can be a real boon to this time as well as far as continuing to stay active.

00:40:55.782 --> 00:40:57.853
Well, this has been so great.

00:40:57.853 --> 00:41:00.733
I think we could talk about it all day, to be honest.

00:41:01.768 --> 00:41:02.847
We could for sure.

00:41:03.193 --> 00:41:06.762
But, um, tell people a little bit more about what you do.

00:41:06.762 --> 00:41:12.103
We didn't do really do an introduction in the beginning, so, let's talk a little bit about what exactly you do.

00:41:12.132 --> 00:41:14.393
Tell us a little more about your podcast and where people can find you.

00:41:15.208 --> 00:41:16.018
Okay, awesome.

00:41:16.018 --> 00:41:17.907
Well, I'm basically a midlife.

00:41:18.132 --> 00:41:19.902
Mindset coach, that's what I do.

00:41:19.902 --> 00:41:23.112
I help women 50 plus, uh, learn to love their lives.

00:41:23.112 --> 00:41:32.382
Again, a lot of my clients are also entrepreneurs and, uh, you know, dealing with this collision course of midlife issues affecting the way you wanna run a business.

00:41:32.382 --> 00:41:35.264
So those are the women I work with and I love working with them.

00:41:35.592 --> 00:41:43.182
And I have, uh, do some private coaching and I have a signature program called the Women in the Middle Academy, and it's a lot of fun.

00:41:43.708 --> 00:41:48.927
To just grow forward and regret proof your life just to get excited about what's possible again.

00:41:49.438 --> 00:41:55.367
Um, I also have a podcast called The Women in the Middle, and I do have a freebie available.

00:41:55.797 --> 00:41:59.648
Uh, first of all, to get ahold of me, you can just go to www.suzyrosenstein.com.

00:41:59.967 --> 00:42:01.447
That's my website, S U Z Y.

00:42:02.353 --> 00:42:10.032
Rosenstein, R O S E N S T E I n.com, and there's a freebie there called the Get Unstuck in Midlife podcast bundle.

00:42:10.543 --> 00:42:15.193
It's the top 12 episodes for my podcast, women in the Middle to help you love your life again.

00:42:15.193 --> 00:42:22.873
So it's just like a smattering of really popular episodes and it really doesn't matter how old you are, but the examples that I use when I talk are from.

00:42:23.427 --> 00:42:29.097
You know, midlife types of examples, but it doesn't matter how old you are, you get something from the podcast and you'll laugh.

00:42:29.398 --> 00:42:30.088
There's always that.

00:42:30.838 --> 00:42:38.077
So to get that free, you can just go to www.Suzyrosenstein.com/podcast-bundle.

00:42:38.682 --> 00:42:38.983
Okay.

00:42:39.012 --> 00:42:42.132
And of course we'll put all of that in in the show notes.

00:42:42.733 --> 00:42:52.505
And if you've ever been to the Museum of Modern Art, You may have seen, I'll always remember this, that you told us this story in coach training.

00:42:52.746 --> 00:42:54.306
You may have seen a display.

00:42:54.576 --> 00:42:56.076
Tell us just real quick about that.

00:42:56.076 --> 00:42:57.215
Cause I think it's fascinating.

00:42:57.530 --> 00:42:58.311
Oh my gosh.

00:42:58.686 --> 00:43:15.456
Okay, thank you for, I can't believe you remembered that one of the craziest things that ever happened in my life that I couldn't even imagine possible happened after I was 50 and I just had a little Etsy store and, uh, kind of an on the side hobby.

00:43:15.460 --> 00:43:18.695
I made this hair accessory for Jewish women.

00:43:18.965 --> 00:43:20.215
Called a kippah.

00:43:20.266 --> 00:43:22.806
A kippah, a head covering for Jewish women.

00:43:23.255 --> 00:43:28.746
And some Jewish women like to wear this sort of thing at at special events or when they're in the synagogue.

00:43:29.106 --> 00:43:32.615
You know, it was a very niche kind of thing, but it gave me an excuse to buy beads.

00:43:33.005 --> 00:43:34.657
So, I mean, who doesn't like to?

00:43:35.661 --> 00:43:36.771
Who doesn't like to buy be?

00:43:36.771 --> 00:43:41.661
So it's like a weed, a, a, a wo, a beaded wire, um, hair accessory.

00:43:42.141 --> 00:43:51.981
Anyway, I was minding my own business on Etsy and one day checking my email and I got a request from the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan.

00:43:52.280 --> 00:44:06.201
They were doing an amazing exhibit in, this was in 2017, uh, called items is fashion modern, and the exhibit had identified 111 categories of fashion and fashion accessories.

00:44:06.501 --> 00:44:20.121
So things like a strand of pearls, a little black dress, and they had, one of the categories was a kippa and mine was one of 10, the only one for women, and the only one that was decorative like that, that was featured.

00:44:20.900 --> 00:44:29.150
At MoMA for four months in late 2017, early 2018, and it was the most shocking thing that has ever happened in my life.

00:44:29.240 --> 00:44:30.710
I couldn't have imagined it.

00:44:31.190 --> 00:44:40.251
And I use this example to just remind you that amazing things can still happen in your life that you don't expect and that you don't think are possible.

00:44:40.820 --> 00:44:41.601
You just never know.

00:44:41.601 --> 00:44:43.251
It was a crazy, it was a crazy thing.

00:44:43.456 --> 00:44:43.786
Yep.

00:44:43.936 --> 00:44:44.925
You just never know.

00:44:45.106 --> 00:44:46.186
And that was in midlife.

00:44:46.365 --> 00:44:46.815
So,

00:44:47.240 --> 00:44:48.050
It sure was.

00:44:48.106 --> 00:44:49.726
much good stuff to come for us.

00:44:49.846 --> 00:44:51.166
Thank you so much, Suzy.

00:44:51.331 --> 00:44:52.380
Thanks for having me, Lisa.

00:44:52.380 --> 00:44:53.190
It was a lot of fun.

00:44:54.280 --> 00:45:00.969
Thanks again to Susie, my mentor and teacher, I had a lot of fun reconnecting with her and her laugh is just infectious for me.

00:45:01.389 --> 00:45:02.800
So do grab her freebie.

00:45:02.800 --> 00:45:04.269
That link is in the show notes.

00:45:04.559 --> 00:45:22.800
And then if you're ready to get some personalized help from me, be sure to schedule a free strategy session and we can work on your health and weight loss and getting you into the best health of your life to help you live many, many more years, and really make your health span, match your lifespan.

00:45:23.242 --> 00:45:28.192
I don't want you to regret, not getting to the point you want to, so you can eventually.

00:45:28.521 --> 00:45:31.492
Keep up with your grandchildren or travel the world.

00:45:31.791 --> 00:45:36.407
Or wherever your dreams take you Link for that is in the show notes.

00:45:36.438 --> 00:45:37.847
And I will talk to you soon.
Suzy Rosenstein Profile Photo

Suzy Rosenstein

Master Life Coach & Midlife Mentor, Podcast Host & Author

Suzy Rosenstein, MA is a master certified life coach and host of the popular podcast for midlife women, Women in the Middle®, with over 1.5 million downloads. She uses her upbeat approach about aging and being an entrepreneur over 50 to help you navigate the sometimes bumpy midlife road better and get the success and results you want with more time to enjoy your valuable time.

Suzy helps you discover what you really want in your next chapter with the courage and commitment to pursue it so you actually love your life again!