Everyone wants long term success. But it is elusive for most.

Long term success is dependent on knowing where you are now and where you are headed. Then closing the gap. Frequently. Continuously.  Whether it’s your business, your career or your life at home., it’s easy to get off track, lose touch or get buried under. Without a true sense of where you are in the moment, it is impossible to realize your dreams or be a leader in your field.

Re-calibrate your profound knowledge

The only way we can take 100% responsibility for sustaining our success is to keep re-calibrating-in every aspect of our lives and organizations.

Key to successful recalibration is to acquire what my dear departed mentor, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, coined as Profound Knowledge. This umbrella phrase emphasizes understanding change and how to measure it, being aware of emerging trends and shifts, and learning how to apply this knowledge to leading and sustaining long term success.

Bottom line: If we don’t acquire Profound Knowledge we cannot know how to prepare for and leverage coming change, thus how to sustain our success long term.

Understanding change means understanding shifts in our personal world as well as tracking trends that capsize us, overtake us, or cause us to flounder.

Learning the Hard Way

Unfortunately one of my Gen X male clients learned this the hard way. A rising star in his field and recently married, he was planning far a great future for his kids, tons of time for fun and all the trappings of success. As if out of the blue, the rug got pulled out from under him. His “Happy Homemaker” wife fled, saying I’m out of here!

Somewhere along the way there was a breakdown or perhaps many small fissures below the surface. Had they been recalibrating an checking in with each other, communicating the truth of what was so for each of them…perhaps they could have saved their marriage…or at least ended it with love, grace, and forgiveness.

Even in the most secure relationships, unexpected change happens to ruffle our plans. A recently returned to work mother of teenage kids reported that her new career is now going gangbusters and she no longer worries about the empty-nest . But, the new ripple in her life is that her once very successful husband, in his late 40’s, now faces an unknown future. Surprised by the shifts in his industry, “suddenly” he and his business partner are facing the probability of closing their doors. What once appeared to be the sure path to their dreams, is no crumbling beneath them.

Change is inevitable. If you can learn what Profound Knowledge is and apply it you can avoid these same pitfalls and NOT LEARN THE HARD WAY!

What steps are you going to take to future cast your long term success?

Perhaps we should drop the label “senior” or redefine it. Clearly this term has helped to embed ageist stereotypes into our societal psyche. It used to be, as David Wolfe, author of the pioneering books Serving the Ageless Market (1990) and Ageless Marketing (2003), wrote,

“Senior is not an inherently negative term…Being a senior used to connote a superior standing in every context but aging.”

Sure, many don’t mind enjoying the “senior” discounts. And for those who do retire—fully or partially—the advantages of having more free time, fewer demands, and less stress overall are additional perks.

But of course we don’t have to wait until we retire to create this kind of lifestyle. We don’t have to retire at all.

In fact, many characteristics of the stereotypical senior citizen don’t really have much to do with age at all. Or at least they don’t have to be related to age, even if we as a society have somewhat arbitrarily decided they

One of the most important tasks we have together, all generations, is to change the story we tell one another and ourselves about aging.

These characteristics can include retirement, volunteer work, adapting our lifestyle to physical changes, having more control over our time and environment. All of these are choices we might make at any age.

So if we strip away other people’s definitions of what it means to age, what it means to be over 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100…where does that leave us? How do we define ourselves as protagonists in our own aging story?

We all have different comfort levels with various terms. Some shy away from “elderly” but don’t mind being seen as an “Elder.” Some don’t mind being called “older” but feel uncomfortable being called simply “old.” Yet another person might get fed up with euphemisms and actually demand to be called “old,” dammit!

I’ve always relished the term “Crone,” the idea of taking back its original meaning of wise old woman. Some, including those who have chosen not to have children, prefer to be seen as grandmother. In ancient times, the Crone was valued and revered as a wise and prophetic goddess in her own right. Traced back to pre-history, societies that are thought to have been the first “partnerships” between women and men lasted for about 20,000 years. Then as Riane Eisler describes in her underground classic, The Chalice and the Blade (1988), these early societies “veered off on ‘a bloody 5,000-year detour’ of male domination.” Along with these partnership societies, the Crone and all images of the positive feminine were devalued, leaving only the Divine Feminine (e.g., Mother Mary) as the preferred universal Mother image to survive intact into our modern day.

Fortunately, today’s twenty-first century women are resuscitating the whole panoply of feminine archetypal goddesses, like those we have buried way below our consciousness carrying the powerful energy of the Black Madonna, the flip side of Mother Mary (e.g., Mary Magdalene, Sophia, Kali Ma, Kuan Yin, and more), so that we can reclaim our fullness by embodying the whole range of our womanhood.

I’ll tell you a secret. Every time I write—for my blog, for a workshop or keynote, for a book or article—I have to stop yet again and consider this issue: What do we call ourselves? Elders? Do I avoid the word “old” or use it unabashedly? Do I refer to us as aging or stick to euphemisms or numbers, like post-50? Maybe the over-sixties? But what about including 40-plus? Boomers…and older? Matures? How do we distinguish between the early and late Boomers, who are as different as the Brat Pack is from the Beatles? At what point do generational labels lose their usefulness?

Amazon #1 Best Seller Author of 11 books including The Ageless Way, Gray is the New Green, Visionaries Have Wrinkles, The Greatness Challenge and more.

However, from the vibrating heart of our dissipating structures comes the promise of our true greatness: a greatness of awareness and action that will change the world. From the midst of the evolving Great Transition, we leave the Great Recession and the uplifting Obama era behind us as we enter an unknown, unchartered new cycle of populism and extreme radicalism ripping our valued democratic tenets to shreds and putting each of us on the line.  This Great Shift demands that we each unlock our potential for greatness which lives in each of us, and we are being called to make a difference. That is the premise of The Greatness Challenge, in which I offer a template for embracing and embodying our unique Signature Greatness DNA^SM to unleash our personal and collective greatness.

The Greatness Challenge is a manifesto for the growing wave of us who want to add value in all we do and who are being called to personal and collective evolution—from dentists to doctors, executives to engineers, artists to teachers and visionary leaders and futurists who are looking to redesign their lives so that every moment counts . . . for those of you who seek work that not only fills your bank accounts but your “values” bank as you yearn to do well doing good . . . for leaders who seek a pathway to visionary leadership, so the impact you have is of the greatest benefit for all.

To be one of the first to hear about The Greatness Challenge when it releases join us in the Secret Facebook Group here.

By-Pass the System

 Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. Muriel Strode

When you look back at your life, will you be able to say that you lived in your groove, working and loving to the fullest degree possible?

Those who lead great lives have learned to bypass the system. That is, they are not afraid to go outside of whatever system they are in to effect change for the good of all. They have one foot in, and one foot out, living inside and outside of the box.

Look at politics, and you will see that Barak Obama worked the system but also worked outside of it to win the election.  He could bring a new visionary approach to campaigning while also playing the game.  He painted inside AND outside of the political lines.

One of my most successful clients is seeing the results that comes from bypassing the system. When he first started coaching with me, he was trying too hard to fit into the corporate culture where he worked.

But in a brief time, we got him on track by looking at what mattered to him and the ways in which his corporation did not support his most profound values—such as high integrity when doing sales. In a few months, he decided to walk his talk and be completely honest with clients, not compromising any of his convictions.

Guess what? His income nearly doubled from 180K to 350K in one year. He still enjoys playing the game, but he has fought for changes in the rules. And he is now seen as a leader and a winner…not a whiner. It’s all about bypassing the status quo, going beyond the rules of the system.

 If you want to live your groove more fully,

take these steps to BYPASS THE SYSTEM:

• Get clear about what you value and what your truth is.
• Compare your beliefs with those of the system in which you are working.
• Evaluate how you currently show up in YOUR way within the system. How can you be even truer to yourself?
• Start taking steps to live your truth and bypass the rules of the game, whenever it’s necessary, so you are bringing your great values and leadership to what you do.

If your organization will not tolerate your way of doing things, it is time to think about how you might bypass that system for good by creating your own business or finding a position with another company in greater harmony with your values.

Email me with the results. Are you creating your greater future today? How is greatness working in your life? What are you doing to make your future rock?

Amazon #1 Best Seller Author of 11 books including The Ageless Way, Gray is the New Green, Visionaries Have Wrinkles, The Greatness Challenge and more.

In decades of work as a leading GeroFuturist aiming to transform the story around our culture’s approach to aging, I have often spoken and written about this issue. I continue to assert that a large and vital part of our new boldly vibrant story is dependent upon the language we use to define and describe growing older — to ourselves and others, and by those who serve and market to us. When we change or redefine the terminology we use in those descriptions, we change the perception, truth, and dynamics of getting older across the lifespan (for twenty-year-olds, as well as centenarians – and everyone else in between…).

It may sound simple, but it’s not easy. So how do we integrate individual and cultural mind shifts in order to change the “languaging” around adult development and growing older? Something has to give! A perfect example of misplaced, yet commonplace, labeling as we grow older is referring to Baby Boomers as “seniors.” I can assure you that those of us over 40 don’t relate to that at all. In fact, it makes us cringe and run in the opposite direction. Yet, “senior centers” across the country continue to bemoan and wonder why Boomers aren’t banging down their doors for “senior” services and community-building.

We clearly need new terminology to help shift the paradigm. We need a full expression of the affirmative, powerful, and even juicy aspects of aging. Old dismissive stereotypes do not consider the reality of those of us entering or beyond midlife as capable of being fully active physically, socially, mentally and professionally (to say nothing of the fact that the over-40 crowd is the largest adult consumer demographic and, thus, worthy of priority marketing and product development focus). Manifesting such transformation, as with all vital historic movements, will take patience, determination, effort, awareness, intention, time and acceptance.

As is the case with so much in life, there is not just one way to think about growing older or the terminology around that process (a process which will happen to all of us lucky enough to live “to a ripe old age”). My vision for the new story of our times is rooted in an approach toward aging that is “Ageless.”  At this juncture, this word may mean different things to different people.

A retired literary professional recently shared with me that when she hears the term “Ageless” she thinks of it as dismissive of aging, since it seems to infer wanting to avoid looking or growing older. I see the term in a different way, as being age-affirming. Ageless, Ageless Aging, Agelessness (and timeless) to me are all about transcending age at any age… all while owning our chronological age …whether 30, 40, 70…101. Agelessness involves not being defined nor limited by our chronological age at the same time as welcoming/embracing whatever age we are.

Agelessness is about transcending our limited, dismissive and insufficient attitudes toward aging so that we see ourselves and each other as whole and precious parts of a larger evolution with many births, rebirths, endings and new beginnings…no matter what our age or life stage. This does not mean we deny our aging. Instead, being Ageless and embracing The Ageless Way is evidence that we, at every age, own the vitality of life within us and our value, and remove the limits culturally placed on our youth and our elderly.

I feel so strongly about the importance of boldly shifting our definition of the word Ageless (as it applies to Ageless Aging) and proclaiming it as central to our new story of what it means to grow older, that I have titled my upcoming book The Ageless Way.

So, together, let’s re-cognize the abilities inherent in growing from youth to midlife to becoming an elder. Rather than seeing Agelessness as working against the fulfilling life all of us can envision for ourselves, our communities, our world, we will move forward with that word as a testament to our ability to surpass the heretofore ingrained and perceived limitations of aging. Will you join me on that journey?

What does being “Ageless” mean to you and what is your reaction when you hear that word? What are some words associated with growing/being older which no longer have any bearing on the NEW story of our age?

For decades, I have spoken at length about, and coached clients regarding, the need for marketing products and services to serve the fast-expanding over-40 demographic. I even devote a chapter to the subject of over-40 business wisdom in my upcoming book, The Ageless Way. Here are just a few *sneak peek* excerpts below.

Everyone from solopreneurs to large corporations needs to recognize that this market is essential to staying in business in the future, or even in the present. Especially important is that Ageless Women themselves are in a unique position to serve this market just as they are in this market to be served. In other words, Gray is the New Green!

 As pioneering David Wolfe observed, “I believe companies are largely ignoring the largest and richest customer group in history for three reasons. First, stereotypical beliefs about older customers paint them as resistant to change, so why bother. Second, there is widespread uneasiness about how to market to older customers, so let’s spare ourselves the pain of failure. Third, people under 40, who are not in the same mental space as members of the new adult marketplace majority, dominate marketing processes. They relate most comfortably to customers of their own ages or younger.”

 Yet, the economy, business, and the workplace are all undergoing glacial change from the status quo, despite a combination of massive upheavals and a constant media focus on the aging Boomer population. Throughout history, chaos and major shifts have always been accompanied by renewed attempts to hold on for dear life to the (false) security of How Things Have Always Been Done. There is an ongoing conflict between the stories of our past and the stories of our future, and the battlefield between them is inevitably our present story…

 My message continues to be “Here’s how to stay in sync with the generation that keeps you in business.” I present to professional and corporate marketers, strategists and entrepreneurs (experienced and newbies) across many sectors. I attempt to wake up those who have the most to gain or lose in market share and reach if they close their eyes to the forty-plus market potential. While sharing my perspective on the truth about their future if they stay youth-focused, I cajole them by quoting popular lyrics like Fleetwood Mac’s “Yesterday’s Gone…Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow.” I warn them that they best get on board fast because their ability to monetize going forward will be based on their willingness to serve this enormous force field of new Boomer demand in the workplace, the United States marketplace, and around the globe.

 No matter your industry or field, those who recognize the new rules of the game will reap the benefits and gobble up market share. For starters the new rules are customer-centric, not product-centered, as has been the case for eons. At least until Millennials turn forty, youth no longer rules! But “Prime Time Women” do!

 Let’s get back to the here and now stats that should blow your socks off! Based on a briefing paper prepared by Oxford Economics for AARP it is estimated that “…a 106 million-plus market is expected to grow by over 30% in the next 20 years.” If you snooze, you lose. Any entrepreneur or service professional that ignores the enormous power of the Big Gray already on our threshold might as well kiss their business goodbye. To anyone not paying attention I must ask, are sure you want to leave money on the table by ignoring this forty-plus market?

 If you are not already serving or planning to serve the forty-plus market, you are not only missing out financially—you are missing out on the chance to align what matters with an audience that is consciously choosing companies that are making a difference as well as a profit.

 The aftermath of the Great Recession can seem like the worst possible time to focus your business on your values, but the opposite is true. Boomers are an indication of how your clients are changing. Living your values and focusing on what matters in your business is not only what you need, it’s what the world needs—and it’s what the world is willing to pay for.

 Businesses that want to tap into this trend must shift their focus from value to values, from the bottom-line to the Triple Bottom Line: People, Planet, Profits…

A finding in a Nielsen study projects that by 2017 Baby Boomers will control seventy percent of the country’s disposable income. Whether or not you like Madonna’s style… or that of the millions of other active, engaged, energetic, successful performers over 50 (for starters: Michael Jordan, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Betty White, Denzel Washington, Hilary Clinton, Mitt Romney, Barack and Michelle Obama, Oprah, Nascar Driver Morgan Shepherd, or Yoga Teacher Tao Porchon-Lynch, 96…), there is no doubt that the new emerging story will be written by those marketers and product makers who recognize that it is worthwhile to get beyond the rampant malevolent ageism and misogyny in corporate marketing and product development decision-making.

What ways do you think the over-40 demographic can be best served by businesses? Have you seen examples of marketers already reaching out to this age group and doing it well? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Image Credit: Dollar Photo Club

What most businesses know about marketing was learned when youth dominated the marketplace. The worldviews, motivations and needs satisfaction approaches of the young are quite different from those in the second half of life. Because most adults are now over the age of 50, much of what once worked in marketing no longer does.
The demographic and financial realities of an aging society suggest that if companies were rational in their decision making processes, most would have shifted their focus to examining the behavior of people in the second half of life who now comprise the majority and represent more than two-thirds of the nation’s spending power.
Sadly, today’s companies largely ignore the largest and richest customer group in history for three reasons:

• 1. They believe stereotypes of older customers as resistant to change, so why bother.
• 2. There is a widespread uneasiness about how to market to older customers, and fear failure if embracing new paradigms.
• 3. A key factor is that a majority of the people creating the ads, marketing materials and strategies are under age 40 and relate most comfortably to customers their own age or younger.

For the next two decades, a king’s ransom will be made in 50-plus markets. To take advantage of the potential of those markets, it is time for marketers, advertising executives and business leaders to learn how the rules of marketing are quite different for older customers.

“Ah! There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.” ~ Jane Austen

Is it any wonder that as we grow older so many of us want to remain in our own homes? After all, our home is often the space where we have lived for years, if not decades, a place that reflects who we are and the aspects of life we find most comfortable and fulfilling. Our home can be the place of some of our best memories. It can afford us whatever independence we want to retain and a sense of stability amidst a sea of changes, losses, and/or uncertainties that can accompany aging. Our home is often in a location where we have established roots and cherished connections. Because the landscape of our own home is already familiar, we may have a greater sense of safety there, both emotionally and physically. Additionally, with assisted living facilities and other communities coming at a cost, it may also be a wise financial decision to stay where we are.

A study, “Aging in Place in America,” commissioned by Clarity and The EAR Foundation, and posted on MarketingCharts.com, asserts that nearly 90 percent of those who are Boomers and older want to age in place without having to move from their homes. More than half (53%) are concerned about their ability to do so.

In addition to some of the better known modifications one can make to a home (grab bars in bathrooms, handrails on stairs, bright lighting, accessible light switches, cabinets, doors, no entry lips, etc.), the study showed that many people are also opening to using new technologies which offer promise for being better able to Age in Place. Technologies can assure greater independence and include items such as: sensors in homes to monitor health (e.g.: breathing and pulse rate); computers, smart phones, and programs like Skype and FaceTime which enable online connection with loved ones and essential care providers; and, tablets offering large print magazines, newspapers, and books. There continue to be advancements in medical alert systems and gadgets, as well as apps and programs which enable the tracking of the resident(s), their medications, and their appointments. Some technological devices can also alert caregivers in the event of an emergency situation.

The issue of such technologies was even the topic of the Senate Special Committee on Aging’s hearing last week. Although it was clear technology may offer peace of mind, as well as cost savings to programs like Medicaid, the panel cautioned about needing to also be mindful about ensuring individual privacy and safety, as well.

Additionally, Aging in Place and the accompanying technological tools may not be the right or best decision for everyone. Luckily, there are many options for those who either do not want, or are unable, to stay in their own home. Assisted living facilities are not the only option, either. There are an increasing number of possibilities to accommodate lifestyle preferences, which also enable a sense of community. These can include: active adult communities for those over 55; co-housing options (living in your own place and sharing a common area, such as a community garden and/or common room or building for gatherings); shared housing options (e.g.: mother-in-law apartments or living with other housemates); and, intergenerational communities in which residents may also assist each other with needs such as babysitting or ride-shares.

There are several positive impacts of longevity and the accompanying growth in housing options. These include potentially boosting the economy and providing ample opportunities for entrepreneurs of all ages to develop and provide products and services which will assist and enrich lives, regardless of where we follow our hearts to make our homes.

What type of community do you think is ideal for you and/or your loved ones? Do you have any new ideas for enhancing housing options for those over 40? Or new entrepreneurial ways of serving the Aging in Place movement?

(Image Credit: Wreath by dichohecho, Flickr.com)

But we’re all outliers. No individual fits neatly in a box. Why should we market that way?

Just ask any boomer what it means to be a boomer, and you’ll get wildly different answers, especially between early and late boomers. We need to recognize that niche characteristics are meaningless.

Consider also the example of retirement communities, a concept as dated as the niche marketing advice. Sequestering people together who may have nothing in common except their age, isolated from other generations, isolated from many members of their tribe, tucked away into invisibility and irrelevance.

This is just one reason we are clamoring for new community models, integration of multiple generations and people from all walks of life and with various talents and skills that they bring together for the good of the community and themselves. These people are all over the map in terms of niche. What they have in common is a shared sense of values, a similar language of the Soul.

The future of business, work, and life transcends demographics, transcends niches. The future is one of diversity, not seeking out the safety of sameness, particularly the superficial sameness of grouping people by demographics like age and gender.

We need to stop thinking of our businesses and our lives in terms of separation–separating out the people “not like us” according to arbitrary characteristics. This separationist thinking is exactly the same kind of thinking that Others people post-50, that makes it so difficult for us to get past the stereotypes of who we are supposed to be at a certain age.

The future of living a life and running a business that matters is rooted in connection, not separation. We need to start seeking out the shared values in everyone, at every age and stage, beyond boundaries of gender, race, nation, to embrace how our diversity can lead to visionary new ways of acting on our shared values for the future.

Meaningful success and making a difference in the world are not about targeting a niche but about expanding our tribe.

Featured image by by Mar Delgado of “Heart Connection” sculpture by Alisa Looney.

Experience is at the heart of what post-50 women and men bring to business, whether this is as an employee, an executive, or an entrepreneur with the knowledge and connections, gained through experience, to make their startups work.

Experience is at the heart of the shifts many of us make in deciding to focus our lives more on what really matters to us. We know from experience what doesn’t ultimately matter over time. We know from the wisdom we gain from experience that focusing on what matters, on our values, pays off in more ways than one—in our own personal happiness and that of the people we love; in our ability to leave a legacy to outlive us; in our ability to make a difference in the world.

Even in marketing, a necessary shift we all need to make is to recognize not only that our audience is making values-based purchase decisions but also that more and more people are focusing on purchases and services that provide new or better experiences.

This can be viewed literally in terms of what you offer, such as more people wanting to travel, for example, to experience more of the world. This can also be viewed more metaphorically for those who do not sell an experience-based product or service. You can still focus on the experience people will have with and as a result of your product or service. Intertwine this with how your product or service also supports the values of the people you serve and you will have grasped the key of serving today’s market and the markets of the future.

On multiple levels, experience is tied with value(s). It is valuable to and valued by more and more people, and it is inextricably tied into our values. This trend is likely to continue and grow as more Boomers age and find themselves focusing on experience and experiences in the workplace, in their businesses, and in their personal lives.

How do you focus on experience in your business, your work, and your life?