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?

If you can’t afford to make a huge leap now—starting or reinvigorating your own business, changing or reinventing your career, transforming your organization—you can, and should, start doing the legwork now so that, when the opportunity presents itself, you’ll be on firm footing to make that leap with confidence, without hesitation.

Staying on top of trends can help you lead change with your ideas, instead of being swept along by it uncontrollably. As I describe in chapter one, we can all step into the role of modern-day oracles, connecting the realities of the present story with probable futures. We can then see which of those preferred futures we aspire to and begin to make steps to create our own self-fulfilling prophecies. 

The trends you analyze will depend somewhat on your personal and professional interests, experiences, goals, and vision. For most of us, however, having an idea of where the world of work is likely to go is crucial to creating a future that integrates what matters most to us and how we want to spend our time with what the world wants and needs. We need to know what story we are currently in and what stories are possible if we are going to create our ideal aspirational story. In other words, knowing something about the likely future of work will help us to create a future that works—for all of us. 

Read More in my Amazon Best Seller Gray is the New Green.

“Karen has knocked it out of the park AGAIN.A data-packed, awe inspiring, and valuable resource forany business or company owner that is lookingat the future, regardless of your industry!This is the book to read IF you don’t read any otherbook on aging and business marketing this year.”

~ Aaron D. Murphy, 

Finding the Best Long-term Care for an Aging or Disabled Loved One

By Dawn Waddell Elledge RN, CCM Board Certified Aging Life Care Professional, Owner @ Elledge Geriatric Care Management

Whether or not you have thought about long term care for an aging or disabled loved one, the reality is that human life expectancy has increased steadily over the past few decades. The number of people living past 70 has dramatically increased, and because of higher standards of living, by the year 2040 the percentage of nursing home residents will jump from 50% to 130%. In the United States, more than 70% of nursing home residents are 75 years of age or older. 92% of those are Caucasian, 6% are African-American, 1% are Spanish, and the remainder are Asian, Hispanic mix or of other Native American descent. Another important contributing factor to the ever increasing need for long term care is the decline of the extended family in our culture. American households consists mainly of what sociologists refer to as the “nuclear family.” This is where the home is downsized to a single unit family replacing the former agricultural and extended family group.

Because we live in a very mobile society, more families are moving miles apart as the children become adults. Siblings are far removed from one another, and parents are very likely to have to care for themselves when they grow older.

The bottom line is that long-term care issues are here to stay. Also very important is the awareness that long-term care insurance premiums are usually less if you buy them when you are younger; this is not a preparation that should be postponed until one is nearing the possibility of needing long-term care facility placement.

Here’s a rundown of some of the types of long-term care settings most commonly found in communities throughout the United States today…

Adult Daycare alternative

Accessory Dwelling Units alternative

Subsidized Senior Housing

Board and Care Homes

Assisted Living Facilities

Continuing Retirement Communities

Certified (Medicare) Home Health Care option to facility based alternative

Hospice Care alternative

Respite Care alternative

Home and Community-Based Waiver Programs for the Medicaid & V.A. Eligible

Programs of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly who are Medicare/Medicaid

Nursing Homes (custodial-non-skilled-non-Medicare-long-term care)

Retirement Centers/Apartments

Multi-level of Care Complexes

Personal residential or facility based private pay sitter

For senior citizens and their loved ones there is a vast number of resources within every community, these are just a few examples:

Local Community Senior Citizens Centers for Supportive Services

Transportation Programs

Non-Medical Care Agencies

Certified Home Health Care Agencies

Geriatric Care Management (Aging Life Care Professional)

State Ombudsman

State Dept. of Health

Council on Aging

Veterans Services

Mental Health

Dementia & Aging Care-Giver Support Groups

Admin. On Aging at www.aoa.gov (1-202-619-0724)

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services at www.medicare.gov

ELDERCARE LOCATOR www.eldercare.gov

Long-Term Care Ombudsman (1-202-332-2275 FOR MORE INFO)

State Health Insurance counseling & Assist. Through St. Dept. of Health

Area Agencies on Aging at www.eldercare.gov

Aging & Disability Resource Center at www.adrc-tae.org

For more information on dementia care go to Alz.org or contact Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Cntr.

__________________________________________________________________

Dawn Waddell Elledge RN, CCM Board Certified Aging Life Care Professional, Owner @ Elledge Geriatric Care Management

I’m currently transitioning from professional board certified geriatric care management to becoming a hospice nurse manager in the home health sector. I write books that outline how “it will dawn on ya, life’s a journey….” Life has certainly been an interesting journey for me as a nurse person who has keen insights on living, aging and accepting the natural process of it all, like you mean it. Intentional living is what the journey is all about!!

2009 was the year disaster came my way. It started by quitting my job to salvage a marriage of 19 years. By midyear I divorced, left the state, and had half the assets my husband and I stringently built, never expecting to divorce. My grandfather died in July. I suffered a health issue Thanksgiving Day. My father suffered an injury that left him severely brain damaged. Let’s not forget the economic turmoil and I was 45 years old, unemployed, and in a new state (geographical as well as mental mindset).

It was tough to bounce back after the last half of 2009. While I did everything right on the outside to deal with the loss, inside was where the storm raged.

For 3 years.
During those years, I battled what I thought was the biggest obstacle to my success: introversion. I attended up to 5 networking events per week, within a 150 mile radius to build awareness for my business.

Growth occurred externally, but internally, I continued to grieve all I lost in 2009. While I blamed myself for much of the sorrow, I was also guilty of waiting for things to improve on their own.
It wasn’t until my mother, still grieving the loss of her husband (who was in a semi-vegetative state) said, “Nothing every goes right for our little family.”
“That’s not true!” I insisted. When she asked me to prove it, however, I couldn’t. We had been so locked in our negative mindset that growth and peace continued to evade us. The dark clouds still hovered and I was appalled by my negativity. I could have done something to end the storm.

Blowing the Clouds Away

It started with a smile. A soul-deep smile that radiated throughout the body. A smile that would attract people rather than keep them at a distance.
Next, I sought positivity in the past tragedies and applied it to the growth and opportunity in the present. With these tools, smiling became easier and I didn’t feel so mentally weighed down.

Glimpses of Light

The Universe observed my activity. It wasn’t going to immediately give me a thumbs-up and lay out a shiny red carpet in front of me. Nope. It tested me. A new lead backed out at the last minute. A client wasn’t pleased with my services. I got bronchitis. Twice. My laptop died. I was tempted to slip back into the storm, but moved forward instead.
Then tiny things happened. I slept better. Clients sent referrals. Migraines diminished. My blog took on new life as I focused on entrepreneurship and life after 50.
My rebrand progressed until Dad died November 2015. There were a few related setbacks but they didn’t hold me for long.
Until June 2017. I lost my two largest clients due to budget cuts and suddenly had no money coming in. This was a huge trial for me, but I kept going.

The Results of a Positive Mindset

The gloom faded quickly.
The storm didn’t infect other aspects of life.
Opportunities were easier to identify.
Additionally, I could dedicate myself fully to my rebrand without other projects competing for my time and attention.
Armed with these super powers, I got back to business with fire and determination. In under 2 months I got published in 6 online publications and was ASKED to become associate editor for Boomalally magazine.
Lessons learned:
Blow the clouds away.
Believe in yourself.
Trust yourself.
Test your limits and push past them.
Take risks.
Ignore the naysayers
Abandon the self-pity. It only gives others the opportunity to race past you.
Don’t waste another minute. Too much has already been wasted.
Make every moment count.
Furthermore, SMILE!
Recently, my mother sent a text message saying she’s having a burst of happiness. When I encouraged her to have more, she said, “I’m not normally a positive person, so I’m sure you have something to do with it.”
That certainly made me smile.
Are you ready to smile again? You’ll quickly discover that a positive mindset is contagious.
Kristen Edens
Managing Midlife

Kristen Edens is a content and brand development specialist for business. She is the founder of the Managing Midlife blog and covers topics of finance, second acts, and caregiving for the Sandwich Generation. Her writing has been featured at Business.com, Booming Encore, Small Business Monthly, St. Louis Women’s Journal, Missouri SourceLink, Better After 50, and Thrive Global. Her latest adventure is becoming the associate editor and oracle of inspiration for Boomalally, a magazine dedicated to those celebrating a life well lived after 50.

The Sunday before Thanksgiving my husband, Steven, and I went to a local grocery store for a few last-minute, but by no means necessary items, to include in our holiday food preparations.

In front of me on the checkout line was a woman who had on what probably was her “Sunday best” coat. She was obviously on her way home from church, since there was a bible on top of her handbag in the child seat of her shopping cart. She was somewhat bent over, struggling to walk and using the cart for balance.

Her grocery order was four sweet potatoes, three tomatoes and one zucchini squash. When she got to the cashier, she asked the young man to weigh three of the potatoes (they added up to seventy-six cents), then added the fourth. Did the same with the tomatoes; weighed two then added the third. Finally, she asked him to put it all together. She had a one-dollar bill clutched in one hand and a bunch of change in her other hand. When she looked at the total, she asked the young man to take one of the potatoes out. She counted out all of her money and still was eight cents short. By this time I’m digging into the bottom of my handbag where I toss loose change, like it doesn’t count for anything much. The young man comes up with a nickel and I added my (big deal, huh) three cents. And, for eight cents the woman thanked us profusely. As she was gathering herself up, I whispered to the young man to put the fourth potato on my order and give it to her. That cost all of twenty-seven cents! The woman asked God to bless us both and made her way out of the store.

I was so undone by this encounter. I had a bag of red licorice Twizzlers in my cart that cost more than this woman’s entire order. That evening I sent an email message to our three grown children and their families to let them know that there is nothing that either their dad or I want, need or have to have for the holidays. I asked them to please make a donation to a local food bank or food kitchen in our name instead of getting us gifts. Each one replied by asking us to do the same for them—guess we did something right growing them up.

Just a small encounter, and an “in my face” example of what happens when our government policies and actions take away support for our most needy and vulnerable people. People were generous during Thanksgiving food drives. But what happens during the rest of the year? One of my daughters asked me why I didn’t give the woman at least a twenty-dollar bill. In retrospect, the only thing that I can think of is that I was so taken back and transfixed at the time that it didn’t even occur to me.

That evening my husband made a donation to the New York Food Bank and I did the same for Connecticut. Neither of us knew what the other was doing. We’re going to need to remember to keep that up throughout the year and hope others will do the same.

During the summer months it’s easy to forget that basic human needs are not season but daily. I encourage you to remember that and think how you can serve and or give in a small or large way. Whatever you feel inclined to do I know will make a LARGE difference in the recipients life.

Get a sneak peek into Karen’s Amazon #1 Best Seller The Ageless Way! Just enter your information below for instant access to a FREE mini-book, “The Origins of the New HERstory of Our AGE” here. 

According to the Kauffman Foundation, people ages 55 to 64 consistently start more new businesses than those in any other age group, and this has been true for about a decade. We also know from this foundation that people over 55 are the most likely to be successful with their business startups, as I’ve mentioned before. The Sloan Center on Aging & Work estimates that about 38 percent of small business owners (including solo companies) are 60 or older.

Even more interesting is that in a recent Civic Ventures survey of 45- to 70-year-olds, about 25 percent indicated an interest in being entrepreneurs, and more than half of them wanted their venture to address a social issue.

In other words, as I’ve said before, the future of work is a future that works for all of us.

Parents of young children and 70-year-olds alike can find work or create businesses that are flexible in hours and location, among myriad other factors, to work with their realities and their desire to focus on what matters most. Organizations are already recognizing the need to customize the work world for every employee as well as the customer, because if they don’t, their employees will do it themselves, especially in midlife and beyond. These companies will not only lose the experience and wisdom of their post-50 staff, they are likely to lose money to many of them as former employees become entrepreneurial competition.

We are already creating a world where we can work how we want, when we want, and most important, why we want. Not only are more and more people starting businesses that make money and a difference in the world, more and more consumers are choosing to patronize these businesses over those that don’t combine profit with purpose.

The future belongs to visionaries, those who see where what matters most to them intersects with what the world needs. And this means that the future belongs to all of us, for we all have a visionary within, and we all will benefit from the Visionary Era we are creating.

Get a sneak peek into Karen’s Amazon #1 Best Seller, “The Ageless Way” Claim your mine e-book, “Agelessness Across Generations” download here. 

Estate planning to achieve these goals can be complicated. The typical “all to my spouse, then equally to the children” estate distribution does not work with blended families. That is because there is always the risk that the surviving spouse will disinherit the decedent’s children and pass the assets to his/her children. In addition, the competing interests of potential beneficiaries can lead to discord resulting in an ugly and costly court battle.

It is for these reasons that it is recommended that blended families use trusts. Specifically, revocable trusts with QTIP provisions. QTIP renders the trust irrevocable upon the death of the settlor. (the person who established the trust).
When a person is getting married for the second or third time it is important to consider the implications of the new relationship, including the need for an updated estate plan and beneficiary clauses. In other words blended families need to be careful. And being diligent can prevent potential complications and keep familial harmony even in the trying times of a passing.

Do you have any experience you could share?

About the Author

Attorney Bahrawy has 39 years experience as an Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney. He represents individuals and families in both simple sophisticated estate planning strategies. He also advises families with special needs, whether children or adult, on estate planning matters.
Attorney Bahrawy represents elders and caregivers to plan for future or, in some circumstances, an immediate need for institutional medical care. In this regard Attorney Bahrawy assists elders in applying and qualifying for Medicaid, making or adjusting estate plans such as Wills, Trusts and Advance Directives, estate administration, fiduciary litigation, Will contests, guardianship of elderly persons, and elder abuse. Attorney Bahrawy believes that that lawyers serve their clients best by planning ahead rather than solving problems after they occur.

Attorney Bahrawy is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. He hosted and produced a television program called Your Money. Your Life – a show dedicated to educating the public on issues particularly relevant to people over age 50 such as estate planning, elder law, elder services, financial planning. Life style issues and medical care. He currently appears as a speaker on elder issues at local senior centers, social organizations and legal forums. Mr. Bahrawy has also appeared as a guest on various radio programs in Massachusetts, New Hampshire , Florida, North Carolina and Utah.

In another post, I answered one of the most common questions people ask of me: What is a futurist? I also touched on what the phrase Everyday Futurist means. I mentioned that I combine futuring and coaching in all my work, one-on-one, with groups, and in my writing.

Which brings me to the second most common question I (and most coaches) get asked: What kind of coach?

Since I first began coaching nearly 40 years ago, the profession seems to have exploded into a thousand different subspecialties and labels—career coaching, executive coaching, corporate coaching, leadership coaching, business coaching, relationship coaching, and so on. When I describe my holistic approach, incorporating futuring and coaching, addressing work, business, and life issues and goals, I often get this response: “Oh, you’re a life coach!”

In fact, the first person to call me this was a senior editor and journalist writing for Dr.Koop.com back in the early eighties, and I don’t think she ever did get credit for coining the term! At the time, I disliked it so much that I did not think twice about it, until the nineties, when it became a trendy form of coaching.

I still avoid using the “life coach” label for myself, and I’ll tell you why. First, let me say that many excellent coaches refer to themselves as life coaches, and many of them have solid skills, experience, and certification. We share many of the same approaches, perspectives, and theoretical bases. On the surface, my holistic approach does indeed appear to be that of a life coach.

One of the reasons it applies to me, however, is that the term is so broad as to encompass many different kinds of coaches. This makes it less useful as a title telling you specifically what I can do for you, and it also unfortunately leaves the field wide open to interpretation—and abuse, such as the life coaches involved in the despicable, bigoted gay conversion organizations, now being rightfully sued for false claims and emotional, mental, and physical harm (see, e.g., “Gay ‘Conversion Therapy’ Faces Test in Courts”).

Now, please don’t get me wrong. Every profession has some bad apples, and those who abuse the life coach title are not representative of the field. The problem is in part that life coaching and many other kinds of coaching don’t have certification programs and certifying boards. Certification can help weed out the bad apples, ensure competence (and even excellence), and provide people with more confidence when choosing a professional whose guidance could affect major decisions in their life and work.

Providing the people I serve with this assurance and confidence is one reason I chose to become an ICF Master-Certified Coach (MCC) and a CCE Board-Certified Coach (BCC). I am certified not because I want to impress you with my titles but because my purpose is to give you the best possible information and guidance I can—and not just through my fee’d services but in this blog, in my reports and ebooks, and in workshops and presentations.

Part of genuinely serving my tribe means developing and constantly refining the expertise that underpins everything I write and say, rather than expecting people to just take my word for it that I know my stuff. That’s why I have taken the time to earn certification, and why I maintain that certification through constant learning and staying up-to-date on developments in my field.

Similarly, one of my specialties is in mentoring entrepreneurs, especially boomerpreneurs, to create sustainable success. I also work as an expert consultant to those serving the 50+ market, not because I just decided one day to call myself an expert but because I have devoted significant time and thought to developing this expertise, in my work, research, and education. I am a certified gerontologist and have decades of experience as a pioneer working with entrepreneurs to create rock solid businesses based on making a difference and meeting the triple bottom line (people, planet, profit).

My holistic approach to coaching means addressing the whole person (not just work or just personal issues) because everything interconnects, and this is very much like the common definition of a life coach, but I believe my role as a coach has more to do with finding the right questions to ask than simply dispensing pat answers. And this means listening to our intuition and checking it against the evidence.

I enlist my clients to use their strengths in business or their careers to support what truly matters to them—not only to achieve self-mastery and self-actualization, but to reach beyond personal transcendence to heed the call to fully awaken the visionary leader and change agent they are meant to be . . . around the boardroom table as well as the kitchen table.

In other words, don’t just take my word for it, or anyone else’s, when it comes to deciding what guidance is best for you and what path you will take. The answers are within you (intuition) and without (evidence). All a good coach does is guide you to connect the dots, within and beyond the box, so that you can stay ahead of the curve of change to make your future work.

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.