Category: senior citizens

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365 Coaching Tips: 208th, 209th and 210th

July 27th Coaching Tip: Make It Work.

We are on our way from Indiana to Des Moines, Iowa, for the 2025 National Senior Games. As we prepared our trip, we really didn’t want to drive 7-8 hours in one day. To make it all work, I reached out to some of my gal pals in Illinois and we gathered for a homemade two-hour dinner at Molly’s home. Little did two of us know that one of our gal pals had some serious info to share with us. She shared some gut-wrenching news, we listened, and that’s what we do as friends: we got thru it all together tonight. We four have been thru the rigors of life these last two decades together of being friends. We’ve lost husbands, homes, and jobs; helped our kids beat addictions and making poor decisions, rebuilt our brands and legacies, finished half marathons, etc.

We made it work today for this quick but important homemade dinner and meaningful conversation; please, make it work. Squeeze in these types of important visits. My partner and I stayed overnight and slept on their couches in their basement. The other two gals said, “wait, wait, tonight was so much fun. We want to do a sleep over soon.” I know you’re all very busy, but make it work.

July 28th Coaching Tip: Heat Dome Dangers.

When there’s a heat dome, hydrate. Whatever amount that you are drinking, keep drinking. This heat dome is scary stuff and it is hitting millions of Americans as we head in to the last week of July. We were driving on the interstate for over 3.5 hours today, and we kept the speed closer to 72mph. Why? To help keep the tires just a lil bit less hot (so that they don’t split or shred) and to keep a very close eye on the road surface itself. We heard that in Peoria, IL, a section of the interstate had “bubbled up” and had created a very unsafe bump on the highway. Imagine hitting that bump doing 85 mph! That could potentially wreck-up your car, then you’re alongside the road in the hot sun with a heat index of 100-110. Another tip is to grab a gallon of water and put it in your car. You just never know when you may need a drink or need to drench your head on days like these. Be aware and be proactive when heat dome dangers are present.

July 29th Coaching Tip: Six Seconds Faster.

My first event today at my first-ever National Senior Games here in Des Moines, Iowa, was the 400m run. My previous times in the 400m at the Indiana Senior Games were 1:47 (June 2024) and 1:43 (June 2025). Today, my goal was to run 1:40; I even dreamed about it. As I lined up today, I got dry mouthed/thirsty and nervous but kept my legs moving. Once the gun went off, the anxiety quickly disappeared as I stood in my starting lane two. My pace was spot on; I finished my first 100m before my count of 18 (which is approx. 25 seconds), so I knew I was off to a good start in this 400m race. Plus, I had already passed someone in the first turn. Then, the second 100m was just fine, and I appreciated the strangers cheering for me along the backstretch. In the third turn, I quit counting and focused on two things: the gal in front of me in lane four and on my running form. I set my eye site on her and got back up “on my tip toes” and started chasing her down as we came down the final stretch. I happily finished third in my heat, with a 1 minute 37.51 second time. I was thrilled to beat my goal of 1:40, and very happy that I finished six seconds faster that I ran at the Indiana Games on June 8, 2025.

How did I do this? Prayer and also practicing differently. The last six weeks, I have been running one-minute sprints, that are a jog for the first 30 seconds, then faster and faster the remaining 30 seconds. I would do this for two minutes, too. Lastly, I worked on my form and improving it. I’m so excited that I went six seconds faster! (Note: showing up, staying in shape, allowing your body to rest, eliminating injuries is a big part of participating. Of the 31 registered runners in the 400m, 18 showed up. I finished 12th!)

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365 Coaching Tips: 163rd, 164th and 165th

June 12th Coaching Tip: Get Insurance Proof.

Ever hire a contractor and ask them, “can you please provide a copy of your valid insurance?” If you don’t, you should. Recently, we hired a contractor to remove some dead and splitting trees. Before he started, I requested a quote in writing and a copy of his insurance. Fast forward to the day that the contractor and his crew were working in the trees. And yes, you guessed it, the lead man was up in the tree when the other side of the tree started going down (these trees were splitting and the threat of them coming down unexpectedly is exactly why I was having them removed). The lead man was taken down as the entire tree came crashing down. Immediately, the entire job stopped; thankfully, the crew quickly called for an ambulance, the lead man was checked out at the hospital and released with nothing more than a scrape. Everyone was ok and for that we are all grateful. A couple days later, a copy of the valid insurance was emailed to me. Lesson learned: ask and receive insurance before contractors work on your job.

June 13th Coaching Tip: Go Til Then End.

It’s game four in the best of seven game series in the NBA Finals. The Indiana Pacers have a 2-1 lead in the series, they are playing at home in this 4th game, the crowd is roaring and the Pacers are winning by 5 points starting the final quarter. But something happened, and the Pacers lost their mojo. The OK City Thunder reached deep and tied the game with eight minutes remaining. Then Indiana made a run with three minutes left. But then the Pacers let the game slip away again in the last couple minutes and ended up losing by seven points. Think thru this: up four, lost by seven, which is an 11-point swing in a matter of minutes. Leaders, teams, people, kids, and everyone else: go til the end. It’s never over until it’s over. Be resilient and keep your dream of winning alive. Note: That loss led to OK City winning the next 3 of 4 games and helping them win the NBA championship.

June 14th Coaching Tip: Connect.

Mom and I made a plan of connecting and heading to my brother (Grant) and his wife’s home on the lake nearby. Three of his daughters and their men joined us for a yummy early Father’s Day afternoon dinner. Then Mom wanted to go see her horses race at Hoosier Park. Instead of just the two of going, I decided to reach out to friends and we had a total of nine of us at the track. Although the horses didn’t win, we had a full day of connection with family and friends who really matter. Was it on “Father’s Day”? Nope, it was the day before. But we made it work. On Father’s Day, we intentionally drove out to visit the cemetery where my father is buried. We connected with him, the good Lord, family and friends this weekend. Connect. Being isolated and reducing social connections can lead to dire situations; instead, intentionally connect, with purpose, and it may just bring you better health, resilience and wellness.

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365 Coaching Tips: 118, 119 and 120th

April 28th Coaching Tip: Learning AI now.

Not sure why, but I’m not reading/listening to as many books on Audible as I have over the last few years. The Audible credits have been piling up; I have a couple upcoming trips, the weather is really nice for outdoor walking now, so it’s a great time to put in the ear buds and listen/learn. Popped open my laptop a couple days ago and downloaded three books on artificial intelligence (AI). Why? Because I had another leader tell me, “if you don’t understand AI and how it’s impacting every piece of businesses all over the world, then you will soon fall behind and become less relevant.” That direct statement hit me between the eyes and I was glad that he said it to me.

I’m putting those Audible credits to use and have listened to five chapters on AI. I realized today that three different people in our work group are working in spreadsheets over a matter of month…and that AI could have summarized the input in a matter of seconds or less than a minute. I’m using: AI Grok on Twitter/X, the AI Gemini search in Google that is now the first paragraph in search, and Alexa in my home much more frequently for weather, traffic, and ongoing questions. Do I want AI to take over the world with our eight billion people? NO! However, how can we utilize AI to help our lives be more efficient? I’m learning AI now because I don’t want to be a senior who can’t figure it out later.

April 29th Coaching Tip: Time Zone Accuracy.

Today I scheduled a couple personal and work appointments. Two of them were on the west coast, and another I just wasn’t sure where they are located. As I provided dates and times, I added one letter: “E” for Eastern Time Zone. It’s really that easy and simple to be specific on requesting an appointment. Put a E for Eastern, or C for Central, or P for Pacific after the time. Because of taking that small bit of extra effort to truly think it over, it makes the scheduling much quicker, with less back and forth.

When race fans drive to Indianapolis from the nearby state of Illinois, some get to the Indy 500 an hour late…because they forgot that Indiana is on Eastern time zone. One time, my godson drove from Illinois (Central time zone) to Bloomington, IN (Eastern time zone) for an event…and showed up one hour late. He was happy to be there, but darn it, that time zone accuracy got him. Be in touch and more efficient when you include Time Zone Accuracy.

April 30th Coaching Tip: Tidy Up Before You Leave.

We travel a lot and have multiple homes and places we visit frequently. To make our lives easier as we age, we like to do a few things before we leave: 1) tidy up the home quickly, so that it looks nice when we return, 2) run the dishwasher so that the dishes are clean and dry when we return, 3) do a load of laundry before we leave, so that the dirty clothes and towels aren’t stinky when we return, 4) quickly check out the items in the frig…if any items are close to looking a bit icky, toss it, because it will be moldy when we return, 5) put the good items in the frig into the freezer, and we write ourself a note and put it on the counter on “what’s in the freezer”, 6) if we are gone for more than a few days, we turn off the water and the water heater, and put the thermostat on the eco mode, 7) we arrange the transportation ahead of time (schedule the Uber, ask a friend, or plan for the car the be at the airport and share its location), 8) we have our favorite stuff at all the locations, i.e. lotion, deodorant, razor, hair stuff, key food items, our comfy shoes and clothes, vitamins, etc. Note: #8 allows us to travel with less stuff, and we don’t have to remember as much. Tidy up before your leave, which makes you smile when you return.

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365 Coaching Tips: 115th, 116th and 117th

April 25th Coaching Tip: Flat Stanley Taught Us.

Our friend’s daughter sent me a package with the Flat Stanley instructions and a hand-colored Flat Stanley. If you are unfamiliar with Flat Stanley, join the club; I wasn’t either. However, the instructions were simple to understand and on one page. The essence of this game with Flat Stanley is to take him (hand-colored lil Flat Stanley) with you as you visit places, take photos of him, and then fill out a photo book with the photos that we took of Flat Stanley as he spent a couple days with us. Flat Stanley visited the beach, got to see some palm and banyan trees, visited where I work, saw a sunset, joined us for dinner, and even met our waiter, Mario. When I pulled out our Flat Stanley, Mario quickly said, “I vividly remember the Flat Stanley exercise in elementary.” Isn’t that amazing that an adult remembers this exercise so vividly over 20 years later?

Guess who else learned a bunch? We did. On the final page of the photo book was a number of questions about the state that Flat Stanley visited. We learned so much about Florida; the state bird is the Northern Mockingbird. The state tree is the cabbage palm. The state song is Suwanee River. The nickname is Sunshine State. The motto is “In God We Trust”. The largest city is Jacksonville, FL, with nearly 1 million people. The state is the 22nd largest (in square miles) in the USA. Flat Stanely helped us learn and it was a joy spending time with him and helping our friend’s daughter complete her school project. It’s all packaged up and ready to be mailed to her tomorrow. Flat Stanley taught us, too.

April 26th Coaching Tip: Play Til The End.

Last night during the Denver Nuggets playoff game at the LA Clippers, the score was tied with a few seconds remaining. The Clippers had mounted an incredible 32-9 run in the fourth quarter, putting Denver on its heels. With the score tied and six seconds remaining, Denver Nugget’s best player took a “last” shot which ended up being an airball. But, with the clock running down, another Nugget’s teammate, Aaron Gordon, saw that the shot was going to be short and jumped up to grab it and made a dunk…with .01 on the clock. That’s not ONE second; that’s .01 or 1/10th of a second! This was the perfect example of “playing to the very last moment, playing to the end.” How many times in life do we slow down at the end or we don’t do our job expecting others to execute or we think we will just do it tomorrow or we say, “let’s go into overtime.” Aaron Gordon taught us to play to the end!

April 27th Coaching Tip: Prioritize Recovery.

Yesterday was an intense day for my senior games preparation. (My goal is to compete (again) in the Indiana games on June 7, and then the National Senior Games in Des Moines in early August. The events are the 100m, 200m, 400m, and 800m runs; I’m also going to do the basketball shooting at Nationals.) After shooting baskets for 32 minutes, I headed to the nearby middle school’s track where I ran six-100m’s and two-200m’s, did some leg strengthening and took two walks. Burned nearly 1,000 calories; it was mid-day, about 85 degrees and a light breeze. Hydration and the hot tub were both priorities after that intense workout. As you might imagine, today is all about recovery. We scheduled an hour massage, after a slow morning walk. Now I’m heading to the pool to swim a couple laps…and take a nap by the pool. Our neighbors brought us some homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs, so we don’t even have to do food prep today. Take time to keep your body healthy by prioritizing recovery after intense days. As a 60 year old, being fit and healthy for me is a blend of appropriate strength and cardio HIIT training, proper nutrition (80% of the time), 7+ hours of sleep, enjoying the work and purpose in our life, and allowing the brain and body to have time to recover. Your body (and mind) deserve it. Prioritize recovery.

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365 Coaching Tips: 112, 113 and 114

April 22nd Coaching Tip: Leaders Want Coaching.

This evening after work, I talked to three, good, long-term friends who are making huge decisions about careers and job transitions. One was a guy that I used to play with when we were kids (when we were both under 10 years old), another is a woman who I’ve known well for 10 years because we have had some thoughtful and deep conversations over dinner, and the other was a guy that I’ve known for nearly 13 years and I’ve been his “bestie” as he has made three career changes. Why did they all call me? Not sure, I can’t speak for them. But all three said, “I just knew I needed to talk this over with you, Jen; you listen well, ask great questions, and yet, still let me make my own decision.”

Who trusts you with very important decisions? How are you showing up for them? What can you do to be more helpful to those who need a confidant? How do you make time for them when you’re so busy? I’m not sure if the planets aligned or what, but somehow someway, I was able to work in 3 conversations last night with these wonderful people. Two of the conversations allowed me to “walk & talk” and get my steps in. These 3 are leaders in their families and the primary bread winners, so career decisions, incomes, bonuses, and the art and science of negotiation needed thoughtful prep and practice. Leaders want coaching; but more importantly, these three just needed a long-term friend who they trusted to listen to what was going on with them. Leaders want coaching…and friends who listen.

April 23rd Coaching Tip: Don’t Miss Birthdays.

Tomorrow is my dad’s birthday, the 29th is my uncle’s birthday, and my grandmother’s birthday is May 24th. How do I know that? Because when I hear about an important birthday (or anniversary or key date), I simply add it to that calendar day as an event and select repeat “every year” in my iPhone. It takes just a few moments but it’s so appreciated by the birthday person when you remember and reach out to call them. Yes, I said call them. Facebook has a good way to remind us of birthdays, but in my opinion, it’s a somewhat lazy way to click on a pre-made “happy birthday” emoji and then click it and send. Seems a bit unemotional and disingenuous.

My recommendation is to pick up the phone and call people on or near their birthdays. Call them the day before and ask them about their b-day plans or call them the day after to ask what was the best part of their b-day. Bottom line: don’t miss birthdays!

April 24th Coaching Tip: Heavenly Birthdays.

Today would have been my dad’s 86th birthday. Many in our family reached out and connected with my mother, who is 84 years old now and was married to dad for 63 years, to share fond memories and wisdom that we all got from my Dad. Some of our family members didn’t know what to say/text to mom; they were uncomfy to bring up Dad. We encouraged all the family members to share fond, funny and good memories of Dad.

I learned alot from this lil exercise. Send love, positivity and goodness on heavenly birthdays. Celebrate the life of those who have passed on. Share the stories of how they impacted you while they were on earth, alive and thriving. Remember those heavenly birthdays.

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365 Coaching Tips: 46, 47 and 48

February 15th Coaching Tip: Squeeze It In.

Today was a day with a full list, but I was operating on less than five hours of sleep. Instead of having an intense workout, I chose instead to squeeze in my workout throughout my day. For an hour, I organized and moved some furniture around in our small condo, went on a walk to check the boat dock and to take the trash to the dumpster. Then during a college basketball game, I did my 3 sets of squats, crunches, pushups and lunges during the game’s timeouts. During halftime of the game, I went on a 12-minute walk. Then, 10 minutes before my mom arrived, I knocked on my neighbor’s door to get caught up with them and also carried a bag of snow melt for them to use for their steps and sidewalk, since a storm is on its way. Squeeze it in; you can do so many things that keep you motivated, organized, and purposeful.

February 16th Coaching Tip: Reward Them.

It’s 9am on a winter morning and I hear a few knocks at my front door, after a late night of freezing rain and 2-3″ of snow. The two 14-year-old boys are standing there at my front step with their new snow shovels. One of the boys asks, “can we shovel your driveway and sidewalk?” I almost said no, but then I thought for a quick second: here are some kids that want some spending money and are working early on a Sunday morning. “Yes, you can shovel my sidewalk and all around my mom’s car in the driveway.” The two got to work, and even their nine-year-old brother had a shovel and he was competitive and shoveling just as fast as the older kids. When they knocked on the door for their $20, I went out and inspected their work. Good work, but gave them some tips on ensuring that their shoveling resulted in straighter lines. Also asked them to use a broom to knock the snow off of mom’s car. We then talked about all the businesses that they could start, and by simply looking around us, we saw a fencing business, car detailing business, painting business, landscape and snow removal businesses, etc. It was fun for me watching their creativity blossom about potential business opportunities. Reward the ones who show up early and are ready to go to work. Reward them!

February 17th Coaching Tip: Safety First.

Overnight, we had freezing rain and then it snowed 2-3 inches. The wind was blowing 15-20mph all day, and it was below 30 degrees. Getting my mom safely to her car was a top priority; we warmed up her car, defrosted the windows, put some snow melt down to help ensure there was no icy surface. We left plenty early to get to my brother’s home and visit w/ the family, have lunch, and see the two new babies. We were able to drive slowly and safely and embrace the “defensive driving” lesson we all learned in driver’s training. When we got to see the babies, we washed our hands before holding them, again, to be safe and keep them healthy. On the way home, I helped mom by leading the way as she followed behind. As she went north and I proceeded south and got home sooner, I utilized the “find my” App on my iPhone to keep track of her progress. We all had a safe day, because we had a safety-first mindset. It’s worth it; take your time, prep, and think about others. Safety first.

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Repurposing My Time

Since December 19th (2024), I’ve taken a number of consecutive days off, and won’t return to full duty work until January 6th (2025). Already liking how it feels, i.e. days off with no vacation planned. Let me explain what I’m thinking.

Whether I retire from my corporate run at two Fortune 100 companies in 15, 10, 5 years, or even in 1 year, my intention is to repurpose how I utilize my time. We all have 24 hours in a day, and I don’t intend on “retiring”. There’s too much to do still in my life. In fact, truly believe that my most impactful work in helping others is coming next. As they say, “The best is yet to come!”

Recently, I repurposed my time (from working 8 hours/day) to this:

Wake up, take more time to enjoy my coffee and read my devotionals, journal my wellness goals and activity, get my exercise done, contact key people in my life, plan healthy meals and then prep those healthier meals (than in the past), drive to meet contractors to check on my next real estate project, read the newspapers/magazines/books that have piled up, organize some stacks that needed attention for quite a while, and figure out ways to help others by understanding the most important needs of the community.

Bottom line, I like how these last few days have felt. Remember, no vacation planned. Just me being at home. It actually felt healthier than trying to squeeze all of these items in, while making work the “priority” from 7am (getting all ready, driving to work, or going upstairs for remote work) until 5pm-ish.

Yes, I’m grateful for the work that I’ve been doing since 1986 in the corporate world; it’s all provided me with a wonderful lifestyle and with ample healthcare and travel opportunities. However, I’m ready to utilize my God-given skills to help others, to help them become better citizens of the world, via business, real estate, non-profits. I even think there’s room for the world to learn how to be a better daughter (since I have the most amazing mother), sister, aunt, friend, neighbor, god-mom, etc.

How will you repurpose your time, when you make the decision to retire? Whenever I chose to make this move, I’m going to be ready. Why? In my coaching work, I’ve seen countless people who have “retired” and have not spent enough time figuring out what they are moving to, how will they spend their time, identify what do they deeply care about, etc.

Coach Jen tip: Don’t wait, think ahead, plan and prep on how you will repurpose your time, before you retire. If you need a coach to help you with repurposing of your time, get one.

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Falls Kill – 10 Tips to Keep You Upright

When I was 42 years old, I broke both wrists horribly during a Sunday afternoon game of full court basketball with other women players. The fall didn’t kill me, however as we age, falls kill. According to AARP, falls that cause hip fractures are to blame for nearly 30 percent of fall deaths among adults 65 and older. These unintentional falls are the leading cause of injury and death for seniors.

In recently finishing Peter Attia’s book, “Outlive”, he spent a full chapter on stability. And I’ve been working on my stability with a variety of exercises. Why? Because during my 50’s, I was diagnosed with osteoporosis. At 60 years old now, here’s my small and simple list of exercises that I do to help improve my balance and stability:

  1. One leg step ups, 12 on a side. Three sets.
  2. Squats, 15 reps, 3 sets. Add weights to each side, go slowly up to 15 reps, 3 sets.
  3. Brush your teeth standing on just one leg, then switch. Do it for 2 minutes in the morning and also in the evening while brushing your teeth.
  4. Lunges, with and without weights. Three sets of 18.
  5. Going up stairs with hand on rail, two steps at a time. Yes, two steps at a time. Think knee to chest or marching movements.
  6. Coming down the stairs with one hand on the rail, one step at a time. Keep your eyes on the step. Don’t multi-task and don’t carry too many items.
  7. Toe/ankle raises, as you floss your teeth and then again when using mouthwash. Every evening.
  8. Abs; many varieties, like crunches, bicycles, leg lifts, med ball turns, planks.
  9. Get on the floor and do three sets of bridges and birddogs, 15 reps, then get upright without using anything to pull you up. Yes, that’s right, stand up with zero help.
  10. Wear a watch or device, so that can call someone IF you do fall. (Ex: I wear an Apple watch, now that I’m 60, when I’m taking a shower, exercising and doing projects inside and outside of the home). Also wear identification. (Ex: I wear a RoadID bracelet; it identifies who I am, who to call, and what allergies that I have).
  11. Free extra tip: Buy some nightlights so that we can see in the evenings and early morning hours, when nature calls or you need something to drink. There is no reason to fall because you didn’t want to turn on the light.

The cost for some of the devices (Apple Watch + Road ID bracelet + night lights) are less than $1,000. However, the return on this investment could be life changing. And then doubled or tripled when you add in the stability and balance exercises mentioned above in #1-#9.

Being Fit and 60 takes some work, and it’s my goal to stay upright for as long as possible. And if I do fall, then I have a way to communicate/call someone and if I’m found, others have three names who to call.

Recommendation: Since falls kill, recommend that you start now and do a few things daily and weekly to help improve your balance and stability. This will help your body react, if you take a bad step off of a curve or a rail lets loose or a step breaks or you’re bumped in to by another person. You can also control many things, including wearing a watch with calling capability and an ID that will help people act quickly. Give me a ring or message if you’d like to chat further about your stability or balance goals.

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Fit and 60

How fit are you now? How fit do you want to be and by when? What do you know you need to do to implement your desired outcome(s)? These are questions that I am really asking myself now, as I recently turned 60 years old.

Maybe some context will help here. In May 2022, I was invited to watch my bestie play women’s basketball at the National Senior Games in Fort Lauderdale, FL. In one word, it was: INSPIRING. She played and dominated in the 55-59 year-old age group, as well as her age group of 60-64. She won the gold medal for team’s women’s basketball and was named the women’s basketball outstanding player. While in Ft. Lauderdale, I completed the “Senior Athlete Fitness Exam” (SAFE). Quickly realized that I was in pretty good shape overall, but I was a bit overweight and I also needed to improve my balance (due to osteoporosis) and my unflexible ankles.

Fast forward 2.5 years later, I’ve lost 12 pounds thru really focusing on reducing sugars in my overall food intake, focusing on high quality sleep of 7 hours with a heart rate that lowers to the low 50’s, eating 400-500 less calories on most days by tracking what I put in my mouth with a food journal, exercising 12-22 minutes more per day (than previously) and with more intensity. completing balance exercises two times daily, and other doing strength training exercises multiple times per week. And yes, for the last two years, I got an annual infusion for my osteoporosis. However, the other items mentioned above give me the greatest hope, especially after recently reading the audible book, “Outlive”, by Peter Attia, MD. He reinforced that exercise is the single greatest “medicine” that you can do.

Recommendations:

  1. Ask yourself how fit are you now? and then how fit do you want to be? Attia referenced the common items that occur in our 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and beyond that most want to do, but lose the ability to do: picking up a grandbaby, getting yourself up off the floor when playing with grandkids, hiking up some steps to the top of a stadium, bringing in the groceries with a bag in each arm, opening a tight jar, tossing your roller bag above your seat, traveling in car or RV or plane, walking to a ball game or musical performance, etc. You get the point: the ability to continue to easily be able to do these things will allow you to be “active and fit”, or “Fit and 60”. If you simply don’t know how fit you are, take a SAFE exam.
  2. Identify the gap(s), and make some slight changes. Attia indicates in his research that exercise has the greatest return on your investment of time, so any type of exercise is better than none. For example, if you are NOT walking, start walking 10-15 minutes/day. If you are not stretching, stretch during TV commercials 3-4 times/week. If you are struggling with your grip, start working on grip exercises with bi-cep curls. If you can’t get up off the floor without using both hands, start working on improving that to get up using just one hand. Anything is better than nothing.

If it can work for me, who’s been an athlete my entire life, then I know it can work for YOU.

Should you need any encouragement or other tips, send me a message. Coach Jen

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Reading Like Mad

For years and years and years, reading more had always been a goal. Finally, I knew that I had to change it up to get better reading results. Get some small wins by finishing books that I had already started, read shorter books to gain a feeling of accomplishment, and embrace technology. So in 2018, I signed up for the Audible. Read more than ever, and finished 19 books.

In 2019, I signed up for the FREE Libby app, via my local library. Deleted my Audible account, which saves me $15/month. And the result is even better than 2018. In just four months, already completed 11 books and have two more books that will be finished by the end of April, which will total 14 books in the first four months of 2019.

Why am I reading so much? Because I have always wanted to. And because when I read about our seniors and the elderly, they wished they would have worked less and read more, among many other things. With Libby and Audible, we can listen to the book, and drive. We can listen and work out. Listen and go on a walk. Even listen while in the home, on our Echo Dot. Reading via Libby has been a wonderfully efficient use of my time. What a great way to leverage technology to increase my learning, knowledge, and relevancy.

More than ever now when I am speaking and coaching, I have a calm confidence to recommend books that are specific to a situation. If a team is trying to implement their first business plan, I recommend “Traction” by G Wickman. If a team is trying to figure out their brand and how to be relevant online, I recommend “10X” by Grant Cardone or “Crushing It” by G Vaynerchuk. If a team is facing some dysfunction, I recommend “Strengths” by T Rath or “Five Dysfunctions of A Team” by P Lencioni. If someone is refining their leadership skills, B Brown’s “Dare to Lead” is spot-on. If I am trying to make sense of current events, then consuming history helps me to better understand that we humans have a tendency to repeat what our ancestors did.

How are you staying relevant? How are you sharpening your saw? How are you helping others refine their skills? I believe that at the end of life, I will be very glad that I read all of these fascinating books (consuming books via Libby & Audible) and kept my learning edge sharp.