August 2006

Reading Time: Approximately 4 Minutes

We have somewhat reluctantly changed our newsletter name for this issue.  Some readers found Agequake too unsettling.  Age Power is certainly more empowering.  If you have an opinion or another suggestion please email Nigel.

This year as you travel the country visiting friends and family you may be noticing something different subconsciously... it is very subtle but year by year it will become more noticeable. There are more grey haired baby boomers per capita!

As a result of this demographic shift there will be many changes in our world. Ken Dychtwald talks about this phenomena in one of his books. He says... "the baby boom generation will transform and change how everyone lives. No business, family or home will work tomorrow as it works today."

Life Planning Matters is Growing.

Preparation is the key... Although the numbers of people actually involved in this new process - Planning for the Second Half of Life - is just a ripple at the moment, the numbers will increase exponentially over the next five years. From the sources LPM tracks this is very obvious... we receive more enquiries for personal coaching... there is more coverage in the media... we have increased the number of proposals offered to employee and professional groups.

To accommodate this potential increase in life planning work LPM has expanded the numbers of specialized coaches, facilitators and associates. A formal announcement and more detail will be made shortly.

Seminars and Workshops Help Clarify.

In the course of a lifetime, people pick up the knowledge and skills to build careers and raise families. But not much of that prepares them for a life in retirement.... Read this article in Business Week Ernst and Young estimates that less than 5% of employee retirement programs offered to employees address non financial issues.

Life Long Learning.

Life Planning Matters is building an alliance with the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota. Nigel will be attending a conference in November on the issue of Vital Ageing and Purpose in the 21st Century. Click here to view more about the Purpose Project.

Turbocharged Brain Power

What we think, we become. How can we think better, faster and longer?

Drugs now in labs are giving us glimpses of a future in which life expectancy will approach 100 and we will have superhuman powers to enhance our bodies and minds. Here is how we may, in the future, be able to increase our thinking power:
Drugs that restore or strengthen memory can be bought over the counter. Old people can stay independent, education levels rise, and poker and bridge are transformed.

No-sleep drugs and fear inhibitors, originally for military use, are routinely used by football coaches, police academies, and concert soloists. Many drugs are activated through ingested or implanted chips that release dosages at required intervals.

Individualized cocktails of neurotransmitter-tweaking drugs enable comprehensive shaping of temperament to accord with different situations. Those faced with tough work projects might take enhancers of mental focus, persistence, and self-confidence. Vacation-goers will be able to benignly heighten their receptiveness to novelty, libido, and sensory excitability.

Better living through chemistry continues to enhance mind, body and behaviour. Comment from LPM Editor: "What a wonderful world!"

Source: Fortune Magazine

Getting older and happier

A nationwide study, published in the Journal of Happiness Studies, used the Internet to ask people who were 20 to 40 years old and 60 and up which age group would be the happiest.

Most incorrectly thought younger people would be happier than older people, said Heather Lacey, lead author of the study by the Center of Behavioural and Decision Sciences in Medicine, a joint program of the University of Michigan and the VA Ann Arbor Health System. "We are notoriously bad at predicting what's going to make us happy," Lacey said. "Strong literature proves people grow happier as they age. But people's beliefs are completely opposite. Everyone relies on stereotypes."

Summer Reading:

Experience Magazine
Check the link on our home page for Nigel's second of eight articles published in Experience Magazine - "What's your Place in the World - Following Work?"  (Available on-line July 26, 2006)

For Better for Worse but not for Lunch - Making Marriage Work in Retirement - Sara Yogev, Ph.D.
A practical guidebook that includes several self assessments  ISBN 0-8092-9720-5

On-Line newsletter:  Brenda Montani MSC RCC is a gifted clinical counselor.
Visit her web site and sign on for her periodic newsletter www.improving-relationships.com

Journey into Love - Ten Steps to Wholeness
- Comstock and Thame
In this adventure, the authors bring lessons from work with thousands of people, revealing how to go beyond the "negative love" syndrome and find our own power and voice. 
ISBN 0-9679186-4-2

Coming Soon!
New Intelligence for the Second Half of Life - Nigel Brown
A practical guidebook helping you design the best years of your life.

Inquisitive About Hiring a Coach?

Email Nigel@lifeplanningmatters.com with your questions, and interest or to request a proposal.

Nigel Brown, Principal
Life Planning Matters
"Canada's #1 Retirement Transitions Coach"
Kelowna, BC, Canada
Phone: 250-764-5408
www.LifePlanningMatters.com

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