Dr. Sara Hart, who at the age of 74 cycled 540 miles in the AIDS ride from San Francisco to LA is a woman on a mission. She is helping older women find the spark in their lives to light their way in the world.
Sara had an idea that she wanted to do something to address how society sees older women and find ways to turn that around. After a couple of interesting interactions, she realized that PrimeSpark would be her vehicle for change.
In this episode we talked about transitions and how they take time and they can be scary. We talked about how women’s roles in our society have changed since the 1950’s and 1960’s, and that there is still a lot to do.
Sara shared some of the lessons she has learned from transitioning from a corporate career to having her own business and from her own business to being a podcast host and coach.
She also invited us to attend her upcoming virtual conference.
Episode Takeaways:
- Think about what is most important to you at this point in your life.
- If you need support, ask for help.
- Realize that you are enough and that the world needs you!
Thanks so much for listening.
Subscribe on Apple Podcast, Stitcher , Google Podcast. or Spotify
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You can email me with questions or comments at wendy@heyboomer.biz
–
Wendy Green is a Certified Life Coach, working with people going through the
sometimes uncomfortable life transition from full-time work to “what’s next.”
Find out more about Wendy’s 6-week “What’s Next Transition” Coaching workshop
–
Links for Sara Hart:
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Transcript
Hello and welcome to the Hey Boomer Show and Happy Hanukkah.
Speaker:Today, we're going to be talking about the older women's revolution.
Speaker:Revolution. So let me start with a little history.
Speaker:The first attempt to organize a national women's movement for women's rights in the
Speaker:United States occurred in Seneca Falls.
Speaker:It was in July of 1848, and it was led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia mott.
Speaker:It took another 52 years until 1920 to ratify the 19th Amendment, giving women the
Speaker:right to vote.
Speaker:The second wave of the women's movement emerged in the 1960s with the Commission on
Speaker:the Status of Women, led by Eleanor Roosevelt and the publishing of the book The
Speaker:Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan.
Speaker:The report from the Commission documented discrimination against women in virtually
Speaker:every aspect of American life.
Speaker:And Friedan's book highlighted the emotional and intellectual oppression that middle class
Speaker:educated women were experienced because of limited life options.
Speaker:So is it time for a third women's revolution, a revolution of older women who
Speaker:society thinks should go quietly into the good night?
Speaker:But we know we are not done with what we want to contribute and what we are able to
Speaker:contribute. This is what we're going to talk about today with my guest, Dr.
Speaker:Sarah Hart.
Speaker:My name is Wendy GREENE, and I am your host for Hey, Boomer.
Speaker:In this episode, we are going to talk about the older women's revolution and where we are
Speaker:going with this.
Speaker:I am on a mission to support and inspire adults in their next act of life, to find new
Speaker:beginnings, confront endings and transitions, and evolve into who they want to
Speaker:be. That mission is what fuels me and keeps me motivated.
Speaker:And I hope you find inspiration and motivation in what we talk about on.
Speaker:Hey, Boomer. I also want to take this opportunity to thank Rhodes Scholar for their
Speaker:support of Hey, Boomer.
Speaker:Rhodes Scholar is the not for profit leader in educational travel for boomers and beyond,
Speaker:offering expert led adventures to all 50 states and more than 100 countries.
Speaker:My favorite way to travel is with Rhodes Scholar, and you can find an amazing
Speaker:collection of educational adventures on their website.
Speaker:You can go to road Rhodes Scholar dot org slash Hey Boomer and just explore what they
Speaker:have. And just to remind you, I'm hosting a trip to Costa Rica from June 2nd to the 10th
Speaker:with Rhodes Scholar.
Speaker:I would love to have you join me.
Speaker:So if you want more information about that, you can drop me an email at Wendy at Hey,
Speaker:Boomer Dot Biz.
Speaker:I will send you all the information.
Speaker:What we're going to be doing and seeing.
Speaker:So think about it.
Speaker:Come join us in June.
Speaker:So now it is my honor to bring Dr.
Speaker:Sarah Hart onto the show.
Speaker:Hi, Sarah.
Speaker:Hi, Wendy.
Speaker:It's so nice to have you today.
Speaker:It's lovely to be here.
Speaker:Thank you. Yeah.
Speaker:Let me give them a brief intro to your background.
Speaker:So, Dr..
Speaker:Excuse me. Dr. Sarah Hart is a lifelong advocate for social change and an
Speaker:inspirational motivational speaker.
Speaker:She is passionate about Prime Spark, an idea that became a movement to change the way our
Speaker:culture sees and treats senior women.
Speaker:As a speaker, Sarah provides controversial cutting edge ideas in an interactive setting.
Speaker:She founded Hart Com, a consulting company over 20 years ago, focusing on leadership,
Speaker:development, coaching and team building.
Speaker:She also coaches women who know things need to be different in our society and who value
Speaker:the support of a coach and a like minded community.
Speaker:Sarah lives in Los Altos, California, with their cat.
Speaker:Mr. Boo.
Speaker:I have to meet your cat and introduce him to mine.
Speaker:Oh, yes.
Speaker:So, Sarah, you have a podcast and a movement called Prime Spark.
Speaker:Where did that idea come from?
Speaker:Oh, Wendy.
Speaker:I love to talk about that.
Speaker:Before I say that, may I just add to your introduction that in 1920, white women were
Speaker:given the right to vote.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Sarah. American women, women of color did not get the right to vote until, I don't know,
Speaker:1964. Something.
Speaker:So when we talk about that, I think it's important to highlight.
Speaker:Yeah. Thank you for.
Speaker:That vote at that time.
Speaker:Yeah. Prime Spark.
Speaker:Oh wow.
Speaker:I had been.
Speaker:Doing this, that and the other thing with my consulting company, and I realized at one
Speaker:point that I had been either a consultant or an employee in corporate America for over 40
Speaker:years. That was enough.
Speaker:That that that really that was enough.
Speaker:And so I was trying to figure out, okay, what do I want to do now?
Speaker:And it occurred to me that what I want to do is work with and on behalf of older women
Speaker:now. This was sort of in the back of my mind.
Speaker:And then one day I was sitting in a doctor's examining office.
Speaker:I was sitting on a metal chair.
Speaker:It was cold.
Speaker:I was waiting for the doctor and I was waiting and I was waiting.
Speaker:And I got colder and colder.
Speaker:And finally he came in and he had a starched white jacket and dark glasses and gray hair.
Speaker:And he had an iPad or some kind of tablet.
Speaker:He didn't look at me.
Speaker:He looked at the tablet and he said, Why are you here?
Speaker:And I said, Well, when I walk, the calves hurt on my legs.
Speaker:And he said, Well, how far do you walk?
Speaker:He never looked at me once, not once, the entire time I was in that room.
Speaker:And I said, Well, I like to walk as close to 10,000 steps a day as I can.
Speaker:I don't always get there, but I like it.
Speaker:And he said, I have patients who can't walk to the front door and back to get their mail.
Speaker:What you need to do is find a path with benches.
Speaker:Oh. Oh.
Speaker:Wrong thing to say.
Speaker:Oh, I was just.
Speaker:I didn't say that, but I wish I had George.
Speaker:Don't tell me to find a path with benches.
Speaker:Last year, I did the California AIDS Life Cycle ride.
Speaker:It's a bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, 545 miles.
Speaker:Don't tell me to find a path with benches.
Speaker:Yeah. If I'd been in my thirties, would he have said find a path with benches?
Speaker:No. He would have helped me figure out what to do with my legs.
Speaker:So they didn't hurt so I could continue doing what I was doing was walking, but so I
Speaker:could continue doing whatever exercise.
Speaker:And so that catalyzed my desire to work with and on behalf of older women.
Speaker:And at that time, I was working with a coach, trying to figure out what I wanted to
Speaker:do next. And she said.
Speaker:When I said I wanted to work with older and on behalf of older women, she said, Oh, your
Speaker:golden years.
Speaker:Everybody's giving you feeding, feeding for your idea.
Speaker:Oh, no.
Speaker:I mean, all of this was good in the sense that it fueled me and it's given me wonderful
Speaker:stories. But at the time I was just no, I said I.
Speaker:I want to help older women find that spark deep inside that will ignite their way into
Speaker:the world with their with everything they have to give.
Speaker:Right now, in the prime of their lives, in their fifties, sixties and seventies, because
Speaker:that's a prime of our life anymore.
Speaker:Oh, Prime Spark Prime.
Speaker:So that's what it was.
Speaker:It was not your golden years.
Speaker:It prime spark.
Speaker:And that's that's where that all came from.
Speaker:That's great. Those people were sent to you as messengers there.
Speaker:To get you go.
Speaker:That's right. At the time, I was livid.
Speaker:But, you know, in retrospect, I thought, Thank you.
Speaker:Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker:Oh, my gosh. So how old were you when you did that bike ride?
Speaker:Well, that's sort of a funny story in itself.
Speaker:I was 74.
Speaker:Wow. So actually, it was three years ago because now I'm 77.
Speaker:But when I was in the doctor's office, it was a year or two ago.
Speaker:Right. Right. And that I was at that time when I when I started training for it, I was
Speaker:73. And I had been very cautious about saying what my age was because I was still
Speaker:doing consulting and some in Silicon Valley.
Speaker:And you don't consult in Silicon Valley when you're 73.
Speaker:And so I, I just was very quiet about my age.
Speaker:But I opened the San Jose Mercury News one day and there was my picture with the
Speaker:headline, 73 year old woman to do AIDS Life Cycle.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:All right. It's out there.
Speaker:Okay. That's it.
Speaker:That's the end of that.
Speaker:Wow. That's quite an accomplishment.
Speaker:Yeah. I bikes and I don't do well together.
Speaker:So good for you.
Speaker:So you've talked about this reinvention a little bit, you know, from the employee to
Speaker:your own company now a podcast host and a motivator and inspirer of women.
Speaker:So what do you think is some of the most important things to confront or to address
Speaker:when you're facing transitions?
Speaker:I think three things, I guess.
Speaker:I think it's important to not know what's next and to and to not pressure yourself.
Speaker:I got to know. I got to know I got a new.
Speaker:Yeah. And and you will if you just keep working with it.
Speaker:So it's okay.
Speaker:When you first start getting that inkling, it's okay not to know.
Speaker:None of us knows immediately.
Speaker:But secondly, I would say that.
Speaker:Don't jump into something until you're ready.
Speaker:I went through a major transition, leaving corporate.
Speaker:And I wasn't sure at all what was next.
Speaker:But I was so ready that it was it was scarier to think of staying than going.
Speaker:And I don't recommend you necessarily get to that point, but at some point, you'll you'll
Speaker:be ready. And the third point I would say is and it's still scary.
Speaker:It is. It is.
Speaker:The transitions are very scary.
Speaker:And that's okay.
Speaker:That's okay. I mean, unknown is scary.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:But it doesn't mean we don't do it.
Speaker:That's right. Sometimes sitting in the discomfort is where you need to be.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And when you were starting to formulate this idea of the prime spark, did you have any
Speaker:inkling that you were going to be doing a podcast?
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Had you ever done anything like that before?
Speaker:Well, it's a bit I mean, for for a year, a couple of years ago, I had an online radio
Speaker:show, right. Radio show called Prime Spark.
Speaker:And I loved it.
Speaker:I love doing it.
Speaker:But it sort of ran its course.
Speaker:And then when?
Speaker:I podcasting doesn't just come in, but I became aware of it and I thought, Oh, well, I
Speaker:really liked the radio show, maybe I'd like to do podcasting and I love to do it.
Speaker:I mean, you know, it's really it's really fun.
Speaker:It's fun. And you meet great people and you're on a lifelong, lifelong learning
Speaker:transition as you go through it, too.
Speaker:That's right. That's exactly right.
Speaker:It's it's learning from the people you're you're talking to.
Speaker:And it's a constant learning of technology because things keep changing all the time.
Speaker:Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker:So as a leader in the women's movement in the sixties and seventies and now with the
Speaker:older women's revolution, talk to me about what you think has changed, what progress
Speaker:we've made and what still needs to be done.
Speaker:Well, I think we've made a lot of progress since the fifties and sixties seventies.
Speaker:Women's role in society has changed.
Speaker:I mean, there's there's no questioning that.
Speaker:I think there was a very funny thing going around on the Internet recently about, oh,
Speaker:this was an old ad I don't know if it was really old, but it was made to look old and
Speaker:it could have been a real ad because there were ads like this.
Speaker:There was a woman sitting on her knees at a Christmas tree, and she had her eyes closed.
Speaker:And she was wishing, wishing, wishing and her male partner behind her had placed under
Speaker:the tree. Her gift, which was a vacuum cleaner.
Speaker:And the saying was something like George spent the next several weeks in the hospital
Speaker:with many multiple injuries, but that kind of thing was real.
Speaker:I mean, I remember when I was growing up, when we got television or we would watch a
Speaker:young. Twirl in the kitchen, showing off her refrigerator.
Speaker:Remember? Oh, my gosh.
Speaker:So from all those days, we certainly, certainly have made a lot of changes.
Speaker:There's still a lot to be done.
Speaker:I think that.
Speaker:Three things jumped in my mind that that definitely still need to be done.
Speaker:One. We need to have more women in higher levels in all or all kinds of organization.
Speaker:We're doing better in government.
Speaker:We're doing better in corporations, but we're certainly not there yet.
Speaker:So we need to have more women in higher levels.
Speaker:We also finally need to get equal pay for equal work.
Speaker:Why is that a question in 2022?
Speaker:And so we need equal pay for equal work and we need.
Speaker:Affordable, top quality child care.
Speaker:For many women, that is a real stumbling block.
Speaker:And for women who have to work in order to support their families, that is.
Speaker:Just so unequal and it's not fair.
Speaker:And so we need better child care.
Speaker:I mean, we need better childcare for all working women, but particularly for women who
Speaker:really don't have the means to hire top quality child care.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, that's so difficult.
Speaker:I remember dealing with that.
Speaker:So the younger women now, I think took for granted a lot of the changes that we had
Speaker:fought for until Rowe v Wade was overturned.
Speaker:So I think that was a wake up call for them.
Speaker:Yeah. Are you finding ways to work with younger women also to spark this prime spark
Speaker:revolution?
Speaker:Oh, Wendy, that's a great question.
Speaker:I want to do that because.
Speaker:Um, for a lot of reasons.
Speaker:But if we're going to change how older women are seen and treated in our society, younger
Speaker:women have to be involved in it because they are at some point going to be older women.
Speaker:And so for that reason, I really want them to be involved.
Speaker:I really want them to be involved because I think we've made a very difficult world for
Speaker:younger women.
Speaker:I think it's really hard and I would like to provide some support and guidance
Speaker:and alleviate some of the difficulties, if possible.
Speaker:And so what I'm what I'm just getting ready to start actually, is what I'm calling a
Speaker:Prime Spark Co mentoring circle.
Speaker:And what I intend for that is to have older women and younger women work together in
Speaker:pairs in co mentoring because we have at least as much to learn from them as they have
Speaker:from us. And so I'm I'm hoping to do that fairly soon.
Speaker:We'll see. We'll see if it goes.
Speaker:Oh, I just wanted to say something and it went out of my mind.
Speaker:But anyway, yes, I think.
Speaker:Oh, I know. I think that one of the real difficulties we have now is what we have that
Speaker:keeps being highlighted and made worse are the the the difficulties between generations.
Speaker:And we need really want to stop talking about, you know, Gen Xers and Zs and, you
Speaker:know, we're we just are all who we are and there's a continuum of age and it doesn't
Speaker:have slices.
Speaker:I mean, time doesn't have those kind of slices.
Speaker:So I would really like to do these co mentoring circles so that both younger and
Speaker:older women can see we have a lot more in common than we knew.
Speaker:We do. We do.
Speaker:Sarah In fact that my show last week was all about we need to stop the shaming and blaming
Speaker:between the generations.
Speaker:Yes. And find ways to.
Speaker:I mean, there is differences in the languages and differences in the, you know,
Speaker:Gen Z, my grandchildren's generation does speak different languages sometimes, and they
Speaker:text differently and all of that.
Speaker:But like you said, it's a it's a co mentoring.
Speaker:We can learn from them.
Speaker:They can learn from us and break down those barriers.
Speaker:I love that idea.
Speaker:So let me know how I can support you on that one.
Speaker:Oh, fantastic. I would love that one.
Speaker:Yeah, that would be awesome.
Speaker:So, you know, talking about all of the work that we've done over the years for the
Speaker:women's movement, I also was very involved.
Speaker:There are times like it's very frustrating, right?
Speaker:I mean, we've worked so hard and and then we get socked in the gut.
Speaker:So I'm curious what you do when you feel frustrated to kind of dig yourself out of
Speaker:that hole and get back up and go, no, we still have a lot to do.
Speaker:Yeah, that's, yeah.
Speaker:I mean, I think that for a lot of us when Ro V Wade was overturned, it was just a gut
Speaker:punch. I mean, I suppose I should have seen that coming.
Speaker:But until it got close to actually happening, I thought it never would.
Speaker:I just. Right.
Speaker:Settled law.
Speaker:It was settled law, wasn't it?
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:So that and I just a couple of weeks ago saw the movie she said, which is absolutely
Speaker:superb.
Speaker:I haven't seen that yet.
Speaker:You got to see it. And everybody who has any contact with a younger woman, if she will
Speaker:agree to go with you or just go.
Speaker:Younger women need to see that movie.
Speaker:So I don't know, Wendy, I yes, I get very frustrated.
Speaker:I just I get.
Speaker:Oh. What a waste of time.
Speaker:I mean, you know what?
Speaker:And then I think about.
Speaker:Well, now, wait a minute.
Speaker:You know, look at the changes that have happened.
Speaker:Look at some of the good stuff that is happening now.
Speaker:And so if I let myself feel really blue for a while, then I will gradually come back to
Speaker:an equilibrium, because that's just sort of the way I'm made, I think.
Speaker:I also have a meditation practice.
Speaker:I don't know what I would do without it because it helps me stay.
Speaker:You know, This too will change.
Speaker:Yeah, Yeah.
Speaker:It will change.
Speaker:But it's not I mean, for for any anybody who is is involved at all.
Speaker:It's not easy.
Speaker:It's not easy. And I think surrounding ourselves with people like you, with our
Speaker:girlfriends in any organizations that we are involved in, Yes, definitely helps us get
Speaker:back on track.
Speaker:So let's turn it around.
Speaker:What are you excited about now, looking out into 2023?
Speaker:I think one of the things I'm most excited about is I've been working with Prime Spark
Speaker:now going on three years because it was really 2020 when I don't have anything else
Speaker:to do, you know? It was.
Speaker:That's right. You were locked up.
Speaker:So even during the last two and a half to three years, there are there's a
Speaker:huge burgeoning number of people who are involved in anti ageism.
Speaker:That wasn't true even two and a half, three years ago, to the extent it is now.
Speaker:There are so many books that are being written there are it just go online now.
Speaker:I know some of it is because that's what I'm involved in and that's what I see.
Speaker:It's sort of like if you buy a red car, then when you go out all you see a red car.
Speaker:So I understand that.
Speaker:But it's but it's also accurate.
Speaker:It's also true.
Speaker:And so I think that the boomers, to use a generational term, are
Speaker:just absolutely not going to sit down and be treated like that.
Speaker:Doctor treated me well.
Speaker:I mean, we're different.
Speaker:I mean, we're different and we're we're just not we're just not going to allow it.
Speaker:It's just not going to happen.
Speaker:And there's this huge bubble of people coming along and they're just going to say,
Speaker:no, you know, this is who I am.
Speaker:Look at me. I'm vibrant, I'm alive.
Speaker:I'm not going to sit down and play whatever for the rest of my life unless I really want
Speaker:to. And if somebody really wants to, then go ahead, sit down and play whatever.
Speaker:But I want people to actually have the choice and not think that's the only way
Speaker:ahead, because it's not.
Speaker:I mean, look around at the numbers of people who are thriving in their sixties, seventies,
Speaker:eighties, nineties.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:I'm just going to get more so.
Speaker:So I find all of that really exciting and hopeful.
Speaker:Well, and I find exciting.
Speaker:One of the things that you have coming up in the beginning of 2023, and that's this
Speaker:women's conference.
Speaker:Tell us more about that.
Speaker:Oh, I'm so excited.
Speaker:Thank you for asking me.
Speaker:Conference is called Women over 50 Making the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life
Speaker:because I believe that it's not just a saying for me.
Speaker:I believe it. Women I talk to who are over 50, I ask every single woman I interview, Do
Speaker:you experience getting older?
Speaker:And she will say, Well, yeah, in my body I do.
Speaker:But other than that, I feel better.
Speaker:I feel more me, I feel stronger, I feel.
Speaker:And so I believe the rest of your life can be the best of your life.
Speaker:And so we're having this conference.
Speaker:I've wanted to have this conference for a couple of years now, and we kept trying to
Speaker:have it. And just as we would get ready to go forward with it, there would be another
Speaker:huge surge and everything would be shut down.
Speaker:And actually we couldn't find a venue that was open to large groups.
Speaker:I don't know if that's true in all the country, but it's true in California.
Speaker:And so finally, sometime last year, I said, okay, we're going virtual because we're
Speaker:having this. Conference.
Speaker:I this conference has to happen.
Speaker:I'm not saying it's the first conference for older women.
Speaker:I'm not saying that because the moment I say that there will be five emails saying I had
Speaker:one in Kentucky, I had one in Florida.
Speaker:So I'm not saying that, but I haven't been able to find it.
Speaker:So I'm saying we are among the very first conferences for older women and we have a
Speaker:wonderful line up of speakers for keynotes.
Speaker:We have wonderful breakouts and it will all be virtual.
Speaker:I know it would be fun to be together.
Speaker:I wish we could be together, but thank goodness for Zoom or whatever one uses
Speaker:because at least we can see one another.
Speaker:We can talk, we can listen to good speakers and oh, I want everybody to go.
Speaker:I think you'll really love it.
Speaker:The the early bird price ends December 31st, so that is week and a half away.
Speaker:So you need to do it now.
Speaker:So please come and join us.
Speaker:And what what is that price?
Speaker:The early bird is 79 and the regular is 99.
Speaker:I mean, that's such a it's an all day affair, right?
Speaker:Such a great price.
Speaker:And some can't afford it.
Speaker:Send me an email and we'll work it out.
Speaker:I don't want anybody not to be able to go because she can't afford it.
Speaker:So let me know because we'll work it out.
Speaker:And what's the date?
Speaker:Sarah February 8th.
Speaker:Wednesday, February 8th, from 930.
Speaker:Pacific Pacific time and we're saying it's ending around 430 or five.
Speaker:But the last thing we're doing is having the online party.
Speaker:So that will go as long as anybody wants to grab their beverage of choice and party with
Speaker:us.
Speaker:So woo hoo for you that you are like figuring out how to do this whole virtual conference.
Speaker:That's very impressive, Sarah.
Speaker:Thank you. It's. We're doing it.
Speaker:That's. That's. I just.
Speaker:I just said, okay, this is it.
Speaker:We're doing this. I don't know how we're doing it, but we're doing it.
Speaker:You're figuring it out.
Speaker:And so, yeah, hopefully everyone will attend.
Speaker:Because you told me about some of the speakers.
Speaker:I mean, some very well known people will be speakers.
Speaker:So that's.
Speaker:Pretty exciting.
Speaker:Too. It's very exciting.
Speaker:Yeah. So when you made the change from corporate to your own company and now to
Speaker:this, were there some lessons that you learned that you wish you had known at some
Speaker:point when you were making those changes?
Speaker:I think. I think a little bit of what I said before, that it's okay to be scared, Sarah.
Speaker:You don't have to have all this figured out.
Speaker:I didn't have it figured out.
Speaker:I resigned from a very good job, from a very good company after 20 years without having
Speaker:the vaguest idea of what I was going to do.
Speaker:I just knew it was time to go.
Speaker:So I sold most of what I owned.
Speaker:But what? I was left in my car and drove to San Francisco from the East Coast because I
Speaker:knew I wanted to live in San Francisco.
Speaker:Then I spent a year trying to decide what I wanted to do.
Speaker:Now bless my company.
Speaker:They kept hiring me back as a consultant, so I had funding during that year, but I had no
Speaker:idea what I was going to do.
Speaker:And I finally realized what I wanted to do and I set about doing it.
Speaker:But what I learned was.
Speaker:You don't need to know exactly what you're going to do, what you do need.
Speaker:And this is something I wish I had paid a bit more attention to.
Speaker:You do need to make sure you are sufficiently funded for your basic needs.
Speaker:Because you don't want to make a big leap and then have to live on credit cards because
Speaker:that's devastating and you don't want to start from that.
Speaker:So I didn't I didn't have to do that because I did have this help, this backup from the
Speaker:company where I had worked.
Speaker:But I do know some people who have just gotten to the end and left whatever they were
Speaker:doing and without any kind of a plan at all.
Speaker:And that's not good because we don't make the best decisions when we're really, really
Speaker:scared and you don't want to get really, really scared.
Speaker:So I think what I learned, one of the things I learned was it's okay to be scared.
Speaker:It's okay to not know.
Speaker:But do have some kind of a plan to take care of yourself, basically, so that you don't get
Speaker:scared.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:That's so important.
Speaker:And you're right. We don't make good decisions when we are scared.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Yeah. Hmm.
Speaker:So we're heading into the new Year, like I said.
Speaker:And, you know, I do like a word of the year.
Speaker:In fact, I'm going to blog about that this year.
Speaker:And some people do resolutions.
Speaker:And I was wondering if you do either one or if you have another practice that you take
Speaker:will take into 2023 with you.
Speaker:Oh, Wendy, that's really interesting because I was just thinking about that last night and
Speaker:I realized that I'm not going to make New Year's resolutions.
Speaker:I'm not going to do it because I never keep them.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:I mean, literally one year I watched myself wake up on January 1st and find the piece of
Speaker:paper I had written them on and cross them out.
Speaker:I literally did that.
Speaker:Other years, they've just sort of petered out.
Speaker:Like if you go to a gym, you watch that happen.
Speaker:It is so crowded the first week of January and it gradually gets less crowded.
Speaker:You just wait until February, you know, everything will be back to normal.
Speaker:And so I decided I'm not going to make resolutions and.
Speaker:I'm going to think about.
Speaker:In what ways would my life be more satisfying to me in 2023?
Speaker:I like that.
Speaker:And. What do I need to think about doing in order to, at the end of
Speaker:2023 realize that?
Speaker:My life has been more satisfying because I was able to.
Speaker:Da da da da da da da da da.
Speaker:Me. I have a great life and there are some things that I really would like to do
Speaker:differently. And so I'm going to I'm going to make it just easier.
Speaker:I'm not I'm not going to write it down.
Speaker:I'm not going or I may write it down, but I'm not going to write it down.
Speaker:In terms of 2023 New Year's resolutions, right?
Speaker:I would if I write it down anymore.
Speaker:Just just in terms of a reminder, I like what somebody I've read the other day,
Speaker:somebody suggested, oh, I don't I'm not going to remember this exactly, but it was
Speaker:like writing a letter to yourself.
Speaker:Your future self.
Speaker:Well, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:But it's like write it on 20.
Speaker:Write it on December 1st, 2023, about what you've seen that was different during the
Speaker:year, you know, and then hide it and take it out on December 31st, 2020.
Speaker:And I sort of like that.
Speaker:That seems like a gentle way of making some suggestions for yourself.
Speaker:And I like the word satisfied.
Speaker:How will I be satisfied?
Speaker:Because it doesn't have to be like this major overpowering, like New Year's
Speaker:resolutions, You know, I'm going to lose this much weight and work out this much.
Speaker:And because you're right, we don't live up to it.
Speaker:But that's what I like about the words, like this year.
Speaker:My word was acceptance and mastery.
Speaker:And I put them up on my board, you know, and I could look at them every once in a while.
Speaker:I'm going, okay, okay, how am I doing on those?
Speaker:You know, that's good, Wendy.
Speaker:I like that.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So will you tell us your 2023 word?
Speaker:Are you going to wait to blog about it?
Speaker:I'm going to wait to blog about it.
Speaker:And then I.
Speaker:Yeah, encourage everybody to come up with their word and let's share them around.
Speaker:I know it's exciting.
Speaker:Fun.
Speaker:I like that stuff.
Speaker:Thank you. So, Sarah, as you know, I do it with Hey, Boomer, a lot of what you do with
Speaker:Prime Spark, and that is to inspire people over 55 to stay fully engaged, to recognize
Speaker:that we still have a lot to give.
Speaker:And I'm wondering if you have two or three takeaways that you would like to leave with
Speaker:the Hey Boomer audience and invite them to Prime Spark two.
Speaker:Yeah, see, let's see.
Speaker:One of the things that makes me positive is that you and I are doing so much similar
Speaker:things. That's very exciting to me, I would say.
Speaker:This sounds trite because it's so overused, but I do think it's important to really think
Speaker:about what is most important to me at this point in my life and going forward.
Speaker:And that might be really big deal stuff.
Speaker:I mean, it might be the climate is so important to me.
Speaker:So I really I really want to be involved in environmentalism.
Speaker:And maybe that's in your town.
Speaker:I mean, it doesn't you don't have to go to Washington and start lobbying unless you want
Speaker:to then go.
Speaker:But just what is most important and figure out how you're going to be involved in that
Speaker:going forward.
Speaker:So I think I think that secondly, if you if you feel you need support to do that, get it.
Speaker:I mean, there's there's groups, there's coaches.
Speaker:You can find a supportive friend, but be careful about people, you know, because there
Speaker:are sometimes people who know us well don't want us to change.
Speaker:They really are comfortable with who we are and what we've been and how they've known us.
Speaker:So if you're going to talk to a trusted friend about this, make sure the person will
Speaker:support you in stepping out in whatever way you're dreaming, because that's not always
Speaker:the case. And you don't want somebody who's important to you talking you out of it.
Speaker:You want them talking you into it.
Speaker:So that support somehow.
Speaker:And and third, thirdly, I would say and realize that you are enough right now
Speaker:just the way you are.
Speaker:The world desperately needs your skills and abilities and wisdom right now.
Speaker:Look at the world.
Speaker:The world needs our old women's wisdom.
Speaker:It needs you.
Speaker:And so step out with who you are because you are enough.
Speaker:You for that. Sarah, That was beautiful.
Speaker:And I and I second that you are enough and ask for help when you need it.
Speaker:That's beautiful. Thank you.
Speaker:So let me tell people how they can find you besides the women's conference.
Speaker:So if you have questions for Sarah, you can email her directly at Sarah.
Speaker:Hart.
Speaker:At heart RomCom and Heart is HRT.
Speaker:Heart.
Speaker:And Sarah.
Speaker:Hart.
Speaker:And you can find her website and her blogs and her speaking opportunities and her
Speaker:podcast and everything else she's doing at Prime Spark Women w0men prime spark women dot
Speaker:com. And take advantage of this conference that Sarah has coming up.
Speaker:I hope to be there.
Speaker:I hope to see all of the hay boomer audience there women over 50 conference dot com.
Speaker:And I'm telling you if Sarah is behind it it's going to be remarkable so join it.
Speaker:Yes please do.
Speaker:One more thing I would like to say, Wendy, we even have some prime greeting cards that
Speaker:are available and those are on on the Web, on the prime Spark website also.
Speaker:It's a terrific gift for a woman over 50.
Speaker:They they champion older women rather than make fun of us.
Speaker:Nice.
Speaker:Yeah, they're really fun.
Speaker:Yeah. So let me just ask you all to recommend to your friends and family that they
Speaker:subscribe to. Hey, Boomer, they can find all of the podcasts there.
Speaker:They can get our newsletter of what we have going on.
Speaker:So that's email me at Wendy at Hey Boomer Dot Babies.
Speaker:Also, if you want more information about the Costa Rica trip, Sara, think about coming to
Speaker:Costa Rica with us.
Speaker:I am thinking about that.
Speaker:Wendy used to be so fun.
Speaker:So email me at Wendy at Hey Boomer Dot Biz and check out all the other trips that Rhodes
Speaker:Scholar offers. In fact, some of them, you don't even have to go anywhere.
Speaker:They're virtual trips so you can go to road road scholar dot org slash Hey Boomer and
Speaker:check those out.
Speaker:So let me tell you all, this is my last show for 2022.
Speaker:I'm going to spend the next two weeks thinking about my word, organizing my office
Speaker:planning for next year.
Speaker:And I hope that you find the people that you love and the people who love you to spend
Speaker:this holiday with and have a wonderful holiday season.
Speaker:And I will be back on Monday.
Speaker:Day, January nine.
Speaker:Collie Jan.
Speaker:With Joe.
Speaker:Gloria And Joe is a financial planner.
Speaker:He has some interesting ideas about living a life of financial fulfillment in retirement.
Speaker:Things like having your money work for you.
Speaker:Giving to causes.
Speaker:What do you want? What do you think about retirement?
Speaker:So just some important questions to think about.
Speaker:And I like to leave you with the belief that we can all live with passion, live with
Speaker:relevance and live with courage.
Speaker:And we are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.
Speaker:My name is Wendy Green with Sarah Hart.
Speaker:And this has been.