I few years ago my friend commented to me, “you have a great way of reinventing yourself”. My first internal reaction was, ‘What? I don’t reinvent myself!’.
You see, I initially perceived this statement in a negative way, however when I took a moment to understand what she meant, I realized she was giving me a great compliment. Afterall, you always hear Madonna continues to awe by reinventing herself, and as MTV says: ‘one thing Madonna has never been: uninspiring’, she remains relevant because, she’s still here, still uncompromising, and still reinventing’.
So, last year as 55 was approaching, it came to me to live with the motto, or mantra, of ‘55 and Alive’!
Why? Not because it sounded great.
Too often I look around and see family, friends, peers, strangers once they hit upon a certain age range, their physical health declines unnecessarily. They stop growing mentally, stop living their lives and become stagnant. Most people are on autopilot just plodding along and don't take control of their life. They don't take response-ability to create their life on purpose. They think life ‘happens to me’, instead of ‘life happens through me’.
Too often I hear deeply embedded beliefs such as ‘there's nothing more at this age’, ‘I’m too old to...’, ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’, or because of my age ‘I can't do...’. I hear people say things like ‘what else do I have to live’ for’ and ‘I’ve reached my prime’.
They see this period of life as the beginning of slowly fading away, instead of viewing it as just a transition for new beginnings and new opportunities to live life in a different way.
Life doesn’t have to slowly fade as you age, you can choose to reinvent yourself, choose to live the life you want, choose to create your life on purpose! – Joanne Klepal
Here are some takeaways from my 55 and Alive!
Importance of Values:
The year started off at a super fast-forward speed, diving into working with a consultancy firm and a new corporate client who was knee deep (more like neck-deep) in a significant transformation. In a short time, I dove into a new industry, new business area, new software systems, even a little thing of jumping into using different technology (e.g. a MAC vs Windows based PC). Add to the mix an outrageous travel schedule where flight delays and cancellations were the norm, not the exception.
Since I left corporate life a few years ago, many have asked me whether I’d go back. My answer has never been a straight ‘yes’ or ‘no’. It’s been more like ‘it depends’.
Why?
Because I’m clear about my career values and what’s important to me, and I use these values to make decisions about what I will and won’t do; what I will and won’t accept. So, when the above opportunities presented themselves, I reviewed whether they aligned with my values.
It doesn’t matter what I do, if what I’m doing aligns with my values.
I learned the importance of identifying my values in all aspects of life (career, financial, relationships, spirituality, etc.) many years ago when I went through a Personal Breakthrough Experience with a coach who guided me through the process.
When you have taken the time to identify your values, you can make better decisions, better choices for yourself resulting in a happier you and a more satisfying life.
I’m grateful for all I learned and all the great people I had the opportunity to partner with and learn from.
‘You are the greatest project you’ll ever work on.
RESTART, RESET, REFOCUS as many times as you need.
Just don’t give up.’ - unknown
It’s Important to Drink Your Own Medicine
I began recognizing some old mental patterns within myself. I was feeling stuck in some patterns and knew I needed to do some spring cleaning.
You may have already heard me share about my first ‘Personal Breakthrough Experience’ with an NLP trained transformation coach. If not, you can check it out here:
In essence, a Personal Breakthrough Experience (PBE) is a deeply cleansing, mental, emotional, and energetic detox. It helps reset your mindset.
It’s important to practice what you teach. Although I am a trained NLP transformation coach and have the tools to work on myself, as I help others, I decided to drink my own medicine and look for a coach to partner with. I knew if I didn’t, I would continue to remain with those unproductive patterns. I also knew it would help me to shift my mindset to support some endeavors I had lined up.
It’s quite fitting that as I write this, I am a contributing author to a new upcoming book Mastery of the Mind: The Path to Empowerment, launching May 4 & 5, 2024, where I share more about what a Personal Breakthrough Experience is.
Mark your calendar because there will be lots of bonus gifts if you purchase during the launch. Learn more here: https://www.masteryofthemindbook.com/.
It’s Important to be Response-Able
At 55, I felt it was time to get serious about movement in my life; about by physical health. It was time to be more response-able and take action; not just for the obvious reasons, but also because it’s important to me to remain healthy and fit, and to set an example for others, that no matter your age, there is always something you can actively do to stay in shape. I want to be the person that others say, ‘I want to look like that when I’m older’.
I value being fit and healthy but up until now, haven’t given it the priority it needs in my life. Add to that the many changes a woman’s body goes through at this cycle in life, let’s say I’ve slipped a bit. Although many people tell me that I look fit for my age, I know inside there is much I can do. This is not good enough for me right now. I not only need to listen to my body more, I need to stop ignoring it and act on what it needs.
So, I turn to yoga. I freely admit that I never considered myself to be ‘good’ at yoga and certainly thought I’m not as flexible and limber as others who practice. However, these are not sufficient reasons not to practice. As a matter of fact, the great thing about yoga is that it meets you exactly where you are, as you are, regardless of your age, shape, flexibility, experience. It meets you everywhere you are (planes, walking, standing in line, sitting).
I’ve often smiled internally over the past few years as I’m frequently referred to as a yoga teacher, even though I had never taught a yoga class. I expect this must partially be the vibe I exude and partially due to my work in other healing modalities. If you’re into your yoga journey, you’ll already know that yoga is not just about physical movement; it’s a way of life.
Fifty-five and ALIVE was the year to become a yoga teacher. Ironic because when I asked my Ayurvedic doctor and yoga teacher in India, just a few years ago, where I could learn more about breathwork, they told me to train as a yoga teacher. My response: ‘I don’t want to be a yoga teacher; I just want to learn about breathwork’!
Voilà, here I am now at 56, officially a yoga teacher, being response-able for my health. Stay tuned this year for www.YogaMeetsU.com.
Along the line of my yogic path, I had the added bonus and opportunity to continue my spiritual growth by attending live events from what I feel are two real-life mystics in our modern world; Sadhguru and Dr. Joe Dispenza. These events are like a reset button for me.
What’s Next for Fifty-six?
My motto going into year 56 is explore and experiment, particularly around my thought processes and thought patterns. Taking moments to contemplate my old thought processes and asking questions before automatically reacting, before dismissing, such as: what if that wasn’t the case... what if there was a better way… what if I tried that… what if I was open to…, and so on.
With that, I will close with a fitting quote I saw this week:
It's never too late to reinvent yourself. Start a new career at 40. Fall in love at 50. Learn to dance at 60. Start a whole new life at 70. Stop saying you can't. You can and you should. Dreams don't have an expiration date. - Ravenwolff