To meet these questions and stay engaged in dreaming and action, it’s important to maintain resilience.  Hope – the expectation of a better future is an essential aspect of resilience.  When feeling overwhelmed or in despair beauty is my ‘go to’.  It is a balm for my heart and spirit, especially the beauty and resilience of nature.  Living in the mountains, I experience the garden and the mountains being completely covered and frozen under snow in winter, and then what looks dead, comes to life and greens up in the Spring.  It opens my heart to awe and wonder, settles my nervous system and restores a sense of inner calm and hope for the future.  If nature can do that, certainly we can!

Beauty may be a key source of resilience and hope for you, or it may be something else.  What is your ‘go to’?  Who or what gives you strength, restores your inner balance, clarity and hope?

Engage with whatever your answer is to those questions, for hope keeps your dreams alive, and dreaming is the first step to making something real.  When you’re ready for action, in the words of David Whyte, “Start close in.”  Trust your knowing and take just that first step that’s right in front of you.  The one you see clearly. Like driving at night, only seeing what your headlights illuminate in the darkness, that first step will lead you to the next one.

Sabrina Roblin, CPCC, a former executive and founder of Life Reinspired, is happily enjoying her best chapter of life. She now helps others do the same. Schedule a free Life Reinspired Strategy Session or email info@lifereinspired.com.

The pandemic has forced me along with most of us to change that.  It has slowed us down, quarantined us as families, couples, and individuals, giving us time for reflection and realizing what and who is most important in our lives.  It’s given most of us that time for the future to catch up to us, and so it’s the opportune time to ask, what is catching up to me and how is it calling me?  The calling can show up as a problem that needs solving, a challenge that needs to be overcome, an emerging desire of the heart or an unrequited dream from the past that comes knocking again now that it thinks you have the time to listen.

To live a “reinspired life” is to respond to the calling.  Through responding we bring vitality, passion and adventure to our lives.  We also bring our full presence, dreams and vision to a world that desperately needs us right now.  A reinspired life is not just about ME.  It is imagined within the context of the WE of our relationships, our communities and the world.  It inspires personal growth, contribution and meaning. Major life transitions are an opening and an opportunity to make the calling real.

Embrace it.  If it’s not clear, track your night and daydreams, journal, and call me for a conversation.  I’m grateful for the fullness of my practice and always enjoy breathing life into clarifying and manifesting what’s calling you in your next chapter.

Sabrina Roblin, CPCC is Co-Founder of Life Reinspired, offering coaching and training programs for successful Baby Boomers contemplating a meaningful next chapter in life. Sabrina is an experienced executive, mentor, trainer, and coach. She has worked for organizations that include Wells Fargo Bank, Broderbund Software, and The Coaches Training Institute. Schedule a conversation!

By Sabrina Roblin

The series of disasters of the last month have devastated homes, neighborhoods and families.  I’m finding it difficult to write a blog about a Reinspired Life today while close friends are in shock and suffering the loss of their home and neighborhood in California.  I know there are many others suffering the same or similar losses in other parts of the country and the world as well.  What it inspires in me is the question, what can I do today? How can I make a difference?

I admit to having a bias, that having resources is not enough.  Sharing and contributing to others who have less is not only essential to our own well-being, it’s at the heart of our humanity and our democracy.  We must give back to others if we are to thrive.

So how does that relate to a Reinspired Life?  Each of us has a set of unique skills, resources, experiences and expertise.  Applying that unique set to who and what we care about is a win-win as it will feed our heart and soul, as we serve our community and our world.  And a new and fulfilling life purpose can emerge from the experience.

Facilitating the Life Reinspired program – helping people in transition sort out who they are today and what they want to do next is one of the ways I give back.  When I see people in the program find new passion, vision and purpose, and design ways to make a positive impact in the world, it lights me up and gives me more hope for the future.  Are you in transition?  Do you wonder what to do next and how you can contribute? 

Are you in a position to contribute to others?  Then start today to review your unique set of skills, resources, experiences and expertise and look for ways you can apply them to the people and situations you care about in your community and the world.  You are needed.  You will make a difference.

Sabrina Roblin is Co-Founder of Life Reinspired, a reset lab for successful Baby Boomers contemplating a meaningful next chapter in life. Sabrina is an experienced executive, mentor, trainer, and coach. She has worked for organizations that include Wells Fargo Bank, Broderbund Software, and The Coaches Training Institute.

“Studies are showing that the potential for creative expression in the second half of life is not the exception but the rule.”

– Gene D. Cohen, M.D., Ph.D. Author, The Creative Age

Reading the title of this blog, you might have had visions of a toddler finger painting, or of drama class in high school.  Surprise! We’re talking about the second half of life- what our culture refers to as retirement age.

Independent research about aging and the plasticity of the brain, and books like Gene Cohen’s, The Creative Age are showing us that we continue to learn, grow, love and create throughout our lives.  That old adage, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” is being proven wrong.  This is such good news! All we have to do is step into the possibilities that are open to us.  Our culture’s preoccupation with youth and staying young can give us the message that once we come to retirement, we’ve reached our peak and we’re on the downward slide.  If we can let go of the cultural myths about aging and retirement, and embrace a new concept of what youthfulness and contribution look like, post-retirement can be a time of blossoming into the as yet unmanifested gifts, talents and dreams of our lives.  Freedom from the time and commitment we had to working our careers and raising our family, etc. gives us that opportunity.

Leaving a long held career can be disorienting due to the loss of the structure, goals and relationships related to the job.  It can take some soul searching and the support of friends, family and colleagues to find our footing in this new territory.  If you are going through this transition, big changes are happening in your internal landscape.  By engaging in creative pursuits and giving yourself time to explore and awaken your potential in new ways, you gain new insights.

Another myth you may need to bust is that only “artists” are creative.  We are all creative.  Creativity can manifest in many different ways: writing in a journal, drawing or painting, tending a garden, taking photographs, playing with a grandchild, coloring, woodworking, problem solving.  Find what is enjoyable and fulfilling for you.  The creative process will inspire and support you through the growth and change of the transition.  Books like The Creative Age and Angeles Arrien’s, Second Half of Life can be helpful resources.   Engage in the activities you love and with the people you love.  As you do, you’ll discover new insights and direction.  There is so much richness available in the second half of life.  Stay present, create, and enjoy!

The transition out of a long held career and into the next chapter of choice and freedom can be challenging to navigate. Life Reinspired offers guidance and support for the journey. Come participate with us in our workshops and programs to support and help guide you on this journey.

Sabrina Roblin is Co-Founder of Life Reinspired, a reset lab for successful Baby Boomers contemplating a meaningful next chapter in life. Sabrina is an experienced executive, mentor, trainer, and coach. She has worked for organizations that include Wells Fargo Bank, Broderbund Software, and The Coaches Training Institute.

Time is a non-renewable resource.  Once we spend it, it’s gone.  We can’t get it back, we can’t grow more, and as we move along the continuum of life, we have less and less, which makes it one of the most precious resources we have.  It’s something we don’t like to talk about or think about, but we all have an expiration date.  It could be tomorrow and it could be 50 years from now, we just don’t know.   For those of us in mid-life or later, we have less time in front of us than we do behind us.  It can be useful to wrap our minds around it in service of inspiring us to set our priorities about how we want to live, work, play and contribute in the years we have left.

Here’s an exercise that will make this more real.  Pull out a measuring tape.  Just for the sake of the exercise, give yourself an age you think will be your final year of life.  Let’s estimate it’s 85.  Now using the beginning of the tape as representing when you were born, find where 85 inches is on the measuring tape, then find the number of the age you are now.  Let’s say it’s 60.  Now compare the distance on the tape between 0 and 60 vs. the distance between 60 and 85. The distance is shorter ahead.

If you’re reading this, you most likely have the gift of resources and freedom to make choices in how you live your life.  Given that your time is finite and limited, how do you want to spend it?  Who do you want to spend it with?  How do you want to be remembered?  Are there relationships to mend?  Are there new ones you want to bring into your life?  What are the adventures you want to take?  Is there a book you want to write, a program you want to create, or a non-profit you want to volunteer for?  What do you enjoy? Whatever it is, the time is now.  Don’t take what life you have left for granted.  Use your time in ways that are fulfilling and leave a lasting legacy.

Spend your time well, it’s non-renewable!

At Life Reinspired we inspire Baby Boomers to create their next chapter as their best life chapter yet. Join us on your journey and find out about our workshops and programs to support your next steps!

Sabrina Roblin is Co-Founder of Life Reinspired, a reset lab for successful Baby Boomers contemplating a meaningful next chapter in life. Sabrina is an experienced executive, mentor, trainer, and coach. She has worked for organizations that include Wells Fargo Bank, Broderbund Software, and The Coaches Training Institute.

In last week’s blog post, Michael McNeill wrote about the Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain workshop we took together—and how it helped us discover a new way of looking at the world. I’ve had a few more musings since, as follows: The left hemisphere of the human brain is charged with risk assessment, due diligence, symbolic and logical processes, and a strong task focus. We’d never get anything done without it. The left hemisphere is also the seat of judgment, including “I can’t” and various kinds of mental self-flagellation. The right hemisphere perceives things as they are—pre-codifying–and sees everything as possible. We couldn’t create or love without it. The right brain is a fabulous hang-out, though spend too much time here and the fog may roll in. We’re always using both hemispheres, of course; the trick is to integrate and balance the two for optional functioning.

Here’s how this relates to the Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain class. Everyone in the class was a rank beginner at drawing. The younger participants frequently went into paroxysms of  “This is terrible. I am terrible. I am paralyzed by my terribleness,” etc. There was lots of emotional energy expended in left brain self-assaults. After lunch and a walk, however, the younger participants returned to the room, focused on what they were doing, and produced remarkably cool pictures. Go figger!

Caroline before

Michael and I were the oldsters in the class. I knew I had never exhibited a whit of talent in the domain of drawing, but I didn’t actually care. I’m accomplished at other things, so it felt really cool to play around with something I’m not already good at. Michael was pretty much the same. We listened to the lectures, tried to apply the tools, and consistently surprised ourselves with the quality of our output. To tell you the truth, I was thrilled. I had no idea I could draw like that—or that drawing is not a function of magic or talent, but rather letting the right hemisphere rip on seeing shapes, shading, and relationships while keeping the left brain busy measuring angles and proportions.

And now Michael and I are wandering around our world seeing shapes and shadows and relationships everywhere…which is slightly psychedelic, I gotta say.

Like our young colleagues, we surprised ourselves with the quality of our drawings. Of course we spent time along the way thinking “How the hell am I going to do this?” But we didn’t let the emotional charge of judgment hijack the learning process. Because self-judgment is not fun. And if something’s not fun, why would you do it?

As a child, production values were a big consideration in my family—e.g., if you don’t do something well, don’t do it in

Caroline’s After Picture

public! When I was 40, inspired by Michelle Pfeiffer singing “Making Whoopie” on the piano in The Fabulous Baker Boys, I decided to take singing lessons just because I like to sing, even though talent in this area had never surfaced before. My new standard became: If you don’t do something well (but it interests you), do it as much as possible and you will improve—maybe not all the way to “good,” but certainly to “better.” Thanks to that relaxed standard, my next few decades were suffused with the joy of singing with gospel choirs backed by excellent horn sections. (Alas, though, no sitting on a piano in red sequins—not yet, anyway.)

And those standards are even lower now. When you’ve been successful and possess mastery in one or more bodies of knowledge, you have nothing left to prove. So why not sign up to learn about something that’s always intrigued you? Our brains benefit from taking on something challenging enough that we’re likely to fail at in the process of improving. Building confidence and self-esteem is not the point–we Baby Boomers already did that. Rather, the point is deleting “I can’t” from our vocabularies and trying something new. You might be thrilled with your newfound skill. You might tank big time. But really, who cares?

Maturity has its advantages.

Caroline MacNeill Hall is Co-Founder of Life Reinspired, a reset lab for successful Baby Boomers contemplating a meaningful next chapter of life. She is President of MAC Advisors, an executive coaching and leadership development company. She’s also senior faculty for the Coaches Training Institute.

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

OK, so my wife and I are not planning to move to France and sketch the River Siene while admiring passers-by vie for our output. That said, Caroline has wanted to take a “Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain” class for 30 years or so—ever since she read about it in What Really Matters, Tony Schwartz’s great book about the major strands of the American human potential movement. (Yes, that Tony Schwartz; we think he was atoning for writing Art of the Deal with you know who.) Because her age suggests she might justify retiring (but hasn’t) and mine definitely qualifies (and I have), it’s always a great idea to fulfill one of our Bucket List aspirations, so off we went to La Jolla, California, for a five-day class.

After our Day 1 self-portraits, our facilitator suggested we drew at the level of 11-year-olds; he was probably being kind given that I recall my daughter’s (better) work at that age.

My Before Picture

Caroline’s Before Picture

Bomeisler is the son of Betty Edwards, who pioneered the Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain approach. Brian is a gifted artist who carries the DRSB legacy forward in his teaching.  He posits that drawing skills have nothing to do with talent. Rather, drawing is a basic competency analogous to reading, writing, and arithmetic. Anybody can do it if they learn to look for the shapes that form an object (rather than our symbolic ideas of what a thing is supposed to look like), proportions, relationships, shadows, and light. When we were exposed to these basic principles/skills of drawing, we amazed ourselves with our improvement.

The bigger story, though, was better understanding how our brains either block or enable us to see the world around us with clear eyes. Our left hemispheres can get pretty judgmental and critical and stop us before we even try something new. By exploring these right brain-driven tools, however, we expanded our vision of what’s possible and opened a new field of absorption that includes drawing things and simply wandering around admiring shadows and shapes. (Pretty trippy, actually.)

Tapping unexpected internal resources can be thrilling—and can happen at any time of life. That’s part of what we’re exploring in the Life Reinspired program for successful Baby Boomers who are contemplating their next chapter of life.

And here are our “after” drawings!

My After Picture

Caroline’s After Picture

Michael Karr MacNeill is a senior advisor to Life Reinspired, a reset lab for successful Baby Boomers contemplating a meaningful next chapter of life. Find out more about our programs and upcoming retreats..

In thinking about creating the next chapter of your life, one of the essential tasks is reviving the imagination.

For many folks adult life hasn’t been conducive to that task.  Assignments, routine protocols, supervising staffs, executing programs, filing briefs, doing research…many of the activities of professional life encourage us to draw upon resources other than imagination. Who gets locked up in an office with the assignment—dream up something new? Except for a few entrepreneurs or think tankers—no one!

Imagination is how the mind bridges from present to future.

In a marvelous book, Into the Magic Shop, neurosurgeon James Doty describes a meditative process whereby you envision the future desired outcome as already having happened.  Imagining yourself into the future—seeing the details, allowing yourself to inhabit what it will feel like, envisioning the reactions of those who care, and grabbing the buzz of how this will be for you—when you engage in this process you increase the likelihood of your dreams manifesting.

By engaging in the imaginative process, you connect the self you are today with the self you are going to be in the future. You are the same person who negotiates into the future with continuity of identity.  It is important to note—fantasy is another story.  You may think making this distinction is a psychotherapist splitting psychological hairs!  The case I want to make is that fantasy or mental imagery  is a psychological  process that seeks to escape or enhance, change  from the self I am now.  It does nothing to help you bring your dreams into manifestation.  Fantasy is a way people who are in horrible situations “leave.” Fantasy is a way folks abandon their current selves.  In making a rich and valuable future, you don’t want to leave you current self behind.

How to enliven imagination?

Imagination yearns for down time.  Quiet, day dreamy, relaxed states are fertile ground for inviting imaginative processes.  Those who mediate understand the process of quieting, and returning again and again from the monkey mind that thinks and jumps around.  Imagination goes in a slightly different direction.  It can be like a puppy that is allowed to follow a delicious scent down the road. With imagination, quiet down, think of something fabulous and the details then—go for it!

• Think of something pleasant, and then go down that path. Follow it and see where it leads.
• Imagine a future situation that you really want to happen. Then give yourself the time to inhabit it as fully as you can.
• The biggest challenge—don’t DON’T apply any limits of reality. Don’t let the inner chatter—it costs too much—I could never make that happen—my partner would leave me—my kids would disown me—what would the people at work think.  Any such thoughts will shut down the magical potential your imagination holds for you.

Once you have really let your imagination have full rein, you will have opened a door to something really important for yourself.  Later you can let reality come in and pare things down, but if you do that too soon, your imagination won’t do the job it’s meant to do for you.

At LIFE REINSPIRED we’ve designed workshops that support making that bridge from now into the future.  Join us to imagine the next chapter of your life as the best one yet.

Katherine Olivetti is Co-Founder of Life Reinspired, a reset lab for successful Baby Boomers contemplating a meaningful next chapter of life. She is a practicing Jungian psychoanalyst, family therapist, coach, writer, and editor, training professionals throughout the world.

When we hit transition points in life, especially big ones like retiring from a career,  it’s easy to get overwhelmed and stuck, trying to figure out what’s next. A number of different things can keep us from moving forward – we’re at a loss as to what is the next step, we have too many choices, we’re afraid, we keep spinning in the planning mode, or we’re afraid of losing one or more significant relationships as a result of following a new course.  So we find ourselves in “the waiting place” as described in Dr. Seuss’s famous book, Oh The Places You’ll Go!.  (Which is an inspiring read for adults and children alike). Where everyone is “just waiting for… a Better Break, or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.  Everyone is just waiting.”

When you find yourself stuck in the waiting place, don’t judge yourself, acknowledge it, and Just Begin.

Beginning can look different for each of us.  For me, after I left my career I spent about 6 months just integrating the change, then a couple of months waiting and wondering what to do, until I decided to Just Begin.  Reading the local paper one morning, I saw that a guitar circle was happening at the library.  Music, singing and songwriting had always been a passion of mine, so I decided to attend, with no idea where it might lead.  It was just something to get me moving and out of the house, doing something I enjoyed.  At the end of the guitar circle, the leader of it asked me if I would join his local band. So again, I said yes not knowing where it might lead.  And then a few months later, I started working on my first CD which I released earlier this year and a long time dream manifested….you get the idea.

What is your way to Just Begin?  Whether it’s throwing a dinner party, volunteering, reaching out to a colleague with that idea you’ve always wanted to pursue, or a travel adventure.  Just Begin.  Take the first step and….

Oh the Places You’ll Go!
“Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!”

Come turn up the heat with us at LIFE REINSPIRED. Contact us for more information or find out more about our programs and upcoming workshops.

Sabrina Roblin is Co-Founder of Life Reinspired, a reset lab for successful Baby Boomers contemplating a meaningful next chapter in life. Sabrina is an experienced executive, mentor, trainer, and coach. She has worked for organizations that include Wells Fargo Bank, Broderbund Software, and The Coaches Training Institute. And she is a singer/songwriter. Her website.

Last month I traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico for a film festival, “Movies and Meaning”. I had never attended this particular festival before and found the selection of films especially interesting.  We previewed a documentary that is scheduled to be released this fall, I’ll Push You (2016) directed by Chris Karcher and Terry Parish.  It is the story of two friends—when Justin Gray who suffers from a debilitating disease and is confined to a wheel chair lets his life-long friend Patrick Skeesuck know one of his dreams is to make the 500 mile pilgrimage across Spain, El Camino de Santiago, Patrick responds, “I’ll push you.”  Neither has any idea what this will entail, but the film documents this arduous and touching journey.

I’ll Push You, 2016

The movie brings to life words attributed to St. Francis of Assisi:

“For in giving it is that we receive.”

The benefit that accrues to the giver isn’t usually what is highlighted in philanthropy, charity, or other acts of service, but this film drives it home big time.  Patrick, the friend who pushes the wheelchair, is deeply transformed by what he does for Justin.

Here’s a question for you:

How have you been transformed by being of service to someone else?  I would love it if you would email me your story about that.

At Life Reinspired we’re aiming to help you make the next chapter of your life the best ever, and inevitably service will be one of the ways you will be able to increase the meaning and richness of your own life.

Come turn up the heat with us at LIFE REINSPIRED. Contact us for more information or find out more about our programs and upcoming retreats.

Katherin Olivetti is Co-Founder of Life Reinspired, a reset lab for successful Baby Boomers contemplating a meaningful next chapter of life. She is a practicing Jungian psychoanalyst, family therapist, coach, writer, and editor, training professionals throughout the world.