The title of this book: “Millionaire Teacher” caught my attention in a review by John Chevreau on Wealthy Boomer.

Here’s a video of author Andrew Hallam to get a sense of who he is.

Andrew Hallam

Millionaire Teacher | Wealthy Boomer | Financial Post

opinion.financialpost.com12/21/11

While he is Canadian, Hallam teaches in Singapore, where he does NOT enjoy a DB pension. So his tale of amassing $1 million before age 40 is a little more interesting than the average Canadian teacher arriving at Freedom 55 millionaire status solely by a DB pension. …

Chevreau describes how Hallam wrote the book from a hospital bed during a bout with cancer in 2009. It’s an informative article about an interesting man who created a 9 step method for teachers (who teach over seas) to create a retirement portfolio that makes sense.

This subject of financial intelligence for teachers reminds me of Robert Kiyosaki’s motivation to provide financial education to the masses. That motivation was seeing his father (the well paid head of the educational system in Hawaii) struggle with money throughout his life and particularly as he got older.

Hallam expands the idea of teaching the principles of financial intelligence to the world of educators. And from my reading of Robert Kiyosaki’s work, I’m certain that Kiyosaki would validate Hallam’s warning about financial services sales people.

And we at Healthy Welahty Boomer would add one more recommendation to Hallam’s advice to teachers:

Buy the Cash Flow Board Game from Rich Dad Company and PLAY IT OFTEN.

I AM Michael Barrett and I AM a Baby Boomer.

Healthy Wealthy Boomer Abundance Video

Abundance is the natural default of the Universe only you would never know that watching CBS or CNN or reading the New York Times or the LA Times, attending most churches or listening to politicians, but it is anyway. We were born 100% worthy of anything and everything we desire.

I love the message and have had this on various blogs over the last five years.

ABUNDANCE…

Enjoy the video and watch it occasionally to remind yourself that it’s cool to be rich and nobody else has to suffer because you are.

You’re supposed to be rich…

Abundance is awesome.

Here is a quote I first heard from Mae West in a movie one time:

“I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor; rich is better”

Bruce Lipton, PhD ‘ The Power Of Consciousness’ – How to BE a Health Boomer

Bruce Lipton is a amazing thinker and a true leader in new science and a primary force in the field of epi-genetics. With amazing credentials as a researcher, scientist and medical school professor in allopathic science, he is a powerhouse in bringing the new paradigm into the modern understanding of how the body and human consciousness actually function, as well as bridging science and Spirit.

In many respects Lipton redefines what health is and his work is an integral part of what we teach. His definition is closely aligned with both the principles of the Healthy Wealthy Boomer philosophy and Core Health.

This is a fascinating interview and discussion about how the environment influences who we are, our behavior and the nature of our consciousness. How changing our consciousness changes our world – and literally – our biology.

Bruce Lipton is an amazing guy. My interpretation is that he is the consumate rock-star scientist. You normally don’t think about scientists as the kind of people that are a blast to hang out with. You think of beakers and Bunsen burners and hellacious midterms and white coats… Bruce Lipton seems like the kind of guy who would be fun to have at your party or as a next door neighbor or working together on a project. His vitality expresses itself through his immense energy and vivid, present intelligence.

The principles that he discusses in this video are the very same things we work with in Core Health Workshops. He talks about how the stuff we do works. In a sense he is a role model for how to think a different way – a different version of perception.

He talks also about his own transition from sickness as a way of life to becoming a healthy boomer role model and how he did this once he began to understand the power of consciousness.

You can circle me on my Google + Profile

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In our Emerging Economy and Paradigm, How Do We Define a Wealthy Boomer?

Here is my definition…

A Healthy Boomer is a Wealthy Boomer.

In my way of thinking, the old way of doing things simply doesn’t work anymore. How many people in the over 40 group are better off now than they were:

• 10 or 20 years ago?

Although this is a midterm election year, this is not a political statement or a campaign slogan. It is a comparative look at what exists today versus what we had anticipated 2010 would look like years ago. As a Baby Boomer, is 2010 what you had anticipated it would be? If you’re like many Baby Boomers, my money is on “NO.”

Given that we have what we have and what is – is, the question becomes what do we do now?

“The Media is Enough to Make Everybody Sick.”

This was my mantra for a long time. That’s why I quit listening, watching and subscribing to that stuff a long time ago. That’s also why the big three television networks are in a tail spin and major newspapers are losing circulation daily. It’s not the only reason, however it is a major component of the problem because there is so much good stuff happening in the world – way more than the bad.

I used to think the bumper sticker that said, “Kill Your Television” was clever and funny in the same vein as “My Karma Ran Over Your Dogma.”

Not listening to the gloom and doomers makes sense now – more than ever. It’s not just a catchy 10 second sound bite, it is now an emerging social survival commandment.

And yet on the gloom and doomer note…

As I write this, I realize that I have changed since I first started writing this post several months ago.

This post has been in my draft file for several months on the ‘back burner’. It was the kind of thing that needed to mature within my understanding before it was ready to be communicated.

Here’s what changed for me…

I actually just read a post by Robert Kiyosaki in his Exclusive Update #65 this morning. The headline is, “What Do I Do Now?” Kiyosaki says that his article was prompted by so much feedback from readers and blog visitors telling him, “enough of the bad news, already.”

And here is his response in a nutshell:

“The more the economy worsens, the more money I make. If the economy gets better, I will make even more money. This may sound confusing, but justifies the need for financial education. It doesn’t matter – bad news or good news – it’s all good news if you know what to do.”

Robert Kiyosaki’s post made me realize something new. Something just dawned on me as I re-view what I am writing. Here’s what I got, maybe you get this too.

1) The media IS enough to make everybody sick – until it doesn’t. Over the course of the last few months, we have done a lot of work in Core Health and Heart Forgiveness live workshops and we see – over and over again – that each workshop participant’s energy actually goes weak from newspapers, until we help them clear the energy glitches around that issue.

I realized that I have shifted my perspective from avoiding the media to clearing  internal energy glitches around “how we respond internally” to the media.

So as an alternative to avoidance – or denial – this requires both a shift in energy and acceptance.  Wow, this is a big deal for me – inside – because I have been a flaming anti-media guy for a long time and until this moment, I never realized I was in denial (protection mode).  Dr. Bruce Lipton has proven in the biology lab that protection = catabolic mode and expansion = anabolic mode.

We learned in Core Health that protection mode weakens our energy. Vulnerability strengthens it. Yet, I have been “hiding” in a sense from the media. Now it’s clear that I don’t need to.

2) Robert Kiyosaki taught me something about health this morning. He has had a healthy mental attitude about money and the economy where I did not. Prior to that, I always considered myself to be ‘healthier” than Kiyosaki and I stand corrected.

What Robert Kiyosaki taught me does however validate my theory only in a way I had not anticipated.

Kiyosaki was born on April 8, 1947. He is a Baby Boomer and he is a wealthy boomer – a solid role model for those of us who strive financially for excellence, balance and abundance. I knew this about him before this post.

The headline in this post is a major component of my overall argument in my book Healthy Wealthy Boomer about “how to make the 2nd fifty years better than the 1st”. Here is the basis of that thought:

If any of us were to lose everything we own – materially – houses, cars, money, investments and had to start from scratch, we could do fine as long as we have our physical health. If we were faced with this scenario and we had our health, we could move forward and completely rebuild our lives and our success.

On the other hand, if we had huge success financially and we lost our health, what good would the money be?

I wonder how Patrick Swayze would answer that question – an icon in Baby Boomer culture and a man I have admired as an actor – personally – for many years?

I also wonder what John Carleo – one of my primary Healthy Boomer Role Models – the guy who lifted 1003 lbs (six times his body weight) at age 60 would say…

Here is a video of John Carleo:

In 1973, a wise Chinese man – and friend – named T.C. Lee told me:

“Doing Tai Chi is like putting pennies in a piggy bank everyday. It may not seem like much, but eventually, it will add up to a lot of money.”

I was 20 then. I am 57 today.

A key rung on the ladder of wealth is health. In fact, it is foundational. And health is something we can do something about. Much of it is a lifestyle shift, a change in attitude. And it does not take money to begin being healthy.

Like my acceptance of the media – in a  new way – we need to shift internally and step out of denial.

Now I know that there is more to my understanding of financial health than I realized. And it’s fascinating to see what we learn through teaching.

I AM Michael Barrett, I AM a Healthy Boomer and I AM a Core Health Facilitator

Are You READY for Amazing Health?

Have you been thinking about lifestyle changes that will get you physically healthy again? Are you one of the 1 percenters ready to shift?

Lots of Baby Boomers are thinking about it. If you’re really ready, quit thinking and start doing.

We are looking for the 1% of all Baby Boomers on the tipping point – ready to tip over into a new, robust healthy lifestyle. Ready to let go of belief systems that don’t work any more and do not serve us mentally, emotionally or physically – and probably never have.

Why are we looking for you? Because if you’re ready, we know you’ll get involved and we know that we can help make a difference.

This is not a network marketing plan either. This is the primary Healthy Wealthy Boomer theme: How to make the 2nd 50 years Better than the 1st.

Getting in shape and FEELING GREAT does not have to be a trauma event. It should be fun – like baking cookies with our grand children. It doesn’t require making a huge change in your life to get started. Making incremental changes is easy as it should be. When things are both complex and not fun, human nature is such that we won’t do them – or at least we won’t stick with the program long enough to make a difference.

Who am I to buck human nature?

Where the 1 Percenters Can Start…

Start with simple things you can do right away that don’t require effort and do not cost money.

For example, if your morning ritual is meeting your friend for coffee at your favorite espresso shop,  maybe you can start by walking to meet your friend for coffee every morning. Maybe you can cut your latte down from a grande to a tall. Start eating carrot and celery sticks 3 times a week (as a snack in the afternoon) and cut back the number of times you eat fried food.

Start cooking at home more and learn how to make delicious, simple and healthy meals. If you don’t cook, take a cooking class or get together with friends and start cooking healthy recipes together.

Buy a blender and start making awesome healthy ice blended drinks or fruit smoothies. It’s a great time for smoothies since it’s summer time.

This is not about Jenny Craig or The  Biggest Loser. It’s about making a choice to enjoy your life better, to be happier and to LIVE LONGER.

Jamie Oliver has started something awesome that he calls the Food Revolution. He’s traveling around the US trying to get people focused on children’s  nutrition in schools and bring enough attention to it to get something done about the horrendous nutrition quality in school food programs for kids. It all starts at home and even if your kids are grown, you can get involved with your grandchildren’s food.

Awareness is a good place to start.

Here is a video of Jamie Oliver talking about how much sugar there is in commercial fruit juices.

A recipe for smoothies as an alternative follows. Here is a smoothie recipe from Jamie Oliver: Frozen Fruit Smoothies.

Many Baby Boomers realize that it’s time to do something different. The online estimates are huge – somewhere in the nature of ~23 million Baby Boomers are obese depending on the stats you read.

Obesity defined: Source: answers.com/topic/obesity

Obesity traditionally has been defined as a weight at least 20% above the weight corresponding to the lowest death rate for individuals of a specific height, gender, and age (ideal weight).

More recent guidelines for obesity use a measurment called BMI (body mass index) which is the individual’s weight multiplied by 703 and then divided by twice the height in inches. BMI of 25.9–29 is considered overweight; BMI over 30 is considered obese.

Harv Eker, founder of Peak Potentials – says,

“Clarity is Power.”

And I agree with him. Clarity can be power. Part of achieving clarity is knowing what it is you are going to do and why you are going to do it.

To some degree, clarity comes from the commitment to follow through on what you are talking about doing. To restate that what I am saying is:

Action is required for clarity to be power.

Otherwise it is just talk.

It’s funny, really, how we do things over and over that don’t work. We choose physical patterns that are are rooted in dysfunctional emotional stuff without being aware that we do it. It has become – for whatever reason – the default. When something becomes a default in human consciousness, it is no longer a conscious choice.

It is an unconscious choice.

At some point, we accept that default and get used to living with it. Sometimes clarity comes through waking up or snapping out of it – out of a walking dream state of semi-conscious behavior – a type of comatose that we have grown to accept as normal. To my way of thinking, anything but vibrant health is not a natural default, although it may be normal.

The greatest obstacles to overcome regarding health are belief systems.

What makes me an authority on this? This is an aspect of what we teach in Core Health workshops. Over and over again we see that this is true. We show people a way out of the rut and how to make new energy choices and it works.

The media and mainstream medical systems love to reinforce our dependency on the need to confer with them about everything related to our health.

Why?

Being healthy’s up to each of us. It’s part of our autonomy – part of our authenticity. We don’t need anybody’s permission to be healthy. Create your own clarity and clarify your power. It is such a great sense of release and a sense of in-powerment to take control of your health.

Choose your own perspective on health – choose a new version that suits you better and start challenging what the powers that be say to you over and over again.

Choose CHRONIC WELLNESS instead. Be a 1 percenter and jump in, if you’re ready for health.

I AM Michael Barrett and I AM a Healthy Boomer and I AM a Core Health Facilitator.

Another follow up with the Healthy Boomer Six Pack Challenge:

Reminder ==> Being Healthy Is A Lot of Fun

So often – as a culture – we make drudgery out of exercise and working out. My friend Trever McGhee said something in a video today that made a lot of sense.

Trever came up with his new word of the day: “Livit”, a contraction of the two words “Live it”.

He asked the question, “Who ever came up with the word “diet” anyway? Ever time you say the word, your body contracts because the word “die” is in it – so your body thinks it’s going to die and it associates it with the food around die-ting. No wonder the body doesn’t want to loose wait, it’s afraid to release anything or it might die. So instead of talking about a diet, he chooses to focus on a LIVIT.

I like that Trever. Quite brilliant actually.

Back to ‘drudgery’ and a work-out. I’m choosing to use the word play-in.

Various aspects of this:

You may have noticed that the word ends with “in”. I chose this because it implies within us instead outside of us – whereas outside implies separation.

Play-in makes a game or fun out of the experience – one of internal playfulness and joy.  Just say the word “PLAY” to yourself, out loud a few times, and see if your energy doesn’t shift. “The idea of play” makes me feel more relaxed and like I should smile and anticipate having a good time. It makes me think of kids and enjoying myself. I think about laughing and making noise and all the things we used to do when we were kids.

Adults for the most-part are lousy at playing. Life is serious, after all. We must take life seriously or we aren’t being responsible, right?

If we’re having fun, we can’t be taking it seriously.

WHO SAYS SO?

If you’re like me, you agree we can have fun and still take our duties and obligations to heart, responsibly.

Work is not a word that makes people feel all warm and fuzzy (unless of course you’re a Core Health Facilitator or a successful internet marketer – where work is pure pleasure). In general terms when most of us HEAR AND SAY THE WORD: WORK, it makes us feel tired.

And just to prove a point, I had Alexandra energy measure me personally for the word:

I said the word: WORK and it made me go weak.

I said the word: PLAY and I tested strong.

This is interesting and it follows what Dr Ed Carlson teaches us in Core Health about the power of language and choosing words carefully. Thats why, for example, he calls work-shops ==> play-shops. And that’s why Dr. Ed uses the word:

Re~Treat instead of retreat. Think about it for a second: We get to RE -”TREAT” ourselves (we get another treat) or we can retreat (run away)…

Kind of interesting , yes?

Anyway, this is the idea behind looking forward to PLAY-in instead of doing a WORK-out.

Your health and your body are a joy and a miracle. Start digging it and expressing that internal self-love. It’s healthy and thinking it and saying it are good for your health.

Make the Healthy Boomer Six Pack Challenge fun for you. Take a yoga or pilates class, start learning ballroom dancing, ride a bike everyday, take long fast walks, swim or all of the above.  Take up martial arts or qigong. Start having fun and concentrate on doing things you love – that make you feel good.  Become a healthy wealthy boomer too. You have the brains and you have the experience, you’re a Baby Boomer. Go for it.

BTW, anyone can participate, not just baby boomers.

That’s the way to get a six pack.

I AM Michael Barrett. I AM a Healthy Boomer and I AM a Core Health Facilitator.

Day Three of the Healthy Boomer 6 Pack Challenge – what an amazing day at Siesta Key beach.

It’s interesting what happens when we challenge each other in a healthy way – striving for excellence on a collective level. It’s a really positive thing to do on many levels. First and foremost, there is so much negative in the press, over the airwaves and in most conversation that counter balancing that negative with uplifting language, visuals and thoughts is so refreshing and empowering – in-powering actually. That is creating power from the inside out versus getting our power from a source outside ourselves.

By always speaking in language that enhances, we make a healthy contribution to the people and events around us. It costs nothing and it is contagious.

People like to feel good and it stands out clearly against so much negative.

Being a healthy boomer starts with thinking and speaking positively. All that is required is a choice. Making a habit out of it is what takes diligence. This is the fundamental precept in my challenge. Become a healthy baby boomer.

Start Thinking Healthy.

Start Speaking Healthy.

Start Acting Healthy.

Start Being Healthy.

This does not require a PhD in Physical Therapy or that you are working out like a professional athlete. You can start right this minute. Get up and stretch, take a walk, have a glass of water, smile about something, quiet yourself and enjoy the sunrise or go out and look at the moon for a while.

We can do many things to improve our health easily. Diminishing and virtually eliminating stress is a really good place to start. Make a choice to remove anger from your life. Smile and laugh more.

Watch a funny movie and laugh hard – often.

Quit sweating the small stuff.

If nothing else, take up the challenge strictly from the standpoint of making the determination within yourself that in 90 days you will be laughing more. That’s a huge step in the direction of health.

Whatever reason works for you – use it.

Maybe you have high blood pressure and you’re under a lot of stress and you have kids. Think about them being without a dad or a mom five or ten years down the road if you do nothing about your current situation. That’s a good motivator for many.

Think of it this way…

Life can be a lot more fun than it has been. Where do I start having fun?

Ask yourself:

Isn’t life more fun when I feel better physically?

Remember the tireless energy as a kid?

What happened to that?

Focus your attention on that to start with. Simply go into a place when you were small (in your mind and heart) and remember what that feels like. Think about what it used to feel like when you would sleep at night as a child.

How comfortable and safe you felt.

That memory and that knowledge is still locked deep within you – so you already know how to do what I am talking about.

Summon it forth.

Choose to start having fun and get a  new start enjoying your health.

Change what you think about health and take up the Healthy Wealthy Boomer: Healthy Boomer Six Pack Challenge whether you want six pack abs or not.

Choose to be a Healthy Wealthy Boomer and Make the Second Fifty Years Better Than the 1st. There is no asset of greater value than excellent health –  so starting developing that asset again and be a wealthy boomer too.

I AM Michael Barrett, I AM a Healthy Boomer and I AM a Core Health Facilitator

The Healthy Wealthy Boomer: Healthy Boomer Six Pack Challenge begins just as we officially enter into summer…

It’s kind of weird being in Florida – experiencing the complete seasonal transition for the very first time in its entirety. Know why? It’s because our bodies are used to a different winter cycle - I think - and on some level our bodies are still waiting for winter to come – even though it’s already officially summer. We moved here in the summer in 2009 and as far as our bodies are concerned we haven’t had winter yet.

Funny how the body works – not really funny actually, more like interesting – how we can be such biologically driven creatures and not even be aware of it on a conscious level. We certainly do have biological clocks – cellular clocks – that are synchronized with our attitudes, the weather and our environment – even when we don’t realize it. And this becomes more and more obvious as we get older.

In many ways, that is what this challenge is about.

The Healthy Boomer Six Pack Challenge is both about the outcome – a baby boomer six pack – and also becoming really conscious about our internal clocks, how we approach our health as healthy boomers, having fun being conscious of our physical condition and how we express ourselves physically in the world around us.

Five years ago, my life was a mess. I made the choice to change it and I have. It ‘s been turbulent at times and I’ve made a ton of mistakes along the way since that time.

Just the same I did it…

In spite of huge issues that came along in life, we stuck it out.

As they say at Harv Eker’s Enlightened Warrior Training Camp:  “Never give up.”

And although we almost threw in the towel a couple of times, every time we got knocked down we got back up and got back into the arena. And we made it through – both tempered and strong – in one piece operating, at full capacity for the first time in a long time.

And after all the years of confusion, I KNOW WHO I AM 100% again and I AM 100% Healthy. 

It was impossible to be healthy carrying around all the emotional baggage, the self anger, anger at others and all the layers of confusion accumulated over a life time – childhood, a family, divorce and all the other life events that offer challenges and open the door for miss-takes and confusion to set in without being aware of it.

Coupled with the years of qigong practice and all the positive things I have done over the last 40 years to enhance my health,  the last 12 months we’ve done the work to clean out the energy, dump all the layers of confusion and remove all the energy glitches that made us go weak.

And now they don’t…

They’re gone now. Now comes the work of naturalizing the results and healthy behavior patterns as the new defaults. So I’m going for it and by the end of summer I am going to have a baby boomer six pack and that’s a personal promise.

Healthy Boomer Six Pack Abs Challenge

I CHALLENGE YOU to take up the Healthy Wealthy Boomer: Healthy Boomer Six Pack Challenge and join in. Play with us and re-discover that natural core of health you were born with.

Imagine how great you will feel in 3 months, 6 months and a year from now - if you get started right away. 

How about 10 years from now?

Remember what it felt like to be a kid?

NANNY NANNY NANNY, I’m healthier than you are…

Tag, you’re it.

You know you’ve been thinking about it for a long time.  Another 20 years will go by – fast – before you know it.

Get up, put your walking shoes and start…

What’s holding you back?

I’m going to make it happen, how about you?

I AM Michael Barrett, I AM a Healthy Boomer and I AM a Core Health Facilitator.

Healthy Wealthy Boomer: June 1 – Healthy Boomer Challenge

The Health Wealthy Boomer definition of health is being healthy mentally, emotionally, Spiritually, energetically, physically and financially. Inherent within this definition is the premise that total health is the single most important component of being a wealthy boomer – our most valuable asset.  Let’s look at this idea and expand it.

First a couple of statistics…

The U.S. Census Bureau says that by 2030, after all baby boomers (born from 1946 to 1964) have turned 65, more than 71 million senior citizens will be living in the USA.

Currently, more Americans than ever are obese: one-third of the adult population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Source: www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-06-05-obesity-age_x.htm

Whatever your personal situation is, far too many Baby Boomers are putting on weight and don’t exercise. Many of us who used to be in the 15% body fat (or lower) category are creeping up to the 25% range. There are much more in-powering choices and life patterns we can make than obesity, particularly as we age.

Many Boomers have decided that it’s  too late to do anything about it and believe they are stuck permanently with sore joints, weak legs and being tired all the time – because that what happens after 50.  Collectively, this is what we have been taught to accept as truth.

I disagree.

If you left a new car out in the elements and never waxed it from day one, eventually the paint would peel off. Who would ever treat a nice car that way – particularly at $25-40K+? You wash it and wax it regularly to protect the paint and to prevent oxidation. You change the oil and get the transmission serviced so it will last as long as possible.

Bodies need love too. If you are not already doing so, start loving your body and yourself. Treat yourself like an honored guest.

If you wait until 2030 to take action, it may be too late. On the positive side, you still have 20 years to become a healthy boomer. A few years ago at a Peak Potentials Train the Trainer 1 Certification intensive, Blair Singer made an interesting point via demonstration that puts 20 years into perspective.

Before I describe what Blair did, let me tell you a little about who Blair Singer is (in case you don’t know). Blair Singer is close friends with Robert Kiyosaki (author of Rich Dad Poor Dad,  a real estate investor and all around entrepreneur). Blair is a Rich Dad Adviser and a highly respected “sales trainer” – the guy companies call in to get results in sales by training their staff. Blair was also a student of Marshall Thurber, a genius in his own right and a protege of Bucky Fuller.

By the way, Blair Singer is a healthy wealthy boomer…

Here is a short video entitled Blair Singer: Secret Formula For Business Success that will give you a sense of how dynamic and talented Blair is and why he is such a successful trainer:

So back to my story…

Blair called volunteers to the front of the room ( we had about 600 attendees of which I was one) and had them line up facing the audience across the entire width of the room – and I would guess it was about 200 feet across. Then he had the volunteers stretch out a single rope all the way across the room each person in line holding the rope and keeping it level. He said that this rope represented a “whole lifetime”.

Next he talked about how a person can learn almost anything they need to in 90 days – with the right instruction, information and diligence.

Then Singer had another volunteer attach a piece of red string 3 feet long to the “life rope” and he asked the group,

“What do you all think that 3 feet of red string represents?”

He got all kinds of answers – and everybody’s attention.

Blair finally said,

“That 3 feet of string represents 90 days of your life. You can learn how to do just about anything in 90 days. And look what a tiny portion of your entire life that time really is. If you think about it, no matter how hard the challenge or how uncomfortable it makes you feel, you can both learn:

• whatever you want to learn, or
• need to learn or
• have to learn

and you can stand whatever it is for 90 days knowing it is such a small percentage of the total. Don’t you agree?”

He got absolute consensus from the group. In the big scheme of things, the time period is truly insignificant relative to your entire life. It really was an effective visual – and we often learn easier visually.

In this case, I certainly did.

Here is my Baby Boomer challenge to you:

Take the next 90 days and do something to improve your health.

Be realistic.

Take a step and start creating new habits.

Here are my basic suggestions:

• Start walking more…  Use the stairs at work, park in the far corner of the parking lot when you shop, walk to the store to get the paper or buy a quart of milk instead of driving 5 blocks. You get the idea. Start taking a walk everyday – intentionally. It relaxes you, it stretches your muscles and it activates your metabolism. Walking for health is something all of us can do.
• Keep a journal of what you do.  Keep tabs on what you are doing everyday so you can look at your progress on your self improvement journey. Not a big deal – maybe: “I walked 15 minutes today.”
• Find out about meditation – take a class or watch You Tube videos, or meet with a friend -  and if you already know about meditation, start doing it again.  Meditation is one of the best things you can do for your health. It improves so many things by default. And if nothing else, just sit quietly on the back porch for ten minutes (no phones, television or noise) and watch the sun come up or enjoy your garden or look at the moon. Getting quiet is a very good thing to do on a regular basis.
• Drink more clean water. Learn how to hydrate your body better.
• Stretch every day.
• Start going to bed earlier.

Do this for 90 days and you will feel significantly better than if you continue to postpone that period of time represented by the 3 feet of red string.

Why wait?

The purpose is to create new habits or re-create them…

If you choose to go further with this, we have created courses  and workshops that really work and help people learn how to walk their talk. Get in touch on our contact page and let’s move forward.

In 20 years, you can actually be healthier than you have been in a long time and you can still become a healthy boomer. Why wait any longer to get started? You can do this incrementally gradually increasing the distance you walk and the intensity with which you exercise. Cut back on fried foods and start eating more Omega 3′s.

Start gradually and work up and in no time at all you’ll look forward to talking a brisk walk and having a tall glass of water. Think how much more energy you will have in 20 years compared to what you will feel like physically if you don’t start now. Many of the effects of aging can actually be reversed, so why wait?

Speaking of Boomer Health: What is your health worth to you?

As far as being healthy goes in 2030:

• what will that health be worth to you then? Or said differently,
• what will it be worth you in 2030 to get your health back?

To my way of thinking, being a healthy boomer is a really good investment in your future – and in your wealth – because the root of real wealth is based in pure health. It is one of those intangibles that you can control in your life. And in time, the results will become tangible – one way or the other.

When you are healthy, you have more creative energy, more energy to work, start new projects and build your wealth along the way. On the other hand, not only is it hard to work and be creative when you feel lousy, it’s no fun. How can you distinguish between wealthy boomer and a healthy one? Do you agree that health an essential component of abundance and wealth?

It’s amazing how many people I have met in the last couple of years – in their mid to late 60′s that wish they had taken better care of their bodies when they were younger. I have also met a number of people who are healthier now – in their 60′s and 70′s than many people I know in their 40′s.

• Will you be getting healthier all the time by the time you are 65?
• And will you be actively building your wealth and living the life you want, or
• Will you be working every day to pay the rent and eat like so many people in their 60′s today?

There’s no time like the present.

In fact there only is the present. The past is history and the future hasn’t come yet.

Wake up, tune it and get with it.  I double dare you…

The choices you make today will determine what you become in 20 years. When the time comes, don’t say “nobody told me”. Are you really too busy to care of your health?

Get started now on the Healthy Boomer Challenge.

I AM Michael Barrett and I AM a Core Health Facilitator and Boomer Health Coach

Strength is an important topic, particularly for Baby Boomers.

The good news is that age and genetics do not determine nor limit strength.

Look at the old gentleman in the following video. If he can do that, we can most certainly walk 3 miles a day – or whatever it takes – to get the metabolism going again and to get the job done. Watch this guy, it’s quite impressive.

Size and gender are not limiting factors either.

Have you ever seen a mother protect a young child?  Have you ever tried to take something out of a little baby’s hand when they get a grip on something – like an expensive earring?  It’s hard to take it out of their hand.

The baby can do this because they use all of the energy in their body and their consciousness at the same time. It is life force (chi in Chinese). As western adults, most of us have forgotten how to use our life force as the core of our strength. The old gentleman in the video hasn’t forgotten. And the infant knows nothing else but full expression of self.

Anyone can choose strength.

Strength is a Key Ingredient to Long Lasting Health

Strength is essential for physical alignment and daily life, yet is often overlooked as a key ingredient to long lasting health. As a rule, we tend to take strength for granted – until we don’t. In most cases, we miss strength most when we no longer have full command of it. Two common examples of the loss of strength are:

• trauma from injury or
• an illness that forces us to be sedentary or bed ridden during the recuperative time

More commonly, we become aware of the need for strength when we bend to lift something and twist and find ourselves struggling with both the load and the execution of the range of motion. Or when we notice how sore our lower back muscles are after we rake and bag the leaves in the back yard.

Muscle tone and adequately strong muscles make life easier as we age.

If we have been inactive for some time, we can reactivate our physical tone fairly easily by becoming active physically again. It does not take much to get the body awake and alert. It does take persistence.

The body actually likes it.

More than that, “waking the body back up” takes a new decision to do so. Once you focus your attention on the result and create a mandate for yourself – clearly and definitively – it will begin to manifest itself in physical form.

Bill Bartmann, a Healthy Wealthy Boomer from Tulsa, made that choice a long time ago. He is a martial artist and takes care of himself although he wasn’t always in good shape.

Earlier in his life, he lay in a hospital bed after breaking his neck falling down stairs and was told by doctors he would never walk again. He made up his mind there and then that was not acceptable. Months later, he walked out of the hospital on his own. He used his determination to walk again and he used it to turn his life around from alcoholic, gang member, homeless high school drop out to billionaire and one of the wealthiest men in America.

Bill does not set goals:

“I don’t set goals. Instead I make promises because in my experience, we are far less likely to re-neg on a promise than a goal. The results are consistently better.”

This is a good approach. When it comes to setting up a personal set of protocols to get back in shape, Bartmann’s idea makes sense because not achieving a goal is one thing, breaking a promise is another.

When you make a promise to yourself – or someone else that you care about – you are more thoughtful about what you are committing to. When you treat your self as your best friend, you are less likely to promise something you do not intend to keep.

Treat your body as Your Best Friend.

This is the basis of health and strength – to love your body and groom it, care for it, feed it really good food and attend to it with loving attention – in the same way you would care for a championship show dog or a horse.

In many ways, strength is a measure of vitality and physical consciousness – a sort of gauge for aliveness. You can use it as a self-measurement tool for alignment and clarity.

Strength is what provides the support for the skeletal system in our body. It is an integral component of physical and postural integrity, and provides for efficient mobility. As such, it is our best natural defense against many common injuries.

Strength, coupled with flexibility, is the most effective counter measure against general aches and pain. These aspects of strength are valid at all ages but are particularly important as we get older.

Like the Baby, True Strength is Rooted in Life Energy

And strength is – in large part – the primary physical coordination function for the body. In general, a real misconception is that size is the key determinant of strength. True strength is a measure of the individual’s ability to use the entire body as a single unit – as opposed to muscle mass.

Strength in this context is integrated use of the skeletal system, connecting tissue and powered by “life energy” running through the whole system – simultaneously.

Once we achieve flexible strength, we rarely get sore when we use our muscles and our body.

What Prompted The Post…

Last month a baby boomer named Arnie started a new thread in our Facebook group Baby Boomer Health and Wealth: Healthy Wealthy Boomer, by asking this question:

“Hey what do you think is the best approach to maximize physical strength as we age?”
Here is what I wrote about to Arnie…

• Physical activity is essential we are too sedentary in today’s lifestyle.
• Walk everyday, stretch every morning, learn and practice the Tibetan Rites at least 3 times a week.
• Be physical again. Walk up the stairs at work. Park the car further away from the entrance at Costco and walk both ways.
• Take dance lessons and PRACTICE – it’s so much fun.
• Ride bicycles again.
• Learn Qigong or Tai Chi or one of the soft Kung fu systems from a qualified master. Take up yoga.
• Swim again.

When you choose an activity that’s fun for you, you will do it more often. Exercise should be an enjoyable experience, not a chore. Add the “fun back into it”. For example, take long walks with people whose company you enjoy and who you find interesting.

The key is activity:

• use your body,
• use your muscles.
• achieve a healthy tone over time.
• treat your body like your best friend.
• balance your exercise to match your lifestyle and vice versa.

Strength is a component of longevity and is a great anti-aging tool. It is a metaphor for the quality of life. Baby Boomer Health is all about choices.

Be healthy. Choose strength.

It is a better choice than choosing the alternative. Quit listening to the media and think about the old man and the bottle. You are never too old.

If you have been thinking about it, now is a good time to get started. You can do it.

I AM Michael Barrett. I Am a Healthy Boomer. I AM a Core Health Facilitator.