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

Healthy Wealthy Boomer Loves the Total Gym

A few weeks ago we relocated and as soon as we got situated in our new place, we hunted down a used Total Gym 1700. I had made a commitment to start working out with a Total Gym again after reading about John Carleo‘s accomplishments as a competitive weight lifter – at age 60…

The guy’s too much…

Imagine lifting 1003 pounds – at age 60 – six times his body weight. And only using the Total Gym for training 6-8 minutes a day, 6 days a week. Wow.

By the way Chuck Norris – of Total Gym Fame – Walker Texas Ranger, turned 68 this week. I remember him as a tournament fighter in the 70′s – 6 time world champ in Karate in his weight class. He loves the Total Gym and he looks better than any 59 year old I know personally.

Except maybe for a Chinese Gung fu master I know.

Anyway, we have been getting back into a routine with the Total Gym about 10-15 minutes at a time. What a great machine.

I’ve been focused on my upper body because it needs attention. A few years back, I broke my wrist after falling from a single story roof, and fracturing it in seven places. Needless to say that took some recuperating at 50+ – not to mention my bruised male ego.

The Total Gym is by far the most effective single machine I have ever used. Sometimes it’s a hassle to change it around from exercise to exercise. But overall, I think the results are amazing.

There is already a noticeable difference in my upper body physique. And the strength is coming back into my wrist and the tricep area remarkably fast. Considering the severity of the injury, I am very pleased.

This magnitude of my upper body recovery is compounded by a separated right clavicle that happened in July 2005 .

Kind of creaky all around.

But I can tell you straight up, that the Total Gym is getting the job done and I am really impressed with this machine.

Try one if you have a friend who has one is their house.

John Carleo says that he believes every household in America should have a Total Gym and his Total Gym instruction videos. I agree.

Only I would add one other thing to that list – a Vitamix blender.

Healthy Wealthy Boomer loves the Total Gym, you will too. Check one out if you haven’t done so already, and give us your feedback. I’m sure you’ll agree. Anybody can handle 6-8 minutes a day.

TOTAL GYM TIP: Hey, fellow healthy wealthy baby boomer, if you do hunt down a used Total Gym, make sure it has all the parts and attachments…