My new online retirement program: Dare to Discover Your Purpose

I’m excited to share with you the launch of my new online retirement program, ‘Dare to Discover Your Purpose’. A lot of people have been asking me about it so I thought I’d use my weekly blog post to tell you a bit more.

For the first 60 years of my life, my path was one of ambition, achievement, and accolades. I was a Chartered Marketer for 35 years, a partner in a US commercial real estate firm for 35 years. I am an author of 10 books and a speaker for the past 20 years, and also financial advisor for about 5 years in the 1990s.

In 2007, I became semi-retired, which pleased me at first, but as soon as the honeymoon period was over, I was miserable, and I could palpably feel energy draining out of me.

So, in 2016, I made a bold move to change my life and to create a new one. Now I live with purpose, passion and potential – and this is what my online program is designed to help others do too.

Dare you?

The course took eight months to create and the original title was ‘Discover Your Purpose’.  As the program evolved into a four step process, this prompted the acronym D.A.R.E., which named the four steps so perfectly.

The first is to Discover what retirement is really all about. The second is to Assimilate new information about the mind and how it actually works. The third is to Rewire the mind, and the fourth is to Expand our lives by growing our minds. From this came the current program name, ‘Dare to Discover Your Purpose’.

The course is primarily directed to retired and retiring baby boomers – those individuals born between 1946 and 1964. The focus is most especially on those baby boomers who feel

(a) disconnected from life, unable to let go of the past and fearful of the future that lies ahead of them;

(b) disheartened at the loss of their work and colleagues and are grieving for the life that has ended for them; and

(c) disoriented because they no longer know who they are, who they are supposed to be, and as a result feel their self-worth and self-esteem diminished. 

‘Dare to Discover Your Purpose’ can help them to realise and recognise that, in the words of the Roman statesman and orator, Cicero, “old age is the crown of life, our play’s last act.”

Nothing worthwhile is easy…

Like all things creative, developing the course was an iterative process and by definition, not linear; but organic. I started with one module, moved on to the next, and so on, and then came back and changed things. Initially, I inserted all the possible content that should go into each module, and then focused on the essential points, and eliminated the non-essentials. Once I had established the essential points, I drilled down each point to clarify and expand on it. Finally, I edited the script for each of the eight video modules.

Once this part was done, I filmed the video modules, one of my favourite parts of the whole process. This was completed in four sessions over two weeks in a beautiful hotel room in west London with a professional videographer. After the filming, I arranged to have the audio stripped out of the video so as to provide an audio alternative to clients, as well as transcription documents of the audio files too. I wanted to make the content as accessible as I could.

Lastly, I prepared an exercise booklet for each module in order to help course participants undergo and experience the transformation they are seeking.

Each exercise was created to lead the participant onto the next module, helping them to understand the workings of their mind and how they can harness it to create a new vision for themselves. Ultimately, the final exercise is the blueprint of the new life they wish to carve for themselves. I have made the process simple, but let’s be clear, it’s not easy: you have to work at it. Nothing worthwhile is easy…

A blueprint for a new life

My hope is that retired and retiring baby boomers will be inspired and motivated to work through the exercises to create a blueprint for their new lives: lives of purpose, passion, and potential like mine. 

Helping individuals transform has to be the most rewarding work anyone could ever wish for. And although the lessons in ‘Dare to Discover Your Purpose’ took me four years to master, they will only take course participants four months, because I’ve already done the hard part myself. That’s why I’m so excited to launch the program this week. It’s available to purchase here!