Contemporary Retirement Coaching Blog

10 Delicious daily habits

One of the worksheets I give to both my coaching and pre-retirement course clients is my '10 Daily Habits' task, which asks them to list 10 things they could do each day which would really make a difference to their health and wellbeing. 

I noticed in Raw Food Coach, Karen Knowler's newsletter today that she has a variation on the same theme - 10 Delicious Daily Habits.  Here's what she says:

Over the years I have worked with many coaches, both in my personal and professional life, and from each of them I have learned new tools and exercises that have contributed valuably to my world.

Today I want to share with you one I learned from a former life coach, who set me the challenge to create "10 Daily Delicious Habits".

The idea is that you think of ten different things you'd love to incorporate into your day, each day, so that you fall more in love with your life. The word "delicious" is a great one - it's not all about eating! It's about creating a delicious life for yourself that is all the more delicious because you took the time to create these new habits.

Here are my 10 Daily Delicious Habits:

1: Wake up to the smell of fresh flowers (roses or lilies) next to my bedside.
2: Make my bed right away so it looks tidy and pretty (sets the tone for the day).
3: Have a hot shower & hairwash with luxurious toiletries and dry with supersoft towels.
4: Choose an outfit that is perfect for my mood and that feels like a "10".
5: Dry my hair and wear it in a style that is also perfect for my mood and outfit.
6: Listen to upbeat music (Kiss FM) to and from the school run.
7: Do some form of exercise - running, weights, dancing, walking.
8: Make a delicious brunch - a fruit salad, juice or smoothie.
9: Make sure the kitchen always looks tidy and the fridge has "options" so I can create whatever I want.
10: Spend quality time with Luke (my son) chatting, reading, watching a film or whatever it is that we decide.

These are my 10 that I do every single day. There are actually more (I have got much better at this over the years!), but these are the ones that make all the difference for me and set me up to have a wonderfully delicious day : )

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© Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach 2010, www.TheRawFoodCoach.com.  If you'd like more information about raw food or the work that Karen does, you can join her mailing list at www.therawfoodcoach.com.

Quick Links

From Mail Online: Want to beat Tinnitus?  Try meditating for 20 minutes.

The little ships set sail again

The fleet of 'little ships' that rescued stranded allied troops from Dunkirk set sail again today to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Operation Dynamo.  A ceremony will be held on Saturday on Dunkirk Beach, when a minute's silence will be followed by the national anthems of Britain, the Czech Republic, France and Belgium.  If you'd like to know more, check out this BBC article.

Would you leave your body to medical science?

In my 'Get the Retirement You Deserve' Home Study Course, one of the things I ask the reader to do is to give some consideration to their non-financial legacy - in other words, what they want to leave behind and/or be remembered for after they've shuffled off this mortal coil.  Some of the examples I give to get people thinking about this subject are: registering for organ donation, compiling a family tree to help future generations know their roots, and leaving their body to medical science.  Which is why a Mail Online article caught my eye this morning...

Have you ever considered leaving your body to medical science?  Here in the UK, there is, apparently, a national shortage of cadavers - it's estimated that only 600 bodies were received in 2008 and there are more than 45,000 trainee doctors, dentists and surgeons at any one time.  

After reading this article by Tessa Dunlop, whose father decided to donate his own body after he was diagnosed with a rare bone marrow cancer, I'm persuaded to investigate this subject further.  After all, as Tessa points out, "Students have to learn somewhere – better surely to make mistakes on the dead rather than the living?".

What do you think?  Feel free to leave a comment below...

Blogging Boomers Carnival #163

We're having an early heatwave here in the UK, and there's a summery feel to the Blogging Boomers carnival too this week, with posts about fitness, extended trips to Mexico, seniors' playgrounds and putting the finishing touches to mother of the bride outfits.  Check it all out at Life Two.

A Senior Playground - good idea or bad?

London's first 'pensioners' playground' has opened in Hyde Park with the aim of providing gentle exercise to the over-60s, who often find traditional gyms both expensive and intimidating.  The playground, which cost £50,000, contains 6 machines, each designed to exercise a different part of the body. 

'Death Wish' and 'Hannibal Brooks' director, Michael Winner, went along to try it out and concluded, 'If my own council, Kensington and Chelsea, starts on this nonsense I’ll chain myself to the railings in protest'.

So what do you think?  Good idea or bad? 

Food for thought...

The lack of an engaging vision for your future may keep you frozen in memories of the past and anxieties about your future.  At the World Bank, people talk about the ghosts that walk the halls.  These are actual people who retired years ago but continue attempting to relive the good old days with whomever they can capture to reminisce about the past.

David C Borchard

Quick Links

From Mail Online: We've poured billions into the NHS, are pioneers in medical research, so why is Britain the sick woman of Europe?

Blogging Boomers Carnival #162

It's all about the Blogging Boomers Carnival over at It's All About Aging today... why not head over there and have a look?  Here's the link.

The Retiring Executive website is launched (finally)

This week sees the launch of my brand new website, The Retiring Executive, which showcases the VIP coaching/mentoring/consulting days that I offer, either via the phone (for clients based anywhere in the world), or in person (for clients based in the UK or those willing to travel to the UK).  The feedback from the first two VIP Day clients has been excellent, with Jeremy saying:

'Ann’s executive coaching programme will add a value to my retirement way beyond the cost of the course and I’m deeply grateful that I found out about it in time to make the most of my, or should I say our, retirement. Thank you Ann.' 

And this was Lynda's reaction:

'Wherever you are on the retirement journey, dive right in and enjoy this experience.  There is something for everyone - whatever your circumstances, whatever your dreams.  The day is completely flexible so that you can explore the things you need to in order to have a great retirement. It would have been great if this had been available when I retired two years ago, but better late than never!'

And if you're wondering how you'd cope with a virtual VIP Day, here's what our two early adopters had to say about that:

Lynda: 'The format of the day gave me pause to reflect on the things I had been discussing and quite often took me into unexpected territory. Ann is really easy to talk to and has a relaxed friendly style.  I was amazed how easy she made it to do this over the phone.'

Jeremy: 'I must say I approached the day on the phone with mixed feelings as it sounded very intense. Actually it was much more manageable than I expected. Ann’s style of mixing thought-provoking questions with relevant anecdotes and observations affirmed her as someone who has had a lot of experience of coaching and a genuine interest in people. It had all the benefits of one-to-one coaching without the travel and at the end of the day I thought of Ann more as a friend than as a coach. Her interest in people is obvious and her desire to try to help people optimise their retirement, however long it may be, shines through.'

If you're interested in booking your own VIP Retirement Coaching Day, check out The Retiring Executive website at www.TheRetiringExecutive.com and don't forget to sign up for your free report,The 6 Stages of Executive Retirement.