Joan’s Boomer Blog

Would you like to have your own home business as a coach, helping others reach their own health or fitness goals? Many people want to be healthier but need a mentor. There are programs out there to help you set up your business.

My friend Tom Grimes is a Certified Health Coach with Take Shape for Life. Here is what he had to say about his health coaching business:

Take Shape For Life is a long-term plan for healthier living that starts with healthy weight loss using the Medifast 5 & 1 Plan and the support of a Health Coach. Your Health Coach will work with you one-on-one along your journey to Optimal Health and provide support every step of the way as you learn The Habits of Health and apply them into your daily lifestyle. With the help of my Health Coach I lost 80 pounds in 23 weeks.

During this period I also became a health coach and have worked with men and women who also want to achieve Optimal Health. When I started most of the health coaches had experienced success with the program. Now others are joining us as coaches.

The good news is that weight loss starts healing your body even before you’re ready for your “after” picture. A study at the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center in Houston shows that shedding even a modest amount of weight can improve your health. In the study, doctors focused on weight loss among patients with metabolic syndrome, a constellation of risk factors (excess abdominal fat, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and others) that lays a foundation for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

“Our study has shown that weight loss of as little as 6.5 percent … results in substantial reductions in blood pressure, glucose, triglycerides, and total cholesterol, all factors that lead to heart disease,” says Christie Ballantyne, M.D., one of the study’s researchers. “These impressive results occur early in the weight loss, well before individuals even begin to approach their ideal body weight.”

It has been very rewarding watching people regain their health and their lives.  Just watching them reduce clothing sizes is exciting.  I feel I’m helping get American Healthy one person and a time.

if you’d like to know more about Tom’s coaching business or if you need the services of a health coach yourself, check out his website.

Another coaching business I’ve become interested in recently because of my daughter is Beach Body Fitness Coaching. She joined this business as a fitness coach and originally I signed up too, just to help her out. However, as I found out more about Beach Body, I began to see how the concept of health and fitness coaching could help Baby Boomers.

Beach Body products include Shakeology, a nutritional shake with over 70 healthy whole food nutrients. This program comes with a cd workout program called Shakeology as well. Other Beach Body fitness products include Slim in 6, a 6 week fitness program which promises to help you reshape your body in 6 weeks and even a Yoga program. Club membership includes meal plans, recipes, a community for help and support, and of course, the help of your own fitness coach.

Club members get a 10% discount on products and coaches get a 25% discount on their own purchases.

One thing I liked about the Company is that the products, Shakeology and P90X are nationally advertised and the company is doing an advertising push to raise awareness of fitness and their products. It’s really gratifying to help people have their own “before” and “after” programs, losing weight and getting fit.

If you’d like more information about becoming a Beach Body fitness coach, check out this short informational video about fitness coaching.

If you have an interest in health and fitness, coaching could make a fulfilling part time or full time retirement business for you. You can work at home, make your own schedule and help others at the same time. As baby boomers age, more and more are becoming interested in healthy aging. Nothing is as motivating to your own healthy lifestyle than motivating others too!

Do you know what you’re really passionate about in life? Have you found your purpose? Are you working at a job you love? Maybe you’ve been laid off recently and need some guidance in setting some goals to finding a new career. If you’re a boomer, you probably want the second half of life to be more fulfilling than the years that went before.

According to the law of attraction, or just plain old-fashioned goal setting, what we focus on will grow in our lives. I believe that but my issue has always been trying to figure out what I should be focusing on. What goals do I really want to achieve? Especially as we near our retirement years, we think of all the things we still want to do. Which goals are most important? Many of us would like some retirement income so how can finding our purpose help us make money?

I’ve been thinking about goal setting and finding my life’s purpose more lately because a couple of weeks ago, I got an email newsletter about how to find my passions in life and the opening paragraph really stuck in my mind:

Suppose you asked yourself, “If I focus on one thing, what could I be like in a year? What could my whole life look like?”

If I focused on one thing for a year, set one goal, and dedicated myself to making that one thing happen, what would my life look like? There are a lot of important parts to that question, the first being, what is important enough to me to dedicate myself to it for one year? What one thing would make the biggest difference to my life?

If you’re like me, you’ve had many goals in the course of your life - finding a new job, losing weight, starting an exercise program, being a nicer, more patient person, sticking to a budget or focusing on attracting more money. Probably most of us have set these goals in our life - over and over and over. Are we thinner now? Do we all have lean, muscular bodies now? Are we rich? Probably not.

Right now you may be in your 50’s or even your 60’s and struggling with a job loss or facing retirement. It’s hard to set positive goals with our bank account nearing zero.

In order to discover your true passion in life, what one thing could you do to make a difference? Forget being thin and rich for a moment. These are outward trappings anyway, not things that really make a difference to the kind of person you are.

I love this quote about the law of attraction - “We don’t attract what we want, we attract who we are.” If you worry about money all the time or fight being overweight, that becomes who you are so, although you want to be rich and slim, your life becomes about wanting, not being.

I have decided to go back to square one and begin by connecting with my inner being to see what my subconscious wants me to know about myself. My goal for finding the purpose for the second half of my life is to meditate every day. I’ll start with 15 minutes and try to build on that but I’ll get at least 15 minutes.

I plan to start a meditation journal on here so if anyone is interested in joining me, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

If you need help purpose in life and setting goals, here’s some great books that may help:

Create A Life That Tickles Your Soul : Finding Peace, Passion, & Purpose (Tickle Your Soul Series). This book by Suzanne Zoglio got terrific reviews on Amazon and boomers, you especially will love the idea of re-inventing yourself in the second phase of life. Find your true purpose and passions in life and carry that into a whole new career!

Finding Your Passion: The Easy Guide to Your Dream Career by Marcy Morrison. If you are currently unemployed and seeking a new direction, looking for a way to live your purpose in retirement or in a new job, this is a great book for you.

Work with Passion in Midlife and Beyond: Reach Your Full Potential and Make the Money You Need by Nancy Anderson. Making money is great but wouldn’t it be nice to make money doing something you are passionate about? Many baby boomers have spent years working at jobs they didn’t like just to make a living. Now in the second half of life, maybe it’s time to do something you love doing.

The Purpose Driven® Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren is one of the most famous books about finding your purpose in life. The premise of the book is that there are no accidents, that God plans everything, or if you’re into the law of attraction, the Universe has a plan for you. You just have to figure out what it is. The Purpose Driven Life can help you do that.

Have you discovered the passion and purpose in your life? I’d love to hear about either your new purpose of your struggle to find it. Visit my Meditation Challenge journal and share your thoughts.

If you have a blog, you should try Blog Copy. Simply register your blog for free and Blog Copy will monitor your site and let you know which texts and photos are copied and passed along. Why would you want to know this? Because the more you are quoted, the more of an “authority site” you become, which is great for your blog rankings with search engines.

If you use Google analytics, site meter or other tracking for your blogs, try Blog Copy too.

These days everyone is concerned with online privacy. Has someone put negative comments or reviews online about you, your company or your brand? Reputation Managers can help you create a positive online presence or help you remove negative comments from search engines.

When people do a search for your company or brand, what do they find? Has some dissatisfied customer, a disgruntled ex-employee or even a business competitor put unfavorable and unfair comments about you and your business out there for anyone to see? Is it even possible to get these removed from the web and help create a more positive reputation for you?

Yes, it is possible by using Reputation Managers to help you.

Changing negative comments on the Internet is not an instant process. It can take from one to six months to get that positive image up higher in the search engines and get rid of the negative but it can be done. Reputation Managers are there with you every step of the way.

Take control of your online presence by getting a free evaluation from Reputation Managers. See for yourself how they can help you create a positive online presence for yourself, your company or your brand.

The author was compensated for this posting.

Are you concerned about your online reputation or the reputation of your company? Managing your online reputation was just made easier with www.reputationmanagers.com

When potential customers want information about your company, four out of five people will do an Internet search. What will they find out about your company? Will they read comments or reviews by disgruntled customers or former employees? Perhaps they will even find negative comments put out by your competitors. How is your company keeping their reputation positive, putting out information you want them to see instead of negative comments put out by others?

You can find help with www.reputationmanagers.com. Their company can create a reactive reputation management campaign for you, your brand and your company which will actively push down negative sites. Another option is to take control of your online reputation with a proactive campaign to help you achieve a positive Internet presence. This is a great option particularly if your brand is new and you want to get the word out.

How long does it take to see results? Usually about one to six months.

Get a detailed evaluation and customer quote with no obligation at www.reputationmanagers.com. They will guarantee that they can improve and help protect your online reputation.

The author was compensated for this article.

The March Group, a leader in global mergers and acquisitions, specializes in the North American middle market. If you are seeking to invest in or purchase a business, a team of over 200 professionals with offices around the US, can expertly assist all buyers and investors in the sale of privately held companies.

The March Group also created Corporations4Sale.com. Browse this website of their comprehensive listings of middle market businesses for sale. Buyers and investors can access company profiles by simply registering. Professional acquisition brokers are also available to help buyers find just the right business to fit their needs.

For more information visit the March Group

The author was compensated for this posting.

How to Earn Multiple Streams of Income Doing What You Love

Six-Figures In Less Than A Year
Do only the things you LOVE to do, and generate multiple revenue streams!

If you could earn multiple streams of income working at home, building a profitable business based on your own passions in life, would you want to do it? Would you like to quit your current unfulfilling job and make your own schedule, doing something you love every day? If you answered yes to these questions but aren’t currently living the life you’d like to live, maybe you may just need someone who can teach you how to set up multiple streams of income, a mentor who has made thousands doing just this.

f you’ve seen the movie “the Secret” you’re probably familiar with Bob Doyle. I’ve been a member of his terrific Wealth Beyond Reason program for about 3 years and I’ve always wanted to take part in his Six Figure Streams of Income Program about building a profitable business on the internet. However, the $1300 price tag was just more than I wanted to spend. Imagine how I felt recently when I opened an email from Bob Doyle and found he was offering this same program for just $97!

The Six Figure Income Course is based on principles of the law of attraction to create multiple streams of income -helping you to find what you’re passionate about and build a profitable business around it. Work becomes play! Even if don’t currently have your own website or a product to sell, or even know how to do this, Bob’s course teaches you everything you need to know to build your own business around marketing information on the Internet.

What makes this multiple streams of income different from other business building courses? An all-important part of Bob Doyle’s course is teaching you how to overcome the resistence you’ve built up in your thinking-resistance that is holding you back from living the life of your dreams. Do you think you have to work hard to make money? Do you think money is hard to come by and only very lucky people “make it big?” These are limiting beliefs that are holding you back and Bob gives you the tools to overcome these beliefs so that anything is possible.

If you could spend your day devoted to any subject, what would it be? What are you passionate about in life? What is your hobby or what subjects are you drawn to? What do you love read about that you’d love to create a business around? Do you have a special area of expertise that you’d like to share with others? Would you like to create unlimited income around these ideas?

Bob Doyle’s Six Figure Streams of Income program helps you to sort through all that information and gives you specifics on creating ebooks, videos, and websites based on what you personally love to do to earn money through multiple streams of income.

If you’re a baby boomer facing retirement, what are you going to do with your time? Wouldn’t it be fun to make some extra retirement income doing something you have fun doing?

If you’ve ever thought how wonderful it would be to work at home and turn your own passions in to a profitable business and earn multiple streams of income, you owe it to yourself to check out Bob Doyle’s Six Figure Streams of Income Program.

Six-Figures In Less Than A Year
Do only the things you LOVE to do, and generate multiple revenue streams!

If you’re interested in the Wealth Beyond Reason program, I can tell you that since joining I’ve used and reused the information. I listen to the audios over and over and re-read the books that are part of the program. It was one of those programs I purchased that I never even once regretted or thought it wasn’t worth the money. The information is something that I use again and again.

Find Financial Freedom

Are you experiencing a financial downturn? Have you lost your job or seen your retirement account shrinking? “They” say the economy is getting better - has it gotten better for you too?

Here is a great blog posting by the Chopra Center about how to find financial freedom by by Julie Murphy Casserly, a Certified Financial Planner and founder of JMC Wealth Management, Inc. in Chicago. Julie offers a terrific exercise to help you reach your financial goals, no matter what your current financial situation.

Read it here.

If you have an online business which sells a product, whether it’s a physical product, a membership or other information, you certainly need a reliable credit card processing system. Here are some of the things you should look for when choosing a company to handle your business.

• Security - You want your customers to know their credit card information is safe and secure. A secure server is a must.
• Fast Processing and quick approval - Helps you process orders sooner and leaves your customers satisfied.
• Accepts both debit and credit cards.
• Allows for recurring billing.
• Allows you to void a transaction.
• Easy installation and use.

In choosing an online credit card processing company, there are some other important questions to keep in mind too:

• Is there a monthly minimum? Does the company charge you  a monthly fee if you don’t have a certain number of orders?
• Do they charge an annual fee?
• Do they offer a compatible Internet gateway?
• Do they offer after hours support?

If your business is mobile or requires you to process credit card remotely. then you’ll also want to consider wireless credit card processing. If you’re just starting out, be sure and ask the same questions as above so you know up front there are no hidden fees and they offer the support you need.

If you take online orders, the right credit card processing can quickly take the worry out of your business.

Guide to E-Learning Sites - Free Distance Learning Online

E-Learning brings lectures, videos and online courses on literally thousands of topics, right to your computer or iPod. Are you interested in the Civil War? Health? The Russian Ballet? Physics? Economics? E learning can be delivered to you on demand.Here is a guide to free e- learning sites on the Internet where you can pursue any hobby or research any subject from the comfort of your home - all for free.

ITunesU - I’ve had an ipod for over a year but never tapped this terrific e learning resource until recently. Would you like to subscribe to a Sanford University course on Colonial and Revolutionary War history? There are 25 one hour tracks just in this one topic. At last count Apple had more than 100,000 educational video and audio files - all free downloads from universities, museums and cultural institutions all over the world. Just go to your iTtunes account and click on iTunesU. You can learn about landscape architecture from UC Davis or the Origins of America from the Library of Congress from this huge e learning site.

On the Research Channel, you can watch a video lecture from USC with a demonstration of rare musical instruments or get an update on Fibromyalgia. The Research Channel offers a consortium of leading research and academic institutions with more than 3,500 videos for free distance learning online.

Video Lectures.Net offers video lectures by famous scholars and scientists taken from seminars, workshops and conferences from all over the world. Nearly 10,000 videos are available in subjects like architecture, medicine, humanities, mathematics and more.

At Academic Earth, you’ll find thousands of video lectures on anything from a Yale course on psychology to an MIT class on physics. Subjects include medicine, history, international relations, astronomy, political science and much more.

For more free e-learning resources, visit Open Culture, a website dedicated to keeping up with new offerings free cultural and educational media on the Internet. Find links to free audio books, free courses online, free foreign language classes and lots more. Check out their listing of 250 free online courses.

To access these e learning lectures and videos:

1.  You will probably need a high speed Internet connection. Loading large files is very time consuming on dial up connections.

2.  Sign up for free with Apple iTunes, which is a handy way to download and organize from e learning sites. Other ways to download include QuickTime, Windows Media Player or RealPlayer. Basic versions of these offer free sign up.

3.  If you have an iPhone or iPod, you can transfer the files to these by saving them to your iTunes library and then transferring them to your media player.

Don’t let the details scare you away from e learning! Find a video or lecture you like and hit “download!”

Most baby boomers know that to age well, you have to keep your mind actively engaged and learning all the time. With e learning sites, you can keep up with topics you’re interested in or learn something new. The Internet can connect you with free distance learning to fit your schedule.