He wanted to pass on this recent Business Week article (from June 16th by Katherine Doheny) about ANOTHER recent study reaffirming…

Here is an excerpt:

"If you have a purpose in life — lofty or not — you'll live longer, a new study shows.

It doesn't seem to matter much what the purpose is, or whether the purpose involves a goal that's ambitious or modest.

"It can be anything — from wanting to accomplish a goal in life, to achieving something in a volunteer organization, to as little as reading a series of books," said study author Dr. Patricia Boyle, a neuropsychologist at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center and an assistant professor of behavioral sciences at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

"We found that people who reported a greater level of purpose in life were substantially less likely to die over the follow-up period — only about half as likely to die over the follow-up period — as compared to people with a lower level of purpose," Boyle said. The follow-up period averaged nearly three years…."

CLICK HERE to link to the full article in Business Week Online!

Enjoy!!

Inventuring?

Periodically we need to renew and revision our lives. Every decade of the life
cycle brings new challenges, goals, pleasures, and possibilities. Every life transition-
success, failure, illness, divorce, retirement-requires us to unpack and repack our bags-to
renew and revision our lives. If you're ready to inventure-to take a deep look into your
life-and to adventure-to hike and explore the environs of East Africa-this journey is for
you.
WHEN IS IT? January 12 to February 1, 2010 in Tanzania, East Africa.
WHO IS IT FOR? An Inventure Expedition is not a trip but a journey "back to the rhythm" in Tanzania; to the
place where original peoples on earth emerged. It is an odyssey for people who want to take a
fresh look at the world and themselves through a new lens.
WHO IS THE LEADER? Richard Leider!
"My love for Tanzania's people, wildlife and wild places pulls me back time and again-back
to the rhythm of natural life. This trip is an odyssey where the signposts and fences are nonexistent
and where the new worlds we see reveal parts of ourselves that have been hidden
away or that we never knew existed."

If you are interested in joining Richard's next "Inventure".  CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION!

Here is an article from yesterday's Star Tribune….

Aging residents strive to connect in retirement
MARY JANE SMETANKA, Star Tribune

Alice Randall's kids are grown and gone. At age 69, she still works part time. But she misses the "connectiveness" she felt when her kids were in Edina schools and she was busy with their activities and parent groups.

"At this point in life, I'm too old for what I've been doing and I have to move on," she said. "But I'm not ready for people to do things for me. I still want to be proactive. I still want to give."

Randall is among the more than 20 percent of Edina residents who are 65 or older, making the suburb one of the oldest in the metro area.

Now the city has begun an unusual community conversation about aging positively and productively. It is working with consultant Richard Leider, whose executive education and coaching firm is located in Edina.

Leider and Mayor Jim Hovland hope that eventually the community conversation — which is staging its third event this month — will lead to development of a "center on positive aging" based in Edina.

"The real purpose here is to inspire seasoned citizens to lead engaged lives, to stay learners," Leider said. By connecting those residents with one another, he said, Edina can better face the challenge of having an aging community.

"Community is much more than a place. It's a state of mind. It's a shared vision, a common fate. It's not only where we live, but how we act toward each other through the life span," Leider said.

As one of the metro area's more affluent suburbs, Edina has many active seniors and an array of adult education and volunteer programs. But it also has a tradition of self-sufficiency.

Residents arrange for their own garbage collection. When streets in front of their homes are repaved, homeowners pay the entire bill. Events that bind residents in other suburbs, like city-sponsored tree sales or a farmer's market, don't happen in Edina. These may be little things, but they add up to a city where independence is the norm.

"That creates a gap, a hole for some people," Randall said.

The positive aging initiative was Hovland's idea. He said there's a difference between residing in a city and belonging to a community.

"I see a lot of folks around town that are older, and some of them express the opinion that everybody needs a reason to get up in the morning," Hovland said. "I suspect most have that reason. But it did make me think: What are we doing for citizens in the second half of life?"

Leider, who writes and talks about leadership and "purposeful aging," for now has foregone his normally hefty fees to work pro bono with the city. A senior fellow at the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality and Healing, he also works with business schools at the U and Harvard. Leider has a home in Edina and is the founder of the Inventure Group, which is based in the suburb.

What Edina is doing could become a model for other cities, he said.

"This whole positive aging movement knows no boundaries," he said. "It's a worldwide societal issue. … Increasingly, people are looking at what makes a community a community. You can have a lot of people in a place like Edina [who are] very isolated."

Last fall, Leider's first speech in Edina on what was called "the adult community initiative" was expected to draw about 50 people. An overflow crowd of 200 attended. In February, a group of about 20 people met to talk more about the issue. On May 15, a morning workshop will focus on "living, learning and working on purpose in uncertain times."

Leider points to a recent MetLife Mature Market Institute Study that interviewed 1,001 people between the ages of 45 and 75 about what defines "the good life." The survey found that those who said their lives had purpose were far more likely to say they were happy and contented than those who did not.

Older people put less emphasis on wealth accumulation than younger people and were most likely to say what matters to them is "meaning-related" activities like spending time with family and enjoying personal pursuits.

"Meaning trumps money at all ages for those seeking 'the good life,'" Leider said.

He hopes the May 15 meeting will be a "baby step" to getting things rolling on a center that would directly help people, spur conversations about positive aging and develop a cadre of learners, mentors and volunteers.

Randall recently passed out invitations to this month's event, and she said one senior turned to her and said, "What you do in retirement is you volunteer and you travel."

That's not Randall's view.

"It's the coming together and building of community around thoughtful conversation," she said. "It's not an answer, but an opportunity to be on a quest."

Leider thinks that conversation is even more important now.

"During times of change, we look at the core, at who we are, and from that we look at health, money and purpose," he said. "We look at how do we survive? And if we survive, how do we choose to do things that fit who we are and give us meaning?

"Meaning is fundamental to life. … Our work and family used to give us that. Now the kids and the job are gone. Where do you go for an advanced degree in maturity? How do you learn this?"

Mary Jane Smetanka • 612-673-7380

These workshops work with much of Richard Leider's work….including Calling Cards, The Good Life Inventory, and concepts from Repacking Your Bags.  So, if you will happen to be in town, you may want to grab the opportunity for this wonderful learning experience!

CLICK HERE to go to the link to the registration page for the session on June 29th.

AND, we are working on how to make this course available virtually in a series of shorter virtual workshops…if you would be interested in attending this type of event, please comment to this post to let us know!

Join us to discover what the study means for YOU at this time of your life. Richard is offering a no charge workshop as follow-on to his February tele-seminar. He will be working with the materials MMI has created as companions to the study. (All at no cost to you!)

YES, YOU CAN ACCESS THE PRE-WORK MATERIALS!
We have been able to get the materials available digitally if you want to participate tomorrow and sign up TODAY.

You will still want to order the hard copy materials from
MetLife….but you WILL be able to do your pre-work with
the digital copies in the meantime.

The session will be held Tuesday April 28th at Noon Central Time with a replay available for a limited time. (1 pm EDT, 11 am MDT, 10 am PDT)

Don't miss this rare opportunity to get Richard's sage and expert guidance about "The Good Life" and the proverbial: "Where Do I Go From Here?" question as we enter the second half of life.

Follow this link for more registration information.
http://newprimetime.com/register042809

We look forward to "seeing" you tomorrow!

Balancing Money, Medicine and Meaning
April 23, 10:00-11:00 AM PST

Sandra Timmermann

For most people, their primary goal is not financial freedom or good health, or even free time – it is to have meaning and purpose in their lives. That was the result of a Metlife 2009 study called “Discovering What Matters: Balancing Money, Medicine and Meaning.”

MetLife took its groundbreaking 2009 study and partnered with Richard Leider to provide a framework to help people plan and focus priorities to better achieve their personal version of the “good life.” This webinar will highlight the research results and identify concepts and steps to take to help you discover where you are on the journey and where you want to go next.

Richard Leider

Presenters:
Sandra Timmermann, EdD is executive director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute. She is responsible for research, education and consultation on aging and the 50+ market for MetLife and its business partners.

Richard Leider is founder and chairman of the Inventure Group, a global coaching and consulting firm. He is a guest lecturer in executive education programs at Duke, the University of Minnesota and the Harvard Business School.

To join the web seminar on April 23, follow these steps:

• Call this phone number: (402) 237-2015 (Note: This is not a toll-free number) and enter Caller Access Code: 566483#
• Log in to this URL (no password needed):
  http://www.login.iCohere.com/ASA?pnum=KBZ13647

For any of you who were able to participate in Richard's virtual interpretive teleseminar in February (replay is still available), you know that he offered to take a deeper dive with a virtual workshop using the companion materials that MetLife's Mature Market Institute created.

The workshop  is scheduled for Tuesday April 28th, 2009 (with replay available for a limited time). Richard expects that all participants get the companion materials (workbook and DVD) and complete the workbook prior to the workshop….so don't delay in ordering them.

To register follow this link: CLICK HERE

If you want to access the replay for Richard's Feb 4th teleseminar interpretting the MetLife MMI research study: CLICK HERE

To get the DVD and a hard copy of the workbook, please contact MMI today!  You can email them or call.  To order, contact MetLife at maturemarketinstitute@metlife.com OR call the MMI directly at (203)221-6580.

Click Here to access recordings and materials!

And if you are in the Twin Cities, don't forget to check out future Heartland Circle Events!

Check them out at:

http://heartlandcircle.blogs.com/

Richard gave Elizabeth Harrington a rare opportunity to interview him before his trip this month to Tanzania; a trip in which he leads a small group of lucky individuals on an Odyssey to "Inventure" with him and learn from the earliest known inhabitants of the Yaida Valley in Tanzania. The Hadza have managed to keep their culture intact despite many of the same pressures that have all but wiped out the world's hunting-gathering societies since the advent of agriculture some 10,000 years ago.

For your listening or downloading, here is a 30 minute interview with Elizabeth Harrington and Richard as he was about to embark on this journey.

Enjoy!!

Back to the Rhythm Interview of Richard Leider by Elizabeth Harrington Part 1

Right Click Here to Download BacktotheRhythm Part 1 (Save "Link" or "Target")

Back to the Rhythm Interview of Richard Leider by Elizabeth Harrington Part 2

Right Click Here to Download BacktotheRhythm Part 2 (Save "Link" or "Target")

Barb to the Rhythm Interview of Richard Leider by Elizabeth Harrington Part 3

Right Click here to Download BacktotheRhythm Part 3 (Save "Link" or "Target")