I Used to be Somebody (2025)

19/07/2025

STOP TALKING START DOING!

We all do it. We talk about all the things we want to do. Volunteering, start a new business, write that book, exotic travel. You name it. And we don't do it. My unsolicited advice. DO IT! And STOP TALKING ABOUT IT.

We don't know what the future holds for us. We don't know what future health concerns may arise or other weird circumstances. But you do know what is going on right NOW. So start DOING!

I will give you a personal example. I love documentary movies. Even as a kid I was hooked on docs. I watch them all the time and have said forever that "I want to produce my own documentary some day." Well, I'm going to do it. (NOTE: sometimes it helps to say something publicly.)

My movie is I Used to be Somebody, The Movie. It will bring to life my podcast where I'm going to focus on some of my past podcast guests and their amazing stories and second acts. It will inspire people to the amazing possibilities there are post-career.

16/05/2025

We had such a great time on our I USED TO BE SOMEBODY TOUR to PORTUGAL.

The Douro Valley is one of the most beautiful places in the world. We didn't even let a nation wide electricity black out affect us. I asked the tour guides, "what does your manual say to do in a black out?" Apparently, "DRINK MORE WINE".

The Cooking Class was a big hit. And the lunch we made was delicious. All the food was so good. I love at the end of the meal to thank the cooks. They usually were these sweet older ladies.

Can't wait until next year's trip to Croatia.
https://pickleballmediahq.com/tour/croatia

26/03/2025

I Used to be Somebody World Tour: 2026 CROATIA

I'm so excited that my wife Diana and I will be taking our audience to CROATIA (April 26 - May 3 2026). We've had so many friends that are world travelers that absolutely love Croatia. We'd love to have you join us. https://pickleballmediahq.com/tour/croatia

In addition to the beauty of the country, food, the people and culture you will part of our (Un)Retirement discussion groups. We help people create their ideal Second Act.

Since just announcing the tour we've already sold 10 of the 20 spaces. Let me know if you're interested!

17/03/2025

50+ Communities -- Pro or Con?

I've always been pretty negative about living in a 50+ community. I'm not sure exactly sure why. I think to me it meant that I'm officially old. Why would I want to be surrounded by a bunch of old people?

I think the first time I ever heard about an "active" 50+ community was way back in the 1990's, when negative headlines about The Villages in Florida came out. It was about all these old people running around having STDs. They drove around in golf carts everywhere. And they had political shouting matches with each other. I remember late night comedians having a great time at these people's expense.

The fact of the matter is that I personally have visited some friends in an active adult community for a grand total of one time. They seemed really happy with their community. Most recently, a good friend of mine invited me to play pickleball at his brand new 50+ community that just opened. It was incredibly nice! The club house was like like being in a fancy club or spa. The pickleball courts were amazing. My friend told me there's a fun activity on the calendar almost every night. The average age so far for this new community is early 60's. Huh! Half the people living there still work. Every person I met was friendly. There was a real sense of community there.

I checked with my financial advisor, who has a lot of clients in these communities and he said that in general, the properties are a good value. Plus his clients really like living in them. So I wonder why I've been so negative? Did I feel superior because I don't need everything provided for me? I have had my eyes opened and my opinion is now totally turned around. Today's 50+ communities have come a long way since Del Webb started building in the 50's.

I'm not sure if I'll ever live in one of these communities or not. But I learned not to be so judgemental about it all.

What are you thoughts about 50+ communities?

27/02/2025

This is a big day for EVERYONE! (ok, just me!). I've officially made it. Here's a mug of my mug!!!

I USED TO BE SOMEBODY!

15/02/2025

Carl's Top 6 NOT Retirement Tips

1. **Stop calling it retirement!**
I hate that "R" word. To me that means "You're done, you have nothing else relevant to contribute to the world." Which is why I call the phase after your primary career (un)retirement. It's a time of brand new possibility and personal reinvention! It's a time to explore new interests and fulfill new dreams.

2.. **Retire earlier than you think you should.**
I've interviewed over 90 guests on "I Used to be Somebody" and almost all say they wished they had ended their careers earlier. This includes me. Honestly, think about your Sunday nights or Monday mornings. Do you have the same enthusiasm to get to work that you used to have? My last 3 or 4 years of work, it felt more like a grind, but I ignored it. I wish I had listened to my "Monday gut" and I would have created an exit strategy earlier.

3. **Figure out the money thing.**
Figuring out if you have enough money to stop working full-time is pretty important. I talked to my financial advisor 5 years in advance. Don't be afraid to start figuring out your new life ahead of time. And although I know you're super-smart and everything, hire a certified pro. Plus, you can go into most financial planners and get an initial financial evaluation for free.

Bonus Tip: Get your Estate Planning in order!

4. **Think about your future.**
If you retire in your 60's and you're in reasonable health, chances are you're going to live for decades more. Give some deep thought in ADVANCE about what you want to do next. Most people spend more time planning a 10-day vacation than how they want to live for the next 20+ years.

5. **Don't jump off a cliff.**
One of the worst things you can do is have this hard-driving career for 25++ years and then just stop one day into the retirement abyss, telling yourself you'll be able to figure it all out when you have more time. DISASTER ALERT! It truly takes some serious commitment to figure out who you are outside of your career. But you're worth it!

6. **Try the gentle slope idea.**
If you're in the corporate world, maybe discuss with management about working into a part-time or consulting position. If you're an entrepreneur, go ahead and start off-loading responsibilities to staff. Or hire a consultant to figure out what part of your operation is more profitable and get rid of the part of the company that isn't successful. Do more mentoring and less "working."

I know my tips probably seem like added work when you're contemplating retirement. It's a big decision to end a career you've had for a long time. It might even feel kinda scary. But these tips are inspired by my discussions with over 90 successful people have taken the time to do "(un)retirement right!

15/01/2025

CARL'S TOP 10 (UN)RESOLUTION IDEAS FOR 2025

No shock here! New Year's Resolutions DON'T work. By the time you read this, most people (maybe you?) have broken their resolutions. Typically, it's within 14 days of January 1st. It actually has a name -- "Quitters Day".

Why do New Year's Resolutions fail? They are all good intentions sort of things like -- saving money, eat healthier, watch less tv/social media, lose weight. But, they aren't all that fun. And so most people don't really want to do it for very long.

Pro tip for 2025: I suggest we make resolutions realistic AND add a "fun" component to each one!

The key is to WRITE DOWN YOUR (UN)RESOLUTIONS and PRINT IT OUT! This makes you think about it and it's easier to hold yourself accountable. As Steve Hoffman, one of our podcast guests told us in 2024, "There's incredible magic in writing down what you want to do."

We all know that to have a successful (un)Retirement, we need to have a healthy body, mind, and active social life. So my focus in (Un)Retirement is more on relationships and experiences. And not things. I'm excited to focus on spending more time with the people I care about, making new friends and adventuring to new places in 2025!

Carl's Top 10 (Un)Resolution Ideas for 2025: (In very random order).

1. Easy Health. Walk 10,000 steps a day. My goal last year was to walk 10,000 steps a day at least 5 out of 7 days a week. And I did it! A great way to burn some calories and clear your head. I'm bumping it up to 12,000 steps this year.

Fun Factor: Get a walking buddy and you can talk the whole time. Or call a good friend. You will hit 10,000 steps and not even know it. Or listen to a couple of podcasts and learn something new and interesting. Or unplug and just appreciate the city or nature around you.

2. Pick something you love and do more of it. For me it's "travel". I've already written down my 2025 travel schedule. It's a 20% increase. I think the way to keep engaged and getting the most out of life by going to new places, learning about the history and culture of a place and meeting new people.

Fun Factor: This is 100% fun. No need to say more!

3. Give up one thing to eat or drink that is bad for you. I've been a lifelong Diet Coke drinker. That is how I got my caffeine since I don't drink coffee. You don't need to be a scientific to know there is some bad stuff in those sodas. I switched to hot tea in the morning and don't miss it at all. This year it's healthy snacks. I've had 2 tangerines while I've been writing this.

Fun Factor: It's just one thing. Don't be a baby.

4. More community involvement. I'm going to start a club this year. Deciding on the club focus right now. I used to be in Odd Fellows before we moved and really liked it and I miss it. My vision for this new club includes live, in-person meetings. No Zoom meetings for me. I really want to meet new people and give myself a reason to see more friends more.

Fun Factor: Learning new stuff and making more friends!

5. Call people. Speaking of friends. There is nothing like rekindling friendships. I'm guessing most of you still have some written address book in your shelf somewhere. You know the one with everyone's addresses and ex-spouses crossed out. Grab that and start calling people. I do this all the time and the amazing thing is that people will answer their phones. They are always thrilled to actually receive some communication that isn't a text or email or dumb post on social media.

Fun Factor: Personal interaction is way more fun that looking at your dumb phone.

6. Get organized. I created a new rule for myself. When I go through my closet and drawers, I pull out and donate anything I haven't worn for a year. The truth is if you haven't worn something in a year you're probably not ever going to wear it. This includes that paisley shirt from the '80's that is too snug to wear. GET RID OF IT!

Fun Factor: There is a tremendous amount of satisfaction from getting rid of stuff. Declutter your house and mind. Plus, you can buy some new clothes guilt-free.

7. Move on with technology. One thing I'm going to do is cut the stupid cable cord. I know I'm probably late to the game on this but I will do it. The monthly cable bill is crazy expensive and I know that switching to YouTube TV will cut the bill in half. You just need to do that or whatever you're behind the eight ball on in technology.

Fun Factor: I'm going to take that money saved and take my wife out to our favorite restaurant and take a fun weekend trip.

8. Do the "life" thing you need to do. Maybe it's hiring a Financial Advisor and/or finally creating a living trust/will. Whatever it is. Just do the thing that's in the back of your mind all the time. Do it!

Fun Factor: It's fun to sleep at night and have peace of mind.

9. Do that "Thing". What is the big thing you want to do? Maybe you keep it tucked away inside. Maybe you're not sure yet. Or you've been talking about it for 30+ years and you never do it. For me, it was to perform stand up comedy. I talked about doing it many times and finally a couple of years ago I signed up for a stand up workshop and did it! And I'm so glad I did.

Fun Factor: To actually do the thing is way more fun than keeping it in your head. And it will keep your friends and family from rolling their eyes everytime you just talk about it.

10. Discover your city more. I love traveling the world. But there are tons of places I haven't seen or experienced in my own city. I've made a list of 12 areas of the city I don't know much about and want to explore that area once a month and eat in a brand new restaurant for lunch.

Fun Factor: The new is always Fun! And didn't you notice? I mentioned lunch!

31/10/2024

Don't Forget Your Customers / Thank Them!

I feel like we just don't take the time to thank our customers enough. If you stay at a hotel it's some genic email where your big thanks is to fill out some stupid survey. If you go to a conference you basically get the same generic email. There is no real marketing or branding. What a missed opportunity.

I just attended a super fun Pickleball Trip. And I got this great postcard about the trip I just took and on the back a short note that captured the fun spirit of the event and why it was so memorable. And it even rymed.

This postcard I've hung up in my office and I'll be thinking about the good times I had and the company behind it. The company behind it is Zephyr Adventure. We use this company and their sister company Taste Vacations for our I Used to be Somebody tours. This is one of the many reasons I love working with them!

19/10/2024

We just got from our Arizona Pickleball Vacation in Prescott, AZ. What fun!!!

4 Days of pickleball instruction and playing in the morning with afternoons of kayaking, jeep ride in Sedona and hiking and lots of laughing!

10/10/2024

My wife Diana and I are huge fans of Ina Garten the television cooking star and author. We're loving her new book, Be Ready When the Luck Happens. I too feel like I've embraced being open to new things that come my way in life.

A little over a year ago, an opportunity presented itself. We could create trips for our I Used to Be Somebody podcast audience. We decided to make an Italy trip our first stop on a World Tour. For me, it was a major step into the world of (un)retirement. For the last 20 years of my career I had put on live events -- seminars, conferences, trade shows. Did I really want to do another event, with all the stress and work? Also, I'm a bit of a control freak. Could I possibly try it by letting go of the parts I didn't like to do, and just enjoy myself?

So I figured it out. First, I hired out an experienced tour company that I trusted. We worked together a bit on the planning and then they took the reins on the rest, including details, logistics and ex*****on. Still, it all felt new. It was our podcast's first time event. Everyone was taking a chance to be there. Would they like the tour? Would we like touring with the other people? Would....??? It can be so easy to talk yourself out of things.

Just one week ago we returned from Italy. We held our first I Used to be Somebody World Tour trip. Everyone in the group continuously said, "How lucky we are to be here!" And I 100% just enjoyed the experience of being in one of the most beautiful places in the world, in Tuscany, with these other 18 fun loving people.

Lessons Learned:

Try something new! Evaluate what you really want to do, what you're good at and just give it a try. Take the risk. Why is it easier to talk ourselves out of things than into things? As our podcasts guests tell us over and over, "Say yes!"

Don't dive right back into what you used to do. Don't do it! It's easy when you have the skill set and experience to go all in. But you'll find yourself working full-time again. Instead, go hybrid. Do the fun part of the job you enjoyed and hire someone else to do the rest.

It's so important to let go. It wasn't easy for me to turn over the control of the situation, but I did it! It was freeing. Then I could relax and enjoy the journey!

The end result of all this, as Ina says, is that I'm ready. I can't wait to do more trips! Experience new things!

04/10/2024

Pro Tip: Next time you're teaching a seminar serve your attendees some good wine and hold it in Italy. Always 5 star reviews!

I just came back from our "I Used to be Somebody World Tour" first stop was in Tuscany. Our (UN(Retirement Classes were a huge hit. Next stop is Portugal in 2025.

17/09/2024

There are 19 of us in Tuscany at the first I Used to be Somebody World tours! Having a blast!

I Used to be Somebody