From Surviving to Thriving: How to Find Purpose at Any Age

Can your most meaningful work begin after 50? Executive and leadership coach Dr. Sanaz Solomon proves it can.

In this kickoff episode of the BoldTimers {https://www.linkedin.com/company/boldtimers/} collaboration, we unpack:

• Surviving vs. Thriving (02:43): How to move from routine survival to living with energy and purpose.
• Leaving a Stable Career for Meaning (03:28): Why Dr. Solomon walked away from a 20-year career to realign with her values.
• The Sunk Cost Fallacy (04:54): How “settling” can quietly hold you back—and how to release what no longer fits.
• Naming Fear and Moving Through It (10:00): Practical ways to separate self-doubt from fear of judgment and move forward anyway.
• Ageism, Judgment, and Self-Worth (12:40): How to reframe experience as a superpower, not a setback.

If you’re ready to pivot toward work that feels meaningful—whether consulting, coaching, or launching a mission-driven venture—this episode offers a roadmap for reinvention rooted in courage, experience, and self-trust.

Your second act starts with one honest step.

Chapters

• 0:00 New Collaboration With Bold Timers
• 0:35 Introducing Dr. Sana Solomon
• 1:47 What Bold Timers Offers 50 Plus
• 2:43 Defining Surviving Versus Thriving
• 3:28 Leaving A Stable Career For Meaning
• 4:54 Settling And The Sunk Cost Fallacy
• 6:28 Comfort, Routine, And Real Thriving
• 8:10 Recognizing When Work Isn’t Meaningful
• 10:00 Naming Fear And Moving Through It
• 12:40 Ageism, Judgment, And Self-Worth
• 15:20 Practical Advice For The 50 Plus Pivot
• 17:20 Resources, Clarity Calls, And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:06

Welcome to the Unarmored Talk Podcast, everyone. If it's your first time listening, uh welcome or watching on the YouTube channel. Um welcome. And if you have been again listening or watching for the past uh almost five years, or just over five years by the time this episode is published, thank you so much for your loyal support. This is the first um exciting uh brand new collaboration with this amazing organization called Bow Timers. And uh together we're gonna launch a special series called Turning Surviving into Thriving. We have our first guest. Her name is Dr. Sana Solomon, and she is a lot of things, and I'm gonna let her tell you guys a little bit about herself. But um, you know, she's uh a coach, an executive coach, and um, of course, there's a doctor in front of her first name, and she's also one of the premier coaches with the Bow Timers. I will put a link in the chat so you can learn more about the Bow Timers, and it is specifically for 50 and up. I am in the AARP team. I am a 50-year-old card carrying member, but that doesn't mean we're old. We're seasoned to Naz Doctor in front of that. Welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01: 1:26

Thank you, Mario. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.

SPEAKER_00: 1:29

Yes, and I am excited to to host you as the first guest for this collaboration, this amazing collaboration. Can you tell the listeners and viewers a little bit more about you?

SPEAKER_01: 1:42

Of course. Uh, I am an executive coach and consultant, leadership coach as well. And uh I have been working with Bold Timers for the past few months. Uh, great organization. They provide guidance, um, career, um, you know, career guidance, coaching for people who are trying to go through transitions, maybe trying to have their encore careers, um, figure out really what their next phase of life is. Um, these days, retirement isn't retirement anymore. You know, we all have our our um 50 plus era of our lives where people are living longer and trying to um start new careers and do things that fulfill them. So we're here to help uh people in that transition and help them get to where they need to be, both emotionally and actually.

SPEAKER_00: 2:26

No, no, Sanaj, thanks. It you know, the the beauty of this collaboration is although the bow timers, and like you mentioned, the bow timers is for folks 50 plus, these uh podcasts can be applied to any human. Um, and that's the beauty of this collaboration. And so let's just jump right into it. Surviving, let me say we're all time turning surviving into thriving. From our basic understanding, you've had some moments recently where you're like, I think I'm just uh surviving. Let's talk about that for you. What what does that mean?

SPEAKER_01: 3:13

How much time do you have? Uh there's there's been a lot of that. Um, different stages in my life where I knew concretely that um while survival, survival was important, necessary, you have to have your job, you have to um get up and do all the things you need to do to live. Um, there was just not a sense of fulfillment or excitement in um my work or my life, really. I just got out of a great career um working at UCLA for 20 years. So it was um filled with growth and I met a lot of people and I learned so, so much more than I thought I would during that time. But there was also through all the schooling I did, and I was constantly, you know, going back to school for my master's and my doctorate. I knew that there was something that I wanted to do that I couldn't quite do in that the parameter of that job. So um figuring that out is still a daily, it's a daily task. I'm still working on it every day. Um, bull timers actually brought me a little bit closer to that as well. Um, I've always loved working um with the older population or going through transitions, um, having, you know, challenges with how to navigate second careers, um, you know, kind of how to make their lives more fulfilling and exciting once they're empty nesters or once their initial um survival part of their life is over and the paying of the bills and the mortgage takes kind of second um, I guess, um, a backseat to their actual fulfillment. So it's really exciting to get to people to help people that are that are in that position.

SPEAKER_00: 4:50

Interesting points, you know, for yourself or anyone you've helped. Have you ever seen a trend of people just settling? In other words, I'm in my 40s, I'm in my 50s, this is all I know. I'm too scared to try something else. So I'm just going to do this thing.

SPEAKER_01: 5:10

Definitely. I mean, I think it's what you're talking about is the sunk cost fallacy in a way, you know, we we invest time, uh, we convince ourselves that once we've invested some energy or uh put, you know, all of our eggs in this basket, then if we leave that basket and walk to something else, we've failed ourselves, we've wasted the time that we put in, um, and we're not gonna get it back. And the truth is you're gonna get it back, you're not gonna get it back anyway. The time is gone. But of course, you learn, you grow. Um, there's always lessons that you take from things that even if it might not be obvious, when you get to the new thing or you make a transition to something else, you're gonna figure out how what you learned previously applies. Um, and it's hard, it's a human, it's human nature to not want to leave um something that you're invested in for fear that the next thing is not going to be um any better. And I think it's a fear we all have. I've definitely had it myself. And the support helps definitely um having somebody help you or guide you through that. Um, but yes, it's a huge trend. And I think um maybe in years past it was a little easier to avoid that feeling because you settle into a career, you do what you need to do for your family, and then your kids go off to you know live their own lives and you retire and that's it. And now um people aren't really going for that anymore. You know, we see more and more of a trend of people wanting to have um second careers or they want to start businesses or they want to get invested into hobbies. So once they leave their initial career, they retire. Um they kind of wrap up that part of their life. They want something different, they want to, they want to learn to thrive.

SPEAKER_00: 6:51

Yeah. And you know, I love how you say they want, I know I wanted to be tall and that didn't happen.

SPEAKER_01: 6:56

Uh so I know you didn't cry hard enough, Mario.

SPEAKER_00: 7:01

I prayed. I slept I used to sleep in longer as a teenager. I drank a lot of milk. Yeah, it didn't happen, but you know, but I believe there's a lot of folks who who want to do things, but you mentioned it is that that fear and in in the the complexities of that emotion. And I believe, and let's talk about what what's your thoughts on this, is we can, I say we because again, I'm seasoned as well, you know, you guys know I'm I'm I'm 100,000 years old, but but to to develop this false belief that I'm comfortable because I've been doing this for 30 years, so I'm thriving. But is that thriving? What do you think? Is that thriving when I'm when someone's comfortable and they settle?

SPEAKER_01: 7:55

Yeah. I think thriving just depends on on what it is to each person. I see thriving as something for each individual person to feel that they're um filled with purpose and happiness and joy and they're looking forward to what they're doing. And some people thrive more in routine and they they like the predictability. I had this um kind of issue or challenge myself. I liked the predictability of knowing that, you know, I show up, I do my job, I get paid, and and I'm it was comfortable, you know, it was comfortable in that I knew I would be eating the next day and my rent would be paid, and that's good, you know. Um, and then coming out of that and kind of starting my own thing and starting my own business, there are a lot of challenges with that. But I think you can thrive in a situation where you have comfort. They can mutually, they can, they can exist together, but I don't think the comfort necessarily means that you're thriving. And I don't think the discomfort means that you're not thriving. I think it just is dependent on on each person and how you how you feel when you wake up. Are you are you experiencing the feelings when you look back on your life? Are you gonna look back at that feeling like that was that was a feeling I wanted more of?

SPEAKER_00: 9:10

Yeah, and so I like I like how you, you know, as I'm listening to you, it made me self-reflect and and and and say to myself, listening to you, you know, Mario, you define what thriving means. And I love how you connect it to is it meaningful? Is it meaningful to me? In other words, you know, when I do something or a career or an occupation or make a change, is it meaningful where I go to bed at night? I'm going, oh hell yeah, I can't wake up tomorrow to do it all over again. Have you ever had a moment where you were doing things, you're going, This is not meaningful?

SPEAKER_01: 9:50

Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 9:51

And how did you navigate that?

SPEAKER_01: 9:54

More of those moments than I can count. Um I think it's hard to come to that acceptance. There's a lot of denial. Um, there it's an uncomfortable feeling, it's icky, you know. It's just okay, so I'm I'm doing X, Y, and Z, and I've put this much energy into it, and it's just not really panning out the way that I want it to be. And it's happened with um other schooling that I've done. It's happened, you know, it's in various stages of my life. And I think there's multiple levels. One is the acceptance, um, the other is it doesn't mean your life is over, you can pivot and you can change things. Um, I think I uh like a lot of people would like to just say, that's okay. I can just stay comfortable. It'll change, you know, it'll be fine. It's fine. It'll work out. Uh it'll just it'll magically work itself out. Um, which I think is yeah, which I think happens for a lot of people. Um, but I have I have had those moments. Uh and I think it's hard. You just have to sit in it and and talk it out with somebody and get some perspective on it and figure out if it's a temporary feeling. Am I just having a bad day? If this is repeating, if this is every day, if this is all the time, and this is how I feel, and something needs to change. And it's hard, it's hard to make those changes. Um, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 11:17

And as you and as you get, and as you probably get north of 50, it gets even more. And then and and you know, and and listeners and viewers, you know, you guys heard Sanan say, you know, lean on your network, talk to someone, you know, express what's going on internally, be amenable, being open-minded to what may come back. It may not be, you know, what you what you want to hear, but it may be what you need to hear again. I'll reference my wants. Um, there's a lot of wants, but my feet is not touching the ground right now. No, I'm just joking. But so another thing, uh fear. Um, the that powerful emotion called fear. I mean, you are an example of someone that you even said it, hey, I've done things in the past that were meaningful to me. I mean, that were not meaningful, and and that fear of making a change. I believe a lot of folks can't get past the fear. How did you uh get past that emotion of fear where that fear did not paralyze you in making the change?

SPEAKER_01: 12:21

Yeah, that's the good questions. Yeah, so I think the fear is multi-layered. One is within yourself, and one is there's a societal component. There's your peers, there's your family, there's fear of judgment. Okay, I'm 50 or I'm 60 or I'm 70, and I'm gonna make a career pivot. And people are gonna look at me like I'm crazy, or they're gonna judge my actions, or like, you know, I was 40 and finishing my doctorate. And I'm okay. People are like, well, lady, shouldn't you be out of school by now? You know, there's all, and I think there's always going to be that, no matter what you do. Um, and for me, a really big part of that was trying to figure out what fear was my fear and what fear was fear of judgment or fear of how people were gonna look at me. And um, I think an uncomfortable reality is I can't control the way people see me. And I don't like that very much because I like to control everything. But the reality is I can't control it. If people are gonna have a negative thought about me, they're gonna have it. Hopefully, if they're curious, they'll ask and I can try to explain it to them. But beyond that, I can really only manage myself and try to get support from, you know, like my husband, my peers, whoever, anybody who can help me have perspective on what I'm doing and navigate, you know, what am I afraid of? Like the instability. Okay, how do we how do we make it so that it's a little bit uh less unstable? Or am I just afraid of failure? Okay, but that's natural because if you really care about something, you're gonna be afraid to fail. So just kind of talking that out, therapy, coaching, peers, all of that's good. Um, and I think uh yeah, it's especially for people 50 plus, I think the societal aspect of it is huge. You start to become obsolete, people don't really care about your opinions, which is insane considering how much value and intelligence and wisdom and um experience people of the older generation bring, but somehow society starts to kind of put you in a corner, and I think it's hard not to internalize that um and what's going to, you know, affect what you do.

SPEAKER_00: 14:29

Yeah, you know, the way the way you articulated, you know, what what fear is mine? What is a societal fear? Why do I fear that? That's critical. I've never I've never done that. I've never, um, you know, especially being five foot nothing, you know, there's always a level of fear when you're younger and you walk in, you know, you're like in your 20s and you walk into this room and shortest person, like five'eight. I'm like, why do I fear this? And and so I love that for listeners and viewers, how to to intentionally break it down for yourself and don't allow it to prevent you from moving forward. And then the the other component you kind of mentioned at the end was was, you know, when you get in your 50s, you know, you're rapidly approaching your 50s, you arrive, you get the A R P in the mail, and and off you go. I'm seeing it in social media, and I'm a content creator, and and and when I see these these uh videos on either Instagram, TikTok, your mama talk or daddy talk or whatever. I'm seeing these folks are in their in these corporate offices at work going, um Gen Gen Zier, your or millennial, what is your slang? And then what how do you say this, Gen Zier? And then Gen X, I mean I'm sorry, Gen Alpha, but they don't say Gen X. And I'm a Gen X, I'm like, don't they just say we're just dead. If you're Generation X, if you're born from I think it's a Gen X is from 65 to 80, if you're born between 65 and 80, the social media is going, you you don't even exist, you were roaming the earth before Christ. You don't like that, God just we are still here, homies. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Great point. So if you could give one piece of advice as I get ready to you know let you go and enjoy that uh beautiful sunny weather in Southern California. Um if you can give one piece of advice today uh to anyone that's a rapidly approaching the amazing age of 50, or they are north of 50, what would you give them?

SPEAKER_01: 16:40

I think my advice would be um to really try to reflect on yourself, understand a little bit about who you are, what your next steps are, try to silence the noise of your uh the your surroundings and society telling you that you know you don't matter or your time is up, whatever. What you're saying is is absolutely true. I see it on on social media as well and um in the media in general, and it's kind of eye rolling. It's it's ridiculous. We know it's not the case. Um, and I think that's part of our role at Bulltimers and as coaches in general is just to, hey, remind you, you still have much of your life ahead of you. You still need to, you know, you're still well within um your time and your ability to figure out what really makes you tick, what makes you excited to wake up in the morning. You've got half your life ahead, you know, really focus on what um can make your your days feel full and and happy and fulfilling and joyful. And I think part of that's just getting to know yourself and talking it out with people and um getting support. Um, Bulltimers has a lot of resources. We do free clarity calls. So, you know, please get on the phone with with one of us. We're happy to chat with you and just figure out you know what makes you happy and take it day by day. It's never too late.

SPEAKER_00: 18:04

Great, great tips, and you all heard it. You're not alone. You got bold timers out there, not you're not alone, everyone. If you're listening and watching, and again, I mean, this applies to all age groups, but if you are in that uh 50 range, a half a century, if you will, wise, um, bold timers. You got a lot of professionals out there that can help you. And uh hopefully this episode gives you the courage to spend an enormous time getting to know yourself better and then taking that step to continue to do meaningful things while you're on this earth. So now thank you so much for coming on the show.

SPEAKER_01: 18:43

Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00: 18:45

I appreciate you, everyone. You guys want to deal? Uh, I will continue to pray for you, your family, friends, and all living beings around you. Thank you.