Is 40 the New 20? How to Embrace Every Age as a Birthday Adventure

Ditch the Doom Scroll, Unleash Your Inner Ferris Bueller: This Birthday Isn't Just About Cake!

Tired of annual existential dread fueled by another candle on the cake? This ain't your Grandpa's birthday episode. Ditch the "shoulds" and join Jana & Jason on the Living Lucky® Podcast as they crack the code to transforming birthdays into fuel for epic life adventures.

Forget the Instagram-perfect moments and embrace the messy reality of ambition. We're talking honest reflections on aging, facing the ghost of Ferris Bueller's Day Off dude (RIP youthful dreams?), and deconstructing those limiting beliefs whispering "you're too late."

This episode is your anti-anxiety antidote. Learn how to:

• Turn your inner critic into a cheerleader with a simple journaling trick.
• Wield gratitude like a lightsaber to slice through negativity.
• See every action, even grabbing a doorknob, as a step towards your dreams.
• Unleash a four-step blueprint to a "lucky" life fueled by awareness, communication, and a splash of action.

Imagine life as a deck of cards, each one a fresh chance for joy and growth. This episode is your invitation to shuffle off the fear and deal yourself a hand of epic adventures.

So ditch the doom scroll, grab some cake (and maybe a Ferris Bueller costume), and hit play. It's time to rewrite your birthday narrative and reclaim your life as a playground of possibility!

Keywords: birthdays, personal growth, mindset, goals, self-improvement, anxiety, gratitude, Living Lucky® Podcast, Jason Shelfer, Jana Shelfer

P.S. Share this episode with your fellow rebels against the ordinary. Let's rewrite the script on birthdays together!

#LivingLucky #BirthdaysReimagined #UnleashYourPotential #EmbraceEveryCard

Remember, you've got this! Now go out there and show the world what an empowered, authentic you can achieve.
Forget midlife crisis, embrace birthday bliss! Turn your next birthday into a life-changing adventure! Is 40 really the new 20? Listen and find out!

birthday ideas, personal growth, mindset, goals, self-improvement, anxiety, gratitude, living your best life, making the most of life, podcast, turning 40, embracing aging, celebrating milestones, birthday blues, ageism, midlife crisis, reinventing yourself, life after 40, Jason Shelfer, Jana Shelfer

Thanks for joining us.
CONNECT with us in our PRIVATE COMMUNITY

*** The Living Lucky Community is experiencing what it feels like to create a life of inspiration where dreams come true. Check it out HERE *** or at https://www.startlivinglucky.com/sendusyourdreams

!!! SEND US A MESSAGE: Are you ready to unlock your path to a more inspired life where you're Living Lucky®? Email me directly and let's chart your course toward realizing your dreams and creating a life that fills you with daily inspiration.
Email Jason Shelfer HERE

The 4 pillars of Living Lucky
Believe in yourself
Believe in the people around you
Believe in your circumstances and
Believe that God is working through you, for you, and always conspiring in your favor.

*Previously Recorded

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Are you ready to create a life you crave? Let's spin that doom loop of negativity into an upward success cycle and start living lucky. Good morning. I'm Jana, I'm Jason and someone has a birthday Happy birthday.

Speaker 3: 0:22

Happy birthday, have a happy birthday. Happy birthday, have a happy day. Oh, it's Jason.

Speaker 2: 0:27

It's me. Am I getting a banana gram? Oh, you just did.

Speaker 3: 0:32

Say thank you and you're welcome.

Speaker 2: 0:34

Thank you and you're welcome.

Speaker 3: 0:36

No, no, Okay, it's Jason's birthday and we are celebrating Jason. Everything that's Jason, who is, I must, I must just say is the jackpot of my life.

Speaker 2: 0:50

However in so many other lives.

Speaker 3: 0:52

I want to just bring up the topic of birthdays because I know for myself and for a lot of women sometimes a birthday can be a little bit of a measuring stick.

Speaker 2: 1:06

I think a birthday is a measuring stick for almost everyone. It's almost like a New Year's Day, where you look at the last year and say did I accomplish everything that I wanted to accomplish? Am I at the place in life where I expected to be?

Speaker 3: 1:22

And again I feel like we're repeating ourselves when we let go of our expectations, when we let go of words like should we're at the perfect place at the perfect time, talking to the perfect people, having the perfect conversation.

Speaker 2: 1:41

The best time to plan a tree is yesterday, but the next best time is right now. So there's right. Now is the perfect time to start wherever you want. It's never too late.

Speaker 3: 1:50

It is never too late. So the reason that I wanted to talk about this today is Jason and I happened to watch some clips from the Golden Globes so we don't have cable, so we had to watch the clips that came out like the day after. Two days after, and as we were watching a few of the clips, we saw this show called Succession, and on that show is this actor who played Cameron from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, which Ferris Bueller's Day Off came out in the 80s. Yeah, if you're an 80s kid, you're like oh, I watched that show and it surprised us at how old Cameron is. I mean, I mean that in the very he's just a genuine thing.

Speaker 2: 2:44

A lot of times I think during the day that I'm just this young, vibrant person. That's how I feel.

Speaker 3: 2:50

I still think of him as the same age he was on Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Speaker 2: 2:55

And I think of myself the same way, like I have Peter Pan syndrome, where I all day long I'm like I'm young and vibrant, I can do these things. I can fly, I can do, I can go wakeboarding and do flips behind the boat. And then I look in a mirror or I try this crazy outlandish act without having practice, but my mental capacity is that okay, I've thought it through well, I've planned all the moves out in my head and then I do it and my body doesn't respond the same way. Now I see myself in the mirror and I'm like wow, you're not 23 anymore.

Speaker 3: 3:27

Josh in won so many awards and as the whole cast and crew went up on stage, we noticed that Cameron is now using a cane and he wasn't walking very well and his hair was completely whitish, gray and very distinguished and at first Jason didn't even recognize who it was. It's like he looks familiar. Jason was like who is that? I know that actor from somewhere, which happens a lot, you know, a lot of times we're like where's that actor from, I don't know, and then we play this little game together. So this has nothing. This is not a put down or a oh my God, he's aged so poorly. This is not that he looks great. In fact he's aged well. I think he's aged very, very well. It just was a shock because we haven't seen him in 30 years and we still think of him as the kid that skipped school because his best friend was like hey, let's go take out the loud mouth that red car, his dad's car, and hundreds of miles on it.

Speaker 3: 4:31

And he just seems so innocent and yet guilty at the same time.

Speaker 2: 4:36

His allergies are cleared up.

Speaker 3: 4:39

Anyway, in a kind of all of a sudden, when so we Googled, we were we were like how old is this actor? And when we Googled, we realized that he's well into his 60s. In fact, I think he was 67, 68. And then Jason said you know, I have a birthday this week and I'm eight years from being 60.

Speaker 2: 5:03

Yeah, and it hit me, and it hit you yeah.

Speaker 3: 5:08

It's like, just like he does every woman, who I mean literally once you turn 21, you're like oh, my God, I'm getting old Because I start thinking I'm 22.

Speaker 2: 5:16

Oh, my God, I'm getting old. What are the things that I still want to do? Like I know I've done so many things and I've got so many accomplishments, but what are those things that I still want to do? What are the big, exciting things that that I have on my vision board and how do I need to fit those in in the next however many years and we're not guaranteed these years but how do I make sure that I'm actually actively moving towards these goals and dreams so that every moment is exciting and inspiring and, if, god forbid, something changes and I don't have a next day, every day that between now and whatever day that is, I say that I lived fully.

Speaker 3: 6:05

I guess what we're really trying to say is our biggest thing that we are trying to avoid is getting to the end of our life and to have that sentence, that is, I could have been a contender. I wonder what would have happened if. I wonder what would have happened if I would have tried, if I would have just put myself out there.

Speaker 2: 6:28

If I had woken up to my life.

Speaker 3: 6:30

It's called regret, and many people around actually around age 35 to 45 go through this phase of life where there's a. It can either go one of two ways it can go into a midlife crisis or it can become a midlife awakening, and it's that question. Huh, you start asking the bigger questions like what is my purpose here on this planet? Why am I really here? Why did God create me? What is it that I came here to do?

Speaker 2: 7:09

And it might start with something that's a very small whisper of hey, you're meant for so much more. Are there something bigger and better out there for you, or you might? Am I utilizing my full potential you might hit yourself with? Is this all there is?

Speaker 3: 7:25

Oh, which is is a disempowering way of looking at it, but it's still the same question. Just on the other side of the coin it's on the flip side of the coin. Yeah, so these are the questions.

Speaker 2: 7:37

That time I was in a fetal position, crying in the shower and I got busted.

Speaker 2: 7:41

Yes, I was trying to have my own moment of privacy and didn't know you were coming home. I had to go to the bathroom and Janna comes in. I'm in a fetal position, crying in the shower and I'm going. Is this all there is to life? Is this how my life is going to be for the next 20 years, and can I sustain it? Because I was making a decent living, but it was so hard I was. I felt like I was working myself to death and I enjoyed my job, but it was hard.

Speaker 3: 8:10

Okay, so what we're talking about is these moments, or birthdays. It's the moment when the candles come out on the cake and you, you start having all these thoughts in your head, and what we're really talking about is how do we spin these to our advantage.

Speaker 3: 8:36

How do we spin these positive? Because you can look at this in a very inspiring, motivating and empowering way. It's just by the way you talk to yourself, it's, it's in the way you reframe the question, and it's good to have these measuring sticks. It's good to have these moments once a year because it it allows us to stop and say, okay, where am I? It allows us to reflect and create the awareness around.

Speaker 2: 9:12

am I taking the actions to make progress? Am I taking these small steps in the direction of what's in a lined with my soul, with what's in a lined with what truly makes me happy, or am I Just building into this false house of cards?

Speaker 3: 9:31

or am I letting fear?

Speaker 2: 9:32

am I letting fear stand in the way and false sense of security, false sense of this. The if, then. If I have this, then I'll be happy. Let's be happy now. Let's, let's do something now to create these feelings are just in envelop.

Speaker 3: 9:49

These feelings so let's go through this when you're having a moment like this, for me again, I always go back to awareness and if you haven't seen my YouTube video on awareness, that's what the video is about. Even though I'm showing a card trick, it's not really about a card trick, it's about awareness and I highly suggest you. So get out, because there's lessons, lots of lessons under lessons, and it all depends on where you're at in your life as to what you're going to see and how you're going to perceive it. But I highly suggest you watch it. But when you are having a moment like this, like, oh my gosh, I'm running out of time, because that's really what. What the fear is. I'm running out of time or I'm not doing my part to make it happen. I'm not utilizing my potential yeah, I could be more and I'm not showing up and playing full out. I'm letting something stop me.

Speaker 2: 10:54

And a lot of people feel that I'm wasting my time and but they're in there, not so they can, and they also continue wasting their time and that wasting of time is staying in the same this that they were in.

Speaker 3: 11:07

Okay. So when you have a moment like this, let's go through it. What do you do? First step is awareness.

Speaker 2: 11:14

What do I really want?

Speaker 3: 11:15

and it's what? What am I feeling right now? What is it that I'm thinking? What am I feeling, what? What is it that's going on? Why am I having this this moment, why am I having this little little bit of panic? And I suggest write it down, because sometimes what we, what we think, is not really what's happening. So just start writing, just start free writing and let your subconscious, just write whatever comes to your mind, and you might be surprised because right then and there, in that first step, you might unveil something that's going on that you think oh, I didn't even realize and you'll come up with sentences like there's not enough time and there and all these and I'm not worth it.

Speaker 2: 12:04

And then you can start asking yourself the questions of Is this true, is this always true, is this absolutely true or is this something that I've been telling myself In those questions? Then you can start unpacking the truth that you've been telling yourself that's not really the truth and then creating a new truth so that you can act more powerfully and show up more fully in your life.

Speaker 3: 12:28

So that takes us to step number two, which is what Jason just described. It's once you identify what is it that I'm feeling, what is it that I'm thinking, then you start communicating with that. How can I learn from this, how can I grow from this? What is this teaching me, what? What is this really telling me? And, just like Jason said, there's there's information, there's data there.

Speaker 2: 13:00

And we've created a truth for ourselves, because everyone is right from their own perspective. We create this truth that's true for ourselves, based on keeping us safe until we hit that crossroad at the end of life where we experience regret or we experience. Yeah, I did it.

Speaker 3: 13:18

It's a facade.

Speaker 2: 13:19

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 13:20

Many times we create a facade and, like Jason said, it's to keep us safe. It's to keep us from experiencing rejection or disappointment or all of those feelings that we don't want to feel.

Speaker 2: 13:37

And it also keeps us from experiencing all the exact opposites of those, all the moments that we do want to feel, and that's where we ride the edge of that coin.

Speaker 3: 13:48

Yes. And then the third step that I like to tell people is the way to really rise above this and not get stuck in this and ruminate over and over, because otherwise you'll become like a record player and you will play this over and over.

Speaker 3: 14:06

Well, how do I learn from this? How do I grow from this? And it will just, you'll start creating the same problems, the same thoughts, the same feelings over and over and over. So how do you rise above it? You rise above it by saying what's great about this? How can I become grateful for this moment in my life? How can I step into gratitude? Because once you step into gratitude, then it's like you get over that hump and all of a sudden you see the clearing and you see all of the paths of action that you can take.

Speaker 2: 14:52

You actually uncover the veil of possibilities. You take the period out and put the comma in. You realize I didn't come this far, to only go this far. I'm not stuck in this same level of sameness and the same pattern of safety. I can be inspired, I can be excited, I can have a passionate, loving life that feels like I'm living lucky.

Speaker 3: 15:18

And once you see all of those new paths of possibility, your fourth and final step is to pick one.

Speaker 2: 15:26

Yeah, decide where you wanna go and to decide, and that goes back to you All right, let's go, let's pick a door.

Speaker 3: 15:31

It doesn't matter which door, all of them are right.

Speaker 2: 15:34

And then you just go into your resolve.

Speaker 3: 15:37

Just pick it and go.

Speaker 2: 15:39

Start taking meaningful action towards it.

Speaker 3: 15:42

And enjoy, even if it's a turtle step. You know what. I'm gonna pick this door. And if it's scary to open that door, well, just put your hand out. Just put your hand out toward the doorknob. That's your step for today. Tomorrow, you'll touch the doorknob On the third day. You'll turn the doorknob On the fourth day. Maybe you'll peek inside On the fifth day. Maybe you can put your toe in On the sixth day. Maybe you actually step in and say, hey, I'm here.

Speaker 2: 16:10

And then you'll see that there's more doors. So you haven't left anything behind, you've just opened up more possibilities.

Speaker 3: 16:16

And literally that that is the whole process. There's four steps. It's awareness, it's number two, communicating with that, with those feelings and those thoughts that new information. And almost learning. Okay, how is this working in my favor? And the way you do that is by finding gratitude for it. What's great about this? And your fourth step is taking action. Awesome, let's keep living, lucky I love it, and happy birthday to all of us.

Speaker 2: 16:48

Amen, birthdays are meant to be celebrated 52. I love it Almost like a full deck of cards. Who said I didn't have a full deck?

Speaker 3: 16:58

You're a year old. You're like aren't there 52 weeks?

Speaker 2: 17:01

There are 52 weeks in a year, 52 cards in a deck 52 years of Jason.

Speaker 3: 17:07

Every week I'm gonna celebrate Jason, that's right I love it.

Speaker 1: 17:12

Have a great day, keep living lucky. Bye-bye. If the idea of living lucky appeals to you, visit us at startlivingluckycom.