Second Breaks

Lou Blaser (00:00:00) - You're listening to Second Breaks, the show where we talk about feeling better, doing better and being better in midlife and beyond. I'm Lou Blaser. Hello. Hello, my dear listener friend. I am getting ready to resume the podcast for the 2023 season and I wanted to pop in quickly to chat about what I am planning, what I'm envisioning for this year on the podcast. You know, this is a big year for me as far as the podcast is concerned. For one, at some point around springtime, I will hit the 200th episode of the podcast. Obviously a big milestone. One of the studies that I saw recently says that only about 21% of the millions of podcasts out there actually make it past 100 episodes. So, you know, I'm definitely celebrating that milestone with you. Another reason why this year is a big one for the podcast is that it will mark the second full year since I have shifted what we talk about on the show, you know, although I've kept the name second breaks, in truth, this has been a brand new show since May 2021, and since then I've had a lot of listener turnover because listeners who used to tune in for the episodes about corporate careers and career change, career pivots in the corporate setting aren't necessarily interested in midlife topics.

Lou Blaser (00:01:54) - And and so there were, you know, some some folks who stopped listening, understandably so. But we've also found new listeners who are all about the conversations that we are now covering in this show. So we've been, you know, in a cycle of transition here in the podcast. And so on that note, I let me share with you some of my broad plans for the season. Number one, I intend to continue to develop the podcast as a resource and a tool to help us mid-lifers navigate this phase in our lives. And that's really my main goal for the podcast. Ever since we pivoted to direction of the show, what this means is that I will continue to produce episodes that cover topics that are relevant to the season in our lives. I am going to challenge myself to have even more frank conversations around topics that may not be, shall we say, easy to talk about or quite frankly, even for me to broach. For example, I have one coming up actually in a in a couple of weeks, in a few weeks that, you know, talk about sexual intimacy.

Lou Blaser (00:03:17) - And it's by far the most challenging interview I've ever done because it was the first time I ever talked about such a sensitive topic. So, yes, I'm going to go my my goal for myself in service to the podcast and to the listeners, to you guys is to, you know, be brave to go there and talk about those sensitive topics, be your proxy and ask the questions that need asking. And along those lines, I plan to seek out and bring to you more expert voices point of view from those who have experience and expertise in the areas that are most important to us. Mid lifers. So stay tuned for those episodes. Number two, I believe in the power of stories of hearing about other people's experiences to motivate us and help us find our own way. This year, I intend to introduce a short series within the podcast called Curveballs, and these episodes will focus on stories of people who have navigated unexpected events that led to big shifts in their lives. These kinds of episodes will be interspersed with the other types of episodes, and I'll mark them with the curveballs in the title so it will be easier for you to catch them.

Lou Blaser (00:04:49) - And number three, speaking of short series, I also intend to introduce a sort of like a Dear Lou series in the podcast this year. In these episodes, I will share answers to questions that I've received from listeners from Midlife Q's readers, from my posts on LinkedIn and just from regular conversations. These questions will typically revolve around intentional living and implementing change in our lives, which are the areas that I consult around and I find some questions are recurring or have a common theme, and so why not share those with you? Right? Perhaps some of them are. All of them may apply to your situation as well. So if you have questions that you would like me to cover on the show, just email me at Lou at secondbreaks.com and we can keep it confidential. I don't have to mention your name if you don't want me to. Or you can say it's okay for me to mention your name on the email again Lou at second breaks.com already. So those are the main big plans for the podcast for 2023.

Lou Blaser (00:06:05) - We will officially start the season on February 16th and we're going to go back to the regular bi-weekly release schedule. So every other Thursday I hope you'll tune in then. In the meanwhile, I invite you to subscribe to Midlife Q's, the newsletter about intentional living and personal growth in midlife. Head on over to midlife Q's dot com to sign up for that. All right. That's all I have for you for this bonus episode. You know what I always say? Keep on making your dent, my friend. Cool Beans.