Episode 255

Preferment: Investing in Yourself in Retirement - with Barbara Waxman

Published on: 29th October, 2023

Barbara Waxman, Founder of Odyssey Group Coaching, is an aging advocate who helped define the Middlescence life stage. Her leadership in the coaching field has culminated in the transformative coaching model, Entrepreneurship Turned Inward© and her science informed the Five Essential Elements™ process. Barbara serves as an Advisor to the Stanford Center on Longevity and Stanford Lifestyle Medicine, as well as the Generations Over Dinner Project. Additionally, she is a faculty member at Chip Conley’s Modern Elder Academy and an angel investor in the aging and longevity space. Featured in Marin Magazine and Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global, she has also appeared on CBS This Morning and is a frequent podcast guest. Barbara recently authored a chapter in The Successful Health Care Professional’s Guide (Springer Publishing) and the report The Future of Resilient Leadership. Barbara previously authored two books examining aging.

On today's episode, she talks about the concept of retirement and how it can be so much more than just leisure, by adopting the idea of "preferment," which is investing in oneself and doing activities that bring joy and purpose.

On her website, https://barbarawaxman.com/, you can find Barbara's Five to Thrive quiz for achieving optimal health and wellness, which is designed to help people create their own baseline.

Barbara suggests examining the story of our lives to find consistent threads and working with coaches to go through lifelines.

Additionally, she talks about middlescence and how it's a time of reckoning where individuals have a responsibility to invest in themselves and live life fully.

Find out more about Barbara:

Middlescence: https://middlescence.co

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbarawaxman/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbaraWaxman

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barbarawaxman/?hl=en

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

Listen for free

Show artwork for Beyond Retirement

About the Podcast

Beyond Retirement
What really happens after retirement?

If you’re approaching retirement—or already there—and wondering what now?, you’re not alone. The world is full of financial advice for retirement, but there’s far less about how to actually live a fulfilling life once the 9-to-5 ends.

Beyond Retirement is the podcast that explores what comes after the career chapter. Whether your retirement was planned or unexpected, joyful or jarring, you’ll find real stories, honest conversations, and practical inspiration here.

Join host Jacquie Doucette as she shares her own journey and speaks with people who’ve reimagined life after work—some fully retired, some shifting gears, and all discovering new meaning in this next stage. From finding purpose to building community, embracing play, and navigating change, we’ll explore how to create a life that truly fits.

Because retirement isn’t the end—it’s a new beginning.

Let’s figure out what comes next, together.

About your host

Profile picture for Jacquie Doucette

Jacquie Doucette