Mike Drak: 0:00

really believe that everyone has a purpose and they've had it all their lives and they have certain skills. That maybe they never had a chance to develop and certain interests and certain passions. And what we wanna do is get'em back on that path and see where it takes them. And that's the exciting stuff. And you see these people becoming, you know, like me, maybe a writer I never wrote before. I had no idea. But then I started experimenting with and I went, wow, this is kind of neat. Right. then the funniest thing is I had this terrible fear of public speaking. I had it for all my life and I never thought I would be able to do it. And then after writing a book, I said, well, I gotta learn how to public speak so I can go out and talk about the book. And I went and I conquered that fear. I couldn't believe it. It would've been one of my biggest regrets, that be unresolved. I actually went to Toastmasters, and I can't tell you how many times I went there and sat in the parking lot and bailed on the meeting, and one time I said, you know what? This is the last chance I gotta go in there and I gotta conquer this fear. I'll never forget I walked in the meeting and, I guess they know you're new and you're scared. And so they come up and they try to talk you down a little bit and get a little calm. I'll never forget, I told the lady, I said, do me a favor, and she goes, yeah, sure what? And I said, can you go lock the door? Because at some point I'm gonna, I'm gonna make a break. I'm gonna try to get outta here. and she went over and locked the door and it was hard. It was so hard. You have no idea. got through the night and I went back the next night and got through it again, and then I went back the next week and got through it again and it got a little bit easier, but it was hard work. But I avoided, one of my biggest regrets I would ever have is, my fear of public speaking

Yasmin Nguyen: 2:00

Welcome back to The Real Retirement Show. My name is Yasmin. Here with my co-host Kathleen. Whether you're retired or thinking about retirement, we delve into the multifaceted world of retirement beyond the finances. This isn't your typical retirement discussion. It's a vibrant journey into what retirement truly means in today's world. We bring you real stories from real retirees and experts discussing real challenges, surprises, joys, heartaches, and the myriad of emotions that come with retirement. From addressing family dynamics to mental and physical health, to finding purpose, we tackle the issues that truly matter to retirees and those thinking about retirement. Our special guest today is Mike Drak. Mike is an author, public speaker, and recognized authority on the non-financial aspects of retirement. After having spent 38 years in the financial services industry, Mike retired and personally faced what he called retirement shock. During this time, Mike found himself on a journey of self-discovery and authored two bestselling books on Retirement victory Lap Retirement and Retirement Heaven or Hell, which will you choose? Mike is now a senior contributor at Booming Encore and dedicates his time to help other retirees design a fulfilling, meaningful retirement lifestyle for themselves. Please help me welcome Mike, Drak

Kathleen Mundy: 3:30

welcome, Mike.

Yasmin Nguyen: 3:31

so awesome to have you here. Mike, I think in our last conversation you talked about, this challenge that you're on right now and you're doing an Ironman challenge at the age of, what is it, 70? Is that right?

Mike Drak: 3:43

Yes. A young 70.

Yasmin Nguyen: 3:45

70. So how's your journey going and what inspired you to take on this challenge?

Mike Drak: 3:50

So far it's been brutal, to be honest, because I'm starting from such a bad position. I'm out of a shape. I'm overweight, I'm slow. kind of creaks when I walk. But every day it's getting a little bit better, which is encouraging. the reason I'm doing it is number one, I wanna give my health back. lose some weight. I want to live the best quality of life I can for as long as I can, and I wanna serve as a good retirement role model to other retirees to say, Hey, look what's possible if you really, if you're really want it bad enough and are willing to do to work, there's so many things you can do, not just Ironman, I mean anything. And so that's the purpose behind my madness.

Yasmin Nguyen: 4:38

I don't know that it's madness. Mike, it's really inspirational because so many people at this stage have these limiting beliefs that, oh, I'm too old. My body doesn't work. But you're really, stepping into a whole new place of possibilities for people.

Mike Drak: 4:53

Yeah. you have to be careful because, your beliefs about aging and we've been sold this thing that. Once you've reach a certain age, you know you're gonna be frail and you gotta be careful or you're gonna get hurt and you should just play safe and sit back and watch the world go by and that's not what you wanna do because that will make you grow older faster you wanna stay away from that. You wanna remain vibrant, you wanna keep experiencing and learning new things, and it is so important.

Yasmin Nguyen: 5:23

Yeah, it certainly is. Hey, by the way, what does your shirt say?

Mike Drak: 5:26

Oh, it says retirement rebel.

Yasmin Nguyen: 5:28

Retirement rebel. Well, tell me a little bit more of what that means and what does it, for you, what does retirement and rebel mean to be one? I.

Mike Drak: 5:36

you know what? What I'm trying to express is that we wanna throw away the old retirement rule book. where, traditional retirement, you're supposed to stop work at a certain age and you're supposed to take it easy and maybe play pickleball or something like that. And I'm saying, no, we don't wanna be like that. This is our time now that we have our freedom back. wanna do all those things that we always dreamed about, the things we're passionate about. And, we wanna post about all the exciting things we're doing on social media. So our friends catch on and they come and join the party. So I'm always on the outlook for other retirement rebels. And you can spot'em because they're the ones, they're full of energy and they're having a lot of fun. They're exciting and they're doing so many interesting things and I just enjoy it so much and those are the people I wanna hang around. So I wear the shirt, it draws retirement rebels in, we have a few laughs and we talk about our adventures and we inspire each other.

Kathleen Mundy: 6:35

Mike, I think I need your shirt. You know, it's funny because, I think that retirement, when you're talking about, the older concept about slowing down and taking things easy, that perhaps is what our parents did. that's not who we are. And I love the fact that you talked a little bit about, the difference between heaven and hell in retirement. And it really has to do with the mindset and the, decisions to move forward and not stay stuck. get into a place that maybe stretches you a little bit like your Iron Man is doing, and give you a better understanding of the capacity you have to accept these challenges and succeed in them. So I'm, that's why I said I, I'm thrilled with your concepts, your ideology, the ethos of what you're doing, and I need your shirt.

Mike Drak: 7:31

I'll get one out to you, but you have a good word there. Capacity, and another good word is potential. And we all have so much untapped potential. I. us and we've lost touch with that. And what we wanna do is wake people up to that again and say, okay, what are you really passionate about? Because this is your time to chase after it, right? Maybe it's a different type of work that you wanna do. Maybe it's volunteering or being a service to others, but we all have it within us. And so we're trying to help people dig it out and say, okay, let's chase after it. Now let's see what we can do and how much fun we can have doing it.

Kathleen Mundy: 8:12

Does this kind of fall into your concept? I love this, watching Your Life movie. In fact, my husband's always saying, talking about game field. So he looks at what's happened and then decides what should happen in the future. And that kind of reminds me of something that you are talking about and you're wanting to make sure that last scene in your film is the best scene that you can make.

Mike Drak: 8:34

Exactly, because you know, what I did was when I wrote that section in the chapter was I look back at my life. And I said, am I really happy with what I've accomplished to date, what I've been through? and I really wasn't because I was thinking, oh, I'm working in a corporate world. I'm working for a big bank. Really, there's not a lot of autonomy. I took orders and I did what they wanted and I was very good at it, but I wasn't happy doing it. And things changed over time. And then I said, I gotta get away from this. So I said, okay. I paid my dues. I went through that part of the movie, now it's me. I'm the producer now. I'm gonna make a happy ending for myself and hopefully it's a long, happy ending. That's what I'm working on. yeah, I think about it all the time. And another thing I think about is my future self, what gonna look like and what I'm gonna be doing in 10 years. When I turn 80. I think about it every day and I say, okay. What do I wanna be doing when I'm 80? Why, I put those things in place now to help me get there? and one of'em is my health. I wanna be really healthy when I'm 80.'cause I wanna keep doing the things I love to do, but I need to start working on it now or it's not gonna happen. So yeah, that's what I think about'em.

Yasmin Nguyen: 9:53

Speaking of movies, Mike, you know in many movies you start with the movie and then you've got the sequel, and then you've got the prequel as well. And I'm curious if we rewound the clock back to this journey that you started where you experienced retirement shock. Can you help us understand what was the experience that you were going through and what is this retirement shock?

Mike Drak: 10:14

It was brutal at the time, believe me. it was almost like a trap because one point when I, I was 59. And I decided, okay, I don't wanna work here anymore. In the bank. I was getting stressed out. I didn't like, some of the things the bank was doing at the time, office politics and all that stuff. It was just like it got to me I said, yeah, I gotta get outta here. So I was starting to tell people I, I'm planning on leaving. People were shocked because we were part of a defined pension, plan. You're not supposed to do those things like career. to my surprise, one day someone called me into a surprise meeting where they gave me the package.

Kathleen Mundy: 10:57

There you go.

Mike Drak: 10:59

I remember sitting there, it was the funniest thing, and they had someone sitting beside me. I guess they wanna make sure I didn't jump out of a window and my boss was sitting across from me, he said, are you okay? And I looked at him, I went, how am I gonna play this? I went, oh, you know what? I'm feeling a little dizzy. This is a shock, And he says, maybe you should take the rest of the day off. I said, oh, thank you very much. Yeah, it's, it's a big change for me. Thank you for understanding. I got into the car, I phoned my wife and I said, Hey, contest, we hit the jackpot because I was gonna leave anyways, and instead of walking away with nothing, I had their sever check. That opened everything up for me and I said, wow, this is gonna be great. And I got home and for the first week everything was wonderful. I didn't have to get up and commute and I didn't have to, report to certain people and do all these things. And, at the end of the first week, the following Monday, I'll never forget what happened. I was sitting there on the couch trying to find something interesting to watch on tv. I had one of these fancy smart TVs. I got 500 stations. I couldn't find anything to watch. That was interesting. And I started feeling really miserable and I was all by myself'cause my wife was still working. My friends were still working and I'm just sitting there being miserable and I go, there's something wrong. Because I got this money, I have more than enough. I don't have to worry about, making any more money, but I'm miserable and I don't feel like doing anything. And what really bothered me, irritated me was no one could understand what I was going through. My wife couldn't understand, my friends couldn't understand because everyone automatically assumed, how can Mike be unhappy because he doesn't have to work anymore? The truth is Mike was unhappy'cause he wasn't working anymore. He wasn't involved in things he wasn't doing interesting things and dealing with people and solving problems. I love solving problems. And I was doing nothing. I was just sitting there like a vegetable and that's when I started sliding into retirement. He and I spent, a year there trying to figure things out and that really bothered me and concerned me because. I saw that happen to my father and it cost him about a year too, and I had a good friend die from it, he ended up drinking himself, to death because he was bored and he was lonely. I. And I said, no, this is bad and I gotta deal with it. I went out and I got my hands on every retirement book I can looking for answers. But I was frustrated again because all they did was the money aspect of retirement. No one talked about the psychological side or the challenges we'd be facing and what to do about it. And so that's what led to the writing of the books really is, my personal journals. Trying to figure different things out as I went through it. And luckily I came up the other side and, I found the solutions I needed and life's never been better. But it took me a while to get there and, my goal now these days is I don't want people to waste a lot of time and go through the stress and anxiety that I went through. I'm saying, okay, let's Prep you before you actually retire, so you're prepared for these things and you can jump into or use retirement as a stepping stone to a better life, and then try to figure out what that life will look like.

Kathleen Mundy: 14:36

Well, it sounds as though you mirrored that with your personal journey, which is I think, the best way to tell a story and have people understand what they can face and how to avoid it. you also developed nine principles. Have I got that correct in

Mike Drak: 14:49

Yes.

Kathleen Mundy: 14:50

overcome? Can you share that with us today? I think that our listeners would really be interested in knowing what those principles were

Mike Drak: 14:57

I call them in the book, retirement Principles. But really now I've shifted it and I'm calling them Longevity Principles because following these principles will lead to a long and healthy life. And these are principles I follow every day. And really they're longevity drivers. what will make me happy and what will lead to a health healthy life. one of the principles is relationships. It's so important, they've done so much research on this, that you have to make sure that you're engaged and around people and you either friends or family or your neighbors or. I always like to tell people, find a tribe to join, or multiple tribes. I belong to a swim tribe. I belong to, a riding tribe. it is so nice to interact with other people and there are different age ranges too. The young people, old people. And, we feed off each other. We feed off our energy. we have fun and they encourage me to follow my goals and I encourage them. And, we mentor each other too. You know, we talk about all these different things. So, that's such an important driver and that's just one of them. Another one is making sure we have a positive attitude, right? there's all kinds of research done. The famous NUN study saying that happy nuns outlive unhappy nuns. And it holds true for everyone is, if you have a positive attitude, if you look at aging as a positive thing, guess what? You're gonna live up to maybe seven and a half years longer than the average, retiree. And then we could go down the list. There's so many, more of'em. but they're all longevity drivers. And there's things, I practice every day.

Yasmin Nguyen: 16:39

Mike, now you mentioned the word longevity. what is your perception on the difference or the intersection between longevity and retirement? I.

Mike Drak: 16:47

I take retirement right outta the equation, right? My focus on longevity is, there's two things I look at. There's health span that period of time where I'm gonna be healthy enough to do the things, I wanna do in lifespan, and there's a gap between'em. And I think the average gap right now. Is about 11 years for retirees in Canada. So maybe they're, and don't quote me on the numbers but say, the average retiree is healthy up to the age of 65, but then they're gonna develop, a health problem. Maybe it's gonna be arthritis, high blood pressure, or whatnot, and it's going to impact the quality of their remaining life. We're saying, it doesn't have to be that way. If you follow the longevity drivers, our goal is to decrease that, that gap, let's call it six span. We're going to decrease that six span as much as we can. Best case scenario, I like to go fishing one day, a dinner with my wife, and not wake up the next morning. That would be the perfect exit for me. And is, it is all about pushing our best before date as far back as possible so we can enjoy real quality, years and quality lifestyle. But you know, it takes some work and attention.

Yasmin Nguyen: 18:06

Mike, now you talked about pushing back your best before date. how do people start doing that in their own lives?

Mike Drak: 18:12

it gets back to the longevity drivers. So we're looking at those and we're saying, okay, here are areas we need to focus on. And one of them is just general health. Like a lot of people they. Approach retirement. Their health declines because they're busy at work and they're getting a little slow, so they're gaining weight and, bad things start to creep in. And we're saying, okay, let's nip this in the bud. Let's turn this thing around. And one of the most important things is doing weight training, getting to the gym, doing weight training on a regular basis, because that will keep you. in,

Yasmin Nguyen: 18:51

Yes.

Mike Drak: 18:51

health. And another thing we do is, aerobic, exercise and then we do a VO two max exercises. These are all proven to extend longevity, increase our health span. so we're looking at that. We're looking at the quality of food we eat. we wanna eat, healthy foods, we wanna stay away from the bad stuff. A lot of those snacks and potato chip, I found the potato chips and chicken wings. you, you can still enjoy'em, but it's all in moderation. So we're changing our diets, right? And then we're hitting some of the other drivers and yeah, we'll get there. and like I said, the goal is to push that back as, as far as possible. When I was on my cruise, I met this interesting retirement rebel by the name of Clive. He's 84 years old. I wouldn't have known that and we're in spinning class. This guy's going hard. He's jumping out of the saddle. I couldn't believe it. And then when they had the, high speed spinning, he was pushing the pedals, he was doing 150 RPM. I couldn't get up over 120. And I'm looking at this guy, I said, Clive, when I'm your age, I wanna be just like you. But it is, it showed me that it's possible. have to work at it. And Clive is, he was in spending class every day, just like me. And he was in the gym every afternoon. He's 84, but he doesn't look at it, he doesn't act it because he works at it. That's the payoff. And I, again, with my future self, when I looked there and I said, I wanna look like Clive. I wanna act like Clive. I wanna have Clive's lifestyle because he spends a lot of time traveling world on cruises and whatnot. And he's having a great time. And I'm saying, wow, that's the kind of lifestyle I wouldn't enjoy.

Yasmin Nguyen: 20:39

Wow. I'm curious, when you talked with Clive, did you notice any, anything unique about his mindset, because of course he's taking action, but what is it that's driving him to take action? I.

Mike Drak: 20:51

one, it's very youthful. Number two, he put the fun back in the working out for me. So we're riding side by side. It's really hard, but we're laughing about it. It is like we're kids Again, it's the attitude. It's just Clive was trying to break me, but he was having fun doing it and I'm trying to hang on for dear life. I don't want him to break me, and we're laughing about it, so it gave me a new goal to work towards. And we feed off each other's energy and then we start talking about, Hey Clive, what else are you doing? Well, I got a part-time job. This is what I said, you got a part-time job. 84. He goes, yeah, I'm not gonna retire. Why won't I retire from doing something I love? You can't argue with that. And I go, that's a great attitude to have. he kept working at it. Again, addressing these longevity drivers and that's why he's as happy he is and doing all the fun things he's doing, and there's a lot of Clives out there. It'd be surprised, I meet him all the time.

Yasmin Nguyen: 21:49

You mentioned how important it is to have fun and stay connected, but do you think you'd still be fulfilled if you didn't have something to work towards, like a goal or even a part-time gig that gave you that sense of purpose?

Mike Drak: 22:02

No, you wouldn't be. And and that's one thing my Ironman training has taught me too, is you have to be very consistent. You have to be disciplined, and you can't just say, oh, I'm tired today. I'll do it tomorrow because you'll never get there. I. So you have to come up with your own strategy that will work for you, and you have to apply it every day. You have to be consistent. And if you do that, yeah, good things happen. Like you can improve your health a little bit every day, you gotta get to the gym to do it right, or you gotta go outside and get those walks in. Right? But you know, the smart people combine things too. I need to socialize with people because that's a happiness booster for me. So why not go out for a walk with a bunch of people? Why not go to the gym with a few friends and have a few laughs as we're working out? You gotta make it fun, but you gotta have a purpose behind it too, because that's what drives it. And purpose is one of the best ones. live a long, healthy life. Who doesn't want that?

Yasmin Nguyen: 23:08

It sounds like you've really found a rhythm that brings you purpose and joy, but I wonder how does this mindset show up when it comes to your finances? For example, is it easy for you to spend money you've worked so hard to save? Or do you find yourself holding back even in retirement?

Mike Drak: 23:24

that's a complicated question because I'll tell you, I have a problem. have a hard time spending money. I have a hard time spending down my retirement assets, and I don't know why that is. I think probably part of it is'cause I spent so long trying to save money and gain financial independence. And there's so many crazy things happening in the world, like this tariff thing, and you just don't know what's gonna come down next. And we saw what happened, when inflation kicked up and things like that. I don't wanna lose sleep at night. So I thought, okay, What can I do? To make life easier and reduce my stress levels. And the conclusion is to still generate some level of active income. To me that made sense. But I don't wanna work full-time. work part-time. But the key is I'll only do work that I love to do. that's my standard and I hold to that and now I'm there. I do talks, I sell books and do some other things. I generate this fun money, which is my cushion, and I don't have any problem spending that money at all. And then for the rest of it, let my wife worry about it.

Yasmin Nguyen: 24:47

I'm curious, how do you and your wife navigate the financial side of things? Has your approach changed or have you shifted more of that responsibility to her?

Mike Drak: 24:58

Well, my wife's a financial advisor. Before a couple years back, for many years I did my own investing, own, saving myself. It was like a hobby of mine. I'd watch BNN all the time and try to find out, where the market was heading, pick up some information and whatnot. But I finally got tired. I got bored of it really. I said, I don't wanna do this anymore. And I pushed it off to her and I said, I'm just gonna focus on generating some additional income and having fun. I. That's what I'm doing. And it is not to watch BNN all the time, not to check your phone to see what the stock prices are every five minutes. it's nice not to be, not to do that anymore. So it's, yeah, taking a lot of heat off.

Yasmin Nguyen: 25:47

Mike, has your relationship with your wife shifted as you've stepped into this chapter retirement, and perhaps she's still in the middle of her career? I.

Mike Drak: 25:57

Yeah, we have some interesting discussions because sometimes I feel she doesn't view my work as real work. Because she has to go out in the car and drive to work and has to sit in an office and do all this. I just walk upstairs. I'm in my office and I do whatever I feel like doing. So I have a lot more freedom and flexibility. Maybe she takes her work more seriously than I do. I just have fun doing it, and I only deal with people that I wanna deal with. yeah, it's still work, but it's a different kind of work if you pick up what I'm trying to say. Prefer my kind of work much more.

Yasmin Nguyen: 26:37

Yeah. speaking of work, you were in the banking and financial services world for quite a while and I'm curious, based on your experience, what role should advisors be playing in guiding their clients through these types of transitions?

Mike Drak: 26:52

Well, this is one of my pet peeves right now after having gone through and experienced what I did. I think it's very important for an advisor to step up to the plate and use a more holistic approach with respect to retirement planning. So when we talk retirement planning, it's not just numbers, about lifestyle design, it's about preparing your customers. For the non-financial challenges they're gonna be facing and helping them come up with an appropriate lifestyle plan that will work for them the rest of the years they're gonna enjoy in the future. that takes time, but they're the ones in the best position to do it right. it is so important because we know one in three retirees are gonna suffer from retirement shock, and it doesn't have to happen. they need someone to educate them and help prepare them and to hold their hand as they transition through, because a lot of people will struggle with it and it can be very difficult. Right now, the pushback is, I know some of the advisors say, why should I do it? I'm not gonna make any more money doing it. And I'm saying listen, if you're a trusted advisor. have an obligation to help your clients because it's gonna be a tough patch for some of them to get through. And yeah, if you wanna be the trusted advisor, you gotta step off the plate and help'em, right? And it doesn't take a lot of time to do it, but just give'em the information and have these discussions and when you have a quarterly meeting, okay. a little bit about the money and the returns and things like that, but then let's get into, okay, what are your plans for the future? What do you see yourself doing? What sources of new purpose are you gonna have? Are you gonna get healthy again? Do you need to get healthy again? What's your plan for doing that and having these meaningful conversations and the advisors that are doing it are having a lot of fun with it. Because, instead of just talking about money, which gets boring really fast, we're talking about life and what's your vision for your future? And that's where it gets interesting. I just love doing it with people.

Yasmin Nguyen: 29:12

That's such a powerful perspective, Mike, and I imagine when advisors take that extra step to have those deeper conversations, it changes everything, not just the client, but the advisor too. do you think that's what really builds trust and long-term relationships?

Mike Drak: 29:29

sure. Because you're showing to your clients, you care about them, you care about their futures, right? And it allows you to differentiate yourself from other advisors that just want to talk about money. a trusted advisor is your go-to person, right? I got an issue, I'm scared about this. we talk about it? And you're looking for their expertise and you're looking to use them as a sounding board to say, Hey. I'm thinking of doing this, what do you think? And I want your input. that's why it's important that they get that input. So the smart advisors are starting to go there, but it's slow because it's hard to get the banks to buy in. I. Because they're looking at the money side, right? And they're looking at, what kind of return they can earn. And they're saying, do we really need to provide that? Because it's going to eat up some hours with an advisor, right? And some advisors don't wanna do it, or they're uncomfortable with doing it. and so that's what we have to deal with right now. And then I noticed like the industry in itself, if you look at it,'cause of the demographics, With the advisors. You got a lot of older advisors and they're saying, my book's big enough. I don't need to do this, and I don't feel like doing it. And then, we're looking at, okay, we can't change down, but we can get to the younger advisors that are going to be taking their place and say, okay. This is the thing that you got to start thinking about and providing to your clients and they'll buy. I'm sure it'll buy into it'cause it only makes sense, but that change is gonna take some time.

Yasmin Nguyen: 31:04

Absolutely. And as we look at change, we're not only looking at the change in advisors, but also the demographics of the clients. the younger generations are more astute and they make decisions based on relationships and stewardships and all of these other considerations beyond just the services.

Mike Drak: 31:23

That's right. And it's gonna go there because it has to, but it is just, it is taken a little bit longer than I'd like to see.

Yasmin Nguyen: 31:31

Yeah, you're making an impact doing it with both, your speaking, but Al and also your books as well. it seems to chronicle your own personal journey and taking us along the ride there. And I'm curious, what's next for you? What's the next book? What's the next journey beyond your, iron Man? A challenge?

Mike Drak: 31:48

Well, there's two big dreams I have. the first dream is I'm going to probably partner up with my wife after Ironman, I'm going to, I wanna be a role model for advisors and I'm going to provide retirement guidance for her clients. And so she'll talk about the money side of her partner and all that, and. I'll come in time of need to say, okay, I'm gonna talk about planning, non-traditional retirement planning, and here's my books. The your homework is to read the books, and then we'll sit down and we'll have these meaningful, deep conversations about what your plans are and what I think you need to focus on, and we'll work together to create this lifestyle plan. it, it takes time.'cause I wanna get to these people before they jump into retirement. I, and the planning process really is probably gonna take a couple years. And what I'm really excited about is dealing with people. I dub late bloomers, the ones that reach financial independence maybe in their fifties. Instead of saying, oh, I just wanna retire. I wanna use it as stepping stone to something better. I want to go do something I, I've always dreamed about and whatever that is, and let's figure out how we can get there and prep them and help'em. then one day they'll come to me and say, guess what? Tomorrow I'm making a jump. gonna become whatever. And that's the exciting part. You know, people are starting these home-based businesses and whatnot. They have these dreams and they're saying, I wanna get outta this corporate job'cause I'm burned out, but I'm not gonna stop. I'm gonna do this. It's a sound plan and I'm gonna continue on for as long as I want. think to me, that makes perfect sense.

Yasmin Nguyen: 33:45

Did you ever have a moment where you found something new that totally surprised you? I.

Mike Drak: 33:50

yeah, it's so important. so you're coming up with new ideas and it is so exciting to see that. and that's why I love dealing with these late bloomers because really believe that everyone has a purpose and they've had it all their lives and they have certain skills. That maybe they never had a chance to develop and certain interests and certain passions. And what we wanna do is get'em back on that path and see where it takes them. And that's the exciting stuff. And you see these people becoming, like me, maybe a writer I never wrote before. I had no idea. But then I started experimenting with and I went, wow, this is neat. then the funniest thing is I had this terrible fear of public speaking. I had it for all my life and I never thought I would be able to do it. And then after writing a book, I said, I gotta learn how to public speak so I can go out and talk about the book And I went and I conquered that fear. I couldn't believe it. It would've been one of my biggest regrets, that be unresolved. I actually went to Toastmasters, and I can't tell you how many times I went there and sat in the parking lot and bailed on the meeting, and one time I said, you know what? This is the last chance I gotta go in there and I gotta conquer this fear. I'll never forget I walked in the meeting and, I guess they know you're new and you're scared. And so they come up and they try to talk you down a little bit and get a little calm. I'll never forget, I told the lady, I said, do me a favor, and she goes, yeah, sure what? And I said, can you go lock the door? Because at some point I'm gonna, I'm gonna make a break. I'm gonna try to get outta here. and she went over and locked the door and it was hard. It was so hard. You have no idea. got through the night and I went back the next night and got through it again, and then I went back the next week and got through it again and it got a little bit easier, but it was hard work. But I avoided, one of my biggest regrets I would ever have is, my fear of public speaking And people all have these fears and we're saying, okay, let's deal with it. Let's get it behind us and let's move on to new things. And these are people that are growers, they have a grower's that don't wanna stop. They wanna keep learning new things, they wanna keep experimenting with new things and come up with new ideas. And, those are the people I love dealing with.

Yasmin Nguyen: 36:22

Mike, that's so inspirational. as, you're literally modeling the. Retirement rebel, and you're doing it through your growth mindset. That's one of the things we explore is the growth versus fixed mindset and the growth is where it opens up all these possibilities. thank you for sharing that with us. for our listeners, who wanna learn more, who wanna become a retirement rebel, who wanna access your resources and books, where can they find you?

Mike Drak: 36:47

Okay, the good news is that you can go to booming encore.com and you can download, two of my books. You can download Retirement Heaven or Hell, which is my favorite book. And there's also another book, longevity Lifestyle by Design that will teach you about retirement shock and how you can avoid it. And also tell you about how to start working on your future retirement lifestyle design, the one that you want to retire into and keep growing and doing all kinds of, great things. So those books are there, the reason I gave'em for, I've decided to give'em away for free is I just wanna help people. don't want'em to go through what I went through. I want'em to have great. Lifes, and so that's why they're there. place you can find me is on LinkedIn, so you can, I'm always coming up with posts on different, subjects relating to retirement and longevity. And then if you wanna really have fun, can follow my inst Instagram account, follow My Retirement, or let's call it Ironman Journey. So you can find me at retirement Rebel. And, yeah, it's, that's gonna be very interesting because I don't know how it's gonna turn out, but I'm gonna give it a real good shot and worst case, I'm gonna get my health back anyways. But, I'm gonna learn a lot. I'm gonna talk about it, and also share some retirement thoughts as I go through it. But yeah, it's gonna be interesting.

Yasmin Nguyen: 38:21

Excellent. We'll include all those in the show notes so people can easily find you. as we wrap up with our conversation I love that you're not just offering tools, but encouraging people to check in with themselves regularly. It's so easy to drift off course. Do you recommend any kind of process or rhythm to help people stay aligned over time? I.

Mike Drak: 38:40

No, that's a very important point because what I recommend in the book is doing an annual review and looking at all these longevity drivers. sure that you're not, you forgetting about some of'em, or to make sure you're putting enough emphasis on certain areas if they're lacking, because like you say, they feed off each other, they balance each other out, and you need them all working together and it's easy to lose sight of it. So you want, you wanna keep checking that you wanna keep working on them and you wanna be focused on that future self. say, here's what I wanna be in 10 years, what I wanna look like and here's what I wanna be doing. keep going out, keep going. It's like a rolling budget. Keep going out, keep changing things, but have a goal to work towards. Right.

Yasmin Nguyen: 39:32

Yeah. Wow. That's such a great reminder, Mike, to keep checking in with yourself and evolving with intention. I just wanna say your passion is contagious, and I know so many people who are going to benefit from your work. Thank you so much for everything that you're doing.

Mike Drak: 39:47

it's been a lot of fun. It's a pleasure. I like talking to people that get it and I love the work you're doing and between us, we're gonna help a lot of people

Yasmin Nguyen: 39:58

Yeah.

Mike Drak: 39:58

What it's all about at the end of the day. just having a lot of fun doing it too.

Yasmin Nguyen: 40:03

Thank you so much, Mike. What a joy to have you, and we've learned so much and so appreciate you being a part of this conversation with.

Mike Drak: 40:11

My pleasure.

Yasmin Nguyen: 40:12

Thank you for taking the time to join us today. If you enjoyed this episode or found it valuable, please subscribe, follow and leave a comment or view on your favorite platform. If you have friends, clients, or loved ones who are retired or thinking about retirement, we invite you to share this show with them. Check out this show notes with links to resources mentioned in this episode@realretirementshow.com. Remember, retirement is a joyful journey we get to experience together. Join us next week for another real retirement conversation.