Midlife Revolution Unleashed

Beyond Fear: Embracing Technology to Revolutionize Your Midlife Journey

• Stacy M. Lewis & Wayne Dawson • Season 3 • Episode 62

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AI is revolutionizing how we navigate midlife by enhancing productivity, enabling personal growth, and optimizing our daily routines without replacing human connection. This technology isn't just for the tech-savvy or young generation—it's a powerful tool that can help anyone in midlife leverage their wisdom and experience more effectively.

• Already using AI through Siri, Alexa, smart TVs, and security systems without realizing it
• Productivity tools like Trello, Todoist, and RescueTime help manage complex midlife schedules
• Translation apps break down communication barriers in work and travel situations
• Learning platforms like Coursera use AI to customize educational experiences for your interests
• Wellness applications like Headspace, Calm, and Abide support emotional health and sleep quality
• AI-powered habit trackers like Habitica transform goals into measurable, achievable actions
• Technology works best as a partner to human intelligence, not a replacement for it
• Take on one AI tool this week that will benefit your productivity or personal growth

Remember to check out links, including Coach Wayne's free assessment: https://viptl.fillout.com/purpose-self-assessment. 

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💃🏽Stacy M. Lewis
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🎩Wayne Dawson
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Coach Wayne:

What if you had a personal assistant that never slept, that gave you 24-hour monitoring, that knew your needs and responded to you, managed your time, your proficiency, your productivity? What, if? Well, ai is not just for the techies and the young'uns. Ai can help you in midlife. Welcome to Midlife, revolution Unleashed. You found the Midlife Revolution Unleashed the space to embrace your wisdom, reignite your passions and move boldly into what's next. I am coach wayne, the vip coach and I'm coach stacy m lewis.

Coach Stacy:

We're here with insights, stories and strategies to fuel your midlife journey. So take a breath, lean in. Your revolution starts now.

Coach Wayne:

Hey, Madam Stacey, good to see you.

Coach Stacy:

How are you Welcome to Midlife Revolution Unleashed. I am great Coach Wayne. How are you today?

Coach Wayne:

Wayne, how are you today? Doing well, stacey, doing well, and today's topic really excites me because it has had a lot of talk. It's all the talk, it's the wave, it's the new era. We're talking about AI, advantage in midlife, productivity possibilities and personal growth all involved with this topic.

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, I'm excited about this topic. I'm a techie at heart and so I'm really thrilled that we're going to engage in this conversation in a way that is really speaking uniquely to our midlife audience and empowering them in a way to really take this technology that's not that new and move it forward with power. And before we jump in, Coach Wayne, why don't you introduce yourself to the people there?

Coach Wayne:

Hey, happy to do so. I am Coach Wayne, Wayne Dawson. I help Black men navigate through midlife so that their second half can be their best half. And Stacey.

Coach Stacy:

I am Coach Stacey M Lewis. I'm a non-profit executive, a midlife women's coach. I love God and his people and I am always so excited to spend this time with Coach Wayne, so let's jump in, wayne.

Coach Wayne:

Absolutely, stacey. You know, stacey. I wanted to just again celebrate the fact that this is our third season and we are like in the 60 something show. Is that correct, yeah?

Coach Stacy:

that is correct. We are on episode 62 and we are so excited that our listenership has grown and we're so excited that you, as the listener, have joined us today. So please tune in and share your thoughts in the comments.

Coach Wayne:

We're really excited to hear what you have to say, stacy a lot of what is happening around this whole movement of AI comes with of the early Gen X folks who weren't necessarily born around computers as the younger generation today, z and the millennials are. You will see, oftentimes on a plane, young kids as old as or as young as five with a cell phone and they're operating it. Right, and no, I didn't have a cell phone until much, much later on in life. Right, if I told my mother I was down the block, she knew that that's where I was going to be, and so when she hollered down the block or sent somebody to that house, that's where I was going to be, and so when she hollered down the block or sent somebody to that house, that's where I was going to be, there was no Texan to say I was moving around. So I had to come home to say I was going somewhere else.

Coach Wayne:

But a youngster today, even in your own house Stacy, yeah, your son probably is reaching out to you and you're downstairs, he's upstairs, he might text you, right, you? And you're downstairs, he's upstairs, he might text you, right. So I say that to say AI, which is right now where we are in terms of the age and technology, for a lot of people means I'm losing my job, means I am just not going to be available in the workforce, and for some that's true. But today we wanted to talk about how you can leverage the idea that it's now and use AI to optimize your standard of living and to better prevent yourself from being displaced.

Coach Stacy:

You're absolutely right, wayne. The reality is that technology is not just for the youngins. Technology is not even for the older youngins. This is an opportune time for our midlife audience to really jump in, to explore how AI, how technology, which is not new, can really help us be and thrive in this season.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, but Stacey, we are already immersed in technology. How many of you use Siri in your home, or Alexa or in your security system?

Coach Stacy:

you have Ring, most of us Netflix even right, right right, right, technology I was thinking about the cable company, right? So you know, I have RCN or Astound, whatever they're calling themselves today, and as they evolved as a company and as technology evolved, right, the remote that you get to operate your live TV watching you can now speak into right, so you can say I want to watch the six o'clock news and that is artificial intelligence, really communicating in a way, to then pop up on my television the six o'clock news. So there is really great opportunity here for us to really grow and use it in ways that are benefiting us. So your earlier point not being afraid or too reserved about it, but to say, hey, let me, let me give it a whirl and see how it can benefit me.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, stacey, some folks will have on their refrigerator the AI technology that helps them to identify the produce in their refrigerator and what's short and what needs to be refilled and give them a list, so that a shopping list. You know, I know I go to the store and I always go home and say, oh, why did I? Oh, I forgot this. So for some folks, the idea behind AI, which we're already using, is really augmenting convenience, it's adding to it and optimizing it, and so it's a mind shift. And again, stacey, one of the things that we must recognize is the tools that we have is as good as the hands that produce them.

Coach Stacy:

Well, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, well said, as good as the hands that produce them and as good as the human intelligence that is using it. Right? So artificial intelligence is coupled, is meant to be an asset, a resource for human intelligence, so it is not to replace, it is really to enhance, and so you and I gave some great examples of AI that folks are already using. But let's start to talk about how our listener, how you the listener, can use it to maybe balance your schedule, to be more productive, to think more innovatively. What do we have, wayne? What do we have so?

Coach Wayne:

I walk around, I have tons of watches that I no longer wear. Stacey, I wear a smart watch, and is it smarter than me? I would say it depends on what I put into the it work with you and for you, so to speak. And when we talk about midlife, there's an element of oftentimes business that's a nice way of saying forgetfulness, business that we need aid and help with and could use tools in planning and reminding us as we go through just the normal routines of our day, not to mention productivity at the office. And so, stacey, do you want to talk a little bit about some of these tools that help us to think and learn and adapt?

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, I think we can start with some productivity and time management tools that some may already be using, and I can recall even last season when you and I talking about Trello being one of them Right, a way to really utilize technology to help you manage your day. I think that there are great opportunities there to build a schedule that works for you, that takes into consideration all of the things you have going on your work life, your entrepreneurship, your caregiving, your childcare, whatever those many facets of life are and put them together in a way that maybe you haven't thought of. And so there's rescue time and Todoist. There are many technologies, many AI supports that are designed specifically around productivity and time management, and I don't know about you, wayne, but I'm always asking myself well, clearly, I cannot create time, so how can I make the most of every 24, right, that fresh 24 that each of us get? How can I make the most of it? And so that's some conversation and some thought around productivity and time management and the use of AI.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, and I would say as a coach, stacey, it is important to look at you, the coachee, and say challenge yourself, look at your day. Where are you having the most leakage of energy and time that needs to be plugged? And how might you use one of the tools that we mentioned or one of the other tools out there to help to plug those so that you can be more efficient? Right, in many quarters, the mantra is time is money, but time is life, right, yes, yeah, it is our most valuable resource.

Coach Stacy:

It is not replenishable, right, and so it's critical, and I love the way you incorporated energy, and I think we'll have to really do an episode really on energy right, because we talk about time management, we talk about financial management, but often we don't talk about the energy management, right, and so let's make a note that we want to come back to doing a little bit more of a deep dive about energy management. You're absolutely right, asking yourself the question about where am I losing that time and that energy and how can I utilize some of this technology to help me identify and to help me be more efficient, like you said.

Coach Wayne:

And again Stacey, the reason why it's important for us to get on board is because the train is on the path, it's not stopping, and so if you're going to get on, you have to be prepared when it gets into your station. You have the AI train. You're either going to be run over or not, but stand up prepared, pack your luggage overnight, be prepared to get on and let's get moving Right.

Coach Stacy:

So yeah, we got to do it, got to do it, got to do it. Let's talk about some of the new ideas and really learning opportunities that exist because of AI.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, we're traveling this year and part of what happens is Audrey is fluent in English and Spanish, but you know, we're actually going to Africa and where we're going, english is spoken, but there are lots of other dialects, languages, and Duolingo is a tool, along with others, that you can use when you're traveling to make life easier for you. There's a housekeeper that comes in every so often here to do a deep cleaning for our house. She speaks no word in English. Oftentimes, audrey is at the office and so I'm here and I'm instructing her as I leave. But first time I tried that it just didn't work. I was doing sign language and it just wasn't working. We missed the mark. And then she showed me her phone and she had an app and the app. All I had to do was text her or speak to her and send her a voice message slowly what I instructed or wanted. And guess what? Stacy, she was able to understand me, so we weren't missing each other, like two ships in the dark. Wow, Wow, amazing.

Coach Stacy:

Right, it is. It is, and how did that increase your productivity? How did that increase the outcome? Right, she was, I'm sure, doing a great job, or had the capacity to do a great job, at fulfilling what it is you were requesting, but now that you're able to communicate with her. So we're talking now about AI as a communication tool, now that you're able to communicate with her in a way that she thoroughly understands, right? Both of you are now more satisfied, and so I think this idea of using technology, using AI, in ways that benefit us, is really this is a great time to have this conversation, and we really get to also use it in learning, and we really get to also use it in learning, right? So all of us have heard of Coursera, which is really artificial intelligence in order to serve to you, the user, education and information that is of interest to you, in a way that you can easily consume.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, powerful Stacey. There are some tools that I have also used as a content developer for helping with my courses, and one of the things that it enables me to do is to multitask, as it were, meaning set it and let it. You can ask these tools to help you to refine or define a topic area that you're working at, and because it has loads of information, it can put it together in a time much more readily than you would in terms of research. Of course, you have to go back and back it up to make sure that they are in alignment, but wow, those two o'clock in the morning that I would be up going over stuff allows my wife to be very happy because I can retire by 10 using the tool. Isn't that fantastic?

Coach Stacy:

That's right, honey. Happy wife, happy life right, that's what they say, wayne. So good, you get a point for smartness right there. I think the coaching question around this area of the reflection is what skill or curiosity have you put on the back shelf, or maybe just been pondering, but have not taken the step to explore it? How could you use AI in order to explore, in manageable ways, new ideas or areas of interest that seem very overwhelming? But now you have a new opportunity to take things in a bite-sized chunk.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, absolutely Bite-sized chunk. It does help us to kind of see the world in different ways than we were before, and we have to be open to learning, right? You're never too old to learn new tricks, and that's what AI is forcing many of us to do again or be left back in the station Stacey. I like this other piece that we're going to talk about here, which is about serenity and calmness and emotional wellness, right, and clarity, because Audrey introduced me to an app known as Headspace. Audrey introduced me to an app known as Headspace, and Headspace really is an app that helps you to focus on your breathing and meditate, right, and it walks you through it so nicely, so calmly, that if you're having problems, say, falling asleep or feeling a little bit of extra anxiety or stress, this is an app that absolutely will help you.

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, yeah, and it is that it's using the tools right to your advantage. I've definitely heard of Headspace. I've used Calm for a long time. I use Abide, which is a Christian-centered app, and it's telling, doing sleep meditations to your point and in ways that you're able to do some breathing kind of reset yourself as you prepare for sleep, and for me, I like that I can do so with the word of God kind of going into my ears, and so we really have opportunities to use technology in ways that benefit us. I also have seen I know you're an Android user, wayne- Is that a curse?

Coach Stacy:

I am an Apple user, I'm just Apple platform. There is a journaling app and I know that. I imagine that there are other journaling apps that we wouldn't leave you Android users out, but there's a journaling app, and so what an opportunity for those of us that feel like we're really trying to manage our time. Yet we're on the go often and we can really utilize this tool to start to get some of those thoughts out of our head. Oftentimes I'd like a good brain dump and to get those thoughts out of my head and capture them somewhere and using notes and speak to text or journal app and just speaking it out and it turns to text is just a wonderful gift and one that I strongly encourage folks to consider you android users.

Coach Wayne:

It's funny, this great android, that I use stacy, my samsung. It helps me in that when I'm at the doctor's office and you get that white coat, white coach, uh syndrome which is a lot of people their pressure goes up because they're at the doctor and they're anxious. I usually there's a there's an app that literally, as you breathe into your ab and exhale, the app is guiding you through the exercise right and so before I get settled in to get that cusp on my arm for the pressure reading, I get into it and it's walking me through some deep breathing just to level down and so I can feel good and not feel rushed and anxious to normalize my pressure.

Coach Stacy:

So that's a nugget, wayne. That is a nugget because so many of us go to the doctor, so not only we go to the doctor. Yes, we're often rushing right to get there and to get there on time office, and then we're there and then there's a battery of questions and, like you said, they put the cuff on and next thing, you know, the reading is high. And so this idea, I love it, love it, love it. This idea of being very intentional, even as you go into what could be slightly high stress situations, to use AI, to use technology in a way that helps you center yourself for the moment. That's a nugget. Felt that it was worth repeating for our listener.

Coach Wayne:

Thank you, stacey, you're not worried about your pressure, stacey, because you're going to. You know you have a different form of AI and that's in the way of your lovely pet. I just love him.

Coach Stacy:

Well, he's not artificial, though the pet is not artificial, Although I do understand that. You know folks have been using various AI platforms for companionship and conversation. I don't know that, I have enough knowledge to really recommend that, but there are opportunities for personal growth and goal setting using AI and I think you know, sometime putting our thoughts or our destination even into an AI generator can really help us begin to identify habits we need to develop, identify ways or actions we need to take, and so let's talk a little bit about that.

Coach Wayne:

Wayne, are we looking at the personal growth and goal setting?

Coach Stacy:

Absolutely.

Coach Wayne:

So I'm big about that piece because, as a life coach, you know it behooves me to bypass that opportunity, and so I have talked about using Notion, which is a means of just note-taking and tracking and, by the way, it's also helpful for me, as I'm collecting information, to deliver a book one day. But the idea that there are tools out there for personal growth and goal setting is important. A lot of us know the idea behind tracking and creating smart goals and creating smart goals, but we rely on the old horse and buggy method to do this and miss out, and we're suggesting things like Habitica, which helps to really monitor your progress and help you to curate helpful habits and keeps you accountable. That's the thing. So taking yesterday's or last week, when we talked about the taking tiny steps to create habits, stacey Habitica helps us to do that. So it engages you, holds you accountable and you can see the developments in progress or not.

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, I think that there are. It and there are other AI generators you can use whichever your preference is at this point, and if you don't have a preference, start with one that is free and easily accessible. There are multiple AI generators out there, but to be able to tell it, I want to develop a habit of waking up every morning at seven and spending 20 minutes reading a devotion, and so please develop a habit tracker for me to begin to track my consistency, consistency and to then be able to hit enter and have it pull out for you or push out for you a very clear, easy habit tracker. I mean, for some of us it can become a little addictive, but the goal here is to use it for your personal growth. And, as you said, use it for your personal growth.

Coach Stacy:

And, as you said, I can recall being in school and as a health educator, smart goals were like it. Everything had to be a smart goal and they could take some time to write. And when you talk to an AI generator and you say I'd like to develop a couple of smart goals, this is the destination I want to lose 15 pounds in 90 days. That's my goal, and help me develop a couple of smart goals, along with a habit tracker to get there and to monitor my progress. To get there and to monitor my progress.

Coach Wayne:

Absolutely, absolutely. I um I'll tell you not that we're suggesting that you turn over your life to the demagoguery of AI.

Coach Stacy:

Right.

Coach Wayne:

Right, because some people are. It's all about that. We're not saying surrender, that because deep within is that spirit that we carry, which is not replaceable by any AI in the world, right, the God spirit. And so we're saying that the human connection is still important. But, given that we understand that, why not take it's kind of like going to the doctor and saying, listen, I don't believe in technology, so I want you to listen to my heart rather than to get an image and take care of it? You know, it's the same thing. I think we just have to recognize that we can work in tandem and in collaborating with the tools and use them rather than have them use us than have them use us, and, in so doing, keep open to learning. If you have to take a quick course on AI, if, in fact, you're on the floor as a factory person and you're seeing robots come in, your time may be marked, unless you're one of the persons who is helping to control, contain or measure or program the robots. So let's be real, okay.

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, I agree with you. It is important to remember that artificial intelligence is to be a resource, a support for human intelligence, and sometime AI can give you the data. Yet you may need a partner to help you walk through, to get to that goal, to achieve your bigger vision, and that's really what coaching is all about. Yes, you could probably put in a couple of prompts and get a little coaching nugget from AI, but the reality is that you want a partner to help you kind of move forward with clarity and confidence and taking that artificial intelligence information and coupling that with the human intelligence that you already have to live your best life. And so Wayne and I are really excited about this episode and to talk about AI. We both like AI and utilize it differently in our day-to-day, and yet here we are on this platform, right to humans, because there is nothing, no artificial intelligence, will replace this human connection, this human conversation that we're having about AI and about life and about forward momentum.

Coach Wayne:

I would raise my hat, but I left it in the house.

Coach Stacy:

I would raise my hat, but I left it in the house. Salute to you.

Coach Wayne:

Stacey, you can flip your hair. So well said, I flipped my beard, but this is good stuff. I just want to invite folks before we wrap up Stacey, if you're listening, embrace AI, don't get lost in it. As to Stacey's point, if you're at midlife, it speaks volumes to the fact that you have earned some credit for passing through all the mire that you have gotten to get here so far. So you have something to offer wisdom, as we say, sage, rather than just the age and the experience and so take that to the bank and cash it along with the technology that you want to use to augment and optimize your personal and professional experience.

Coach Stacy:

I love that, wayne. I love it and challenge our listener to say you know, if you're not jumping in, consider what's one app, one opportunity that you might want to take on this week to engage with AI in a way that is going to benefit you, not just to say like, oh okay, I played with it, but in a way that's going to benefit you and let us know, share with us in the comments your thoughts and your experience, and we invite you to stay in touch and really support this conversation about AI and how we can collectively, as this important, critical, super smart, savvy and wisdom-filled midlife community, how we can all move forward together midlife community, how we can all move forward together.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, in a future show, stacey, we might want to touch a little bit on the levels of AI. Of course, we talked earlier about using it in the home, which is what they call narrow intelligence, ani AI helps us to find our mapping and tell us the time. And then there is this generation AGI, which is called Artificial General Intelligence, and the last one that's coming up, which is ASI Artificial Super Intelligence, or Generative Intelligence. We should have a whole show and bring an expert about that, because that's when AI starts creating for itself the codes that we now do at a faster, much more efficient rate, and so that's a whole nother show and, I think, another level that we may need some help to bring an expert in to speak to.

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, yeah, I couldn't agree with you more. What I you know In the line of work that I'm in, there's a lot of conversation about the use of AI in medicine, the use of AI in research, and so, again, it's using this artificial intelligence to enhance, to bolster, to really make human intelligence even more efficient and effective. So we could have conversations for days about this. Our hope is that in this episode, we have given you an opportunity to consider and opportunities to act on using AI in midlife for productivity, for possibility and for personal growth. Wayne, how do the people them get in touch with?

Coach Wayne:

you. The people them can get in touch with me. You've been to Jamaica. They can get in touch with me by simply going to my website, viptransformativelivingcom and see all my handles there, stacey, and after you speak to how they find you. I want to let folks know that in the show notes and in the comments I'll drop a link so you can get a free assessment from me. Stacey, how do they find you? We want to include that.

Coach Stacy:

We want to include that free assessment, and we have to make sure, wayne, as we then move over to our podcast platform, that for our podcast listeners, please make sure you check the show notes, because any link that we refer to will be there. I can always be reached at thestacymlewiscom If you are checking us out on LinkedIn, facebook, all of those lovely places you know how to reach me. Indeed, check the show notes on the podcast players, because we can reach me there too. We are so thrilled that you have joined us today. What else you got to say, wayne?

Coach Wayne:

you have joined us today. What else you got to say, Wayne Stacy? You tell them what you always tell them. What will you do Until next time? You what, I'm cheering you on and I'll see you at the top.

Coach Stacy:

Thanks for tuning in to Midlife Revolution Unleashed. We're grateful you're part of this journey.

Coach Wayne:

If you love this episode, share it, subscribe and hit that notification bell so you don't miss another episode.

Coach Stacy:

I'm Coach Stacey and I'm cheering you on.

Coach Wayne:

And I'm Coach Wayne and I'll see you at the top.

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