You’ve all heard the phrase, junk in, junk out haven’t you. It usually refers to computers and if you don’t enter the data correctly, all you’ll get is junk.

I was listening to a talk a couple of weeks ago, It was from a National Speaker’s Association speaker who works with college students. His name is Judson Laipply and he has more energy than the students as he presents. But, he brought to the session an amazing framework for talking about change in our lives. I just had to share it with you.

I want to tell the story as I remember it about his “brother in law”.  We’ll call him Joe. Joe was quite heavy, over 300 pounds and only 24 years old. He watched his father who also was heavy try to walk up the stairs one day, and his knees and hips were racked with pain. Joe watched and said to himself. That will be me someday.

Now we all know that Joe at this point had lots of choices. Are you clicking them off in your head? One: he could just sit down on the couch again and start munching his chips and watching TV. Two: He could decide that he wanted to start a new diet tomorrow. So, he could wake up in the morning and head for one of those weekly meeting places. Or Three: He could just yell at his dad for being so slow. We all know these choices don’t we.

We can choose Inaction or Action or Anger when we see the need for change.

When you’re in a change transition like retirement, you have those same two choices. Just get in those comfy jammies INACTION or go out and hit that bucket list with a vengeance. ACTION, or just keep saying, how did this happen to me? ANGER.

But Judson spoke of another option.

For this one, I’ll need you to put a picture in your head of a big triangle. It’s divided into four different segments. Ok, Got the picture…big triangle with four sections. Good.

So to talk about Judson’s option as we begin at the very bottom of the triangle. We’re going to call that Input!

Listen to what Joe actually did after seeing his father struggle on the steps. Joe, did not do number 1, he didn’t return to the couch. Joe didn’t do number 2 and strike out in the morning for a meeting. Joe didn’t yell at this dad. What Joe did was change his Input!

He began to read health magazines. He got online and started to find support groups about eating well. He started going to new restaurants that only served healthy foods. He got a VitaMix blender and started to use the recipes they provided. He went to a new spice store in town and started to discover how to change the taste of food with herbs. What Joe did was changed the input into his brain about what it looks like, tastes like and feels like to be healthy. He didn’t think about the weight, he put new input into what was healthy.

Guess what happened. I bet you know.

Joe started to lose weight, the first 10, 25, 50 pounds started to come off.

He continued changing the input, by finding a walking group at the park center and started meeting other people who wanted to lose weight too. He  changed day by day the songs he started listening to in his ear buds. The ones called “Fight Song” and “I Can if I think I can”.

Joe changed the input of what it meant to be healthy and his life changed.

Which leads us to the second level of our triangle picture. Beliefs and Values. By changing the input, Joe began to realize that he was a healthy person. He started to value his health. He started to understand that he was acting out of a core belief that he was worth being healthy and that his family would benefit greatly for his efforts.

Through the change of input, his value related to being healthy changed big time.

So up the triangle we go. The third part of the triangle is ACTION. Here’s where Joe really excelled. Now he did want to continue losing weight. He began training for a 5K walk. He did go to the local fitness center and begin working out. He hired a personal trainer and began building muscle to replace the flab. He took action on his new beliefs about being healthy could benefit from the ACTION of a gym.

See the difference here. Input on health…Beliefs on his being healthy…lead to action.

So, what does our triangle tell us as we enter retirement years, our bonus years.

Many retirees start with that wonderful list of action items to be accomplished since they’re no longer working. Whether it’s visiting the grandchildren, painting the garage, or just doing nothing, we have a list in our head of how we will take ACTION in our new-found freedom.

But, moving up the triangle to number 3 ACTION is just like Joe starting out at the gym. We all know how long that lasts don’t we. Many of us, like Joe, head out with a New Year’s resolution to the gym and by January 15th it’s all over.

Starting with ACTION without starting at the beginning of the triangle INPUT is a recipe for failure in weight loss or retirement.

Change the Input, it changes the beliefs and values, it causes ACTION, sustainable action to be made and leads to top of the triangle change.

So how can look at changing our input in the early months of retirement.

So let’s talk about Jill. She like Joe had a hit the head Dah moment when she watched her mom retire.

Her mom had been a teacher for 32 years. She loved her 2nd graders, but the school district had a mandatory retirement age of 65. The first few months were fine, her mom visited the grandkids and enjoyed being home. She enjoyed having her evenings free as well, not having those stacks of papers to correct each night.

Her husband was thrilled to have her home, he had retired from the bus company 3 years before hand and was excited that his wife would now be joining him for the afternoon game shows on TV. He went out and bought matching rocker recliners so they’d be comfortable. He would tape hours of Wheel of Fortune or Family Feud so as not to miss a single episode.

Jill’s mom got depressed. Folks didn’t really know that but that’s what happened. She saw her future in those chairs and decided that wasn’t her future. She ended up getting cancer, and after only 6 months of literally being in the rocking chair, she died.

Jill as she approached her 65th birthday had a choice of how she would view retirement. Choice 1: Know that retirement was death by rocking chair and accept that INACTION or Choice 2: Start her bucket list items ACTION.

But, just like Joe, if Jill starts on level 3 of our triangle ACTION all will fall apart.

She needs to change the input.

Jill started to think about what aging really means. She began thinking about what dreams she had in the past. She started listening to TED talks on creativity and aging. She started listening to great podcasts like …oh, yeah, Retiree Rebels where the message is retirement is not our parent’s retirement. She started to change the input to her brain that aging and retirement are not death, they are stages of our life. She changed the word itself, retire to rewire, reinvent, rediscover. She told people that she’s not retired, she’s actively living her life.

This new input changed her belief and values about what her life could mean in her bonus years. She began to see that anything was possible as she planned for her next 20.

Which lead once more to the third level of the triangle. ACTION. Now understanding that aging is natural, no new make up or tummy tuck was necessary, she actively sought out new experiences. She joined a gardening group that toured the state’s botanical sites. She started reading at the public library to story hour kids. Her belief that retirement was not dying, lead her to the action that her life can have meaning.

So, listening to Justin’s speech really had me thinking. I’ve made a triangle that I keep on my refrigerator now. I keep asking myself what new input can I do today. Sometimes it’s changing the channel on my radio as I’m driving along. Sometimes, it’s taking a right turn at the intersection I always took a left at. Changing input doesn’t have to be huge, but it does change one’s perspective of one’s neighborhood or one’s life.

I’ve had an INPUT Adjustment. I hope you’ll discover yours today as well and continue to INPUT, INPUT, INPUT so your actions in change will hold.