January 28, 2022 – The FIFTIETH Official Friday Night BeerBlog

There is no one right way to do a thing. This is true for MOST things. I sat down to come up with situations this wouldn’t be true for, but I was losing brain cells. I stopped. Let’s just say that for the most part, there is no one right way to do a thing. And if you are like me you are hunting and pecking through the keyboard of life to make forward progress. Sometimes these keystrokes are right and sometimes I have to backspace and start again.

Moving the needle forward is a popular saying for those of us that are working toward a goal. I know some people may gag at the saying, but it is what life is about whether you realize it or not. If you aren’t moving the needle on something in your life, you are living a most stagnant life. One that Oprah calls, “sleepwalking”.

What Is Moving The Needle?

Moving your needle doesn’t have to be about a job change or training for competition. It’s not necessarily something grandiose. It could just be about learning something new. Like researching a “how to” on the internet, listening to a Ted Talk about a subject that interests you, or practicing a new foreign word every day. It could be about choosing a healthier lifestyle: Drinking more water today, walking the dog, or creating a music playlist that fires you up to go to the gym.

Moving the needle in a realistic way isn’t linear. How many times have you attempted to move the needle and that wasn’t the right thing? It happens a lot. Stop. No worries. The biggest accomplishment from moving the needle in the wrong direction is that you tried. You have “failed forward”. Yet another hated phrase.

The FNBB Addition

This blog, now known affectionately by us as the Friday Night BeerBlog, started out singularly as a blog on my website. Moving the needle to even write it was major for me. Then I started sharing it with Mike who enjoyed sitting with me on Friday nights to hear me read it. Alas, we moved the needle by starting to record what is now a podcast version of the Friday Night BeerBlog on my The New Old You podcast. I was adding to the movement of the needle. Layering the initial needle drop.

Last July I felt the need to move the Friday Night BeerBlog, or the FNBB, to its own place. A podcast unto itself. It felt right. I moved the needle. And it was fine. We had fun. I chose quirky music that I found was also used by two commercials for an “older” audience. This was a a shocking revelation the first time I heard “my” music coming from the TV soundbar.

The FNBB Subtraction

In trying to figure out what I’m doing with all of these moving parts, I realized that the FNBB should never have moved. I was under the impression that because it didn’t deal with the exact topics that my regular episodes of the podcast deal with, that it had no place. But eventually I began to learn that the FNBB falls right in line with the mission of The New Old You. And that is to talk about and deal with all kinds of issues of being over 50.

So it’s time to subtract. The Friday Night BeerBlog podcast is going away and returning to The New Old You as a Friday Night feature. I figure that if Chalene Johnson can do a personal update on her podcast every Friday; that people who listen to my podcast will get it and accept it. And if they don’t, oh well, I’m sorry, cause it’s coming back.

Doing The Math

I had considered not writing this blog or recording the podcast at all, but that was subtracting too much at once. As a writer, the blog and FNBB allow me to use those skills to put into words what my 50+ journey is about. Hopefully it can be used to help someone else figure out their own journey.

I feel a little relieved to add these two things together again. It’s all me. You are getting all of me right here. I’m sorry if I made you go out and hunt and peck for the FNBB. Some things work. Some things don’t. You add some things, you subtract some things. But it’s all about moving that needle forward.

It’s all good. Will this work? Who knows. But I’m moving that needle forward to give it a whirl. I thank you for your patience and encourage to you learn from me and the things I’m hunting and pecking at.

LLM

The FNBB on The New Old You!

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1594894/9972167