[Richard Leider is a keynote speaker at our Aging Better Together Conference. All conference participants will receive a copy of Richard’s book, The Power of Purpose]

I originally co-authored Repacking Your Bags: Lighten Your Load for the Good Life in response to a growing and urgent desire—the desire shared by countless people to simplify their lives. Over time, I came to realize that “repacking” is an essential mindset and skill today, a continual and proactive process. There are many times to unpack, repack, repeat. We must learn to repack for the new realities of the new phases of our lives.

What is the Good Life? You decide. Everyone is an “experiment of one”! My research and interviews point to this definition: “The good life is a choice to live in the PLACE we belong, with the PEOPLE we love, doing the RIGHT WORK, on PURPOSE.” How about you? Are you living your version of the Good Life?

Most of us accumulate “stuff”. We keep adding stuff and responsibilities until we get to a point where we can’t-or don’t want to- carry it anymore. So, what’s the choice? First, decide how much you’re willing to carry. And second, decide what goes and what stays.

The most common response I’ve heard from many, many readers is how they immediately went to their closets and dressers and began digging through the stuff they felt they no longer needed. I’ve heard from scores of people who have emptied their shelves—and even rooms— that they avoided delaying with for years. The literal “lightening of their load” was a catharsis for many.

But sorting through our “stuff” is a merely a jump start for the deeper process of unpacking and repacking our “lives” for the Good Life we envision. So try it. Unpack just one drawer before deciding to go on an unabashed unpacking binge!

Where will you start? When?

The purpose of my keynote is to help you focus you vision on “where in the world is home”? Even if the place in which you’re currently living is truly “home” for you, it’s a healthy idea to break the boundaries of your current thinking and “reimagine” the possibilities. If nothing else, doing so can help you be grateful for what you have.