Betsy Jasper, the Interesting Old Person

Before her experience with Frame of Mind Coaching™, Betsy Jasper says that she was “always most comfortable behind the scenes; and wanted to avoid the spotlight.” She would second-guess herself and was afraid of judgment and comparison. She would look at all of the people around her and see their incredible talents and skills but could never see her own.

Then one day, when everything was in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Betsy heard Kim Ades speak at a virtual conference.  For weeks after the presentation Betsy couldn’t stop thinking about the simple, yet powerful, concepts Kim talked about.  After a complimentary coaching call, she decided to participate in the Frame of Mind Coaching™ group experience.

Betsy went all in. And she made three rules for herself during her coaching journey:

1. Answer all the journaling prompts with the first thing that came to mind, which was usually the most vulnerable – good, bad, scary – everything had to be written down.

2. She had to tell the WHOLE truth and nothing but the truth. Nothing was to be left out. It didn’t matter how embarrassing it was, everything had to be said.

3. Everything had to be shared with the whole group; there were to be no private journals.

This one brave and bold move changed Betsy’s world. Before Frame of Mind Coaching™, if someone had asked to do a spotlight on her, she “would have gone running” -- she thought she “didn’t have much to offer.” Today, however, she’s proud to share who she has become.  

For seven years now, Betsy’s mantra has been to become an “Interesting Old Person”.  This revelation was spurred by the anticipation of turning 60.  All sorts of questions were popping into her mind “What would I be like as I grew older?  Is there a way I can make my life more fun and meaningful as an old person? How do I want people to remember me?” She knew what she didn’t want – being the grouchy, opinionated, critical old person that people want to avoid. So, she started pursuing things that were the opposite – wanting to show the value and inspiration and fun of becoming old.  

Here is a short list of only some of the things that makes Betsy interesting:

• At 57 years old, with ZERO musical ability, she started learning to play the flute.
• She works in Development for Polar Bears International and had an opportunity to play her flute on the tundra for wild polar bears to hear.
• She has tied fly fishing flies professionally, with some of her flies being included in a fly fishing museum exhibit.

While going through coaching, she mentioned this “Interesting Old Person” idea and Kim loved it!  Kim said, “if you don’t trademark this idea, I will”. Betsy was ready to say, “you can have it”. She was going to give it away because she didn’t think that she was good enough to make anything of it. But as Betsy went through coaching, she gained confidence. And she decided, along with so many other good things, to claim the “Interesting Old Person” idea – and run with it. As she started talking about the value of growing old, she was surprised by the overwhelmingly positive feedback she received; people thought it was exciting and marketable. With her newfound confidence, Betsy was able to ask for the help she needed and follow through with her idea, which might be something others enjoy too.  Step by step, she developed a mission statement and a logo; ideas for a presence on social media and a website are in the works as well.  But most of all she now can recognize and accept the support of a growing group behind her.

The real win here is that Betsy now believes in her own ideas; she believes in herself. With the help of Frame of Mind Coaching™, she can now see how she was getting in her own way, how she was holding herself back from possibilities. Whereas she once saw everyone around her as brilliant, but never included herself, now she sees herself as “a little bit brilliant too”. Because of her experience with Frame of Mind Coaching™, Betsy is able to live life to the fullest; she no longer hides in the background. She says, “I am the happiest and busiest that I’ve been in a long time.”

Despite all the misery that COVID caused for everyone, for Betsy there was one silver lining - it brought her to Frame of Mind Coaching™.