There's so much information out there: practical, impractical, and
everything in between. There are so many modes of delivery: email,
TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, social media, word of mouth...
How can you sort through the flood of information to find enough of
what you need to start making great choices for your future?
Here are 8 simple approaches that you can use to find the
information you need, so you can create the life you want and
handle the expected and unexpected challenges that are part of life
after 50. 
Dr. George Schofield
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1. Unplug. Take a periodic break from the news, a media fast.
Watchdog groups have analyzed the mainstream media and found some
disturbing information: for every 13 negative news stories, there
is only one positive story.
2. Seek information from sources and perspectives that:
a) you trust
b) provide a variety of perspectives
c) that help you analyze the information and arrive at your own
conclusions.
3. Keep asking yourself:
• "What is really being communicated?
• "How does this help me?"
• "Does this really help me?"
• "Who stands to benefit if I adopt this information, belief or
perspective?"
4. Stop consuming information from any source that uses tactics
like these:
• - us vs. them
• - fear, doom, and gloom
• - righteous indignation and blame
• - attacking a person's integrity instead of trying to understand him or her
• - making one perspective totally right and all others totally wrong
5. Take a deep breath and walk away from your trusted sources for
at least 72 hours. When you come back, listen to them with a
different ear.
6. Write down the most important facts you are learning that can
and will affect your life after 50. Choose what to do about them.
Respond rather than react.
7. Keep an eye on other people's most often repeated information or
perspectives. Distinguish between the rhetoric / hype and what is
really useful for you and the people you care about.
8. Talk (regularly) with one person you know well and with one
person you don't know well (and may not agree with) to get two
perspectives in addition to your own.
Write down your observations about the discussions. Choose the
information that you need and take action. Repeat.
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