Q: How did you first decide you wanted to write a book?

A: Writing a book has been a bucket list item, and then about two years ago, during COVID, I started working with a new executive coach. In our second session, after I’d done an assessment in the first session, he said to me, “You’re like ‘Mr. Life is Too Short Guy.’ Everything is, ‘Get it done today. Time is running out.’” I mentioned that to my wife, and she said, “Maybe that’s the book you always wanted to write.”

That was in early 2021. In early 2022, I came across a professor from Georgetown, Eric Koester, who teaches in the MBA program. He designed a course about writing and publishing a book. I signed up for it, and the rest became history. He has a separate publishing company, and they reviewed my book and said they’d publish it.

Q: How did you come up with the Life is Too Short Guy philosophy? 

A: If you had asked me two years ago to define my core principles, I wouldn’t have called it the Life is Too Short Guy philosophy, but I would have told you some of the things that I believe and how I live my life. When you put pen to paper, things start to clarify. It’s really just who I am and how I live. It’s not something I created for the book.

Q: I don’t want to give too much away, but could you share the basic principles of the philosophy? 

A: I’m happy to. I’m not worried about giving things away. I really want to spread this message. I’m on this mission to make the world happier, one smile at a time.

There are 10 principles. In each chapter, I lay out a principle and then I give examples — either from my own personal life or from people who have had major setbacks or epiphanies, people who have had to deal with injuries or overcoming major illnesses or, unfortunately, having to deal with death or attempted suicide — to help illustrate the principles.

“The key overarching message of the book is, don’t wait for that proverbial kick in the head. Don’t wait for that bad medical diagnosis or some sort of setback in life. Today is your ‘aha’ moment. Go out and live your best life. Make today the best day ever, and then when you wake up tomorrow, do it again.”

—Scott White

The first principle is, attitude is everything, the power of positivity. The second principle is, choose your attitude and own it. Obviously, those two are connected.

The third principle is, little things make a big difference. Not only in this principle but throughout the book, I want readers and listeners to be able to take away small tools, small opportunities to live a happier, more fulfilling life. It’s not “throw out your whole old life and start a whole new life.” It’s “make small tweaks around the edges.” Smile more, spend more time with friends — that kind of thing.

The fourth one is, minutes matter. I talk about how to think about minutes differently and think about your time differently. I don’t give you a guide to how to use your minutes, and I don’t judge how you use your minutes. You choose how you use your minutes. But I think so many people aren’t proactive and thinking deliberately about how they’re using their minutes. Are they using them wisely? Are they using them in a way that makes them happy?

The fifth one is, funny things are everywhere. And, of course, I quote Dr. Seuss: “From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!” I encourage people to find humor wherever they are. Laugh often. Laugh at yourself. Laugh at the world around you. Just laugh and enjoy life and don’t take it too seriously.

The sixth principle is, learn, learn, learn. Have a growth mindset, and find ways to learn something new every day. Improve yourself.

The seventh one is, take a chance, and get it done today. Stop with the excuses. Stop with the fear, with the risk, the why not. Go out and take a chance.

I talk about a book that was written by an Australian palliative care nurse. It’s called “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying,” and the key message from it is, the biggest regret people have on their deathbed is the regret of what they didn’t do. It’s not the regret of a mistake. It’s not the regret of something stupid they did. It’s the regret of what they didn’t do. So wake up today and do it. Stop making excuses. Stop with the fear and the risk, and do it.

The eighth principle is passion. A lot of people talk about purpose, and I think purpose is overused. I like to talk about passion. Find your passion, and go out and embrace it.

I’ve done hundreds of interviews over the course of my career, and when I interview people, my favorite interview question is, “What are you passionate about?” And it’s shocking to me how many people look at me with a blank stare and say, “What do you mean? Personally or professionally?” “I don’t care. What are you passionate about?”

I think you should be able to answer that question without even thinking. There should be something in your life that really inspires you, motivates you, excites you, gets you fired up, gets the juices flowing. It’s a way of identifying yourself. It’s a way of spending the time, the energy, the resources. Whatever it is, find your passion.

And, by the way, your passion will change. Your passion isn’t the same over a lifetime. But what is your passion? Go out and embrace that.

No. 9 is, can’t make it alone. I talk about the importance of social interaction, about building relationships, about investing in relationships.

We spend time investing time and energy in our business and in our portfolio and maybe in our physical health, but how often do we have a relationship plan and go out and invest in building and growing relationships?

I cite the Harvard Study of Adult Deveopment, which I think a lot of people are talking about today. It’s the longest-running longitudinal study on what makes a good life. It started in the late 1930s and originally involved 700-plus participants who were followed their entire lives, and their children and their grandchildren. The key takeaway summarizes what makes a good life. The most important thing to a good life is relationships and the power of relationships. They have lots of empirical evidence that it’s more important in terms of your long-term happiness and health than even exercise and what you eat.

It’s all about the power of relationships, and one of the stats that I talk a lot about that I love is that those at age 50 who self-identified as having the strongest relationships, at age 80, 30 years later, were the happiest and physically and mentally healthiest. I think it’s a pretty compelling statistic.

And then the tenth principle is, LIVE. Live today, don’t wait for tomorrow. And there, I talk about how tomorrow is not guaranteed, and I encourage people to think about what they would expect to be the message on their tombstone. What would be the message of their eulogy? Are you living that kind of life today? If not, then wake up. Today is your day to change.

The key overarching message of the book is, don’t wait for that proverbial kick in the head. Don’t wait for that bad medical diagnosis or some sort of setback in life. Today is your “aha” moment. Go out and live your best life. Make today the best day ever, and then when you wake up tomorrow, do it again.

Q: How do you incorporate this philosophy into your professional life?

A: It permeates everything I do in the office. We were just recognized for the fourth time as one of the Best Places to Work in Indiana, and I think a big part of that is the culture we’ve built. We have an amazing culture. People love to be there. We have very little turnover. That’s all because of these principles. The power of positivity and attitude, and the importance of social interaction, and the importance of doing what you love and thinking about how you’re using your minutes. All of this is a complete part of our culture at Invesque, and it’s why I believe people want to be part of our team and stay.

Q: If people are looking to live their best lives, where is a good place to start? 

A: You don’t have to make major changes in your life. You can make small changes.

The first thing you can do is change how you wake up tomorrow morning. I say there are three sets of lenses or glasses sitting by the side of your bed. Many people put on the blurry glasses — “I woke up. I don’t know what I have to do today. It’s Thursday, I think. I don’t know.” Some people, unfortunately, put on the muddy glasses — “It’s cold. I’m warm in my bed. I don’t want to get up. I’ve got a lot to do today. I don’t feel like doing this.”

Wake up tomorrow morning and put on clear, bright glasses. Wake up and be grateful and happy. Open your eyes.

The first 10 seconds of my day, I’m happy to be in bed with someone I love. I’m happy to have a roof over my head. I’m happy to have an opportunity to go down and have breakfast. I’m happy to have an opportunity to meet you today and have this interview. I’m happy to have an opportunity to present at a real estate conference. Those are the first 10 seconds of my day.

That’s an easy tool. Many people have said to me that after hearing that, they deliberately and proactively have tried to do that most mornings, and it changes their perspective. It sets the road map for the day.

There are no guarantees. You don’t wake up and you’re all happy and all of the sudden you have the best day ever. But why not start down that path?

And I talk about the power of smiling. We don’t smile enough. It’s such a simple concept. Find reasons to smile. It makes you feel better and makes the world around you better. It’s great for everyone.

Q: How do I appropriately and accurately define my primary market area?

A: In a market feasibility study, one of the first tasks will be to define the primary market area for a senior housing community. This is the area from which it is expected that the most residents will come. This geography will be the basis for acquiring demographic data, analyzing the economic base and identifying existing and emerging senior living competition.

The PMA definition is influenced by several factors, including natural geographic boundaries, man-made barriers, psychological boundaries and major thoroughfares/drive times. Affiliation with affinity groups, such as faith-based or healthcare organizations, also can influence the PMA definition and/or absorption assumptions.

The PMA typically represents a five- to eight-mile radius, depending on the specific market area. In a very dense urban market area, the PMA may be much smaller than in a less densely populated and more rural area.

For the acquisition of demographics and other data, PMAs are defined using discrete political subdivisions such as counties, cities, ZIP codes or census tracts. As a result, the actual PMA may be irregularly shaped and will represent different sizes of geography — custom-tailored for the specific market and project under consideration. Using ZIP codes or census tracts also allows for a more detailed analysis of the demographics within the overall PMA, specifically identifying the locations of the density and age- and income-qualified older adult prospects and the adult children/decision-influencers.

Many existing senior living communities have the ZIP codes of the addresses from which their residents came when they moved into the community. In some cases, they have the ZIP codes of the adult children and marketing prospects/leads, too. This information can be used to define the actual PMA being served and, if the communities have the historical data, how it may have changed over the years. Comparing this information with the actual demographics in the area could influence current and future target-marketing activities.

An appropriate definition of the PMA will be necessary to understand the market and to accurately assess demand and absorption assumptions. It will be critical to the future success of both new and existing senior living communities.

Lynne Moore is president of MDS Research Company Inc., a national senior living and healthcare consulting firm based in Fort Worth, TX, that has been serving clients for more than 50 years. MDS is a two-generation company — she is following in Jim Moore’s footsteps. Ms. Moore is responsible for all MDS market research-related projects involving all aspects of senior housing and healthcare. Lynne Moore can be reached at (817) 731-4266 or lynnemoore@m-d-s.com.

This column appeared as “You’ve Got Questions, We’ve Got Answers” in the April 2023 print issue of McKnight’s Senior Living magazine.

The opinions expressed in each McKnight’s Senior Living guest column are those of the author and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Senior Living.

Have a column idea? See our submission guidelines here.

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A “tripledemic” and temporary recent shortages of popular medicines such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and amoxicillin have fueled concern about supply chains and shortages of vital medications.

In December 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration’s drug shortage unit asked manufacturers to evaluate their entire supply chain, including active pharmaceutical ingredients, finished dose forms and any components that may be affected in any area of the supply chain due to the pandemic.

Though the missive had no particularly urgent tone, it still rattled practitioners. The FDA later issued a statement observing that “while many current drug shortages may be temporary, they do cut across nearly every sector of the economy, and some could eventually impact nursing homes in the coming year.” Still, drug shortages happen all the time, prompting most expert observers to stress calm in the current environment.

“We’re not seeing [medication] supply as a major issue at the moment, but we need public health officials to continue to make long-term care residents the highest priority for access to these medications,” an American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living spokeswoman told McKnight’s late last year.

“Pharmacists are knowledgeable and stay steps ahead of risks like shortages,” said Chad Worz, PharmD, BCGP, American Society of Consultant Pharmacists chief executive. “Many infections and conditions have multiple solutions so a shortage in one medication may just increase the reliance on another.”

Stephen Creasy, PharmD, director of clinical services for PharMerica, acknowledged that although drug shortages are exacerbated by external events, “any medication is at possible risk of being in short supply in the coming 12 months. That being said, traditionally trademarked brand medications are more durable against shortages.”

As Creasy noted, prior mild flu seasons in part have “overwhelmed the current supply of the products, leading to sporadic drug shortages.”

“What keeps pharmacists up at night is the shortage we do not know about yet,” he added.

The American Society of Consultant Pharmacists has announced its key initiatives for 2023:

• Vaccinations in long-term care settings. “LTC pharmacies and pharmacists were asked and have built significant infrastructure to support being responsible for older adult vaccinations in long-term care,” said Chad Worz, PharmD, ASCP’s chief executive. 
• High-risk medications. ASCP is also participating in a two-year quality improvement project to demonstrate the impact on consultant pharmacists on the use of high-risk medications with the IPRO Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO), a collaboration of three organizations with decades of experience working as Medicare QIOs in the Northeast
• Antipsychotic measurement reform for skilled nursing facilities. ASCP will continue to partner with other advocacy and professional associations on Project PAUSE and efforts to improve how psychoactive medications are measured, said Worz, who recently was selected to serve on a Technical Expert Panel for the Refinement of the Nursing Home Antipsychotic Medication Measures that convened in February.

»  Geri-Care announces partnership on injection pen protection technology

Geri-Care announced that it has partnered with TempraMed to market temperature-shield devices to protect temperature-sensitive medication from extreme cold and heat. VIVI devices encourage safe transport of injection pens, enabling compliance with medication care plans without worrying about how temperature will affect the potency of their injection pen. 

The VIVI Cap is suitable for use with a wide range of pre-filled and refillable insulin pens. It requires no refrigeration, ice packs, external power or batteries.