Midlife Purpose: Why 60 Is Just the Beginning with Allison McCune Davis

 "It's too late" is the biggest lie we tell ourselves after 60. Allison McCune Davis is here to bust that myth wide open. 

After 14 years in the natural health space and raising her family, Allison turned 60 and felt a familiar restlessness — the kind that signals a new chapter. That spark led her to write 60 Is a Good Start: A Powerful Body, a Purposeful Life, and a Plan to Make It Happen, a book that challenges the idea that 60 is "the gateway to old age" and reframes it as one of the most opportunity-rich seasons of a woman's life.

What We Cover in This Episode:

• Allison shares how turning 60 triggered a season of deep introspection 
• The biggest myth about life after 60 
• The self-perpetuating circle of purpose: Body Work, Brain Work & World Work (Allison's framework is rooted in longevity research)
• The 60-Day Dare
• The power of rebuilding relationships and community

Get Allison’s book, 60 is a Good Start

Connect with Allison

https://allisonmccunedavis.com

Instagram: @allison.mccune.davis

Facebook: Allison McCune Davis

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My latest recommended ways to nourish and move your body, mind and spirit: Nourished Notes Bi-Weekly Newsletter

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30+ Non-Gym Ways to Improve Your Health (free download)

Connect with Amy:
GracedHealth.com
Instagram: @GracedHealth
YouTube: @AmyConnell

Transcript

Midlife Purpose: Why 60 Is Just the Beginning with Allison McCune Davis

Amy Connell, Host

Allison McCune Davis, Guest

Amy Connell: Hey, I am thrilled to have Allison McCune Davis with me today, and I know you're going to love this conversation. Allison is an author, a traditional naturopath, and a mom of five who has had a lot of phases in her life. She pursued entrepreneurial business in the world of natural health for the last 14 years while raising her family. She's the author of a book called 60 Is a Good Start: A Powerful Body, a Purposeful Life, and a Plan to Make It Happen. She advocates for reimagining life after 60 and inspires women to embrace aging as a time of opportunity, vitality, and purpose. Allison, I'm really excited for this conversation today.

Allison McCune Davis: Yes, I'm so happy to be here.

Amy Connell: Okay, so when we were connected, this is what grabbed me — your book title. 60 Is a Good Start. And I thought, ooh, I like that, because as I shared with you before we hit record, I just turned 51 and I am starting every now and then to feel like I may be aging out, like maybe I'm not quite as relevant as I used to be. And I know that feeling... I know, I know. Well, that's why you're here.

Allison McCune Davis: I understand.

Amy Connell: That's why you're here. And I know that that feeling doesn't go away without intentionality. I also know I have a lot of women in my community who are 10-plus years older than I am, so I'm really glad you're here and I want to talk about this. So what sparked 60 Is a Good Start? What's behind this conviction for you?

Allison McCune Davis: Well, it was when I turned 60 — I'm 64 now, so that was a few years ago. As those decade birthdays came, I remember it starting at 40, then 50, then 60. That whole preceding year I found myself to be very introspective, asking all the big questions: What am I doing with my life? Am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing? Am I doing what God's plan was for me? At 40, I was pregnant with my second — I started later than most. And at 50, we were adopting our fifth.

Amy Connell: Wow.

Allison McCune Davis: So in both of those instances, I thought, yeah, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, right?

Amy Connell: Mm-hmm.

Allison McCune Davis: But at 60 it was a whole different story. My older two were out of the house, my third was just about to leave — I still have two younger ones, because again, I started late. In terms of what I was doing outside of the house, I had spent the past decade teaching women about natural health — locally, small groups, online, different things like that. And I still love those conversations; they're my favorite. But I wanted to be waking up every morning super excited about what I was going to be doing, and that wasn't happening. I was like, okay, something is shifting. I'm going to have to do something new. I don't know what it is, but I'm looking for that thing — that new, adjusted, different purpose, whatever it was going to be — not just for that year, but something that was really going to take me into the next five to ten years, that decade of my sixties.

Also during this time, I had been down in Dallas with a girlfriend I grew up with who was also 60, and we went out and had drinks one night with her friends who were about the same age. Of course we're all talking about this, and she said, "Well, I hear 60 is the gateway to old age." And I just had this vehement response — I was like, no, I do not accept that. I was telling my husband about it the next morning on a walk, and I just, I don't know, all of these feelings were going on. The key feeling was that I was restless.

I realized — and this is after living a lifetime — that I was going to have to say yes to some things that popped up that may not be "the thing" but would lead me to the thing. You know what I mean? We go through these moments of trying to make big decisions, and then all of a sudden it hits us: of course, that's what I'm going to do. So it was about a seven-month process from my birthday, through those feelings of restlessness, where I started doing a few things that popped up. Like, I got involved with this guy and his big calendar — I love a good calendar. I'm a big planner. My initial career was in TV producing, and then I homeschooled my kids for around 20 years. In both of those, planning was essential.

So I got his calendar, got into his Facebook group that came with it, and it was all these people just living life. He wanted you to create an ikigai. Ikigai is a Japanese concept for your reason for being — your purpose. And he wanted you to have an ikigai moment, something significant, every year of your life, so you could look back and say, "In 2020 I did that, in 2021 I did that." It could be anything — hiking a mountain, repairing a relationship, anything meaningful. So for several months I'm thinking, what am I going to do?

Finally, I'm in this group just lurking in the Facebook group, and a woman pops up and says, "I'm going to start 75 Hard tomorrow — does anyone want to do it with me?" Have you heard of it?

Amy Connell: Yes.

Allison McCune Davis: I'd heard about it about four months prior and listened to the podcast. This guy with the muscles and the tattoos — I'm like, I am not his target market at all, there's no way I could do that. It's a very hard physical challenge for 75 days. But when she said that, I thought, I'm going to go listen to that again. I went and listened and thought, I think I can arrange my life around this. I don't have to work out like he does. I can take a walk, I can sit and stretch — those count.

Amy Connell: Right.

Allison McCune Davis: And I was very motivated because I had just turned 60. I needed my ikigai moment. So I did it, and it was one of the best things I'd ever done — partially because I kept a commitment to myself to do something. We make commitments to other people all the time, we keep them, we do them. But we don't do that for ourselves. We start something, whether it's a New Year's resolution or whatever it is, and then we don't finish it.

So that was a big part of it. I also did a mastermind during that time, and then midsummer came along and I was doing a deep breathing meditation thing that I like to do, and it just hit me — oh my gosh, I think I'm going to write a book. And of course my brain — the bully brain — was like, what? It's all been written before, nobody wants to read it. But I kept thinking, I think this is what I'm going to do.

Amy Connell: And here you are. Awesome.

Allison McCune Davis: Here we are.

Amy Connell: Here we are, with a book. Yeah, well, that's pretty normal.

Allison McCune Davis: And then the writing and the editing process...

Amy Connell: Yes, yes, absolutely. Oh, I am very well aware of how long it takes. It's not just, "Oh, and we're done." Yeah. Okay. So let's talk some about the book. 60 Is a Good Start challenges the narrative that many of us have thought about — like your friend saying, "Oh, well, it's the gateway to old age." Through this book and through what you're doing now, what are some of the myths you'd like to bust, and what would you like us to start reframing our minds around?

Allison McCune Davis: Well, the big myth is that it's too late — right? It's too late to do this or that. It's too late to get physically healthier. It's too late to work on brain acuity. It's too late to find a new purpose. There's one part in the book where I list all these people you've heard of who found their real purpose in the last third of their lives.

And I look at this as an incredible opportunity. Let's just talk about women — we've spent the last two to three decades either raising kids, building a full-time career, or both. We have been giving and giving, serving and serving, often just in survival mode. The idea of self-care is hard to wrap our brains around. It's really hard for people in the church, because of the whole giving-and-serving mindset. Yet we have to fill up so we can overflow onto others — that's just a fact.

But now kids are grown. Maybe we're not working like we were, maybe we've retired. There is more white space. There is more mental room for us to think, to consider ideas, and to take care of ourselves. And guess what? We have the wisdom of all these years of life. The culture doesn't always foster that, but it's huge — it's a true fact. We have wisdom. And there are people who need your wisdom. I don't care if it's one person, like a grandchild, or a thousand — in whatever capacity, there are people who need what we have.

Amy Connell: Yeah. Are you familiar —

Allison McCune Davis: We just have to get to the point where we're like, okay, maybe I do have something to give.

Amy Connell: Yes. Yeah. I mean, I've had a few of those moments myself — it's like, oh, okay, I've got something valuable. Have you read the book From Strength to Strength by Arthur Brooks? Are you familiar? Okay, that needs to go next on your list. I think you would really like what he has to say. He's a happiness researcher and professor at Harvard. He's also had several phases in his life — his formal training was actually as a musician. Anyway, he talks about this transition from what's called fluid intelligence — doing math on the fly, remembering facts quickly — to what he calls crystallized intelligence, which is more about putting all of the pieces together. I interpret that as wisdom.

Allison McCune Davis: Hmm.

Amy Connell: It's such an empowering book for people who are in phases of transition. I think you would really love it. Definitely.

Allison McCune Davis: I love a good book recommendation.

Amy Connell: Yes. I think that would go along quite nicely with what you do. So let's talk some about the things you write about in the book. You walk us through this self-perpetuating circle of purpose — you have body work, brain work, and world work. Tell us how these three elements work together and what that entails within your writing and guidance.

Allison McCune Davis: What that comes from are studies. I looked at longevity studies because longevity and natural health were my two fascinations — how do people get to be older and still with it, physically and mentally? Most people know about the Blue Zones, the locations across the world — there are five right now, and they're looking at a sixth — where the most centenarians are, healthy, moving, doing their life. There are also some big Harvard studies and some cancer studies, even for people who weren't supposed to have a good outcome but did, because of lifestyle habits. When you collate all of them, they all kind of start saying the same things. So what we're talking about are lifestyle habits. And I'm trying to make it easy for people to work these in, little by little, baby step by baby step, as habits — because one of my favorite lines is, your future is hidden in your daily routine.

Amy Connell: Oh, that's so good. Yes.

Allison McCune Davis: I was so the opposite of that my whole life — very intense about this, that, and the other for however many weeks or months, then something totally different. I was very much a work-hard, play-hard kind of person. Daily consistency just was not me. But now that's what this is all about.

So body work is the physical, brain work is the mental, emotional, and spiritual, and world work is our purpose and our relationships. Under each of those pillars are the big five. And this also goes back to the title of the book — it has a double meaning. 60 Is a Good Start — yes, 60 years old is a good start. You could be 50 or 70, anywhere in there. But also, 60 days is a good start, because Dr. Caroline Leaf says that in a microscope you can see habit formation on the nerve cells in the brain — on the dendritic spine, you can literally see these little umbrella shapes form. That's long-term memory forming, and that's what habit formation is. It takes at least 60 days to form a habit.

Amy Connell: Okay.

Allison McCune Davis: It can be up to eight months, depending on the person and the habit. So that's the other reason — 60 days is a good start. What this whole thing leads to is the 60 Day Dare. I want you to pick something out of the big five under body work, brain work, and world work to do for 60 days. You can just pick one thing out of one category — that's fine. Everybody's life is different, so you design this within your own parameters.

In body work, the five are eat, drink, move, sleep, and breathe. "Eat" is going to be anything to do with what or how you're eating — maybe you take something out that's not so good for 60 days, maybe you add something in, maybe a supplement, maybe you just eat a certain way. You design that. "Drink" is all about water — are you getting at least half your body weight in ounces a day? And that requires always having it with you.

Amy Connell: Oh, hold on. Pull that up — we're going to both show our — what even are these? These big Stanleys that are —

Allison McCune Davis: I have a big one and this is the smaller size — I have both and they're always sitting next to me.

Amy Connell: Yes.

Allison McCune Davis: And then "move" would be moving your body, physical exercise. Maybe you already do great stuff and you just want to increase it a little bit for 60 days. Or maybe you're totally sedentary and you're like, I just need to walk to the stop sign and back.

Amy Connell: Great place to start.

Allison McCune Davis: For 60 days, you commit. Again, you're designing it. "Sleep" — we have to get good sleep. I have a ton of tips. I know it's a problem for a lot of people, but it is essential, and it's the number one thing to do when we're trying to heal something in our body. I was just reading all about Alzheimer's — when you get to this age, those things run through your mind. And sleep is one of the big ones. Then "breathe" — deep breathing sessions. People don't think about that, but we breathe very shallow in America. So doing deep breathing is so important.

That's body work. And then brain work is write, read, clear, meditate, create. "Write" is journaling — maybe you're dealing with grief or trauma and you're going to journal for a set number of minutes each day. Or maybe you just need to do a brain download — you wake up and there's so much stuff in your head, you get it out on paper, and boy, that feels better.

Amy Connell: Right. Yes.

Allison McCune Davis: "Read" is just reading nonfiction. We don't read anymore — we're just all on our phones and computers. But literally reading something nonfiction that's going to improve you in some way, whether it's business or personal. My recommendation: 10 pages a day. "Clear" is either decluttering or detoxing your home. We know that clutter causes mental clutter. Everything we're talking about is going to de-stress your life, which is one of the major problems most people have. Detoxing means getting the chemicals out — laundry room, bathroom, under the kitchen sink is usually where they hide. That's an area I can also help people in.

"Meditate" would be meditating, praying, or affirmations — a 10-minute session. And then "create" is some kind of creative, art-making activity. I love needlepoint. There are studies showing it lowers cortisol, the stress hormone. It's just a great thing to do. I love doing that at the end of the day.

Amy Connell: Yeah. Yeah.

Allison McCune Davis: So that's brain work. And then in world work, the first one is 60 questions. This is for the person who was like I was right when I turned 60 — restless, unsure of what they're doing. You would journal the answer to one per day for 60 days, and I really think that can lead you to what your purpose could be.

Amy Connell: Oh, interesting. Okay. Yeah.

Allison McCune Davis: And then "engage" — you can rotate throughout the week. There are a lot of lonely people when you get to this point in life. Empty nest, maybe widowed, maybe divorced, maybe single. And on top of that, maybe an introvert. I call myself an outgoing introvert, but I am an introvert.

Amy Connell: Me too.

Allison McCune Davis: The number one thing longevity studies point to is relationships — not just exercise and what we're eating. It's relationships. So if that resonates — if that's you — then make a point to reach out to someone every week for coffee, or call a sibling who lives across the country, just to have a good conversation. Some kind of engaging with someone else.

Amy Connell: Yeah. I want to put a pin in that. I want to let you finish, and then I want to come back to relationships because I think you have a couple more under world work. Okay, but I do want to park here for a minute, because you're right — relationships are so important. Connections are so important.

I'm in a coaching group for personal trainers who work with women in menopause, and it's a wonderful group — really smart people. I asked a question once specifically about women in their sixties and the challenges they face. It was very interesting to hear trainers' perspectives — some of them were in that phase themselves, some weren't. A lot of women work, or career is a primary focus, and then they retire and they lose community from the work world. I spoke with one woman who said, "I used to run and then walk with my coworkers — and when I retired, I lost my partners." We also have people who are moving around a lot — empty nesting, downsizing, moving to be near kids. There's just a lot of transition in this decade.

So I'm wondering if you can dig into some suggestions on reinvigorating relationships — or establishing new ones, which is really scary. A lot of us are like, "I have my friends from college, I love them, they're the air I breathe" — but they're coast to coast. And I still need face-to-face connection. So how do you help people in situations where the connection feels elusive? Because sometimes the more we're told "connection, connection, connection," the lonelier it makes us feel.

Allison McCune Davis: I'm going to give you two ways, which are the next two things under world work. The third one is called "gather," and that's on the spiritual level. All of the longevity studies point to a spiritual component of some sort. So, going to church once a week, if you're not used to that — churches are usually very welcoming. If you're part of a church but haven't gone in a while, they always have small groups and so many opportunities for connection. You just naturally make friends when you're in a small group situation — Bible studies, things like that.

And then the fourth one is called "help," which is volunteering. My gosh, people have totally found their new purpose in life through volunteering in some way. And it's an incredible way to be in relationship with people — food banks, United Way, the RSVP organization. You can just Google "ways to volunteer in my area." I always say, make sure you're doing something you really want to do, because it's easy to get pulled into something that brings up resentment. I always say there's somebody meant for every position, and if you're in the way but don't really want to do it, you're kind of blocking the spot for the person who does.

Amy Connell: That's a good point. Yeah.

Allison McCune Davis: And then, you know, I was actually just thinking lately — have you heard of the game Mahjong?

Amy Connell: Oh, gosh — I cannot step outside of my house without someone asking me if I want to join a Mahjong group.

Allison McCune Davis: I keep seeing it everywhere! I don't know anything about it myself, I've only seen it from a distance once, but I'm amazed at how many people are talking about it. Or just card games, you know —

Amy Connell: Yes. I'd rather do a book club, personally. I'm like, I figure things out all day long — I don't need to figure out Mahjong.

Allison McCune Davis: Right.

Amy Connell: That's just me, though. No shade to it.

Allison McCune Davis: It looks kind of like gin rummy, so maybe I could figure it out. But there are a lot of opportunities — it depends on where you live, of course, but even in small towns there are groups and things. And honestly, you could just ask an AI for 20 ideas on how to meet more people and make friends. I'm sure they'd have plenty.

Amy Connell: It's true. Yeah.

Allison McCune Davis: Those are great starting points anyway.

Amy Connell: Those are great. Okay. I'm going to leave this with one final question before I get into the questions I ask all my guests. Going back to where we started — there's this question of, well, what now? I'm 60. Kids are gone. Retirement is coming, or maybe it's already happened. A previous sense of purpose feels unclear. So how do you help women redefine purpose at this stage? Do you just say go into the five world work categories and go from there? Give us the next step.

Allison McCune Davis: For someone in that position right now, I would say you've got to answer those 60 questions. You would journal the answer to each one. It requires giving it real attention. And I want to share a Bible verse for this — one of my favorites. I learned about it probably 25 years ago, listening to a preacher — I think he was actually deceased by the time I was listening to these tapes a friend gave me. He was talking about this when he was an old man, about how when he was young he was told to pray Ephesians 1:17–19.

I've always liked putting verses in first person, like an affirmation. I started praying this right before I turned 50, when I began teaching women about natural health. Then when the whole 60 Is a Good Start thing came along, I started praying it again — I even put it to music at one point so I could memorize it. But I'll just read you the actual verse:

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you..."

So in first person, you're thanking God for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, that you know him better, and that the eyes of your heart are enlightened in order that you know the hope to which he has called you. And you're called to something right now — not just when you were 30. We're called to something until we die. I know your audience leans this way —

Amy Connell: Yes, we do.

Allison McCune Davis: — and I think that is a great prayer to pray. I like to say it as thanksgiving: "Thank you, Lord, that I know what you've called me to." And then that's going to bring it from the spiritual to the earthly, so that we do know it — and it hits us and we get it. So answering the 60 questions and praying that — I think that can get us where we need to go.

Amy Connell: Okay. Tell us where to get these 60 questions.

Allison McCune Davis: Well, the book — they're at the back of 60 Is a Good Start. And there's also a planner that goes with it for the 60 Day Dare. Both are on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. There's an Audible version as well, if you like audiobooks.

Amy Connell: That sounds great. And the 60 Day Dare — is that something on your website where there's a waitlist to join and everyone starts together? How does that work?

Allison McCune Davis: You can do it on your own, you can do it with your friends, or you can do it with me. There's going to be a group starting in January. You'll want to get in before then — there'll be a spot to put your name and email, and you'll get updates on when we're starting and all of that.

Amy Connell: Got it. Okay, good to know. Okay, Allison, I've got a few questions I ask all my guests. One is — I love learning about people's tattoos, because I've found that people typically think very long and hard about something they're going to put on their body for the rest of their life. Do you have one? If so, would you mind sharing what it is and the meaning behind it? And if you don't have one, but you had to get one, what would it be and where would it go?

Allison McCune Davis: I do not have any. They're not my favorite — that's just the natural health girl in me.

Amy Connell: Okay. Fair enough.

Allison McCune Davis: But if I had one, it would probably be a cross. Where would I put it? I'd probably try somewhere not over an organ — so maybe right there on the shoulder.

Amy Connell: On the side of your shoulder. Okay. I'm not going to force you into that, don't worry. It's funny — I was just with my husband's side of the family, and we had one of my boys there and two of my nephews and my two sisters-in-law. I asked this question because I think it's fun, and my mother-in-law had such a look of horror on her face as people were answering. Some of the answers were genuine and some were totally obnoxious. Finally someone said, "Well, Amy, what about you?" And I said it took me a long time to figure this out, but I think what I would do is just a little Christian fish right behind my ear. I've always said it was because I could hide it from my mom — but I said, "Mother-in-law, I think I need to hide it from you more, because you looked so horrified." She said, "Yeah, you better not do that, Amy." And I'm like, I'm 51 years old.

Allison McCune Davis: I know. Isn't that funny?

Amy Connell: Ha! Alright. So, Allison, tell people where they can connect with you.

Allison McCune Davis: On social media I'm mostly on Instagram and Facebook under my full name, and my website is my full name — AllisonMcCuneDavis.com.

Amy Connell: Okay, so Allison McCune Davis just about anywhere. You've already shared your meaningful Bible verse, so I'll let you have the last word. What is one simple thing you want us to remember from our conversation? Big or small — just one simple nugget to walk away with.

Allison McCune Davis: Environment triggers behavior. In your home, in your life, try to set up your environment to trigger the behavior you want. For instance, I put all my supplements in a little baggie in a pretty bowl right when I walk into my office, so my environment is triggering me — "oh, I need to take those." Pretty glass bowls in the fridge at eye level with fruits and vegetables. Your workout shoes out where you can see them, not in the closet — you put them on and you're one step closer to walking out the door and down to the stop sign and back.

Amy Connell: Yes. I call that being kind to your future self — same concept.

Allison McCune Davis: Very nice.

Amy Connell: I can't coin that one — I got it from Kathy Lipp, one of my writing mentors. Okay. Thank you, Allison. That was awesome. Go out there and have a graced day!