Breaking Destructive Cycles: The 95/5 Factor™ and Reinvention at 60+

Colleen Clifford, commercial fisherwoman, author, and coach, joined the Executive Encore Video Podcast to explain and explore her 95/5 Factor™ framework. The framework is designed to shed light on binge drinking and other destructive patterns associated with bingeing. Colleen explains why willpower alone is rarely enough to drive lasting change, whether you're trying to break a harmful habit or navigate a major life transition. 

Her message: change your story, change your life.

Some of the most powerful reinventions don't happen in your twenties. They happen in your sixth decade, after loss, after hardship, after finally deciding the story you've been living no longer belongs to you.

That's Colleen Clifford's story. Colleen has spent years at the intersection of grief, alcohol, resilience, and the hidden patterns we use to survive. Her book, Life Beyond the Binge, A Commercial Fisherwoman's Journey Home, is now available on Amazon (links below). Her conversation on Executive Encore is one you won't want to miss.

What Is Binge Drinking—and What Is the 95/5 Factor™?

Many people assume binge drinking means drinking every day, or fitting the clinical definition of alcoholism. According to Colleen, this assumption is incorrect. There isn’t a clean annual count for “women who die of binge drinking” in many countries because public health data usually reports deaths from excessive alcohol use or alcohol-attributable deaths rather than binge drinking specifically. The definition of binge drinking is nuanced. It doesn't require daily drinking. But, it only requires one time, too much, to lead to death. If you are interested in statistics for your country, I invite you to search "binge drinking deaths for women". One interesting finding from my research on Canada was the notable increase in alcohol consumption among women over the past few years. This is likely why questions about your alcohol use and habits are now routinely included in physical, gynaecological, and wellness appointments.

Colleen's 95/5 Factor™ reframes how we think about "binging" on anything. The concept explores how a small percentage of behaviour—the 5%—can drive the majority of consequences in a person's life. And here's what makes it particularly compelling for women in their encore years: the 95/5 Factor™ isn't limited to alcohol. It applies to any pattern that no longer serves your overall health: perfectionism, overworking, people-pleasing, eating, scrolling social media, watching TV. The behaviours look different, but the underlying dynamic is the same.

Recognizing your 5% is the first step toward reclaiming the other 95.

Personal Loss and Life Reinvented

Colleen's advocacy is rooted in a promise. After losing her husband to alcohol-related suicide in 2011, she committed to speaking openly about suicide and suicide ideation, a conversation that still carries enormous stigma, even as it affects families across every demographic.

If you or someone you love is struggling, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in your country offers immediate support. Veterans can also access the Veterans Crisis Line.

Colleen doesn't just speak about grief as something to move through. She speaks about it as something that can move you, into a more authentic, purposeful version of yourself. Not just a transition; but a transformation. Transitioning out of commercial fishing and into coaching, speaking, and writing in her sixth decade, Colleen is transforming her life and is living proof that reinvention doesn't have an expiration date.

For women navigating their own Executive Encore, whether they're stepping away from corporate careers, processing grief, or re-examining long-held patterns, Colleen's voice is amplified and her message lands with real weight.

Why Willpower Alone Won't Help You Change Your Story

The third thread woven through Colleen's conversation is perhaps the most universally resonant: willpower is not a strategy.

The lives of women, in particular, have long been shaped by myths. None is more pervasive than the belief that willpower alone is the answer to everything we wish to change. Far from being a reliable strategy, this myth is rife with pitfalls and self-sabotage.

Lasting change requires understanding the story beneath the behaviour. According to Colleen's framework, the behaviours we judge ourselves for, whether alcohol, emotional eating, or relentless overachievement, are rarely the real problem. They're coping mechanisms for stories we've come to believe about ourselves. Stories like I'm not enough or this is just who I am. Even the recent movement with slogans like "I am good enough" or "I am enough" can subtly undermine women's self-worth and self-trust by encouraging them to settle, rather than empowering them to create the life they truly envision and deserve.

Colleen's philosophy, "change your story, change your life™," isn't a motivational slogan. It's a practical framework for women who are ready to examine the narratives driving their choices and choose differently in their encore.

This is exactly the kind of insight that resonates in the encore phase. Many of the women in our community have spent decades performing roles defined by others; the corporation, their families, their cultures, and society. The encore years offer something different: the chance to author your own story, on your own terms.

Ready to Hear Colleen's Full Story?

Watch or listen to Executive Encore episode to hear Colleen's full conversation, including her raw account of loss, her thoughts on the 95/5 Factor™, and the practical tools she offers for breaking free from destructive cycles.

Ready to rewrite your story?

Colleen Clifford's message is simple: the patterns holding you back aren't the real problem—the story beneath them is. And that story can change at any age.

• 🎧 Listen to the Podcast Episode and hear Colleen's full conversation on the 95/5 Factor™, resilience, and reinvention.
• 👀 Watch YouTube. VIDEO Edited Feature
• 📖 Get Colleen's book — Life Beyond the Binge, A Commercial Fisherwoman's Journey Home, on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com. Visit lifebeyondthebinge.com/book to learn more and secure your copy.
• 🌿 Join the Exhale Retreat in Bali and give yourself space to go deeper.

If you or someone you love is struggling, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in your country is available 24/7 by call or text.

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