Think you can’t reinvent yourself at 60-70-80? Yes, you can!

Think you can’t reinvent yourself at 60-70-80? Think again and don’t be afraid!

Success has many fathers. Failure is an orphan – Santosh Naidu

Were you inspired by the Summer Olympic athletes?

If you watched the summer Olympics , you could almost feel the athletes joy when they won. It’s hard to imagine their journey, unless you have been an elite athlete. We only had a window of that moment of joy or agony as we watched. We didn’t see the hard work that went into their achievements, or realize the sacrifices they made. We only saw victory or a dashed dream that often happened in a second or less.

Their achievements hopefully gave you a little inspiration and motivation.  Did you feel excited for the winners? Can you take a little of that positive energy to focus on own journey. We may not be elite athletes, but we can take some lessons from their journey and start small.

Can we do more, lift ourselves up or push just a little bit further. Every small step forward can create a pivot in our own journey of life. We just need to know what direction to go. Like a ship, the rudder is necessary to turn us in the right direction.  What direction is your rudder heading?

Reinventing yourself or at least hitting the reset button

As the world continues to struggle to find its new normal, have you found that you have taken a pause in life. Maybe you are feeling rudderless? You are not alone. Many have just been sitting in idle for well over a year.

In a recent Gallup survey, 45% of people say their life has been disrupted a great deal by  COVID-19 and 19% are continuing to isolate themselves at home. This is significant and it can be hard to find your rudder when you don’t know where you’re going. It can cause you to be sad and depressed, or just do nothing.

If you are feeling that disruption or are sad and depressed, please seek help if you need it. There are many resources that you can find on the internet.

If you are just feeling rudderless, can you take the opportunity hit reset and either unload, reload or re-launch/reinvent yourself? What better time and it really doesn’t matter how old you are.

It’s all balderdash

So often I hear, “I’m too old, or it’s just because I’m getting older.” Balderdash or hogwash I say! Why should it matter what age you are? There are things we can do TODAY to hit the reset and keep moving forward. They might even make you feel happy again. Here are some ideas.

Ideas you may try to hit the reset button

Unload

Unload. This is where you can rid yourself of the things that hold you down and maybe even depress you. It could be old clothes, too much furniture, or items that have accumulated over time (do you still need magazines from 10 years ago). These items may be lurking in a closet, basement, attic, or right in front of you. Unloading the “old baggage” can begin to make way to a new beginning and lighten your load.  Practicing ‘Döstädning‘, or death cleaning is the method of decluttering based on which objects will be of value to loved ones after your death.  So give to things away NOW to your friends and loved ones, so they can thank you in person.

Now the rest of the stuff that no one else wants. If you don’t love it, lose it. If you don’t use it, lose it. Just keep the dog!

As someone who had to clear an entire house of “memories” after my mother-in-law died, it was daunting and a tremendous amount of work.  There were things that I would have liked earlier in my life and things that a few relatives would have cherished as well.  But it just built up and items were stuffed in drawers, boxes, cabinets, closets so much that even a dumpster would hold it.

Reload

Reload begins with a mindset of of believing that you can always improve or take a chance. It could mean developing a new talent (music, painting, etc) in an area you may not have that talent current.  If you are willing to grow and spend time on something new, it can be extremely invigorating. Even if you weren’t born talented (that’s me), you can still develop talent for something. What have you always wanted to do?

Relaunch or Reinvent

Relaunch or Reinvent, Really? Imagine who and what you want to be. No, it’s not too late. When you have a growth mindset, you begin to believe that you CAN learn a new skill or talent. Your past skills and talents can also be used to help others. There are companies that are looking for older adults with various skill sets as we as not for profits.  Helping others can make our life rich, even if it’s not a monetary reward in some cases.

Do what you are afraid to do

Anything that is worthwhile takes and effort if you make it a priority.  My mantra has always been, do what you are afraid to do.  And remember FAIL really means – First Attempt In Learning.

  So are you ready to either Unload, Reload or Relaunch/Reinvent?

https://news.gallup.com/poll/353003/americans-optimism-covid-dashed-cases-surge.aspx

https://www.brainzmagazine.com/post/wellbeing-what-is-it