Are you living your best life after 40? How do you know? What does living your Best Life mean to you? If you could take it up a notch – would you? What would that look like for you? What would be the first step?
These are important questions to ask yourself to ensure that you are making the most of your life. Some people take “living” and growing older for granted. In case this is you, let me remind you how much it is a privilege to grow older and to be able to celebrate a birthday every year. I know how easy it is to live every day mindlessly. How easy it is to fall in a rut and each day ends up being a wash, rinse, repeat of the day before?
A lot of people act as if they have all the time in the world to take that trip, write that book, work on their health and even to feel proud or happy. The truth is – you do not have ALL the time in the world! Whether you look at this statement on a day-to-day looking at your packed schedule, your obligations, and time for family or on a more existential level of tomorrow is never promised, it is so important to realize that time is ticking by regardless.
What decisions get me to my best life?
What do you want to be able to say about how you lived your life on your death bed? It might sound cliché to ask that question, but it is so powerful. Anytime I feel like giving up on a goal or when I feel self doubt I ask myself, “If I quit now – how will I feel about it on my death bed? Will it feel like giving up was the right decision or would I wished I continue moving forward?”
The same can be true when I find myself procrastinating about starting a new goal such as focusing on my health and fitness or starting a business. Procrastination happens when we are associating pain with doing a task that leads to our goals. Focusing on my heath and fitness means I would have to give up sweets and get up early to workout = Pain!
So instead, I go to my deathbed question and the answer becomes clear. I think about myself on my deathbed and weigh the choice of sleeping in or lounging in my sweets in my early 50’s vs me going to the gym and exercising which makes me stronger and healthier resulting in better quality of life. Answer: I will regret not being stronger and working towards the health goal.
When thinking about things that would make your life your best life, use the deathbed scenario. It really helps things become clear.
8 Steps towards your best life!
A question I get asked a lot is, “What exactly is my best life?”. The answer is always, whatever YOU decide it is. What might be my best life is not yours. Regardless of what the outcome is, I believe there are 8 categories of life that you can evaluate to determine if you are working towards your “Best Life”. By evaluating and working on these 8 categories, I believe you will find your Best Life on the other side.
Evaluating your life today
To get a look at where your life is today, rate your level of satisfaction on a scale of 1-10 in each of the following:
- I have a morning and evening routine.
- I have a compelling future.
- I manage my negative thoughts.
- I know (or am working towards) my purpose.
- I have healthy habits.
- I have a strong support system.
- I set and meet goals for myself.
Notice this list does not ask if you have the big house, the nice car, the successful career, or the latest and greatest Apple product. If you evaluate your Best Life as having material things you will never be fully satisfied. To live your Best Life it must come from within.
When you are on your death bed – what will you regret? What will you have wished you had done differently? What do you wish you would have tried harder to accomplish?
From the list above – what is the lowest rated category? Work on that category for the next 90 days. Read books or blogs, watch YouTube videos about that topic, listen to podcasts, reach out for advise in online communities (Traci’s Age Slayers might be a great place to ask) etc. After 90 days of effort and new habits, rate yourself again for your level of satisfaction in that area. And then celebrate your progress! No matter how small, celebrate! It is really important.
If you are fired up and ready to work towards your best life, a great starting point for this work is my online course, How to Live Your Best Life After 40!. In the course you will go through each category and use a workbook to gain clarity on how to get started on each one of these categories. It is about 90 minutes of coaching that you can start or stop when it works for you and may be the exact thing you need to jumpstart the rest of your life!
Don’t just live life. Live your BEST LIFE!
Your Life Coach – Traci