Achieving Your Goals Kendal
Although society tends to classify our 'best' years as our twenties to early forties in fact, as the majority of people over 45 will testify, there's nothing so good as being 'in your prime'. These magical few decades before we become truly elderly are a wonderful period in which to create the life we've always wanted. But making it happen means setting ourselves some goals and taking action, as this article explains.
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Achieving Your Goals
Now we’re older we’re ideally placed to reap the benefits of experience at the same time as having the increased freedom to make new choices based on what we want for the rest of our lives, rather than what we ought to do or be.
With fewer immediate responsibilities in areas such as childcare, more money (in terms of disposable cash, even if we’re not wealthy), a clearer idea of who we are and what we want, and tons of confidence, there should be nothing stopping us from leading brilliant lives.
Do you agree? Yes? Fantastic! If not, it was probably that bit about confidence that got you, wasn’t it?
Okay, so let’s look at why you should be confident, how to increase your confidence if you’re not, and some practical ways to ensure that the next few decades really are ‘the best time of your life’.
First, whatever your situation, now you’re older you need to:
• Start focusing on what’s ahead of you, not what’s gone.
• Realise that you probably have pretty limitless choices – if only you let yourself open up to them.
• Appreciate that although you may have up to 30 to 40 years more life ahead in which to fulfil your ambitions, there’s no time to lose.
At this age, happiness and fulfilment for the rest of our lives comes from identifying and realising our dreams, using our skills and talents to the full, giving generously (not only in monetary terms), and living life to maximum capacity.
Depending on your circumstances, it may involve:
• Finding a new job or career
• Embarking upon new relationships (which may involve ending existing ones)
• Developing new interests and activities
• Travelling, or possibly relocating abroad
• Making some physical changes – losing weight, new hairstyle, improved fitness
• Re-examining your attitudes and behaviour
Whichever of these apply to you – and there may be one or several areas you want to develop – what it will invariably mean is that you will have to step outside your comfort zone and make some changes.
Change is difficult when we look ahead at the person we’d like to be and the life we’d like to lead. It’s difficult to know where to start, so try following these few steps to help you start living up to your potential and creating the future you deserve.
• List what’s currently good in your life and what you don’t want to change.
• Do the same with what you think is wrong with your current situation.
• Write a description of the life you would like to be leading and write it as if you are experiencing it already (e.g. start with the words, “My life is wonderful because…”) and don’t constrain yourself by things that you don’t think are possible. At this stage everything is possible, you’ve just got to find out how to achieve it!
• Now list the changes you would need to make in order to achieve your dream life.
• Next to each write the practical implications. For example, you may dream of going to live in Spain. So write down ‘Relocate to Spain’ and next to it, you might list things like, ‘’persuading Tom (husband) that this is a good idea’. ‘Leaving children and mother behind in UK’, ‘Finding work in Spain’, ‘Learning language’, etc.
As you can see, you have now translated a formless idea into some specific issues to think about and tackle which means that you’re now in a position to draw up some plans relating to each aspect and put in some focused effort on making your new future a reality.
Click here for more information about personal development for the over 50s from in my prime.
With fewer immediate responsibilities in areas such as childcare, more money (in terms of disposable cash, even if we’re not wealthy), a clearer idea of who we are and what we want, and tons of confidence, there should be nothing stopping us from leading brilliant lives.
Do you agree? Yes? Fantastic! If not, it was probably that bit about confidence that got you, wasn’t it?
Okay, so let’s look at why you should be confident, how to increase your confidence if you’re not, and some practical ways to ensure that the next few decades really are ‘the best time of your life’.
First, whatever your situation, now you’re older you need to:
• Start focusing on what’s ahead of you, not what’s gone.
• Realise that you probably have pretty limitless choices – if only you let yourself open up to them.
• Appreciate that although you may have up to 30 to 40 years more life ahead in which to fulfil your ambitions, there’s no time to lose.
At this age, happiness and fulfilment for the rest of our lives comes from identifying and realising our dreams, using our skills and talents to the full, giving generously (not only in monetary terms), and living life to maximum capacity.
Depending on your circumstances, it may involve:
• Finding a new job or career
• Embarking upon new relationships (which may involve ending existing ones)
• Developing new interests and activities
• Travelling, or possibly relocating abroad
• Making some physical changes – losing weight, new hairstyle, improved fitness
• Re-examining your attitudes and behaviour
Whichever of these apply to you – and there may be one or several areas you want to develop – what it will invariably mean is that you will have to step outside your comfort zone and make some changes.
Change is difficult when we look ahead at the person we’d like to be and the life we’d like to lead. It’s difficult to know where to start, so try following these few steps to help you start living up to your potential and creating the future you deserve.
• List what’s currently good in your life and what you don’t want to change.
• Do the same with what you think is wrong with your current situation.
• Write a description of the life you would like to be leading and write it as if you are experiencing it already (e.g. start with the words, “My life is wonderful because…”) and don’t constrain yourself by things that you don’t think are possible. At this stage everything is possible, you’ve just got to find out how to achieve it!
• Now list the changes you would need to make in order to achieve your dream life.
• Next to each write the practical implications. For example, you may dream of going to live in Spain. So write down ‘Relocate to Spain’ and next to it, you might list things like, ‘’persuading Tom (husband) that this is a good idea’. ‘Leaving children and mother behind in UK’, ‘Finding work in Spain’, ‘Learning language’, etc.
As you can see, you have now translated a formless idea into some specific issues to think about and tackle which means that you’re now in a position to draw up some plans relating to each aspect and put in some focused effort on making your new future a reality.
Click here for more information about personal development for the over 50s from in my prime.