Your mindset and age: Are you too old for your dreams?
Shift your thoughts and negative beliefs about aging to live your best life right now
“You are never too late to set a new goal or dream a new dream.”
C.S. Lewis
As a life and mindset coach, I have many clients in midlife and beyond, and I often hear the words “I’m too old” when they talk about following their dreams and creating a new life. I’ve also seen that very sentence in various social media posts many times and I’ve heard it from my friends and colleagues.
It’s not true. It really isn’t. What’s actually happening is that we’re afraid of stepping out of the comfortable life we’ve been living for years and living the life we were always meant to live. We’re afraid to step out of the social conventions that we’re used to.
Fear of the unknown will always keep you stuck. Even if our lives are boring, predictable and unsatisfying, our brains will do everything possible to keep us just where we are, where it is comfortable.
Here’s the truth: Your chronological age is just a number. It’s neutral and means nothing until you decide to give it meaning. You get to choose how you think and feel about any age that you are. Why not practice thoughts that are more supportive?
I’ve seen some 60 year old’s with more energy than some 30 year old’s. I have two friends that will be turning 80 this year; one regularly goes 100 km. on bike rides and another goes for daily long hikes. And yet I’ve had 40 year old women who are in perfectly good health tell me “It’s too late” and “I feel so old”.
Why is that? Some of it is due to social conditioning and expectations, and a lot of it is because we’re just so darned tired, stressed and overwhelmed from living a life we’ve outgrown or never wanted in the first place.
It’s exhausting to live a life based on others’ expectations. And it takes courage to step out of the social self and listen to that essential, true part yourself.
I recently read an excellent book by psychologist, Dr. Becca Levy, called Breaking the Age Code: How Your Age Beliefs Determine How Long and Well You Live, which talks about our basic misconceptions about aging. She writes about our negative age beliefs (which are often emphasized in the media and movies that feature older people). She says, “I think one of the most powerful things we can do is increase our awareness surrounding age beliefs”.
Your next chapter is a blank canvas, but if you continue to think thoughts like, “I’m too old”, your brain will work hard to find the evidence to support that thought. You will always strive to prove yourself right.
Journal Prompts
What are your beliefs about aging? Are they negative or positive? How can you shift the negative beliefs?
How would a mindset shift about aging affect how you feel about yourself?
How do you want to feel about your future?
What do you need to think to create that feeling?
What tiny turtle step can you take right now in the direction of your dreams?
Surround yourself with people who share your positive beliefs about aging so you can support and encourage each other along the way.
Let’s redefine aging and provide a good example for those coming after us. Your future is yours and you have a chance at any moment to decide to make a change. Check in with your body compass; you have the map and the key and it’s up to you to unlock the door.
Your mindset creates your life and changing your mindset starts with your daily habits. I’ve created a booklet with mindful practices, including meditation, movement and mindful writing called Mindful Magic 101 to help you with this.. Here’s the link to get yours right now and start on the path towards your next life chapter: www.sharonashtoncoaching.com/mindset-magic-101.
I’ve also got a limited number of 1:1 coaching spots available. Let me know if you’re interested and we’ll set up a consultation call to talk about it: sharon@sharonashtoncoaching.com
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I’d love to hear from you so please send any comments or questions to me at sharon@sharonashtonmindfulyoga.com. Feel free to share this email with anyone else who may be interested.
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What is stopping you from living your best life? Get out your journal and a pen and take the new quiz on my website to find out:
Are you interested in learning more about life change & mindset coaching from a mind/body perspective? Please email me at sharon@sharonashtonmindfulyoga.com for more information or to schedule a free introductory consultation to see if coaching is right for you. You can also visit my website coaching page.
"I felt at complete ease with Sharon from our first conversation. She has a wonderful, gentle but firm way that made me focus on my thoughts / feelings so I could remove / change to move forward with a completely different feeling to what felt like obstacles. It was great having regular coaching that gently kept me accountable to actioning and moving towards my goals. Sharon has vast experience in so many areas, I felt that makes her an amazing coach.”
— Michelle Carney, East Galway, Ireland
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