Holy Crap it's an AARP Card!

I remember the first time I got an AARP application. It felt like it was the universe sending me an appointment application for my impending demise. “I’m not that freaking old” my inner voice raged! Well crap, I am getting older and the fact that I am means I’m not dead yet. Feel free to send me cards of congratulations.

I’m 59, staring at 60, the age I always thought was over the hill. Way over the hill. It’s amazing how your beliefs can shift. It's similar to there are no atheists in foxholes. I’ve never been in a foxhole, but I have been a bit of an atheist in my life. I probably would pray my ass off if I thought my life was about to be snuffed out as I crouched down in a foxhole, hoping the bullets wouldn't find me.

So, this brings us to the whole point of this post. 60 feels very significant to me. A major milestone. I would love to celebrate that birthday knowing I am living my life as my best self. Do you ever think that you probably are just phoning it in most days? Sure you take care of your responsibilities, pay your bills and try to eat your vegetables and try not to be a bad person. Is that as good as it could be? Of course not. We all know that there is a version of ourselves that's way more fit, that has deeper relationships and is generally happier. I believe that we also have the knowledge to move closer to this “more deluxe you”. So why don’t we?

Maybe it’s the constant bombardment of stimulation from our smartphones and gazillion streaming services. Maybe it’s the mind numbing job you have to go to that little by little is sucking your soul out of your body. Maybe you are just tired and feel life has totally screwed you over and have no fucks to give. Maybe you don’t even have any clue you just are embracing the suck. The why can be really important if it directs your attention to the actual culprit and you take the steps to fix it. Yeah, I know. Easier said than done.

Ask yourself. What one change can I make in my life that would raise the happy bar? Just one. The problem people run into so often is they want many changes, which is fine, but then, like multitasking, limited focus followed by minimal results. This happens to most people after they make New Year's resolutions. They either make too many big goals or are way too difficult to achieve goals. 

An area I’ve spent quite a bit of time on in my coaching business is habits. Forming as well as deleting. We spend such a large part of our lives repeating patterns that have become part of our programming. Our amazing brains do this for efficiency. The problem is some of those programs that are on repeat will eventually kill us. 

We all think of bad habits we’d like to ditch and most New Year's resolutions tend to be framed that way. Let’s consider the power of adding one new habit next year. There is a ripple effect, like the butterfly effect. For example, beating procrastination would be the bad habit where the habit of completion would be the good one. How would your life be changed if completion became habitual? 

In the world of entrepreneurs, the majority are starters. We get super excited to get going and putting our ideas into action. I’m a starter myself. The danger is that the excitement starts to wane and the great idea loses traction. Imagine what the habit of completion could do for the starters of the world. Not constantly beating themselves up over unfinished projects. 

Obviously, you don’t have to be an entrepreneur to massively benefit from taming the habit of procrastination. Tens of thousands die every year because they procrastinated going to the doctor to get checked out. Men are especially guilty here. Delaying things like a colonoscopy can lead to dire consequences for a form of cancer that's highly treatable if caught early. 

So back to where I started in my little ramble. I am now a card-carrying member of AARP. I accept that time is marching on, no matter how much I would like to deny it. There is plenty of value for the small cost of membership. I procrastinated getting access to these benefits because of my desire to ignore that I am getting older. What’s your excuse?