10 Tips for Rein­vent­ing Your­self Dur­ing Healthy Aging Month

Happy Healthy Aging Month! Gen X-ers are now starting to dethrone baby boomers since the first of the 82.1 million Generation X-ers (compared to 76 million boomers) turned over 50 in 2015. Our numbers are growing, and if you look at all the products now aimed towards us (when we were previously ignored) you can see why #GrowingYounger has become big business. 

Healthy Aging Month began just a few short years ago to focus national attention on the positive aspects of growing older. You are never too old to “re-invent” yourself. It’s never too late to find a new career, a new sport, passion or hobby. There’ always time for reinventing yourself.

10 Tips for Rein­vent­ing Your­self Dur­ing Healthy Aging Month

1. Never act your age! What does that mean anyway? And please do not think for one instant what your cur­rent age should act like. Whatever your best year has been so far (25, 36, 48?) pic­ture your­self at that age and be it. It’s not denial, but pos­i­tive think­ing and it goes a long way toward feel­ing bet­ter about your­self.
2. Wear whatever the hell you want! Sure, we provide tips on this site, but our goal is to get you to step outside your comfort zone and feel and look your best. Seriously. If that voice in your head is telling you not to wear something, question it. Except for crop tops, never question wearing those. Don’t wear them.
3. Try to be a pos­i­tive person. I know it’s tough right now, but try to be positive in your con­ver­sa­tions and your actions – every single day. When you catch your­self com­plain­ing, check your­self right there and change the con­ver­sa­tion to some­thing pos­i­tive. Turn off the news! It’s totally depressing. Watch 10 minutes if you must, but don’t get consumed.
4. Get rid of the negativity in your life. If you have neg­a­tive friends who com­plain all the time and con­stantly talk about how awful every­thing is – give yourself permission to drop them. Try to dis­tance your­self from peo­ple who do not have a pos­i­tive out­look on life. They will only depress you and stop you from mov­ing for­ward. Sur­round your­self with ener­getic, happy, pos­i­tive peo­ple of all ages and you will be hap­pier too. Smile as much as you can. Even if you don’t feel like it.
5. Walk this way! Walk like a vibrant, healthy per­son. No rounded shoulders and hunching over. Do you walk slowly because you have just become lazy or maybe you have a fear of falling? Then make an effort to take big strides and ditch the heels for flats.
6. Stand up straight! You can knock off the appear­ance of a few extra years and pounds with this trick. Look at your­self in the mir­ror. Are you hold­ing your stom­ach in? Do you have your shoul­ders back and chin up? Check out how much bet­ter your neck looks! Fix your stance and prac­tice it every day until it is nat­ural. 
7. Lonely? Stop brood­ing and com­plain­ing about hav­ing no friends or fam­ily. Do some­thing about it now. Right this minute. Pick up the phone and make a call to do one or more of the fol­low­ing: vol­un­teer, take a class, invite some­one to meet for lunch, brunch, din­ner, or cof­fee. Facebook is great for reconnecting with long lost friends.
8. Start walk­ing not only for your health but to see people. Have a dog? You’ll be amazed how your pooch can be a con­ver­sa­tion starter. Why not adopt a dog? Or if you are not up for that volunteer to walk dogs at your local shelter.
9. Keep up on all of your checkups! Make Healthy Aging Month the time to set up your annual phys­i­cal and other health screen­ings. Ignoring problems or avoiding them altogether does not make them go away. Face your fear and just do it. Go to the appoint­ments and then, hope­fully, you can stop wor­ry­ing for a while.
10. Find your passion. Love to paint but think you’re no good? Who cares? Take a class and get better. Have you always wanted to learn to play an instrument? Sign up for a fall music class. Or take one online. Want to write that novel that’s inside you? Do it. Don’t keep putting these things that pull at your heartstrings off.

What will you do for Healthy Aging Month?

Have you started doing something in midlife that has been life-changing? Or have I missed any healthy aging tips you’d like to share? Please leave a comment.

And don’t forget to enter our Healthy Aging Month giveaways! We are giving away amazing items all month long.

You may also like to read How To Feel Fit and Fab at Forty and Beyond and How To Reduce Your Risk Of Osteoporosis With Exercise.