Reimagining Midlife Wellness, Part VIII - The Strategy
This is the eighth installment of a multi-part series on Reimagining Midlife Wellness, focusing on the importance of strengthening our vitality as we get older, especially in times of transition. These articles will provide a framework to help you define what matters most to you at this stage of your life and ways to continue to take positive action to be well.
In Part VIII of the series, we’ll put it all together and I’ll share how I worked through these articles alongside you, utilizing The Athena Principles to reimagine my own midlife wellness. But first, a story to frame this exchange.
I recently took a five mile trail run at a local county nature reservation that I’ve been going to for decades. On one point along a well-traveled trail, you can see a waterfall. Years ago, it wasn’t unusual for weekend hikers to come upon the site of the falls and want to hike down for a closer look. But the off-trail terrain was tricky and several times a year, the search and rescue team would need to trek up the mountain with a portable stretcher to get an injured hiker to the hospital.
A few years back, the park rangers posted a sign where this was happening to warn of the danger of off-trail hiking to the waterfall. It helped, but it didn’t stop all of the accidents. Last year, they performed trail maintenance on a scenic secondary trail that crossed the river at a lower point and also led to the waterfall. Most importantly, they posted a sign at the bottom of the mountain showing the safe route to the waterfall to help those who were unfamiliar with the trails. Problem solved.
Wellness is a lot like this. We can see the waterfall in the distance, in this case our optimal well-being, but we may be tempted to get there in an unsafe way or take shortcuts that lead us off course. But when we do a little research, prepare and heed warnings along the way, we get to our intended destination and it’s a much more enjoyable experience.
That’s how I’ve been creating my wellness plans over the last 25 years. I’ll be the first to admit that in my younger years, I didn’t heed the warnings, flirted with danger and tried all the shortcuts or hacks. So I can tell you from experience that the tools and Principles I’ve shared truly work and for the long term. I’m living proof.
That said, even if you have a wellness plan, it’s helpful to review it from time to time, which is what I’m going to do with you today. I’m going to walk through how I’m looking at the concepts we’ve worked with over the last seven articles and share my strategy for the upcoming months. And in the next article, I’ll get into my detailed plan.
In the first article of this series, I shared seven questions to consider, which are:
How do you define wellness and well-being for yourself?
How has your wellness changed over time?
Which well-being elements (mind, body, spirit, family, community, environment) do you routinely support?
Where can you focus more effort?
Where do you currently fall on the wellness spectrum?
What might move you toward optimal well-being?
What does well-being look like for you in your next chapter?
I’ve included my answers to the first six questions throughout the rest of this article as I outline the changes I’m making to my wellness strategy. But I thought it would be helpful to start with how I’m answering the last question, which is, “What does well-being look like for you in your next chapter?”
It helps to take a look a previous chapters to answer this question. In my 20s and half of my 30s, I had youth on my side and did little to improve my health. These were my Wall Street days, and I worked hard, played harder and ate a lot of unhealthy vegetarian food. I did not have a formal exercise routine and sleep was in short supply.
That strategy needed to change when I got into my mid-30s and started feeling the effects of my lifestyle. I gained about 25 pounds, was always tired, and noticed differences in my agility and balance.
So I began running (fast walking) on a treadmill and borrowed a weight bench to start a simple lifting program. I also became hyper-focused on my diet, following a basic weightlifting protocol and tracking my macros. It worked and I really did change my body and my life.
In my 40s, I began to work out in gyms and run longer distances. I meditated, ate well and added creative writing into the mix. My 50s brought a series of endurance events, from a 275 mile cycling event to running a marathon and ultramarathon, along with challenges like bootcamp, 10ks, CrossFit and Spartan events. These activities helped me manage the stress of a demanding corporate career.
So holding the question, “What does well-being look like in this new phase of my life?” was an interesting exercise. And I had striking insight. For years , I’ve been training for something and I prided myself in being dialed-in and over-prepared. I meticulously planned and executed well-researched training plans, workouts, nutrition and meals.
Here’s the epiphany – I’m no longer training for anything. What’s motivating me now is wanting to maintain my cardio endurance and muscle strength while staying agile, flexible and balanced – the components of functional fitness which will keep me active and independent for decades to come.
So part of my updated strategy is to be less exacting in my approach and find ways to enjoy what I do from a body, mind and spirit perspective.
Which leads us to the second article of this series where we were introduced to the tools, practices and Principles we can use to enhance our wellness and well-being.
I reviewed the Holistic Wellness Spectrum and did the related assessment. What stood out for me in this new phase is the focus on simplifying my life and letting go of what no longer serves – themes I’ll be incorporating into my new wellness plan.
Also, I’ll continue to use the practices I shared of contemplation, journaling, positive action, holding a question – although I’ll be taking a fresh look at all of them and I’m excited to use them in new ways.
Now to the Principles. The first Athena Principle is self-compassion, defined as the care for one’s own well-being in the form of self-acceptance and nurturing support. It’s the ability to accept our imperfections and be kind and understanding toward ourselves, especially during times of transition. And many of us, myself included, are experiencing transition on multiple levels. For me, aside from the upcoming milestone birthday, I’m also experiencing transition in my personal and professional lives. So I’ll be incorporating self-compassion into my morning practices.
The second Athena Principle is intention, defined as a way to help us aim, set direction and connect emotionally to what we want – it’s the heart-based “Why” behind the urge to transform. In this next phase of life, my emotional connection to my wellness and well-being is about more freedom in how I spend my time and with whom, as well maximizing my level of enjoyment as I redefine my wellness approach.
The third Athena Principle is consistency, defined as the art of staying committed and engaged, especially during challenging times. For me this Principle comes most naturally. Once I create a plan, like the one I’ll share with you in the next article, I’ll add it to my calendar and show up as scheduled.
The fourth Athena Principle is growth mindset, which focuses on how you view your wellness journey – because it not only determines your level of progress, but your level of enjoyment. I have a number of what I call “Raise the Spirit” practices designed to keep my mind positively focused and help to keep my thoughts aligned with my actions. They have worked wonders for me but are in need of updating. This will be included in my action plan.
The last of the five Athena Principles is accountability, defined as a systematic way to check in with what you commit to accomplish, celebrate the wins, and compassionately adjust where needed. This one is getting an interesting makeover because I need to ease off a bit on the accountability and determine how I’ll be measuring my progress in a more compassionate manner. I also need to find new ways to celebrate the wins – which has never been a strong point for me.
So these are the big themes that have come up for me as I’ve been preparing this series for you. As I mentioned, I’ll be working this into a more detailed plan and will share on January 1st to complete this series.
Until then, I’m wishing you and your loved ones a beautiful holiday season.
Journal Reflections: How has your well-being strategy changed over the years? What things have worked in the past that might not be applicable now? What new things are you exploring to keep yourself motivated?
Notes:
You can download The Athena Principles overview @ athenawellness.com/actionplan to help you chart your unique path.
If you prefer, you can listen to this article here: Episode 221