19 Easy Inspiring Tips: How to Stop Feeling Lost in Your 60's

How should you feel in your 60s?

Are you feeling lost in your 60s? Have you just turned 60 and are feeling depressed? Do you feel that you have lost your mojo and are wondering how to get it back? Or do you feel that at 60 that’s it, you feel too old and there’s no way that you can start over?

There is no one way to feel at 60, everybody will have had different life experiences up to this point and will be approaching it from different views.

What you shouldn’t do though is feel dread and despondency as a new decade approaches. There are many positives to being in your 60s and today, 60 isn’t what it was even 10 years ago.

You should try and approach each new decade with a sense of optimism and excitement, as a chance to do things that you have always wanted to do and also as a celebration of the fact that you are still able to participate in a rich and varied life.

As the saying goes, “Life is what you make it” and reaching a milestone birthday shouldn’t make your life less worthy, boring, more stressful or have you feeling depressed.

How to find direction at 60

Often the problem that many face when they are reaching a big milestone is the expectation that society has put on them as to how their life should be looking. From an early age, you are told that by set dates you should have certain things in place as a measure of how successful your life is.

Events such as marriage, a home, family and a good career should be in place in your 30s whilst your 40s and 50s are for solidifying everything, travelling, moving into a bigger home, getting a promotion and moving up the career ladder so that by the time you are reaching your seventh decade, you are thinking about retirement and how to spend your autumn years.

Life though doesn’t need to follow this structured path for it to be either successful, accomplished or happy. You can choose to go your own way, do your own thing and live your life outside of the structured established view if you so wish.

It may be that you get to 60 and feel that you have so much more still to offer society or that you want to go off travelling and have adventures. You may decide that you want an entirely new career or have met a new life partner and you are starting a new life over.

It could be that you are feeling lost and that you don’t know what direction you should be going in or how to get out of your own way.

However 60 looks to you, right now, there are many ways to find direction and meaning in your life., even if your life doesn’t look like you imagined it would by now.

19 Easy Inspiring Tips

1. Remember you are not alone

Often by the time you reach your middle years, you can feel that many people have started to move on. Older generations have passed, children have grown up and left home and you can be left feeling that you are alone.

This can be amplified if you have retired or are about to retire. What you need to remember though is that you are not alone.

There are many people in this situation, in fact in the UK, 9 million people admit to “always” or “often” feeling lonely. This is a huge number of people, who are willing to say that at times they have these feelings but what it also demonstrates is that there are many people feeling the same way and there are many groups and organisations out there to help.

As more and more people start to talk about this issue, there are more and more organisations out there to help and offer support and understanding.

2. Be grateful for what you have in life

One of the simplest and most effective ways to lift your mood is to practice gratitude. Being grateful for all that you have in life, despite what you feel you may be missing out on, can help to give you some perspective and to see your life in a more rational way.

Try writing down a list of everything that you have in your life. Your home, health, career, garden, friends, family, pets, the area where you live, your car, holidays and food and comfort are all things to be grateful for.

Once you start to look at your life through a lens of gratitude, you can begin to appreciate just how much you have already.

This can help to reassess what you believe is missing from your life or what you want from it. It could be after compiling a gratitude list and becoming aware of all that you have that you actually want to start simplifying your life.

3. Adapt your life to your circumstances

Start acknowledging that your life is changing and that you are going to have to adapt to it. If you try to ignore the changes that are taking place in your life, it will only make it harder when you have to face the change. Begin making a list of the positives in your life, what is working and what you want to build on.

Discuss changes with the people close to you and be kind to yourself, don’t expect too much of yourself or put too much pressure on yourself. You have to adapt to changes at your pace nobody else’s.

4. Surround yourself with people enthusiastic about life

Try and build a network of people around you who are enthusiastic about life.

You will pick up on the energy and enthusiasm of those you surround yourself with so the more positive and optimistic your circle is, the more you will radiate this energy.

Cut out wherever possible, people who bring you down or who only ever see the negatives in life. These are people who are never going to be a positive influence and in time you will end up thinking like them.

If they are people that you can’t just remove from your life, such as family, then try to have as little contact with them as possible or try to engage with them in a larger group of people to distil their energy a bit.

5. Make your health a priority

As you get older, there will be little aches and pains and niggles in your health that start to make an appearance. This unfortunately is a fact of life but despite this, it is important to make your health and well-being a priority. The more you take care of your body now, the more you will be able to do as you age.

Regardless of your age, it is never too late to start taking care of your physical and mental health. Eat a healthy balanced diet, get plenty of sleep and get enough exercise. Even if you are new to exercise or haven’t done anything in a while there are many things that you can do to improve your overall health. Walking, swimming and bowls, are all easier activities to become involved with and there is always the added advantage of social connections being made through exercise classes and groups.

6. Be future orientated

As you age, it is very easy to get sucked into the “life was better back then” way of thinking. Those rose-tinted glasses that many people wear when they think about their past can eschew future happiness.

Keep your thinking future orientated. The past has gone and can never be replicated, so concentrate on the present moment in time and what you want from your future.

Set goals and plans for how you would like your life to look. What would you like to be doing in five years’ time? The more future-focused you are the happier you will be and the more possibilities you will envisage.

Plan your future without thinking about your age and restrictions. Plan it instead from a place of adventure, discovery and possibilities.

7. Find your own path don’t be a stereotype

Don’t look at what other people are doing and think that you have to do the same, create your own path to walk along. What works for one person, doesn’t necessarily work for someone else so make plans that fit your core values and beliefs and that are congruent to your life. You don’t have to fit the stereotypical mode of somebody in their 60s, you be you and ignore what other people think or say.

8. Keep active

An active mind and body will keep you younger that is a fact of life. There are many celebrities around who look and act far younger than their years and this should be celebrated.

The more mentally and physically active you are the better you will look and feel. Your body will be more supple and your mind will be sharper.

Getting older doesn’t mean that you have to slow down and be less active.

9. Develop a positive inner voice

The more positive your internal monologue is the happier you will feel in life. Be mindful of what you are telling yourself. Are you even aware of the thoughts that are going on inside your head? Do you talk down to yourself? How you feel about yourself will be reflected in how people treat you. Start using positive rhetoric, and develop a list of positive affirmations that you tell yourself every day. Even if you are doubtful of them when you begin, your brain will soon begin to believe them and a positive inner voice will emerge.

10. Keep yourself socially connected

Stay socially connected as much as possible. This is especially important if you have retired or are nearing retirement. Look at different groups and organisations you could join. Is there a possibility of doing voluntary work in your local area?

Get out there and start mingling with other people. You will no doubt find many other people in the same situation as yourself once you begin connecting with other people.

11. Pay attention to your appearance

Getting older doesn’t mean that you have to go to seed. Look at some of the amazing role models that we have today, people who take care of their physical appearance and look and feel great. Paying attention to your appearance isn’t for the benefit of other people, but more for how you will feel about yourself.

Just because you have reached a certain age, it doesn’t mean that you should no longer think about fashion or looking your best. Your appearance is often tied in with how you feel about yourself and the more effort you make on how you look will be reflected in how you live your life.

12. Examine your goals for the future

Have you set goals for yourself? Do you know what you want your life to look like in 5 years’ time? 10 years? Start examining some different goals for your future.

Are there places that you would like to travel to? Do you have a burning desire to be a painter or go skydiving?

Start setting some goals that you are excited about, goals that are going to propel your forward and that give you something to aim for.

13. Recognise that you are not 21 anymore

Ok so you aren’t 21 anymore and you know what, that’s ok. Think of all the life experiences that you have had.

Think of all the things that you have done and ask yourself, would you want to be 21 again? I bet the answer for many people is no, they wouldn’t want to be 21.

You can never go back and so there is no point in trying to, you need to accept the age that you are now and enjoy it.

You will never be able to do what you did when you were 21 but there are so many things that you can still do.

Once you accept this you can start moving forward and living your life now.

14. Keep your mind active

Just because you are in your 60s doesn’t mean that you should stop learning or using your mind. It is even more important now to keep your mind fit and active.

There are many things that you can do to keep your mind fit and active and you should aim to do something every day.

The more you use your brain, like any muscle the stronger and fitter it gets.

15. Adopt a winning attitude

Have an attitude that you are winning at life. Look for the positives in your life and believe that you are living a good life and one that makes you happy.

A winning attitude will always take you to places that you want to be.

When you change your perspective in life you will be amazed at the different results that you start to get.

16. Learn to live in the now

Be present and start living in the now. Now is all we have. You can’t go backwards and the future has yet to happen so the only place you can ever really live is in the present.

Once you really start to appreciate this then you will find that it is much easier to be happier with your life and what you have now.

17. Start something new

You are NEVER too old to start something new and never believe anyone who tells you otherwise. Regardless of age, there are always new hobbies you can take up, new learning to be done and new experiences to be had.

Life is perpetually moving forward and as long as you are on the journey, you should always be starting something new, growing and progressing.

18. Use technology to your advantage

Technology is moving forward in leaps and bounds and it is important that you use technology so as not to be left behind, with a feeling that you can’t compete in today’s world.

Technology can have the most amazing benefits if you use it wisely. From keeping connected to people, and studying, as a way to socialise or plan your time. Embrace technology and take full advantage of all it has to offer.

19. Organise your time wisely

Plan your days. Don’t get up in the morning with nothing to do, if you do this you will probably spend the day doing nothing. Instead, plan your days in the same way you did when you were working. Have something set for each day, something that you enjoy and that is going to add value to your life.

Make sure that your diary is organised and active, meeting friends, and family, exercising, socialising, and volunteering.

Final Thoughts

Life isn’t over just because you hit a certain age. If you are feeling lost in your 60s there are many things that you can do to start living a positive and fulfilling life.

For many, it is the fear of the unknown about their future that has them feeling lost or the thoughts that they have in their minds about what the future holds. If you are someone who resonates with this then there is always the option of coaching.

Working with a life coach can be an excellent way of getting your thoughts and belief systems back on track and seeing the possibilities in your life.

A coach is there to support you, to give you the tools and backup that you may need at the moment. They are there to give no judgement just understanding and the help that you may need to start seeing the positives in your life and future.

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