FMP 071 • Turning 50 – What I Have Learned and How I am Designing My Future

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“Turning 40 was nothing! – Turning 50 Feels Profound.”

Turning 50 – What Happened?

Oh my God…where has the last 20, even 30 years gone? In today’s episode, I review what turning 50 means to me, what feels different, and outline what I want the next few decades to look like. I also share my findings of what others say they have experienced entering the 5th decade of their life.

I have discovered that I feel more accepting of who I am than ever before. Moreover, I feel comfortable in my own skin for the first time in my life. The transition started about a year ago when turning 50 revealed itself as waiting just around the corner. While some experience fear during this transition, I have come to embrace what has come and what will come – The future has never seemed so bright.

Episode Outline

Welcome to Episode 071: Turning 50

1. What We Do:
   • Behavioural Medicine and Health Psychology
   • Providing easily accessible content designed to help you design your own transformative experience.
2. Today:
   • I turned 50 a couple weeks ago.
   • For me, turning 50 felt like a much bigger crossroads compared to turning 40.
   • Today I reflect on what turning 50 means to me, what feels different, and how I intend to define the next 20-30 years of my life.

What Turning 50 Means To Me

1. Feels like the biggest transition yet.
2. I feel and urgency to define how my life will look for the coming years.

What Feels Different?

1. Less worried about what other’s think of me or my views.
2. Less urge to change the world compared to my 20s and 30s.
3. 40 was about solidifying my career path. I also got married just before I turned 40.
   1. Turning 50 is about sustaining my career gains and digging deep intra-personally in seek of being more content and working on my marriage.
4. Much deeper focus on giving back, especially to those younger than me.
   1. I know their struggle – Now that I am on the other side of that struggle, I want to pull others along.
5. Deep realization that life is so very short.
   1. I feel an urgency to accomplish my long term goals.
   2. I feel drawn to also settle into what I know.

What Others Say about Turning 50

1. Pros:
   1. Clarity about what you want out of life.
   2. Making “you” the priority and saying yes to yourself.
   3. Things do not equal happiness.
   4. Best time to reinvent yourself.
   5. It’s easier to just be yourself.
2. Cons:
   1. Body Changes
   2. Age Discrimination
   3. Pent Up – Unresolved Issues and Bitterness

Defining My Next 20-30 Years

1. Stay on the path of what I know:
   1. Vegan Living
   2. Fitness
   3. Minimizing Substance Use
2. Settle into things I love:
   1. Photography
   2. Podcasting and Livestreaming
3. Personal growth through continued emphasis on my career.
4. Always look for opportunities to give back.

How I Will Challenge Myself

1. The above!
2. Build a small social circle of friends that will be a part of my life for the next 20-30 years.
3. Be willing to toss all the above on it’s head and hitting reset whenever it feels right!

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