7 Steps To Managing Midlife Renewal

Miriam can be found at New Achievements Elite Coaching. You can head there to learn more about her and the type of coaching services she provides. 

The grass is green, trees are starting to bud, birds are chirping! It’s time for spring. It’s time for renewal.

For many of us, midlife is our time for renewal. Exploring who we are, what we want, renewing a commitment to be our best selves or the selves we imagined we would be, though life took us on different paths. Ultimately we find that we all end up at the same place. A place of renewal.

So how does one go about managing this renewal process? Here are some steps for you to consider.

1. Find your passion. There is a lot of talk about finding one’s passion. But what does that really mean? In my opinion, author Gail Sheehy sums it up quite well when she says that passion is allowing yourself to get lost in something. Find that thing, that activity that takes you to a place where you get lost, time suspends itself and you are no longer focused on self.

2. Embrace learning new things. Lifelong learning is key; we can always learn something new. Take a class, engage in reading about something you are curious about. Keep your curiosity alive. My 102-year-old step-mom told me that this has been her secret to living to her age… curiosity about the world around her.

3. Self-care without feeling guilty. Self care. From getting enough sleep, to eating nutritionally sound meals, to engaging in some type of physical activity. This sort of self-care is honoring who you are as a woman. Taking care of self allows for renewal and we, alone, are responsible for making sure we are healthy.

4. Become adventurous. What new adventure do you want to go on? Do you want to travel to some exotic place or do you want to scale a wall at the climbing venue in your area? Do you want to train for a 5k? What do you want to do that puts you outside your comfort zone but does not require a lifetime commitment? Becoming adventurous means just that. Doing something new and different.

5. Give back. In midlife we have the advantage of wisdom, life experience and time. Find a place where you can give back. Contributing to local community takes us outside of ourselves and allows for us to be of service.

6. Reconcile with old hurts, old regrets. Carrying the emotional baggage from years past will only poison the midlife chapter of renewal. Is it hard? Yes! But in this midlife time of renewal the question to ask is “why?” Why hold on? Holding on hurts only you, not anyone else.

7. Learning how to say no and not feel guilty. In this time of midlife renewal, it is okay to become comfortable with saying no without the guilt. At this time in life we are learning how to master stepping into our power and living from that power source. Saying no to things we no longer want to do is honoring ourselves.

Midlife renewal.

In the words of Marie Curie:

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more so that we may fear less.”