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How To Age Well with Aunt Patricia
My Great Aunt Patricia inspired today’s episode on aging well. She is the epitome of healthy living and, if I’m lucky, I’ll be as mentally and well as she is when I’m her age.
She is such an inspiration. I wanted to dedicate a whole episode and blog post to two things that I see influencing her healthy living. We can learn from the awesome Aunt Patricia.
These two pieces are her mindset and her habits.
Victim or Victor
When you think of the things that have happened and are happening in your life, how do you see yourself? Do you see yourself as the victim or the victor? I encourage you to think of yourself as the victor. I encourage you to think of yourself as the victor. Listen into the episode to hear specific examples of how my 95-year-old Great Aunt does this. Also, listen to this podcast episode . You will learn of an exercise you can do to see how your past is affecting your present health and wellness.
We must realize two things:
- How we view our past is a choice
- How we view our past and present affects all aspects of our wellness.
In the episode, I cite an impactful study by JAMA (linked here). It shows how the way we think impacts our life expectancy and death by all causes.
Listen into the episode to hear how this shows up in my Great Aunt Patricia’s thinking patterns.
As my coach, Brooke Castillo says: “Our greatest problem is thinking we shouldn’t have any problems.”
3 Parts Of Joyful Living
3 important factors come into play when we think of the events that happen in our lives. They are:
- How we think of the events before they happen,
- What we are thinking about as the event is happening and
- How we reflect on the events after they happen.
As a coach, I know it is important to look at our thinking patterns for all three of these pieces. I noticed that Aunt Pat was deliberate about thinking about the first piece. Further, she was doing it in a way that Positive Psychology refers to as the Best Case Scenario. She spends a lot of time positive thinking.
This is an upbeat thinking practice. It calms the nervous system and helps us raise our happiness set point. Listen into the episode to hear specific examples of how she practices this so you can too.
What’s interesting is that most of us do the opposite. We do what Brene Brown calls “dress rehearse tragedy”. We spend time thinking of all the things that could go wrong and how we will feel when they do.
Do you do this? It’s natural because our brain has a negative bias. Yet, it’s not helpful for our mood or longevity. Be on the lookout for how and what you think about the things that are going to happen in your life. This would be a fun place to start a new habit. My motto is “How would Aunt Pat think about this?” Feel free to borrow that, lol!
Daily Happiness Habits
Did you know that there are things we can do daily so we can be more of a happy person? These things are proven to raise our happiness set point. How do I know? I studied them and taught them and saw if happening every day in my office.
I’m so inspired by Aunt Pat. I’ve decided to run my most popular program, the Happiness Habits Course, live starting next week. This stuff is important. Many people either don’t know the simple shifts to make. Or they know what to do but don’t have the accountability needed that I provide in this 5-week program to help you.
If you want to have a more happy way of thinking in the world; this program provides everything you need for it. Even though its regular price is a great deal. I’m seizing the day and my inspiration and offering it for HALF OFF if you use the coupon code PAT.
Go to smbwell.com/happy and use the code PAT to feel happier and live longer and all the things! Yes, please.
The world needs more Aunt Pat energy.
