Hello Reader

I'm enjoying having Canadian geese for neighbors. It's been fun watching them raise their families.

This week, I have noticed that the oldest goslings are growing flying feathers.

They're losing patches of soft fuzzy chick feathers, and are now equipped with long and sturdy ones that will allow them to soar and reach the sky.

For us to level up in life and reach new highs, a similar growth has to happen.

We have to shed what tethers us to the ground.

​

Tether #1: Beliefs

"I am too old to start"
"It's just a function of age that I can't do that"
"I'm too busy"
“I’m not who I used to be and it’s only going to get worse.”
"I'm worthless if I don't work"
"My best years are behind me"
"Life is short, I want to enjoy it"
"I've tried everything"

We all have deeply rooted views of our reality and the world around us. Things we hold true, even though they are not.

Uncovering these beliefs, especially when they are limiting, is paramount to get off the ground.

What we believe become the ceilings in our lives.

The best way to confront limiting beliefs is to have conversations with growth partners such as a therapist or a coach.

With a sounding board, we can challenge these beliefs and develop new ones.

​

Tether #2: Thought patterns

"I can't achieve that"
"I'm not relevant anymore"
"I'm stupid"
"I hate the way I look"
"I will never be able to do this"
"I always..."

Negative self-talk is common and toxic.

The quality of our life is a reflection of the quality of our mind.

Here are 2 steps to transform clouding thoughts into a bright blue sky mind:

1: Take the thoughts captive​
Start by noticing and acknowledging that you're having negative thoughts.
Labeling the thought is disempowering the thought.
You can write it down or simply make a mental note "I just had this tought".
​
​2: Challenge and reframe the thought​
Replace the negative thought with its opposite.
Bring to mind a past experience that proves your thought wrong.
Adopt a new perspective.

I have been able to take thoughts captive and reframe thanks to the practice of mindfulness. By training my attention, I am not engaging in automatic and negative thinking anymore.

Mindfulness has given me the ability to control the narrative in the theatre of my mind.

​
Tether #3: Knowledge and Skills

"I don't know how to lift weight"
"I don't know where to start"

No matter where we're at in life, there is a set of skills we need to get or lessons to learn in order to reach the next level.

To age well, we need to never stop learning.

We should reframe every obstacle we encounter as an opportunity to learn, and trust our ability to overcome.

Life is a constant challenge and that is what makes it exciting.

Reaching out to someone who knows, signing up for an online course, reading a book or taking action to raise awareness: a knowledge gap is easy to bridge.

When wanting to age in power, not knowing where to start is completely normal. If you're in this boat, I have created a quiz to help you find out a first step. It takes about 10 minutes to answer questions assessing 7 key areas that impact longevity.

You can take the timeless health assessment quiz here to find where is a good place to start for you:

​

Tether #4 : Habits and company

Drinks to wind down
Doom scrolling
Netflix and chill
Bingeing

Our habits are our floor. This is the default we fall to. The higher the default, the easier it gets to jump to the next level.

When we raise the floor, we scale up the ceiling.

We can choose how we spend our time, the media we consume, the people we spend time with and by doing so, we can raise the floor.

As the goslings let go of their fuzzy duvet to grow flying feathers, it's time to let go of habits that are not serving us so we can reach the sky.

With love,
Jihane