Is Your Life Half Over?
I’m 53 years old. And unless I live to 106, like one of those raisin-faced anomalies you periodically read about, my life is more than half over. Even if I make it past 100, I’m pretty sure the quality of my life would be greatly diminished. Already, I pee when I sneeze, can’t sleep without my favorite ear plugs, and I seem to have lost all sense of spatial awareness.
Just last month, I got a ticket for parking too far from the curb. Last week, I actually drove over said curb. If this is all happening now, I don’t even want to imagine what humiliations living beyond 100 might bring.
If you, like me, are getting clear on the fact that your life is half—or more than half over, perhaps you, also like me, might want to get focused. I don’t know about you, but I have some serious goals I want to achieve before I start wearing Depends.
Honestly? I never used to be big on writing down goals. I mean, sure, I made New Year’s resolutions with the best of them, but I never wrote them down. Too much pressure. What if I didn’t do what I said I was gonna do and felt like a loser? I was as doubtful about my ability to achieve my goals as I was about the likelihood that, as my mother once told me, my hair would get thinner and duller as I age and I’d be turning up my TV volume a teensy bit more each year.
The thing is, Mom turned out to be right about that, and I turned out to be wrong, as the vibrating windows in my house and the build-up of product in my hair can attest. Could it be that I was wrong about writing down my goals, too?
And then I got it. The entire point of setting and writing down goals isn’t about whether or not you achieve them—it’s about the person you become in pursuit of those goals. 
Whoa. 
So I went for it. I wrote down my goals. And here’s what’s happened in the three weeks since:
1. My mind has more structure. Knowing that my goal is to take at least two fun spinning classes a week, I know exactly where I’m going to get my cardio exercise. My mind is no longer darting from possibility to possibility like an unsupervised seven-year-old in a toy store. Each morning, I know exactly where I’m going and why.
2. I am laser focused. Instead of surfing Facebook, I am spending my time with the pile of photos I have splayed all over my office floor, ready for me to organize and file into these cool boxes I bought. I set aside 15 minutes a day and guess what? I’m half way done! (Psst: I still have time for Facebook.)
3. I save money. With my goals clearly articulated, I’m not spending my precious resources shopping online and getting distracted by some cool new Living Social deal that will send me 85 meals for $69. My money goes into making more money.
4. I am more inspired than ever. I am listening to what would make my heart sing.  No longer am I waiting for inspiration to show up at my front door–it’s conveniently and  innately packed into my goals.  And that’s exactly what’s so beautalicious about creating and taking action toward goals that light you up.  As a result, my “I’ll Have What She’s Having” dinner partner, Kelley Wolf, and I are finalizing the dates of what promises to be a spectacular dinner at an exclusive winery in the backdrop of the gorgeous Napa Valley.
5. I’m becoming a different version of myself. I am complaining less, doing more, eating better, and looking at where I make things hard (and why). I’m also being way nicer to myself. Hey, I’m kinda cool!
I might just live past 100. I might not. But the important thing is that I am really liking the person I’m growing into while pursuing what I want. Next on my goal list: a car that parks itself.