What Dreams Will You Pursue in the New Year Ahead?

Happy New Year! Given our ever-advancing ages and the COVID-19 pandemic of these past two years, there’s more reason than ever for us senior adults to celebrate our lives and health at the start of this New Year.

The pandemic and other events of the recent past have given many of us a renewed appreciation for the gift of life. As we age, we become more acutely aware of how quickly time is passing and the closing window of opportunity ahead. A New Year is indeed something worth celebrating. 

Pursue Your Dreams Now

The start of a New Year is a good time to ponder the big questions of life. One of those is the question of what we want to accomplish in this retirement chapter of life. Many of us harbor unfulfilled dreams and aspirations. Maybe it’s something we have wanted to learn or accomplish for years or even decades but haven’t mustered the courage or resolve to tackle it. 

If this describes you, it’s time to stop procrastinating. Make this your year. Be bold. Start making those big dreams a reality. 

Research shows that throwing yourself fully and passionately into pursuing new endeavors late in life can provide many benefits. Did you know that pushing ourselves, expanding our boundaries, getting out of our comfort zones, accomplishing new goals can actually be good for our health? It may even ward off dementia or improve our longevity, especially when combined with a healthy diet and lifestyle. 

Never Too Old

Our culture programs us to think that as we age we need to slow down, take it easy, avoid stress and risk. We’ve been conditioned to think that the proverbial rocking chair is where we should spend our old age. We accept the mistaken viewpoint that older folks like us aren’t capable of doing great things. We no longer have positive contributions to make to society. Our best accomplishments are in the past. 

But as we used to say in my native Tennessee, that’s hogwash.

To the contrary, the retirement years can be a golden chapter of life when we finally have the time to unleash our creative abilities and tackle projects we always dreamed of doing but never had the time while working and raising a family.

Active Seniors Can Still MakE a Difference

If we look around us, there are plenty of examples of seniors in public life who are still at the top of their game and contributing to their respective fields of endeavor. Putting politics or your personal views of them aside and just focusing on their ages, take a look at this list of high-achievers who are Baby Boomers like us:

• Actor William Shatner launched into space for the first time recently at age 90.
• Anthony Fauci, at age 80, is chief medical advisor to the President of the United States, who himself is 79.
• Entertainers like Dolly Parton, 75, Willie Nelson, 88, and Mick Jagger, 78, are still active in their fields. Movie producer Steven Spielberg is 75.
• Billionaire and famous investor Warren Buffett is 91.
• Great Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is 95.
• Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, is 81. The top-ranking Republican in the federal government, Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell, is 79.
• Wheel of Fortune game show host Pat Sajak is 75 and his still-stunning hostess, Vanna White, is 64. 
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady is 44. OK, he’s not exactly a Baby Boomer, but for a pro football quarterback who is still at the top of his game, his age is unusual! Just like we seniors have to do, Brady has had to overcome naysayers and convince them and himself that he’s still capable to compete and win.

My Challenge This Past Year

This past year, at age 68, I took on the challenge of writing and publishing my first-ever book. It proved to be harder and more time-consuming than I expected. I spent hundreds of hours pounding my computer’s keyboard, interviewing subjects for my book, doing background research, and writing. Learning the tricks and techniques of how to self-publish my book was my most daunting challenge. I’ve been a writer most of my life but quickly discovered I knew nothing about publishing. The learning curve was steep.

It took twice as long as I expected, but now after a full year of effort I have a newly published book. It is available for sale on Amazon, Apple Books, Rakuten Kobo (Walmart Books in the U.S.), and other online book retailers. It feels great to be able to hold my own book in my hands. The sense of accomplishment makes the pain and stress of the past year worthwhile. I’m glad I did it, whether the book proves to be profitable or not. 

Writing a book not only kept me focused on a goal and busy, but it forced me to engage my brain and learn new information, which is something we all need to do as we age.

By the way, if you care to check it out, my book is titled “E-Bikes – Putting the FUN Back into Cycling (and Life) at any Age.” It’s about the popularity of electric bikes and trikes and how they can be beneficial especially for senior adults and those with medical challenges that may prevent them from riding a traditional bike or even walking for exercise. You can find my book here.

What Is Your Dream?

When we dream big, it’s amazing what we can accomplish in our senior years. We have a lifetime of experience and wisdom to share. We have the time to pursue our dreams.

Everyone’s passions and opportunities are different, but here are just some of the many ways you might choose to pursue your dreams in this New Year:

• Make a difference in your community. Take a more active role in volunteer or charitable work, perhaps assuming a leadership position with a nonprofit. Do you see a need that’s not currently being met? Consider launching a new nonprofit organization to fill that void. The need for volunteers is great. Deliver meals (and cheer) to those who are house-bound. Sort food that needy families count on receiving each week. Provide transportation to doctor appointments and other errands for those who can no longer drive. Volunteer to teach an exercise class at a senior center. Spending more time in volunteer work is one of the most common goals that many retirees have. In addition to charities, you can find plenty of volunteer opportunities with local schools and hospitals. Read to school children. Drive the hospital shuttle van. Be a teacher’s assistant.
• Commit to serving your church or faith group. If you are a believer and attend a church or other faith assembly, the retirement years offer many opportunities to get more involved. Find a ministry that is close to your heart and talk to your church’s staff or leadership team about your desire to help. Maybe you can mentor and encourage younger married couples or single mothers. Or visit the sick and prepare food for those recovering from illnesses. Perhaps you can teach classes, organize a food pantry, or help with an inner-city ministry. If you have specific skills, find ways to use them to help your church. Skills that are in demand include music, accounting, technology, public relations, cooking, catering, event planning, teaching, and construction.
• Get involved in an international charity or ministry. You can do charitable work anywhere, but the needs are especially great in poorer nations that lack the resources of a prosperous developed nation like the U.S., Canada, or the UK. Faith-affiliated missions and international aid societies can use your time, talents, and caring heart to serve people in third-world countries. This is especially true if you have skills in construction, teaching, cooking, nursing, or other medical fields. An added bonus of doing charitable work internationally is that you gain the benefits of living in another culture and having a base for additional travels.
• Start a business. A surprising number of retirees are pursuing the dream of starting their own business. Many people daydream for years about being their own boss but aren’t willing to give up a full-time job with benefits to scratch their entrepreneurial itch. Now that you are retired, you have the time and freedom to pursue this dream. You may want to launch a business from scratch, or you can buy into a proven business by becoming a franchisee. Watching your business grow can provide great satisfaction.
• Try a new career. Even if you are ready to retire from the job you’ve done for many years or decades, you may still want the satisfaction (and monetary benefits) of working. Trying a different career may be the answer. At this stage of life, you can do something entirely different. Some retired couples become over-the-road truck drivers. It’s a way to travel and see the country together, while getting paid well for doing so. For other retirees, their goal is to trade an office job for one where they can use their hands and creativity. They might work for a florist or a garden shop, or do handyman and light carpentry jobs for homeowners.
• Pursue a hobby or sport at a higher level. While working full time and raising a family, maybe you were only able to occasionally dabble at golf or painting or other hobbies. Now that you have the time, consider stepping up your game. If that passion is for golf, take lessons, buy better equipment, and join some competitive leagues. If photography is a hobby you’ve always wanted to pursue, purchase a high-end camera and start shooting. You may be able to combine two or more interests. For instance, photography and birding go well together. If you are still athletic, you might make it a goal to participate in state or regional competition in your given sport. Set challenging goals. Then put together a one year (or longer) plan of action to help prepare you to achieve those goals.
• Set ambitious travel goals. Travel is another popular activity for seniors. If you have specific travel goals, such as visiting all 50 states, completing a challenging multi-day hike, or traveling to another continent, then now is the time to set you plans in motion. If you are thinking that “someday” I want to travel but not making specific plans, then you may be missing your golden opportunity.
• Go back to school. Many senior adults find great satisfaction in returning to the classroom. Perhaps you always wanted to know more about history or literature or science. Maybe you want to learn a foreign language. Now’s your chance. Many universities offer free or discounted tuition to seniors who wish to enroll in classes.
• Write a book or a blog. Managing two active blogs and writing books keeps me alive and busy. Your goals for writing may be different from mine and that’s OK, but writing can be a wonderful creative outlet. You may want to write spiritual or inspirational books, poetry, a series of novels, history books, an autobiography, or how-to books. A friend of mine and fellow Baby Boomer recently published a children’s book. The possibilities are endless. Blogs can focus on nearly any topic. You can write about your hobby or any subject on which you have expertise and a willingness to write. Just be aware that about one million books are published in the U.S. each year, so your primary motivation for writing books should not be making money. The same is true about blogs. Despite all of the hype you can read about how you can grow rich from blogging, the reality is that most bloggers make little or nothing. There has to be a better motivation than earning money. You’ve got to enjoy writing and believe that others will benefit from reading your stories.

Put Your Goals in Writing

Maybe you don’t like the idea of writing New Year’s Resolutions, but whatever you call it there’s power in committing goals to paper. Set yourself one or more challenging goals for the New Year and write them down. Add reminders or milestones along the way on your calendar to keep you focused on achieving your dreams. Break your large goal down into manageable pieces, create a timeline, and then start ticking off each item, one by one.

For me, the New Year is already full of exciting plans ahead. My list of blog story ideas keeps growing longer. I have a new book to promote and a second book to start writing. I hope to complete some ambitious cycling trips to new places I’ve never ridden before. I have a family to vacation with and a grandchild to spoil. 

What are your goals for the New Year?

Having targets, goals, and itineraries helps get you out of bed in the morning, gives you clarity of focus, and perhaps most importantly gives you a sense of purpose and worth. 

It sure beats the rocking chair. 

So what are your goals for this New Year? Respond in the comments section below and let readers know your goals and dreams, past and present, and your thoughts on this topic.