Setting goals can be life changing. From increasing your movement to mastering your menopause setting goals can help. 

A decade in review

Why not do a decade in review, which involves looking back at the last 10 years of your life? Indeed, it’s super interesting (and a bit of a wakeup call!) when you look back on all that happens in a decade. In fact, it can be life-changing and all you need is a notebook and a pen or you can do it on your computer.

So, begin by noting down the momentous and not so momentous happenings that occurred for you this decade.

Suggestions:

• If you’re reading this it’s a pretty safe bet you hit a milestone birthday during the 2010s whether that was 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s (or beyond!)
• You might have hit a significant number in your marriage or partnership too.
• Did your body change?
• I’m guessing your hormones started shifting as you hit perimenopause, menopause or post-menopause?
• How about your health? Was there cause for attention?

What else happened?

• Were there familial changes with your parents, your children, your relationship(s)?
• Did your work change? Was that a good thing or a bad thing?
• Maybe things around your home changed?
• What about your interests?
• And your finances?
• Socialising?
• You? Did you feel different?

Ten years is a significant amount of time especially at this stage in our lives. It feels good to take stock of any changes and reflect on the good and the bad.

Then it’s time to look to the future.

If you’re like many women, perimenopause/menopause may have turned your world upside down a little bit.

Setting Resolutions Goals

• For women in midlife making goals can be a good idea because our bodies are changing and so are our lives, needs and wants so giving these shifts some sort of structure can make us feel more comfortable.
• More often than not our kids are growing older (and more independent) or they’ve flown the coop.
• If fertility’s been our burden to bear we must finally come to terms with it.
• Our parents are getting older also and either need care or we’ve gone through caring for them and had to say our goodbyes.
• We might have gone through a separation or divorce last decade and are starting out in a new relationship, or finding ourselves back in the dating game.
• Maybe you’ve downsized your job or started a new business. Perhaps your husband or partner’s done the same and you’ve started said business together.
• There are so many different scenarios that can occur as we head into midlife and they’re not all without their bumps. The only certainty is that life will change so think about what you want for yourself in the next 10 years!

How to make goals work

• Rather than making big audacious goals that may set you up for failure take small steps. 
• The reason we recommend writing them down is because they’re 42% more likely to come to fruition. Dr Gail Matthews, a psychology professor in California discovered this figure when she studied the art and science of goal setting. It’s also why to-do lists work so well too.
• And actually if you’re in peri or post-menopause, you may find yourself getting a tad forgetful so a to-do list is a helpful tool even if you’re a non-habitual list writer.
• Put that together with incremental changes (baby steps) and you could make any year a great year as you navigate midlife and the menopausal years.

Science says it works and what have you got to lose?

To give you some small steps ideas:

Exercise

1. If you’re not an exerciser resolve to go for a walk every Saturday for 30-minutes.
2. Stretch for five minutes three times per week.
3. Subscribe to beginners yoga on YouTube – you can do it in front of the TV!
4. Ditto for mindfulness or meditation classes. (Proven to help with menopausal signs.)

Nutrition & Weight Management:

1. Close the kitchen at 6 or 7 pm. No sneaky snacks afterwards.
2. Add a nutrient-rich smoothie to your day (as a meal not a snack).
3. Eat a salad on the daily.
4. Swap your standard milk chocolate bar for one square of 70%+ dark chocolate.

Managing Menopause

1. Breathe deeply. In for 4, hold for 7, breathe out for 8.
2. Be honest with those closest to you if you’re experiencing anxiety, insomnia, hot flushes, brain fog.
3. Cultivate vitamin H (humour). Tip: persistence wins out.
4. Learn how to meditate (see the addendum to yoga under exercise). It might sound woo woo but it’s transformational.
5. Take your two capsules of Merry Peri® or Perky Post® together morning or night. Every. Single. Day.

If you’re going to get a planner, use it to set goals for:

1. Health
2. Fitness
3. Family
4. Relationships
5. Time
6. Money
7. Work
8. Spirit

Finally, let me leave you with this quote from a book called Piloting Your Life that I fell upon as I was writing this piece. It seemed relevant to us: