Entering October begins the countdown to my 68th birthday in November – and, more significant, the two-year countdown to my 70th birthday.
That got me thinking.
After 67 years of education, experience, mistakes, successes, reinvention, and hopefully a little wisdom along the way, how do I continue growing and learning?
What if, instead of looking at a five or ten-year plan, I looked at a two-year plan?
And not the kind of plan filled with goals to check off a list.
A different kind of plan.
Who do I want to be when I turn 70?
There is something about that question that feels very different from asking what I want to accomplish by 70.
We tend to think about self-improvement as something we need when we’re younger. We go to school. We build careers. We develop skills. We set goals. We work on our weaknesses. We try to become more successful.
But at what age are we supposed to stop becoming?
I don’t think we are.
At this stage of my life, I don’t feel the need to completely reinvent myself. I’ve already done that a few times.
What I do feel is a desire to keep evolving.
There are things I still want to learn. There are habits I can improve. There are things I want to experience. There are parts of myself I want to understand better.
And there are probably a few things I need to let go of.
That’s the part of self-improvement we don’t talk about enough.
Growth isn’t always about adding something.
Sometimes it’s about asking:
- What am I still carrying that I no longer need?
- What am I doing simply because I’ve always done it?
- Where am I spending my time that no longer deserves my time?
- What have I been saying I want to do – but continue postponing?
And what would happen if I stopped waiting for “someday”?
So, I’ve decided to look at the next two years as “intentional” growth.
By the time I turn 70, I want to be able to look back and know that I didn’t simply let two more years pass.
I want to be able to say I used them.
Not by filling every minute or chasing an endless list of accomplishments, but by being more deliberate about how I live them.
I want to continue learning.
I want to challenge myself professionally and personally.
I want to take better care of the things that matter.
I want to remain curious.
I want to do some things that make me uncomfortable.
I want to make room for experiences I’ve been putting off.
And, perhaps most importantly, I want to pay attention to who I am becoming along the way.
What’s Your Two-Year Plan?
You don’t have to be approaching 70 to ask yourself this question.
Take your age today and add two years.
Now imagine yourself on that birthday.
Who do you want to be?
Not just: What do you want to have?
Or: What do you want to accomplish?
But:
- What would you like to know that you don’t know today?
- What would you like to be doing differently?
- What habit would you like to have developed?
- What would you like to have stopped doing?
- What experience do you finally want to have?
- What part of yourself would you like to strengthen?
- And what have you been putting off that deserves a place in your life now?
Self-improvement doesn’t have an expiration date.
Maybe one of the greatest benefits of getting older is that we finally have enough experience to understand that becoming a better version of ourselves isn’t about becoming someone else.
It’s about becoming more intentional about the person we already are.
So, as I begin my countdown to 70, that’s my challenge to myself:
Keep learning. Keep growing. Keep changing. Keep being curious.
And two years from now, I hope I can look back at 68-year-old me and say:
I’m glad she never stopped growing.
P.S. Ready to stop searching for purpose and start choosing it? Let’s talk. Book a consult — email us at info@coralgablescounseling.com or call 305-445-0477, and we’ll map out what intentional living can look like for you.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“You don’t need to see the entire path to move forward – only the courage to choose your next step.”
Emy Fernandez, MBA, Certified Life Coach
