As I write this, I am just 7 months away from turning the 4.0!
I’ve been telling myself for ages that it’s just a number and that turning 40 is no big deal.
However, I think I’m kidding myself a little bit.
You see I clearly remember my Mum’s 40th birthday like it was yesterday. I was 21 and thought that I was a proper grown up. 40 seemed a long way off at that point. I remember thinking that 40 was like a proper parent’s age. An old person’s age.
Yet, here I am…..on the cusp!
Married to the girl that accompanied me to my Mum’s 40th birthday party.
With my own kids.
I wander if they look at me as old??
The grey hairs are a sign, but other than that I don’t think I give too much away.
When I look at myself in the mirror I cannot see someone that is as old as that memory that I have of my Mum at her birthday. But am I kidding myself. Am I just seeing what I want to see and blatantly ignoring the sprouting grey hairs all over my head.
Am I conveniently forgetting the crazy, out of control wild hairs that I keep plucking from my nose – daily!!
What about the amount of grey hair that’s on my beard now? Shaving it short so that people can’t see it!
One of the things that ‘softens the blow’ for me getting to this ripe old age where they say ‘Life begins at….’
is the fact that I am physically and mentally in the best shape of my life. Well, adult life anyway.
I typically work out 4 times per week and I eat and drink very healthy at least 90% of the time. The result of this is that my body fat % is at a level that is comparable to a guy 20 years my junior.
As I eat plenty of veggies, lots of healthy protein and good quality carbs I have a well balanced diet that gives me focus and energy throughout the day.
Honestly, here’s a photo of what I’m munching on right now. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Raw tenderstem broccoli is awesome!
When I was in my 20s I could take my health for granted. I didn’t look after myself. I didn’t workout. I drank beer most nights and I ate pretty much what I wanted.
I never made the connection between feeling low in energy and not looking after myself. But at the same time I can’t really remember being low on energy. I just seemed to have this youthful vitality that allowed me to keep going.
When I hit my 30’s I did start to slow down.
Hangovers seemed to last longer than the next morning – like try 48-72 hours!!
Beer and junk started to sit on my waist. I went from a 32″ waist to 38″ in about 2 years in my early 30’s. Funny enough this coincides with when my 2 kids were born. Not sure what the correlation is but there’s got to be something in that.
I then used to think that this is just the way that it is.
This is just part of getting old.
I guess that when I look at the older people that were around me – previous bosses, my Dad, and other family members I could see that they all put on weight as they got older. It was normal.
I never made this connection between actually looking after my body and feeling more energetic.
Since eating well and drinking well and committing to regular exercise my youthful vitality has returned.
Rather than hit snooze when my alarm used to go off at 6:30am, I now get up at 5am. No problem. I spring out of bed and crack on with my morning routine.
I play football on a Wednesday and manage to keep up with the lads half my age. To the point where they’re now asking me to come and play for their 11 a side first team!!
I get less ill.
I can’t remember the last time I had a cold.
I’m much more productive at work.
I have more energy to spend with my kids.
My kids are in turn inspired by this. Healthy eating and regular exercise is the norm now for them.
So is hitting 40 a big deal?
NO!
No matter how old I am I’m determined to keep looking after myself and keep having fun.
Any Mid-life Crisis On The Horizon?
I’ve often wandered what causes us guys to have mid life. Surely it has something to do with getting to that middle age with wife and kids and feeling ….well…just like everyone else. Feeling normal.
Old, out of shape, boring job, living for the weekends and holidays,
and just waking up one morning and thinking
“I’m better than this”
or
“I can’t go on like this”
“There has to be more to life than this.”
Luckily I don’t feel like I’m anywhere near to feeling like this.
I have listed below what I believe to be the main factors to avoiding a mid-life crisis. I also believe this to be the main reason that I am not dreading getting to age 40 – in fact the main reason that I am actually looking forward to it.
- I am a business owner and I have engineered it so that it allows me to get to spend loads of quality time with my kids. I work on my business and not in my business most of the time.
- I have an amazing time with my wife and am in love with her as much now as I was when I met her.
- I’m in great shape and feel healthy and full of vitality (as mentioned above)
- I continually read and educate myself in the areas of entrepreneurship, self development, positive thinking and improved focus and productivity.
- I set regular goals throughout the year that keep me challenged and striving for more success.
All of the above though are a by-product of me starting to look after my health. At first it can be quite a daunting prospect – especially if starting from a point of being really unfit (like me a few years ago).
So to sum it up.
If you want to feel better about turning 40 then just get yourself in great shape. Commit to a goal, change your eating habits and start working out.
Ricky
ps. My 6 Week Body Transformation Programme book will be released in a few weeks (mid December 2015 specifically for men over 35). Let me know if you fancy a free copy before it’s officially released on Amazon.