Question: What does an 86-year-old woman doing an absolutely awesome gymnastic routine, a 74-year-old fitness instructor, and a 101-year-old running a marathon have that you don’t have?

Answer: The belief that they can do it.

Regardless if your goal is to walk again after an accident, to lose 10 or 100 pounds, or to climb a mountain, at the core of achieving anything is the belief that it is possible.

One of the biggest limiting beliefs that we have as a society is that we decline with age. One way to test if this is true is to look and see if it is a Universal Truth—meaning it is true regardless of who, what, when, or how.

The examples below clearly demonstrate that being in awesome physical shape is possible at any age.

What happens as we age is that we change, but change does not mean decline unless that is how we define it. Our minds are powerful enough that if you expect to see decline, you will. And just about everyone believes in this decline and are using all the people who believe it to justify their belief.

Imagine what would be different about your life if you looked for examples of people doing what you want as a reason to believe it can be rather than using everyone else as an excuse not to try?

Another way to shift your beliefs is to reframe the story you have around change. For instance, lots of people think that with age they have to give up running because of the impact it has on their bodies. A reframe might look like:

Perhaps this is actually the opportunity to take up another activity—such as biking or yoga—which you are even more passionate about?
Perhaps this is the opportunity to train smarter or look into other solutions, such as changing running techniques as described in Chi Running and elsewhere.
Perhaps slowing down and walking really helps you connect with Who you are and what you want out of this phase of life?

Only you know what the right reframe would be for you, but creating a new story of what the change of time means opens you up to the possibility of continuing to grow, improve, and evolve—body, mind, and spirit.

How do you want your life to look as you get older? What beliefs are getting in the way of achieving that vision? What can you do today to begin seeing change in a new way?

Together we can do it!