Framework for Almost Old—a self-help course for aging well
Almost Old is a self-help course to help you develop (slowly! no rush!) into the kind of old person you want to be one day. You’re not old yet, so now is the time to examine various aspects of your lifestyle and attitude, and give them a tweak where necessary.
In this self-help training course, you are the curriculum designer. You are the trainer. You are the student. You are the examiner. Nobody’s telling you how to run your life or what sort of life it should be in future. That’s all up to you.
What you do get is a framework of 12 topics spread over 12 months, and 5 tasks to do each month.
12 months, 12 topics
Each topic is an aspect of lifestyle and attitude that influences the way we age.
You don’t have to do them in this order. You might want to change one or more of the topics. And some topics may take you longer than others.
- Housing
- Food & health care
- Exercise
- Finances
- Hobbies
- Social life
- Voice
- Brain & sleep
- Mind
- Happiness
- Identity and ageism
- Purpose
Tasks to do every month for a year
- Research key facts about the topic of the month.
- Do a writing exercise.
- Audit one aspect of your lifestyle or attitude (related to the topic of the month).
- Take a one-time action to change your environment.
- Start a tiny habit and do it every day for at least 4 weeks.
How you benefit from a framework of topics and tasks
When you search online for “aging positively” or “healthy aging” or “well-being in old age” or any related term, the results are overwhelming.
So many areas of life to consider! So many tips and bits of advice! So much research! So many lists!
You get the message that you have to change everything—eat more veges, volunteer, do brain exercises, get married, sleep longer, do push-ups, start painting, join a club, death-clean your house, be optimistic, give money away, forgive your enemies, be kind, have a purpose in life— Stop! It’s too much! You don’t know where to start.
Almost Old tells you where to start and keeps the process of change under control.