Many people think that growing older means fewer opportunities and less room for personal growth, but this isn’t true. While we may get stuck in repetitive ways or habits as we age, we never stop learning, and we’re never too old to learn something new.
In fact, while the hubbub of working life may have left you feeling tired and drained, entering into retirement is the perfect opportunity to recentre yourself, kickstart your passions, and work towards your personal goals again.
As a lifestyle retirement village, encouraging independent senior living and enabling seniors to live their life to the fullest is our passion. Let us help you discover yours! Below, we explain the benefits of goal setting and practising new hobbies and provide a guide on how to start working towards them.
1. Hobbies Keep Us Young
Continuing to learn and practice new hobbies is one of the best ways to stay young in mind and spirit. This is because tackling new activities, such as finally taking that guitar lesson or studying a new language, keeps our mind challenged while also nurturing the soul. The phrase “Use it or lose it” doesn’t only apply to our physical bodies, but also our mental capacities. The more we take care of our minds and bodies, the better we can maintain them long-term.
2. Hobbies Keep Us Positive
Hobbies not only help seniors to maintain their mental capacities for longer but also promote positive mental health and well-being overall. A study researching the possible health benefits of singing for the elderly found that singing had numerous positive effects. From decreased cortisol levels and tension to promoting more positive and balanced moods, these findings show us how what we do really impacts our mental well-being. Another thing to note is that these findings were true, whether or not the participants found pleasure in singing at the time!
3. Hobbies Keep Us Connected
Staying connected to friends and family is important no matter our age, but as we grow older, it is even more important to stay connected to those around us. Many hobbies are social and therefore give us an opportunity to socialise while we learn. If you worked hard throughout your life but had little time for building friendships outside of the office, taking up a new hobby in retirement offers the perfect chance to meet like-minded individuals and start new friendships.
4. Hobbies Keep Us Healthy
Hobbies that get you up and onto your feet every day, like walking, swimming, and hiking, keep you active and healthy without ever needing to go to the gym! Partaking in physical activities that we enjoy not only helps us stay physically healthy and capable, it also lowers our stress levels and boosts our mental well-being. Ultimately, if we have activities in our lives that we enjoy, fitness can change from something we “have to do” into something we genuinely appreciate and love doing.
5. Hobbies Give Us Purpose
Having motivation and purpose in our everyday lives is empowering! No matter our age, pursuing activities that are important to us, that we do just for our benefit, and that gives us a sense of accomplishment, is the best way to enrich our lives. Choose activities and tasks that nourish the mind and motivate you to do your best.
Where do you start?
Having activities to look forward to and goals to work towards are important parts of being human. While no path is smooth, setting goals gives us direction, and motivation, and improves our overall happiness and well-being.
Starting something new is never easy but starting something intentionally is the best way to improve. If you’re ready to start something new but are in need of some inspiration, here are some tips to help.
- Decide. Is there something you want to do or work towards? Choose something that is for your sake, something that you will enjoy. Remember: goals that challenge us can be motivating, so choose something that will grow you beyond your current abilities.
- Write it down. Bringing our plans out and laying them on paper makes them all the more real and increases our chance of sticking to them. Describe your goal and what completing it will look like and feel like to you. How will it bring value or connection to your life?
- Tell someone. Telling someone important to you what you want to do or work towards can make it feel more real and motivate us to stick to it.
- Break your goal into bite-size pieces. Big goals can often seem vague or overwhelming, but if we break them down into smaller goals, ones that we can achieve slowly over time, we can more easily move forward and feel accomplished with each task completed.
- Plan your first step. Getting started is often the hardest part! So, plan the first step—what you will do, when you will do it—then make it happen.
- Keep going. Working toward our goals can often be frustrating and challenging, but remember, the key to success is consistency and perseverance. There is no one right way to success. Work on your goals bit by bit, give yourself time to reflect and think up new ways of approaching them and achieving them along the way.
- Celebrate! When you achieve your goal, savour the accomplishment, celebrate with those you love, and thank those who helped you get there.
- Reflection. Reflect and think about what you enjoyed most and what you learnt from the journey and start planning… What’s your next goal going to be?
Enjoy independent senior living to the fullest in lifestyle retirement
Retiring and joining luxury lifestyle villages in Auckland is the perfect option for anyone wanting to enjoy their independence to the fullest. At Settlers, the happiness, comfort, and security of residents is our priority. Every apartment is made for ultimate convenience and enjoyment, so our residents, and seniors can gain more time to do what they love.
If you’re looking for excellent retirement accommodation in Auckland, explore our range of one, two, and three-bedroom apartments online and contact us today to register your interest.
