It’s normal to wind down when we reach a certain age, but you don’t have to. Taking it easy and settling into routines will happen by default, but you can rebel against it if you want. You just need to think about it. Find new and exciting ways to stay young and fresh, and you’ll feel a lot younger than your years suggest. Here are five ways to break out of the mold.

Broadening Your Horizons

When we’re young, we always have new experiences. There comes a time when these new experiences stop happening naturally, and we need to actively push ourselves to make them happen. If it’s been awhile since you stepped outside of your comfort zone, now’s the time to take a trip, try a new hobby or sport, or take a course to learn a new skill. You never know the path you might take when you undertake a new adventure!

A New Career

If you’ve been in the same job for a couple of decades, what’s stopping you from getting a new career? It can be scary to leave the comfort of the familiar, but starting a new career can be rewarding and make the Monday – Friday routine more exciting. You’ll have more skills now than you did when you were in your twenties, so not put them to use? Enroll in a coaching course, and you’ll be able to bring your people skills and natural energy to your job. You’re never too old (or young!) to take a different path in life. What jobs might you be suited for that you’re missing out on?  

Getting Involved

There’s a whole world that might be passing you by if you’re not involved with current affairs. Instead of sitting on the sidelines, just watching things unfold, you can get involved and become part of the process. You don’t have to become a senator to make a difference. Local charities and organizations really do make a difference. If there’s a cause you feel particularly attached to, meet with the groups in your area and turn your passion into action.

Making the Most Of What You’ve Learned

You feel like you know everything when you’re young; when you’re old, you realize you know nothing. But you do know a lot and will have learned a lot just through the course of living, or at least you will if you’ve kept your eyes open as you walked through life. The process of staying young, then, is to incorporate everything you’ve learned into your life. If you know that diving into a cold body of water each day makes you feel alive, then that’s just what you should be doing.

Pushing Yourself

There are plenty of suggestions on how to stay young and alive, but what if the best remedy hasn’t yet been thought of? Life is about exploration; what can you come up with? Just because it’s never been done before doesn’t mean it never will! Carve out your own path, and you’ll inspire others.