7 Steps to Create a Playful Lifestyle After 60

What if the media and medical industry got aging backwards? What if our brains and even our creative abilities did not fade as we age, but actually increase?

The latest neuroscience studies have proven that your brain does not lose its ability to create your dream lifestyle as you age. It gets significantly better at it.

Here’s what two of the world’s foremost neuroscience researchers have to say about what your brain is capable of as you age.

Dr. Carol Dweck, who is a Growth Mindset Pioneer, says the following:

“The belief that abilities are fixed is most damaging in older adults. Our research shows that when people over 50 adopt a Growth Mindset, their cognitive abilities not only maintain but often improve.”

And here’s what Dr. Christiane Northrup has to say:

“The brain goes through a massive rewiring after 50. The temporal lobes, associated with enhanced intuition and creativity, become more active. This is biology preparing you for transformation, not decline.”

What does all of this mean in practical terms for creating your dream lifestyle after 60?

We will answer this question in our final article and video in the 12-part exclusive series for Sixty and Me readers titled “Visualize a Vibrant New Lifestyle After 60.”

A Playful Mindset After 60

Neuroscience is validating something many of us have already discovered. When you create your dream lifestyle with an open mind anything is possible as you age.

The key to unlocking new possibilities is not engaging in more activities in a day. It’s approaching your daily activities with a more playful mindset.

Playfulness after 60 is re-discovered within your inner child. It is not about doing more or being more, it is about letting go of the rigidity of a Fixed Mindset. When you willingly let go of fixed beliefs, you allow your childhood imagination to take over.

Being playful involves a Growth Mindset. When you apply a Growth Mindset to being more playful, you naturally become more open to embracing spontaneity and creativity.

This may sound good, but it is the opposite of how most of us were raised and educated.

Earning Your Right to Be Playful

Early in life, most of us were given a belief system to successfully achieve our dreams and goals. At the heart of this system is the limiting belief that says you have to earn your right to be playful and have fun. It started in our youth and got worse as we aged.

The further into adulthood we got, the more responsibilities we had and our to-do-list grew ever more expansive. Whatever was on that list had to be finished before any playfulness or fun could be experienced.

If we did go have fun before things were checked off that list, it was likely followed by some form of guilt or shame.

This belief system about how life works leaves most people exhausted and overwhelmed. By the time we enter our 60s, we’re too worn out to be playful.

What if there is a better way to living life as we age?

You’re Not Abandoning Responsibilities

Taking on a playful mindset after 60 is not about abandoning responsibilities.

Engaging in playful activities can be applied to not only the more serious things in life, but it can literally become a way of life.

This means you can infuse a playful mindset in everything you do and create your desired lifestyle with a lighthearted approach.

7 Steps to Being More Playful

Here are seven steps to being more playful that will not only help you create a playful lifestyle, but they will bring more fun and joy to those you spend time with:

Embrace Your Inner Child

It’s easy to forget the sense of wonder and playfulness you once freely enjoyed as a child. When you embrace your inner child, you infuse your lifestyle with unrivaled joy and an abundance of creative energy.

Practice Spontaneity

When you allow yourself to be spontaneous, you open yourself up to new experiences and opportunities to create your dream lifestyle.

Try Something New

Trying new things can be intimidating, but it can also be exhilarating. Cultivate a sense of adventure and playfulness by shaking up your daily routine and dive into a new world of fun-filled opportunities.

Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the practice of being fully present in the moment. Practicing mindfulness as a means to being more playful can help you tune out negative, self-deprecating thoughts.

Laugh More Often

Laughter has been scientifically proven to be a powerful tool for not only reducing stress but also bringing about expansive levels of playfulness. As you laugh more, you naturally let loose and play with boundless excitement just as you once did as a child.

Explore Your Creativity

When you engage in creative activities, you automatically tap into your childhood imagination. In this state of effortless flow, you express yourself in unique, meaningful, and playful ways.

Practice Gratitude

The opposite of gratitude is resentment, which is not at all a playful or pleasurable emotional state to be in. When you practice gratitude, you are less stressed, and more open to being playful.

Next Steps

I invite you to join me in the video, where I will share “3 Essential Practices for Being More Playful After 60”. I will also guide you through three journal prompts to help you integrate what you are learning.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Do you practice playfulness in your life? In what ways? How does it help you create your dream life?