Having adjusted to my new reality of work life again has meant I’ve had to adjust in different ways as well.

🔑 I now have to take a bus into work again every day

🔑 I have to wash and iron my business shirts, something I haven’t done for eight years

🔑 I have to do my grocery shopping on a weekend instead of throughout the week as I previously did

🔑 I now have to fit my cooking in on a weekend instead of throughout the week as I previously did

🔑 I have to plan my exercise around nights during the week instead of days

Basically, I’ve had to cram a lot of what I would have done over a five day week, into a two day weekend. 😩

I’ve found this to be extremely tiring, though not unexpected, and it raised a question in my mind.

“Can a person over the age of 50 really change their habits and behaviours for a prolonged, sustained basis?”

Throughout my life, based on what I’ve seen, I would have to say the answer is generally … no.

As a sweeping generalisation, by the time someone is 50, they’re in wind-down mode.

House paid-off … kids off their hands (as much as kids ever are) … and retirement funds starting to look pretty.

Sure, they may work to get some extra income, but the pressure has wound-down a bit.

Why on Earth would they change in order to learn new things?

Especially if it relates to technology … as seen by the number of post 50 years olds who need assistance from their kids or younger people to help them.

But there are cases where sustained behavioural change can occur.

A favourite saying of mine is that nobody ever changes until they’re hurting enough.

So sustained change after 50 years of age can occur through forced necessity.

I’m the living argument for that!!

But I’ve also seen instances where sustained change has occurred on a voluntary basis.

This has usually been in cases where a person is sitting pretty in life, with minimal pressure from any source and the desire to change comes from a personal development/self-actualisation point of view.

These people are usually single and looking to not only change their life, but also their own personal identity.

But overall, fewer people over 50 change their behaviour and habits than those that do.

Which is a bit disconcerting for me, given I’m attempting to be one of the few that actually can do it!

But it’s also pointless dwelling on this stuff.

I mean, it’s only been a week since I started my new job!

I’ll reflect on this question, though, after 6 months and see if there’s a clearer answer in my case.

Assuming I last 6 months! … in which case, Ive got my answer. 😉