Give Your Menopause a Makeover

I’ve written about this concept before - in the context of ‘ways to jump-start your career’ – but it is relevant in relation to how we approach menopause as well.  If you want a different result, nothing works better to get you there fast than shaking things up.

Something strange happens as middle age creeps up on us: we get comfortable.  That’s not to be confused with “totally satisfied,” but it’s the Devil You Know.  You’ve gotten to a certain level with your fitness, your health, your accomplishments, and your relationships, and you know what to expect.  You know how to navigate the terrain and what levers to pull.  You’re on autopilot and you’ve gotten complacent.  It might not be perfect, but it works for you.

Until it doesn’t.  And that’s the problem with operating on autopilot: when one element goes haywire, all the rest tends to come crashing down along with it.  That’s certainly how it happened for me, and I can name quite a few friends that have had similar experiences.

So what does one do, when things are Okay for Now, but you KNOW they could be better?  When you hear that tiny voice (or a hella loud committee) in your head, telling you that this is not sustainable - that there HAS to be something more for you?

Do Something Different.

That sounds too simple, right?  Like what you would tell an eighth grader, I know.  But it is true, and it works as well for Fortune 500 executives looking to shake up a lagging business unit as it does for women coming into midlife and hating what they see. 

Menopause – with all the associated physical and emotional upheavals - can be such a gift.  It is a built-in reset button that gives us permission to rethink every single element of our lives.  We have an opportunity to take stock of what is and is not working for us physically, emotionally, spiritually; keep what we love and chuck the rest.  (Why do you think Marie Kondo is such a sensation?  Nothing is more satisfying than tossing our old crap!)  We can make a fresh start in any aspect of our lives, or even in all of them.  The last time we got to do this was when – in our early twenties?  The difference is that now we have the benefit of thirty years of wisdom, hard-won though it may have been.  Now we don’t care so much what other people think. We can take a risk without worrying that someone will judge us because we know that other people spend very little time thinking about us and what we do or don’t do. 

It's a lesson that is key to the success of some of the highest performers in business: If you want to change the landscape, you must have different inputs.  It doesn’t have to be anything dramatic, either.  Sometimes just stepping away from your routine for an afternoon (or an hour!) to see or do something out of the ordinary is enough to stimulate your imagination.  Take a different route to work, pick the blue door instead of the red, go to the zoo, attend a concert, go to a lecture or read a book on a subject that you know nothing about, talk to your coworker about his weird hobby.  A funny thing happens when you steep yourself in new experiences – when your curiosity is fired up, your brain starts to find creative solutions to old problems – fresh input equals innovative output.

So what is it that you want for your life?  Where do you want to make a change?  Is it your health?  What modalities or approaches pique your interest?  Go learn about them.  Take a course, read books, talk to experts.  Do you want to remake your relationship with your body? Hire a trainer, take a class, sign up for a race or a competition.  Do you want to learn a new skill?  Go back to school?  Change jobs?  Start a business?  Find a new partner?

DO IT.  Do something totally different.  This is your time!

Make Menopause Cool™.