5 Things Every Man Over 50 Needs To Hear

2022 is almost a wrap and 2023 is on deck. Some of you reading this are in "Rinse and Repeat" mode either because your life is so awesome or you are in Walking Dead mode.

For the rest of you who are actually taking stock of your life and want next year to be different...this one's for you.

Let's do a quick exercise.

Take out a pad of paper and create 3 columns. Write down these 3 titles:

10 years ago Today 10 years from now

Now write down these categories in the rows (okay Excel geeks, do this in a spreadsheet if you want):

Net worthWeightCareerSex LifeEnergyStrengthRisk TakingLifestyleFitnessBeliefs / FaithFamilyOutlook on lifeWhere you liveWhere you work

Next, fill this out for what has already happened: 10 years ago and today.

Imagine a trend line from 10 years ago to today for each category. Is it going up and to the right (growth) or down and to the right (decline)?

In other words, did things improve over the last 10 years or get worse?

Now, start thinking about what you want your next 10 years to look like. As you think about 10 years from now, the questions to think about:

For the areas with growth trends, what needs to be true to continue the growth?

For the areas with declining trends, what needs to be true to stop the decline and get into a growth trend?

Once you have completed this exercise, add another column on the right labeled "Actions Required." This part is up to you.

Now, back to the title of this article:

5 Things Every Man Over 50 Needs To Hear

Every one of the 5 things below are meant to help you fix your declining trends. It's up to you to take action.

5. Tomorrow Is The Enemy Of Today

F*ck it, I'll start Monday. And Monday comes and nothing happens.

We've all been there. You might still be there.

If you are a Man over 50, every week is like a day and every month is like a week. Time feels like it is accelerating.

You'll never get this time back and unless you are an outlier, your trend lines from the exercise above are not strong. This is not a good combination.

Start today. If you have no clue on where to start, you need to think harder.

Here are some questions for you to ponder:

Are you at your ideal weight? Do you drink every night? Do you get to the gym 3-4 times a week? Have you looked into how necessary all your meds are? Does most of your food come from a bag and have ingredients you can't pronounce? Are you drinking a gallon of water everyday? Are you getting stronger? How are you relationships?

Most Men know where their areas of opportunities are. But knowing and not doing is not knowing. Take action.

4. Consistency > Intensity

The guy who shows up and puts in the work everyday will always beat the weekend warrior.

Michael Jordan averaged 30.1 points per game over his career. He was never held scoreless (he was held to 2 points twice when he was winding down his career with the Wizards).

You aren't being guarded by a world class athlete. You can put up at least 2 points a day. And by doing this everyday, somedays you'll put up 10, maybe 15.

Put points on the board everyday in the areas that are important to you.

Health, fitness, nutrition, relationships, learning...those are just a few to consider.

You can't "make it up" on the weekends or a few times a month by increasing your intensity.

You aren't too busy. You just need to prioritize differently.

3. Your Health Is Probably Worse Than You Think

I have the privilege of working with dozens of Men over 50. Nearly 80% of them join us and learn their body fat % is either in the overweight or obese category.

This increases risk of death from any cause.

When you get your body fat under 20% (ideally around 15%) you reduce your risk of all cause mortality.

You also get stronger, more fit, more confident and gain energy. You become healthy.

Those are the exact results our Men get.

Get your body fat tested asap. Once you get your results, you need a strategy.

Most guys won't have a clue how to burn fat and keep their muscle as they try and figure out how to get to 15% body fat.

It's not about losing weight; it's about losing fat and keeping your muscle.

If you focus only on losing weight, you'll also lose muscle and lower your metabolic rate. This is a surefire way to yoyo your weight and create a different set of problems.

If you want it laid out for you, apply to join Argent Alpha. You can also read through my previous newsletters to learn the process. It's all there.

2. You Are Not Too Old

Carol Dweck's work on mindset is a classic.

To summarize, a growth mindset is a belief that you can learn, improve and change your life.

A fixed mindset is a belief that you need to work with the hand you are dealt. "It's just how it is."

Why can't a 60 year old Man be at 15% body fat, do 10 strict pull-ups, reverse his biological age and have more energy today than he did 10 years ago?

I know they can because I've seen it happen multiple times.

It all starts with believing you can do it. As Henry Ford said “Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.”

Sustainable change starts with believing it can happen to you.

1. Your Current Results Are A Reflection Of Your Current Commitments

Men in denial hate this one. But all progress starts by telling the truth (Dan Sullivan, founder of Strategic Coach).

Whatever kind of life you are living, that is exactly what you are committed to. Back to the trend line exercise - that trend line is your commitment.

"But I love drinking wine every night, eating out regularly, and enjoying my golden years." Great...those commitments will deliver corresponding results.

All of the choices you make are examples of your commitments and they lead to your results.

Once you start making different choices, your commitments change and so do your results. And those trend lines start going up and to the right.

You won't see the results right away. But you will feel it right away. Once you make a commitment and start taking actions that are aligned with that commitment, you start feeling a sense of hope and pride. Hope leads to feeling progress. Feeling progress leads to seeing results. Momentum builds, life improves, and you can't imagine going back.

Making and keeping promises to yourself increases personal integrity.

And that feeling is priceless.

Merry Christmas from all of us at Argent Alpha!

Ready to join other Men Over 50 who are becoming Harder To Kill everyday?

We are accepting applications for our next cohort of Men Over 50. If you want to make 2023 your best year in decades, complete this form by 12:00 CT on December 31, 2022.

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