What's Needed in a Plan for Solo Aging

As a person aging alone, you must understand the roadblocks a single person encounters when on their own.  There are eight to ten hard aging topics that all adults will face sooner or later. Not understanding the issues and not addressing each one head on will eventually turn into a stumbling block that impedes well being and put a person at risk of unnecessary worry and concern. 

When you know the potential risks, it equips a person with clarity, and knowledge of what’s ahead. It’s the not knowing that heightens worry and stress.  The Solo Aging Master Group Coaching will equip participants with strategies to tackle the concerns and give answers to, “How do I plan for the years ahead as a single person? Is it possible to take care of myself with no immediate family? Where do I start?”

Members get an overview of the upcoming obstacles that single people face living alone while growing older and learn the benefits of thinking forward one, five, and ten years from now. The leading obstacles for aging well are health, housing, social connections, transportation, and help and support. When a member of the Master Group Coaching you take the first step in predicting the future. Think about the life domains and where you stand with each: health, housing, money, social connections and support, and accessible transportation.

Participants will begin planning for the future by knowing what they need most right now as it relates to the years aheads.   
​
Is Managing Stress Needed?   
Planning is a thought process that requires mental effort and a cognitive capacity unencumbered by stress. Other strengths like self-regulation and self-control attribute to taking responsibility and action.  This is important because stress affects the ability to concentrate and focus our attention on the matters at hand. 

Is Better Health Needed?
Because we’re living longer, we need to keep our health care costs down as much as possible.  Each of us has individual desires and preferences and even different needs. There is NO one way to handle health concerns--each of us are different. You may have genetic issues to contend with. That’s when you need to follow your doctor’s care plan. But if your family genetics are strong, you will worry less. However, that does not mean you can ignore taking care of yourself. 

Do You Need to Increase Self-Reliance?
Having self-reliance is important for several reasons. The most obvious being that depending on others for help, means there will be times when it’s not available.

• Means you can solve problems and make decisions by yourself.
• Allows you to feel happy by yourself, in yourself, and about yourself—without needing to rely on others;
• Involves developing self-acceptance, a very powerful thing to have;
• Involves acquiring self-knowledge and practicing self-compassion;
• Gives you perspective, which in turn…
• Gives you direction.

Is Shifting Your Perspective about Aging Required?
Adopt a positive viewpoint about aging--see it as a healthy, normal part of life. And it’s the mindset that you will do whatever is needed in order to continue doing the things that you love and are important to you as you grow older. Some ways to do that are pursuing passions and making contributions to the world around them.

Shift Mindset from problem focus to possibility thinking. We are much more powerful than we realize. "When you focus on problems, you'll have more problems. When you focus on possibilities, you'll have more opportunities."

You will learn to ask: "What is my situation and what are my possibilities?"

Social Connections--Meet new people and stay engaged
Living in isolation and being lonely can be dangerous for health.  Staying socially active as you age can reduce risk for various mental health issues including depression and Alzheimer's disease. By keeping your brain constantly engaged in activity and interaction you are sharpening your mind and reducing risk of cognitive decline.

We depend on friends for participation in social activities but rely on close relatives for support during illness. But who do you count on if relatives aren’t nearby? That’s why our social circles and support teams must involve neighbors, peers, friends, members in our faith organizations, where we play, senior centers. 

Research has confirmed the health benefits of having a large number of social relationships. But does it matter who we're connecting with—family, friends, neighbors? To satisfy their various social, emotional, and health needs, adults turn to different types of social relationships. 

Take Care of Practical Necessities
If you take care of the practical items first, you’ll be free to pursue  fulfilling social connections with fewer worries:

• Legal documents
• Keep your affairs in order
• Finances--Know how they will support your future
• Get and stay organized

Affordable Living Arrangements
What is your preferred living arrangement? What type of lifestyle do you want to live?

Once you get a handle on these, you'll begin to see how simple it really is. You can make huge predictions incredibly accurately. The more you control that information and those variables, the more detailed a prediction you can make.

Start by making safe predictions. Add more detail and complexity to see the trends in your life. Then make basic predictions about your future. Gradually develop pinpoint accuracy. As you start to see just how well you can predict your life, you will begin to see just how adjustable your future really is. You can predict it. You should predict it. It's your life. It should be exactly what you want it to be.

​SOLO AGING MASTER GROUP COACHING
​