Zak: The psychological zone for a fulfilling third third
Valley Voices
As I seek to help others live their best life in the third third, I know that the premise to joy, fulfillment and freedom resides in five zones of influence — or the 5 Ps.
A well-balanced approach to one’s lifestyle can be found by equally focusing on each zone through a thorough evaluation of your personal, psychological and physical well-being as well as living into your purpose and residing in your place. This column, the third in a series, focuses on the three areas of psychological wellbeing.
But to start, I confess that I have no psychological or mental wellness training, only experience and education. Through research I conducted, I recognized that psychological well-being is imperative to happiness, and can be summed up in three capabilities: your state of mind, mindset and emotional awareness.
Believe it or not, we are only in one state of mind at a time — love or fear — and have the capacity to change from one to the other by refocusing our thoughts. When in a love-based state, we are open-minded, can seek happiness and joy, while positively affecting those around us. However, when in a fear-based state, our brain shifts into survival mode, coined as “fight, flight or freeze,” which typically does not help us reach the outcomes we want out of life. And, regardless of a situation, we can move thoughts from fear to love to achieve the outcomes we desire, instantly, with the right training.
Understanding if we are growth or fixed-minded also plays a huge role in finding joy, fulfillment and freedom. Upon entering the third third, it’s crucial to recognize that a growth mindset can look at challenging situations as an opportunity, is curious and perceives getting older as positive.
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A fixed mindset is the opposite and believes that the body and mind are aging, harming cognitive, physical, mental and social capabilities. As we are living longer, this poses a challenge for those with a fixed mindset because they don’t believe they can change and miss out on the beauty of the golden years. Do you know if you are growth or fixed-minded and the influence it has on your life?
And lastly, since we have the capacity to refocus our thoughts — instantly — routinely tapping into them through emotional awareness is critical to create the life outcomes we want. Identifying what is going through our mind, the emotions these thoughts provoke and understanding if the thoughts are supporting (or challenging?) our joy, fulfillment and freedom, we can proactively pivot them toward positive outcomes, dreams and desires.
So, the life we desire in our golden years is attainable at any age or stage and our psychological well-being is truly the key to attainment. Thus, think about how often you are in a love (versus fear) based state, how to tap into your curiosity (versus avoidance) and practice emotional awareness, and you will design your best life.
Ceci Zak is passionate about helping others live their best life in the third third. A former senior global bio/pharma and advertising executive, as well as a business school professor, nonprofit leader and staunch supporter of developing women leaders, she can be found nowadays walking her dog in Wildridge, traveling the world or in “blues” — teaching at Beaver Creek. Email her at ceci@modernelderpathfinder.com .
