Now that the New Year has arrived, it is of course the time for New Year’s resolutions. It’s also the time for columnists to write essays about New Year’s resolutions. One such essay came to my attention recently, because a financial columnist at U.S. News & World Report managed to weave in some research I conducted with Dylan Smith and Heather Lacey on people’s inability to predict how happy they will be as they age. I thought you might be interested in that part of the essay.
After money management, integrate mindfulness into your life. I bet you didn’t see this one coming. Obviously, you realize that life comes with an “expiration date.” The only difference between the expiration date on the cold cuts in your refrigerator and your own is that you don’t know your own expiration date.
Don’t overlook the benefit of living longer. According to a 2006 study by Peter Ubel, Healther Lacey and Dylan Smith, “Hope I Die Before I Get Old: Mispredicting Happiness Across the Adult Lifespan,” study participants’ self-reported happiness confirmed an increase in happiness with age. Mindfulness helps you capitalize on your growing wisdom and happiness. Mindfulness is the process of attending to the current experience and living in the present. If you are more consciously mindful, you will learn to appreciate the now, worry less and enjoy life more. If you have enough and you are in control of your finances, living mindfully will elevate the joy in your retirement life.