Don't Be The "S" Word, After 60 Working Harder Is Smarter

When Layla, my only granddaughter, was just 4 years old and sitting in the back seat of our car, she suddenly exclaimed during a conversation that Jean and I were having, "Papaw, we don't use the 'S' word!" Panic came over me as I turned to Jean with a bewildered look and asked, "Did I just say that?" Jean replied, "I didn't hear that."

I looked in the rearview and said, "Baby girl, I don't think I said that bad word." Whispering in my ear, she said, "Yes, you did, Papaw, you said, stupid."

Layla, who is now 18, has always been one of the smartest people I know. She maintained a GPA above 4.0 throughout her secondary education and continues toward a BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration) at Kennasaw State as she finishes up her first year of College.

Not only is she one of the smartest people I know, but also one of the most disciplined and hardest-working. While attending College, she is a competitive dancer/entertainer, practicing/rehersing as much as 12 hours a day, and sometimes 7 days a week. Not only that, Jean is teaching her to be a seamstress. She has planted and is growing a beautiful vegetable garden. She loves to cook and bake; she and her Nana are always calling each other and sharing new recipes.

On top of all that, over the past 6 weeks, she has auditioned for Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and Oceania and has been offered positions at all three. And after auditioning this past Monday, in Toronto, Canada, for Disney Cruise, they want to hire her and are currently negotiating a contract.

Yet, most importantly, she has a real and deep relationship with God. Attending church, studying the Bible, and knowing the power of prayer.

With all that said, I am pretty sure you have heard the cliché all your life: "Work smarter, not harder." (And not using the 'S' word), I have never understood why anyone would say that.

Telling someone to “work smarter” is useless because it assumes they already know what smarter looks like. If they did, they’d be doing it.

I can state with certainty that Layla was smart enough to know that to get the results she wanted, she would have to work hard, and she did.

Especially over 60 and beyond, being smarter means working harder

“Work smarter, not harder” is often presented as the opposite of hard work, but working smart is, in fact, a result of hard work. You must put in the effort just to understand what it means to work smart. Smarter approaches are not shortcuts; they are insights gained through deep, sustained work habits. And this is never more apparent than when you turn 60 and beyond.

There is no easy way to get what you want. If there were, everyone would have everything they ever desired.

For some reason, as we enter our retirement years, we seem to adopt the mindset of "Finding the easy way," which is the worst thing you can do physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually, if you hope to have an active and independent life in your 60s, 70s, 80s, and even into your 90s.

Choosing an 'easy independent life' now can lead to a 'harder dependent life' later.

Today, I am going to focus on the significance of 'not' taking the easy way when it comes to the physical aspect of our lives. An inactive lifestyle not only negatively impacts your physical health, increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, and muscle atrophy, but also causes mental health challenges like depression and anxiety. And as I can testify to, when you are not as physically fit as you can be, your spiritual life isn't either.

Here are a few ideas for being more active on an ordinary day...

• Parking farther from store entrances will help with your cardio.

• Standing up straight, taking longer steps, and not leaning on the cart while grocery shopping will improve your balance.

• Wearing your watch on your opposite hand will improve your motor skills. Just strapping it on with the opposite hand will help you learn abilities and bodily movements you seldom use

• Putting on pants or shorts while standing up will help you develop better balance.

• Putting on your shoes and lacing them while standing will help you stay flexible

• Using the stairs will help with lower-body strength, cardiorespiratory endurance, and balance

• I am not into it, but Jean walks in place while watching TV. I am more about using my brain power to solve "real fiction" murders on Poirot.

• Treat everyday household chores like a workout. I mow the lawn at a slightly faster pace to raise my heart rate, which helps with conditioning and strength. The same goes for vacuuming.

These are all great ideas and will help you live and feel better. However, we should aim for 2-3 days per week of 30–45–minute strength training sessions, with at least 1 day of rest between sessions. This frequency is ideal for building muscle, increasing bone density, improving balance, reducing stress, improving your mood, and helping you feel recharged while also giving the body adequate time to recover.

So avoid the 'S' word, be smart, and don't take the easy way out.

There is no easy way to get what you want. If there were, everyone would have everything they ever desired.