Don’t Overwhelm Yourself A roundabout I go on in life is that I can feel like I’m not doing anything in life so I tend to take on a couple of challenges, realise that is too much, panic, give them up, forget why I gave them up then feel bad for not doing enough and take on more things only for it to happen again.It happened about 6 months ago when I thought I wasn’t doing enough so I started learning Spanish two nights a week, I took on another big run, as well as working, its summertime so I want to sort my garden out, go for days out or have people over for BBQs. The result is that I get...
It’s better to be good for a short time than just there for a long time I often used to experience massive FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) so I would try to go to anything that I could to convince myself that I still had a social life. I would turn up for any event I could, often I would be exhausted and not really enjoy being there. I just thought I had to be when I didn’t enjoy it and I was exhausted, so I doubt anyone else appreciated my company. I’ve learnt since that the rule quality over quantity really applies, i.e., it’s better to be there for a shorter amount of time and be a better more...
Learn to be prepared and to be early! There is so much more to say on this subject but people with a brain injury tend to be a lot more spontaneous but also a lot more chaotic, being prepared makes things go much more smoothly. If you have somewhere to be in the morning then wherever you can, get things ready the night before to make the morning easier. If your home is a mess and chaotic (which mine often is) have a little area which is clean and tidy, iron and fold the clothes you are going to wear the next day and leave them folded at the foot of your bed, have a towel ready, you can even...
Don’t hide away Living with a brain injury is hard, believe me I know! I am not good with dealing with more anxiety and stress now and I have had 15 years’ experience living with a traumatic brain injury. At first it is unbearable but if you take the easy route and hide away from social situations then it is really easy for people to forget about you, people become comfortable with the fact that you are not there anymore.Fitting back into a social circle is so much harder so you have to put in some effort early on, don’t expect too much too soon. Any good friends will want you to be there and...
Eat well but don’t be greedy! This goes hand in hand with being active. I can show you photos of when I have been really overweight and really under weight. I used to always think I needed some sort of eating plan and I would worry about how much I was eating and was I getting the right nutrients, get so stressed then go and eat a bowl of cereal!Don’t try and over complicate things, every meal should contain protein (meat, fish, tofu, quorn) carbohydrates and as much veg as you want (careful if you’ve had a load of sprouts!). If you want to know how much then use the area of your fist as a...
Be as active as you can Being active is one of the best things you can do for your brain. Someone once said to me that your body is not important and you should focus on your brain. It’s true that the brain is the most important part of the body, in fact it is the organ that consumes the most energy at around 20% of the body’s energy. That energy comes from your body in the form of oxygen and from your food. A fit and healthy body will be able to transport oxygen from your lungs and digest your food and transport the required nutrients to the brain faster. Think of your body as a network of...
Tomorrow is another day and remember it’s a marathon not a sprint If you’re having a bad day then that’s probably what it is, you need to recharge your batteries! Don’t dwell on it and beat yourself up just do something calming for the rest of the day. Write a plan for the morning of one or two things that you are going to achieve tomorrow and don’t give yourself a hard time about only doing one thing because you have a brain injury. There will be a day you can do more, that is called a good day but if you could do ten things consistently then your injury wouldn’t be that bad!Attempting to do...
Compare yourself to you yesterday and nobody elseBeing bullied causes massive amounts of anxiety any time that you are near the bully, but if that bully is yourself then you can’t get away.I have had a neuropsychologist and also a therapist I saw privately that both said the same thing, that I need to be kinder to myself. I have always had a really low opinion of myself and see others as so much more advanced and more interesting than myself. This is probably because I’m comparing myself to people without a head injury, people that don’t have any neurological...
Make a video as evidence to look at later
Same reasons as above but even better. I was asked to do this about two years into my recovery, and I didn’t do it because I was shy about videoing myself and worried that I wouldn’t come across well on camera. That’s the point of doing it though, you won’t come across well because you’re not well! I really regret not doing this because now my memories of that time are very hazy.Now in the age of camera phones, there is no excuse! It will be great to look back on in 5+ years and see how far you’ve come.
Keep a diary, honestly, you won’t regret it! Things from the past are so interesting to read, but even more so when you have a brain injury.Reading a diary entry can tell you much more than the words written, it can also show you what you were able to deal with at the time. It can give an insight into your sense of humour (which was probably terrible!). The more details you can write down, the better. You can use it to compare yourself to now and see how much you have improved. We don’t really notice changes day to day, but if you look back a few years, the difference will be...
You can start collecting Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62. But if you opt in early, your monthly benefits will be reduced significantly.You aren’t eligible for full Social Security benefits until you reach what’s known as your full retirement age.Full retirement age used to be 65, but that hasn’t been the case for a while.The Social Security Administration now bases your full retirement age on the year you were born:
If you were born between 1943 and 1954, your full retirement age is 66.
If you were born between 1955 and...
Take Inventory of Your AssetsYou’ll need to get a firm handle on your future cash flow in retirement.Identify all your sources of retirement income, including money from retirement accounts (such as 401(k)s and IRAs), pensions, Social Security and other income.You’ll need to start taking required minimum distributions from your retirement accounts by age 73, so don’t forget to include that in your plan.If you don’t already have a budget or track your spending, pull out a few months of bank and credit card statements to get a handle on where the money is going.You’ll want to review information...
Figure Out How Much You NeedThe first step in creating your retirement readiness checklist is estimating how much retirement income you’ll need before you exit stage left.Several well-known formulas and guidelines attempt to help you figure out how much you need to retire.Two of the most popular are:
25x Rule: Take your annual expenses and multiply them by 25.
70%-80% Rule: Many experts say you will need about 70% to 80% of your average income during your working years annually to fund your retirement.
While keeping these numbers in mind is nice, creating your own retirement...
A lasting power of attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you (the ‘donor’) appoint one or more people (known as ‘attorneys’) to help you make decisions or to make decisions on your behalf.This gives you more control over what happens to you if you have an accident or an illness and cannot make your own decisions (you ‘lack mental capacity’).You must be 18 or over and have mental capacity (the ability to make your own decisions) when you make your LPA.You do not need to live in the UK or be a British citizen.This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg) .There are 2 types of LPA:...
Mid-Life MOT - Get your Wealth, Work and Health in order
The Money Midlife MOT is a tool to help you assess your current financial situation and plan for the future. Your personalised report will tell you what to prioritise and link to guidance on how to improve your financial wellbeing from midlife through to retirement.
You will get a PDF (689KB) file
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