Why Lying to Yourself About Your Age Might Be the Healthiest Thing You Do

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Let me say this upfront, because someone needs to: your age is not the problem. The story you keep telling yourself about your age might be.

Somewhere along the way, age stopped being a number and started acting like a personality trait. It became a quiet narrator in our heads. You’re too old for that. You should know better by now. That’s not realistic at your age. And the wild part is, most of the time, no one else is saying it. We’re saying it to ourselves.

I noticed this when I caught myself hesitating to do something simple. Not dramatic. Not life-altering. Just simple. And the hesitation wasn’t about time or money or energy. It was about age. I realized I had mentally put myself into a box I never consciously agreed to live in. So I tried something small but kind of rebellious. I lied to myself.

Not in a “pretend I’m 25 and invincible” way. More like, what if age didn’t get a vote today?

And honestly, things felt lighter almost immediately.

When I stopped leading with my age, I made different choices. I walked faster. I signed up for things without overthinking whether I was “the right demographic.” I stopped apologizing for wanting comfort, fun, or ease. I realized how many decisions I’d been filtering through a number that doesn’t actually describe my curiosity, energy, or willingness to try.

We act like lying to ourselves is always bad, but we already do it all the time. We lie when we say we’re “too busy” when we’re actually just overwhelmed. We lie when we say “it’s fine” when it’s not. So why not lie in a way that helps?

One of the first places I noticed this shift was in how I took care of my body. I stopped framing things as “anti-aging” and started framing them as “supporting how I want to feel today.” That mental switch matters more than people think. I didn’t buy products to fight time anymore. I bought things that made daily life easier and more enjoyable.

For example, I finally invested in a weighted heating pad from Amazon. Nothing fancy. No dramatic promises. It just makes my body feel good at the end of the day. Old me would’ve framed that as “ugh, I guess I need this now.” New me framed it as, “Why wouldn’t I want to feel better?”

Same thing with a high-quality sleep mask. Younger me would’ve powered through bad sleep like it was a badge of honor. Current me lies and says, “I’m someone who takes sleep seriously,” and suddenly bedtime feels intentional instead of negotiable. That lie pays off every single morning.

And here’s the thing: when you lie to yourself about your age in this way, you don’t become delusional. You become present. You stop outsourcing your decisions to a number and start listening to your actual experience.

I also noticed how age shows up socially. We joke about being “too old for this” as a defense mechanism. It’s safer than admitting we’re nervous or out of practice or just unsure. But when I stopped using age as an excuse, I had better conversations. I showed up less guarded. I laughed more easily. People didn’t see an age. They saw energy.

That’s the part no one tells you: people respond more to how you show up than how old you are.

This mindset even changed how I approached learning. I used to think certain things had an expiration date. Skills. Interests. Curiosity. Turns out, that was a lie I’d accepted without checking the source. When I stopped telling myself “people my age don’t do this,” I felt mentally younger without trying to look younger.

And yes, there are days when the mirror disagrees. That’s where the third Amazon product comes in: a solid daily moisturizer. Not because it erases time, but because it signals care. It says, “I’m worth five minutes.” That message matters more than any claim on the label.

Lying to yourself about age doesn’t mean ignoring reality. It means refusing to let a number decide your limits. It means choosing language that expands instead of explains away your life.

If this idea is hitting something for you, you’re not alone. I write about these quiet mindset shifts, the ones that don’t scream motivation but actually stick, in my newsletter. It’s the kind of thing you read with your coffee and think, oh… yeah, that makes sense. If that sounds like something you’d enjoy, you can sign up. No pressure. Just an open invitation.

And I’ll leave you with this question, because it’s the one that changed things for me: if you stopped telling yourself your age for a week, what would you do differently?

Would you try something you’ve been putting off? Take better care of yourself without guilt? Say yes faster? Say no sooner?

Maybe the lie isn’t really a lie at all. Maybe it’s just a way back to yourself.

I’d genuinely love to know what you think.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases, but this does not affect my recommendations.I only suggest products I’ve personally vetted.

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