A Level 10 Life
Building a Fulfilling Life
– one step at a time –
Introduction
Welcome to This Old Man’s Life, I’m Chris.
I’m in my 50s, and I’m rebuilding my life from the ground up. A few years ago, I lost my mother to dementia—watching that unfold changed how I think about aging, brain health, and making the most of the time we have. Not long after, I left a toxic job that was draining me, and then came the real wake-up call: open heart surgery and a triple bypass.
Those three things—loss, burnout, and a serious health scare—pushed me to stop drifting and start building something intentional. That’s what this site is about.
I’m documenting the whole process: getting healthier, staying mentally sharp, living with purpose, and figuring out what a good life actually looks like in your 50s and beyond. I’m not an expert or a guru. I’m just a guy sharing what I am trying to do, what’s working (and what isn’t) as I try to age well and live better.
Thanks for being here.
Table of Contents
Understanding a Level 10 Life
The Level 10 Life concept comes from Hal Elrod’s book The Miracle Morning. The idea is simple: you rate the big areas of your life from 1 to 10, pick one area to work on, and improve it a little at a time. No perfection—just steady progress.
After walking away from a toxic work situation, I needed to rethink what I wanted in every aspect of my life, from health to finances. Writing down my thoughts and turning them into clear, achievable goals has helped me a lot. Instead of just thinking about things I want to improve, I’ve been able to lay out a path to actually making progress.
I’ve broken mine down into 13 different categories that matter to me, each one representing something important for my happiness and well-being. Whether you’re familiar with the concept or just starting out, I hope you’ll find some useful insights and ideas here.
If you want to dive deeper into the Level 10 Life concept, I recommend checking out Hal Elrod’s site for more details: https://halelrod.com/
Start Here: Published Categories
These are the Level 10 Life categories that are complete and ready to explore.
Coming Soon
I’m working through these categories one at a time. Here’s what’s in the pipeline, although it could change.
Spiritual Health
Target:
February 2026
Finances
Target:
March 2026
Home
Target:
April 2026
Fun
Target:
May 2026
Education/Learning
Target:
June 2026
Self-Development
Target:
July 2026
Relationships
Target:
August 2026
Career
Target:
September 2026
Latest Updates
Recent posts from my journey.
My 2026
My 2026 Plan: Rebuilding After the Year That Almost Killed Me Last February, I published my 2025 plan. Ten focus areas. Ambitious goals. Detailed strategies for the year ahead. Two weeks later, I went in for a routine stress test that ended with triple bypass surgery. 2025 was supposed to
The Yard
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The House
The old house. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit
The Blazer
My 1993 Chevy Blazer. This was my daily driver and I loved the thing. Had to park it when the transmission started going out. Unfortunately, a storm came through and blew the old maple over onto it.
