Up until recently, the average American lifespan had been increasing every year. While compared to a century ago, we live more than a quarter century longer; lately our life expectancy is going down. This drop-off in life-expectancy has been related to suicide, violence, and opioids (Not Covid).
We know it’s also not genes. The genes haven’t changed, thus it’s clearly something else. While good genes can help, a glut of research including that from Yale University found that genes contribute only 25% to the length of your life at most and some would show as little as 2%. In other words, most of what keeps you alive and well, sick, or dead are your behaviors; especially your mental behaviors.
ATTITUDE REALLY IS APTITUDE
The Yale study found attitude was everything when it came to living a whopping additional 7.6 years of life on the average. The right mindset led to more longevity than then low blood pressure (4 years or less), low cholesterol (4 years or less), a healthy weight (1 to 3 years) and regular exercise (1 to 3 years).1
YOU BECOME WHAT YOU THINK AGE IS:
Per Yale, if you think old means being sicker, weaker, and less active than that is what you will experience. On the other hand, if you lock in on health, fitness, and longevity being no different at 70, 80, or 90 than it was at 20, 30, or 40 then you’ll be hitting the gym, running races, and improving your body, health, and tennis game in perpetuity.
CHANGE YOUR MIND
Personally, when growing up, I found that people got old by about 40. Every adult I knew had gained weight, complained about their knees and back, and stopped any type of real youthful activities like running, competing in sports, and aggressively working out by then. I thought I was doomed to that until I started running races and doing triathlons and witnessed people in their 80s and 90s not just completing those races, but COMPETING in those races! I immediately decided that I don’t want to put my teeth in a jar at night and wear orthopedic shoes at 50 and beyond, I want to be like those 70-90 year-old people still going strong and in the prime of their life!!
POSSIBLY THE #1 MOVE FOR LONGEVITY
A regularly growing body of evidence shows a dramatic between serving others and substantially improved longevity. According to several good studies, those that serve others in need, volunteer, and use their time to better the community see a spike in life expectancy. Of note, is that the person being served does not show lifespan changes. Thus, it’s the mindset and the impact on the heart of the giver that matters most in relationship to health.2,3
HEALTHY MIND = HEALTHY HABITS:
Most people know they need to eat better, exercise, quit smoking, drinking, and get to the chiropractor regularly if they want to live. The problem; these behaviors require dedication and self-discipline. Those with a positive outlook as to the length and fulfillment of their future have far more control over their healthy habits than those with a negative view of the life and do not think it really matters. Additionally, when confronted with health problems, the positively minded quickly adapt behaviors and recover more quickly because they anticipate that their actions directly contribute to better health outcomes
SELF-EMPOWERED: THE DRUG-FREE MINDSET (Not “Anti-” anything)
Ultimately, we’ve been taught that if we’re in pain, ill, or struggling in any way; we require a chemical solution from outside of ourselves in order to get better or survive. This includes our current concerns over Covid. Rather than take an empowered approach, where we assume that we are capable of improving our behaviors, changing our mindset, and healing ourselves- we are taught that we have insufficient personal resources, lack the power, and do not have the internal capacity to overcome our environment, survive, thrive, get well, or stay well. Those that believe they have the power are self-empowered. They are not anti-drug, anti-vax, or anti-anything. Their drug-free mindset comes from knowing they have something to say and things they can do about their health now and in the future; come what may. These people overcome problems now and are proven to live longer!
THERE’S TOTALLY HOPE
Finally, a longevity mindset does not feel the sense of hopelessness many are experiencing right now. They know they are not victims of their environment, can not only get through it – but will get something from it, and be more than conquerors despite what appears to some as overwhelming odds. See positive longevity quotes below!
Have fun saving the world
Dr. Ben
POSITIVE ABOUT THE FUTURE
A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.
— Hugh Downs, 88
I don’t believe in pessimism. If something doesn’t come up the way you want, forge ahead. If you think it’s going to rain, it will.
— Clint Eastwood, 79
While we may not be able to control all that happens to us, we can control what happens inside us.
— Benjamin Franklin, 84
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope or confidence.
–Helen Keller, 88
I have become my own version of an optimist. If I can’t make it through one door, I’ll go through another door–or I’ll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present.
— Joan Rivers, 77
A stumbling block to the pessimist is a stepping-stone to the optimist. — Eleanor Roosevelt, 78 A man is happy so long as he chooses to be happy.
— Alexander Solzhenitsyn, 88
An optimist is someone who goes after Moby Dick in a rowboat and takes the tartar sauce with him.
— Zig Ziglar, 80
References 1. Levy, B., Kunkel, S., Kasl, S. (2002). Longevity Increased by Positive Self-Perceptions of Aging, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(2), 261–270 2. Sneed, R. S., & Cohen, S. (2013). A prospective study of volunteerism and hypertension risk in older adults. Psychology and Aging, 28(2), 578–586. 3. Sonja Hilbrand, David A. Coall, Denis Gerstorf, Ralph Hertwig. Caregiving within and beyond the family is associated with lower mortality for the caregiver: A prospective study. Evolution and Human Behavior, 2016; DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.11.010
