How To Live An Extra 25 Years
Key Takeaways
The decisions you make today and the habits you maintain - with your activity, nutrition, and stress management - may make the difference between growing old, sick, and miserable, and being healthy, vibrant, and energetic over the long run.
How you age is not only the result of genetics and random luck, but also determined by lifestyle factors - how you live every day leading up to “old age.”
Those that live healthy lives are significantly more likely to have more energy, less disease, and a higher quality of life at an older age than those that do not.
Considering the long term implications of your actions may provide the extra boost you need to make the healthy choice.
You can do everything in your power right now to set yourself up for success by:
Staying active
Eating primarily nutrient-dense, whole foods
Getting enough quality sleep
Managing stress
Full Story
Today is my 25th birthday. In other words, 5 years to 30, halfway to 50, and a third of the way to 75. The majority of my youth is behind me and it won’t be long until I embark on a journey of inevitable physical and mental decline that ends in death, darkness, and oblivion.
Happy birthday to me.
Although I’m jumping the gun by reflecting on my mortality at age 25, there is tremendous value in starting to prepare for your health and quality of life in old age, before it’s too late.
The decisions you make today and the habits you maintain - with your activity, nutrition, and stress management - make the difference between growing old, sick, and miserable, and being healthy, vibrant, and energetic over the long run.
Do It For Your 75 Year-Old Self
Consider the difference between the oldest old person and the youngest old person you’ve ever met. Do you know what I mean? I’m sure you’ve met a 75 year old that looks 50, lives independently, and enjoys a meaningful and fulfilling life. I also bet you’ve met a 60 year old that looks 90, lives in his/her favorite recliner, and relies on family members or caregivers to help with basic day-to-day activities necessary for survival.
You may assume that the difference between “old old people” and “young old people” can be attributed to bad luck. That a combination of family history and genetics, and those two factors alone, determine the fate of your 75 year old self.
In response to that notion that aging is based solely on luck, I’d say:
“‘A real man makes his own luck.’ Billy Zane - Titanic” (1).
Aging is complex. How you age is partially determined by genetics and random luck. However, it’s also determined by lifestyle factors - how you live every day leading up to “old age.” I’d argue that in most cases* the latter matters significantly more than the former.
*I understand that people develop degenerative and lethal health conditions through no fault of their own and a substantial percentage of the global population does not have access to clean water, healthy food, etc. In this article I am strictly speaking about the impact that a healthy lifestyle can have on the health outcomes of two otherwise healthy people with access to basic health resources.
90 Can Be The New 60
Here’s an example from my own life of the difference between aging gracefully and aging, well, ungracefully.
This past month started my first clinical rotation in an outpatient PT clinic in Beaufort, S.C. I treated a wide variety of patients that ranged from young to old, fit to sedentary, healthy to chronically ill and everything in between. I had the most eye-popping, jarring realization when observing the difference between two older (age of 60+) patients.
Patient #1 was fit, active, and, although he had some slight aches and pains, was able to function independently. In a word, he was vivacious. Patient #2 was sick, unable to function independently, and - despite being over 30 years younger - moved with a fraction of the energy of Patient #1.
That’s right. Patient #1 was over 90 and Patient #2 was just over 60. A difference of 30+ years. The comparison between the two was shocking.
Don’t get me wrong. The difference in physical and mental condition between Patient #1 and Patient #2 cannot solely be attributed to their lifelong eating and exercise habits. However, on average, those that live healthy lives are significantly more likely to have more energy, less disease, and a higher quality of life at an old age than those that do not.
Compared to Patient #2, Patient #1 has had the opportunity to enjoy 30 more Christmases, birthdays, amber autumns, and blossoming springs. This personal anecdote highlights the importance of living a healthy life. You have the power today to invest in yourself and unlock 15-30 years of beautiful life down the road. I don’t think many people realize the truth in these words, so I’ll write it again -—>
How you live today has has the power to help you enjoy 15-30 more years of life or render you a diseased, depressed, former shell of yourself.
The Secret Tip - How To Live An 25 Extra Years
Ready? Here’s the free, effective, and fool proof anti-aging secret -
Live each day with your 75-year-old self in mind.
You already know the positive, short-term effects of making healthy decisions:
Feeling better
Looking better naked
Warding off disease
Boosting energy
Improving mood
Etc. etc. If you’re fuzzy on the details, check out my previous 87 posts. That said, I’d wager a pretty penny that you don’t stay active, eat healthy, and prioritize quality sleep because you want to be a fit 75-year-old. But you should. Your life depends on it.
Living a healthy lifestyle today isn’t just about how you feel or look next week or next year. Considering the long term implications of your actions may provide the extra boost you need to make time for that workout or take a pass on that daily triple cheeseburger with extra bacon.
We Can’t Stop Time, But We Can Slow Aging
Time is a difficult concept to grasp. The minutes between 4pm and 5pm on a Friday workday can be an eternity, just as years can fly by in a blink. No matter how we perceive it, one fact about time is a constant - with every second that passes, we all grow older.
We can’t stop time, but we can slow aging. By making healthy choices over the long term (i.e., your entire life), we can increase the odds of enjoying a high quality of life for as long as possible. Remember how I said I could tell you how to live 25 more years? I was being liberal with my use of “live.”
While a healthy 60 year old and a decrepit 60 year old may both survive another 25 years, the former is the only one that actually has a chance to truly live. There’s a difference between existing (living, breathing, eating, sleeping) and living (being able to explore nature, spend time with family, contribute to society, enjoy all that life has to offer).
Wrap Up - Start Today
You can sit idly by on the couch for 50 years and let nature take its brutal and unforgiving course. Or, you can do everything in your power right now to set yourself up for success by:
Staying active
Eating primarily nutrient-dense, whole foods
Getting enough quality sleep
Managing stress (including not stressing too much about your undeniable mortality)
If you’d like an experienced coach in your corner to help you establish the habits today that your 75-year-old self will thank you for, you can learn more below:
What’s more important than your life? You can do everything in your power to be a 75-year-old that travels the world, dances with your granddaughter at her wedding/schools your grandson at basketball, and celebrate your 50th wedding anniversary, or you can leave it all up to chance. Whichever option you choose, you start today.