Early this summer, the New York Times published “How Long Can We Live? The Limit Hasn’t Been Reached”. The piece explains, “The mortality rate flattens among the oldest of the old, a study of elderly Italians concludes, suggesting that the oldest humans have not yet reached the limits of life span.”
What they are saying is contrary to the expectation that as you age, your chances of dying the following year increase. Instead, the mortality rate flattens.
In Six Simple Rules for a Better Life, I opened the chapter on the 6th rule, “Be Healthy”, with quite a few thoughts on longevity—on the amazing medical advances extending longevity.
In my speaking engagements, when I talk about being healthy, I also comment about longevity—about how fortunate we are to be living in this era: a time when there are treatments and cures for many formerly deadly ailments, as well as optimism about conditions yet to be cured.
I then talk about the importance of doing our part—eating well, exercising, and knowing your numbers so you can get help for treatable conditions.
These habits, along with others like smoking, drinking too much, and distracted driving, are known as lifestyle choices—behaviors that impact your health by leading to preventive diseases such as Type II diabetes.
So…Get into an exercise routine. Learn how to eat well and create healthy eating habits. Do not smoke. Wear a seat belt. Drive defensively. Don’t be a distracted driver.
Most of these habits should be adopted immediately. But, as I have written countless times, making new habits is not easy, even though this list is full of things that are obvious.
The key to making changes that stick is to break down those changes into tiny pieces, and to focus on one a day for the 21 days it takes to create a habit.
Once it becomes a habit, add another, and so on. Those small changes will add up to the big changes you want to make.
What habit you will work on for the next 21 days? Please join the conversation with your comments…
Best regards,
David