5 Steps to Happier Longevity
By David Williams
Our longevity is a journey — the rest of our life. While each of us experiences the ups and downs of life, there is continuing progress in understanding how to improve our longevity — the rest of our life — and what each of us can do about it.
1. Positive mindset
A positive mindset means we see every experience as an opportunity for personal growth.
There is growing evidence that a positive mindset helps us to take advantage of increasing longevity. Many readers are already living longer than expected when born and enjoying their longevity bonus. The typical stages of longevity (as per your SHAPE Analyser results) suggest that most of our remaining life will be independent. This gives us confidence to make plans for the future as well as being realistic that some setbacks are likely — and we can even learn from them.
2. People contacts
A feature of recent longevity research over recent years has been that regular, meaningful people contact is a basic requirement of healthy living as we age.
The pandemic experience has shown how important people contact is both in and outside aged care facilities. It also showed up in Subscriber responses to their regular SHAPE Analyser results.
3. Prevention
For most people, taking informed action through prevention is a much better strategy than relying on cure.
This is increasingly so for dementia and many other afflictions that tend to appear in later life but have their roots much earlier.
It is also rewarding to realise that the basics of prevention — exercise, diet, ongoing cognitive engagement, and regular social contacts — underpin a positive approach to many aspects of a happier and healthier life.
4. Pets
Pets and people are good for each other. They can counter feelings of loss of control, loss of confidence and an increasing sense of isolation. It isn’t surprising that pet ownership increased during the pandemic.
There’s some evidence that pet ownership helps to cope better with the activities of daily life.
5. Planning
If you are a Subscriber with your own Longevity Plan you will find more information on these themes in the Knowledge library.
Happiness can be an unexpected pleasure. We can plan for it too. That way we get the satisfaction of achieving something we set out do as well as the pleasure of the actual occasion. We can also more readily identify when things are not going to plan and change direction.
Planning supports a happier longevity.
Your Longevity Plan
Start or revisit your own Longevity Plan to better prepare for the future.
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