Long-life Learning
By Robin Bush, ISR Communications
Life span has increased substantially over the past 100 years in America, raising questions about how we manage the latter third of our lives. Chip Conley, writer, entrepreneur, hotelier, and leader of Modern Elder Academy believes that longevity requires “developing the skill-set to master life’s transitions is an essential talent in this topsy-turvy world.” We need to learn how to live our best longer lives.
Aging today requires that we learn to shift our mindset away from negative aging beliefs so we live a full life that is as deep as it is long. This shift can add as much as seven and half years to life, according to Becca Levy (Yale professor and author of “Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long and Well You Live”) Shifting our mindset means examining our attitudes about aging, our truths, and our ideals, established years ago, and choosing which have value to us now or which new ones we welcome. It means being willing to learn from others or teach yourself how to create your most fulfilling long-life.
What questions do you need to ask yourself to foster well-being? Your answers will help you build your resilience and sense of growth for a long and healthy life.
- What will support our personal well-being and a mindset of growth instead of decline?
- Establish purpose. “Purpose may be the second most important variable (after social connection) for helping someone live a long, healthy, and happy life. Research shows that older adults who maintain a sense of purpose experience higher levels of psychological well-being, better brain functioning through neuroplasticity, and more resilience.” – Chip Conley
- What can we do to enhance our intergenerational connections? Marc Freedman, CEO of CoGenerate (previously known as Encore) and an expert in the longevity revolution, says, “The real fountain of youth is…the fountain with”
- What can you do to maintain warm, authentic, and trusting interpersonal relationships?
- Can you increase your openness to new experiences? Some research shows that as we age, we tend to develop a fixed mindset with less desire to seek new experiences and ideas, partially due to our increasing awareness of mortality (time left) and a reluctance to invest time in something unless it really matters.
- What can you do to create a safety net to catch you if you fall as you leap into unknowns?
Starting in mid-life, we are all susceptible to turning negative stereotypes into guiding beliefs, and it takes paying conscious attention to recognize and resist falling prey to their power and instead seeking opportunities to define what we need to strive for to achieve healthy, optimal aging. That’s long-life learning, and the path to rewarding, resilient long-life living.