100 Vibrant Years: Why You Should Plan to be a Centenarian.

The average human lifespan in the United States is 77.28 years down from 78.79 in 2019. In Japan, on the other hand, its consistent upward trend is now 84.62, without the lamentable dip our nation experienced over the last few years. What is worse than the almost 8 years of life we leave on the proverbial table, is the quality of that time, and the lackluster health-span we're willing to accept here, relative to some of the Blue Zone areas around the world.

Our blasé and nihilistic outlook on the length and quality of our lifespan is somewhat perplexing, however. As Americans, we fight for those things, we consider valuable, like our freedom, our family, and our property, and yet the very thing that makes all that possible, our very existence, we either give very little thought to or are willing to outsource to anyone with ostensible authority and perceived expertise.

Some years ago, I interviewed a man by the name of Gene Scala, he asked me to meet him at a bowling alley on the Northshore of Long Island where he played in a senior league every Wednesday. What made him so interesting to me, and our publication, was not the fact that he was a retired barber and musician, who still makes his own clothes, but that he had just celebrated his 105th birthday.

Speaking with a noticeable Italian accent, a youthful voice, and an easy smile, he proved that his mind was sharp and that he was enjoying this chapter of his life and the local celebrity status that he recently acquired. But Gene is not the only one who accidentally stumbled his way into this remarkable longevity and perpetual health span. There are more and more examples around the world of people who lived an impressively long life while looking good, and doing the things that brought them joy and fulfillment.

There are so many practical reasons to make it your goal to live at least 100 vibrant, productive, and fulfilling years. At the top of the list is the fact that we will be dead much longer than we are alive, and we should try to get the most out of this once-in-an-eternity experience. Then, we can inspire future generations in our family to follow our lead. As trendsetters of longevity and optimal life-long function, we will pass on the philosophy and mechanics that make it possible. We have more time to acquire the wisdom we can use to influence, if not the world, at least the people in our family, our friends, and our descendants as we enjoy time with the new generation, and perhaps the ones following it.

If we have investments growing geometrically over our lifetime, and we can push the last 20 years a decade or two further out, that is where the geometric multiplication can really take the compounding effect to the extreme. I think we can agree that there are virtually no downsides to living longer and staying healthy for the duration of our time on this planet and it is an investment worthy of our effort and consideration.

Perhaps we understand this idea better when it comes to our finances. From the time we are young, we’re told to work hard, save our money, invest in blue chip stocks, get a 401K, and plan to have enough money so we can afford to live the good life once we reach the age of retirement. I don’t believe I ever heard anyone tell me, to spend everything I make as fast as it comes in, enjoy all my money now, buy the things that make me happy regardless if I can afford them, and don’t worry about the future because the government will be there to take care of you and those you love.

That particular conversation is reserved exclusively for our ability to live a longer and healthier life. Eat whatever you want they say, if you don’t drink alcohol at every gathering you are a party pooper, if you don’t eat the sugar-laden cake your grandma made then you are rude and selfish. If you are not 30 pounds overweight like everyone else then you’re ghostly thin and look terrible.

If on the other hand, you exercise regularly, try to eat well, go to sleep early, and take supplements, then you are labeled a health nut, a narcissist, and boring. But what is the point of getting to the age where you have all the money and the time to enjoy all the blessings of this world, but you run out of the life-energy that makes any of that enjoying possible? ?

Things are changing, however, and the attitudes of some of the billionaires about longevity and even immortality, are stretching our imagination and beliefs as to what may be possible for the next leap in human evolution. People like Bryan Johnson, who spends 2 million dollars per year working to reverse his age from the mid-forties, where he is chronologically, to the late teens where he aims to be biologically.

After selling his company for 800 million dollars, the tech entrepreneur set out to systematically restore his health and optimize his body by using cutting-edge science and technology, to provide his trillion cells with everything they need for optimal function and youthful longevity.

Perhaps, his lifestyle of going to bed at 8:30 p.m., eating his last meal at 11 a.m., and taking over 100 supplements per day is not for most of us at this early juncture. But Bryan, and other men of means looking to cure death, are setting the pace to push the science of longevity into the forefront of public discourse. And who knows, perhaps one day they will discover, like gene editing, the splitting of the atom, private space travel, or 3D printing that there was an entire field of study available to the human race.

Of course, this is only possible in the modern age of genetics, AI, and specialized diagnostics, so we can allow ourselves to fantasize about one day, democratizing living to 100 vibrant, productive, and fulfilling years, and make that as common as jumping on an airplane and flying to another country.

Alex Lubarsky is the founder of Science Of Human Optimization, Inc. and author of The Art of Selling The Art of Healing: How the Rebels of Today are Creating the Healthcare of Tomorrow and Why Your Life Depends on It. For over 25 years he has been a passionate promoter of some of the most innovative physicians specializing in youthful longevity, ageless beauty, and peak performance function.