To live long and happy. Happy how?

Now more and more people want to find out how to live long / longer. I am one of those who got interested in the topic. This article is a summary of ideas and insights that I have discovered for myself so far from various disciplines and personal experiences. The discussion focuses on the components of the longevity formula - health and happiness - and particularly emphasizes why happiness may be as / more important than health, providing tools on how to be happier. I hope it will be useful to some of you and if you have any home reading to give me - feel free to drop me a message.?

Today, in the 21st century more people tend to start asking themselves existential questions like 'Why do people die - how to live longer?', 'What is my mission/purpose?', 'Why do some live happier lives?'. According to A. Maslow, in order to start thinking about such topics, you first need to close your basic needs. We need to fulfill our desires to eat and sleep, to feel safe and to be a part of the community. And only then we get to the growth needs at self-actualization stage(s). This is when we start to feel the urge to realize our full potential, when we strive for beauty, self awareness and the meaning of life. I do encourage you to look up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs - and the extended version might be a bit more interesting to look at as the last spiritual stage is further explored and split into cognitive and aesthetic needs, self-actualization and transcendence. Given that now in this tech-advanced world more people tend to have their basic needs satisfied (at least because our planet's population is over 8 billion people now - so definitely more than ever in absolute terms) - more start to ask themselves philosophical questions, including ones on the components of the longevity formula. However, it’s been centuries since scientists started to dive deep into this topic and document their findings. The guidelines that prevail across different longevity research is that for a long and fulfilling life, you primarily need the following two pillars: (1) be healthy and (2) be happy.

Let's start with the less complicated bit - maintaining good health - and then get to a more interesting part of cultivating happiness. So, for simplicity, I would suggest breaking down health into two major elements: genes and lifestyle / habits. Genes are something which we cannot control or change but knowing what illnesses you could have gotten from your ancestors is already somewhat hedging the risks. So maybe do ask your older relatives about their diseases and diseases of their parents. Lifestyle / habits - on the contrary - are something that you can and should control - it is about the choices you make on a daily basis. Everyone knows that sleep, diet and exercise are important. There is a TONNE of different research on various topics, for which I have no space in this little article of mine. But I do recommend 'Why we sleep' by Matthew Walker for insights on why you should get long good quality sleep and everyone who tells you otherwise is wrong. I would love to recommend some books on what is the best diet but that's very subjective (individualistic specifics like allergies, access to foods in your geographical region, your current deficiencies / diseases / needs). However, one common advice is to avoid all meat and go vegetarian, but I wouldn’t dare to encourage people to give up fish & animal eating as, being a meat lover myself, I probably would never. Anyway, I also find myself unable to suggest you any materials on how to better stay active and exercise - sorry about that but please do recommend me some literature here. I have heard that the sport with the highest life expectancy is tennis - would not work for me with my scoliosis but maybe this information may be useful to you.

Transitioning to the second pillar of longevity—happiness—poses a greater challenge. What about becoming happy/happier? Easier said than done as we all know. Many psychologists tried to hack happiness but no one seemed to be able to get an accurate answer to the question on how to be happy. But also, what is the specific weight of happiness in the longevity equation? And what is the minimum depth of happiness necessary to live long? I don't think these questions can ever be truly answered but given the dependency between health and happiness, where the two mutually influence each other - I think it would not be possible anyway to give a unambiguous answer.? Let’s now move our focus on the existing factual research on how to get happier - which you hopefully can find practical and applicable to our lives.?

Dan Buettner conducted this extensive investigation on Blue Zones - geographical areas where people tend to live significantly longer than average. The main highlights of this research are now conveniently summarized in the Netflix TV series 'How to live to 100. Secrets of Blue Zones’ - it is a very captivating and relatively short documentary show that I highly recommend watching. Dan Buettner arrived at the conclusion that all people that live in Blue Zones across the world share a common focus on 4 things: move naturally, eat wisely, connect, and have a specific outlook. Accepting these conclusions and assuming the same significance across these 4 focus areas - we get that in order to live long about half of your emphasis should be on your mental state -? you need to be socially connected and have a specific mindset. Different Blue Zones communities prioritize the same things - just use slightly different tools and approaches to get to the desired results. For the ‘connect’ part people in Loma Linda volunteer, in Ikaria - focus on life partners and continue to give throughout their lives, in Sardinia young generations take care of elders. For the mindset in Okinawa people find out their life purpose, Loma Linda residents stay strong in their faith, in Nicoya everyone has their ‘plan de vida’. Can people outside these Blue zones learn and use these techniques and add them to their lives to live longer?

Dan Buettner ran a practical pilot in Albert Lea (Minnesota, USA) where he applied the lessons that he learnt by introducing volunteer work and social activities, establishing programs that promote communal interactions - on top of anticipated integration of regular exercise and healthy eating. The experiment was successful - already after a year the life expectancy rates went up and the community's well-being improved. So it looks like we do have a set of rules that if applied enthusiastically will help us live longer. But what is needed for the effect to remain and - more importantly - to continue growing? What can motivate people to continue making right choices for their physical and mental health and to be consistently happy ?

One of the Blue Zones is a Japanese island called Okinawa. Their mindset secret is hidden in an old concept called ikigai - the word is used to describe the reason someone gets up in the morning.?

The illustration above is taken from an insightful, engaging and practical book by Hector Garcia & and Francesc Miralles - 'Ikigai. The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life'. I encourage you to read it if you want to dive deep into the research of this Japanese philosophy and eventually find your own ikigai. On top of techniques on how to find your life purpose, the book - more like an actionable guide or a manual! - also gives advice on healthy eating, exercising, some anti-aging tools and words of wisdom from local living centenarians. Okinawa citizens believe that ikigai is hidden inside each of us and that this is what gives them a sense of purpose, keeps them alive. Clearly defined Ikigai will bring you clarity, happiness and add meaning to your life. And this wisdom is not only known and shared by Okinawians - many philosophers, academics and psychologists agree that knowing your life purpose leads to happiness.?

Defining and following life's mission can be challenging, particularly in contemporary, social media-centric societies where many individuals experience existential crises. But it is all for a reason - as Nietzsche stated: “He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.” Modern psychotherapy offers different approaches that can help you identify what is your reason for being. One of such methods is logotherapy - a psychotherapeutic approach that is forward looking and compatible with faith / religion in comparison with traditional retrospective psychoanalysis. Logotherapy helps patients find reasons to live and take responsibility for their own future. Logotherapy is built on the fundamental idea that the primary drive for any human is the search for meaning in life.?

Have you heard about Bryan Johnson, founder of Blueprint? He is a billionaire entrepreneur who found his life purpose in fighting aging - he experiments on his own body to achieve slowing and even reversing the aging processes. As of now he has already reduced his epigenetic age - biological aging markers have revealed some level of reversal - and he sharpened his cognitive performance & physical capabilities. Since you are reading this article on longevity - Bryan Johnson is definitely someone who would interest you so do follow him and his company updates - e.g. on Instagram Bryan shares details on his 100+ supplements per day and having dinner at 11am. This is a very cool and exciting science experiment to stay updated on - Bryan is continuously succeeding in his attempts to explore human potential and prevent his body from wearing down. The entrepreneur truly sees extending lifespan and this immortality battle as a personal challenge. How much of his body success is because he has figured out his life purpose?

But in this race of figuring out your life purpose with all the pressure, expectations, fears, comparing yourself with others - it is easy to lose yourself. But actually staying true to yourself can be a key to happiness itself. I think we all can agree that one undoubted component of being happy is being yourself - knowing who you are and what you want, accepting these things and acting on them. According to the book of Professor J. Stephen 'Authentic: How to be yourself and why it matters', we all are born to be authentic - to be original and our true selves. Author states that authenticity and personal growth is our natural state - that is what we become if we are left to be ourselves (a common opinion among positive psychologists that believe it is human nature to aim to be our best version, in contrast to someone like S. Freud that argued we all will be monsters if we are to be ourselves). J. Stephen believes that all life we pursue staying true to ourselves - this helps us realize our potential and reach the top - he reveals in his publication that the secret to authenticity is to know yourself, own yourself, and to be yourself. I suggest reading his book if you are interested in positive psychology, question yourself whether you are going with the right path for you, what does your inner voice have to say and you want to get practical advice on how to know yourself better and life based cases on how to become yourself. Being authentic and staying true to yourself may be one of the elements to being happy - and hence to living long.

Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony - Mahatma Gandhi

On another note, it is interesting to see that in most Blue Zones religion is strongly present in the day to day of its citizens. And it is also intriguing that many global studies show that there is a correlation between being religious and being happy. But being more calm and happier is probably an anticipated effect of religion - supernatural beliefs help people deal with stress and life difficult situations; faith can give purpose, it drives people to act; it allows people to feel better understood, be more grateful and to be part of a community. But do religious people live longer? Experts state that yes. Scientists at Ohio State University in a recent study established that religious people live about four years longer than average. If you ask chatGPT or Bard - you can get lots of facts and materials on analyses of the effects of religiosity on mortality and overall health.?

For those of you who are not religious - you still can apply certain useful practices with roots in religion to get happier and live longer. For example, a central practice in Buddhism is meditation that aims to cultivate mindfulness (the famous Vipassana), concentration, and insight. To successfully meditate you do not need to believe in God(s) - meditation is a tool that any theist and atheist can use to improve her / his physical and emotional well-being. I started my meditation journey with guided YouTube videos shared by a friend and with the 'Headspace' app—I believe it can be a good starting point for anyone intrigued by meditation. From a personal experience, I can say that meditation helps me manage stress, improves focus and keeps me better organized.?

There has not been much research done that examines meditation's impact on longevity but some studies claim that meditation may have positive effects on one’s physical health - it strengthens cardiovascular function and helps reduce inflammation. However, the main effects are on one’s mental health - meditation increases resilience to stress, improves focus and concentration, fosters a positive outlook on life - makes you more mindful and happier. Meditation can also be an instrument that allows you to listen to yourself and as a result be yourself. From professor J.Stephen we already know that this is helpful in your path to being happy.

There are many sources and guidelines and opinions on how you can live a long and fulfilling life - to me many of them seem to be interconnected. In this article I highlighted some of the sources and opinions that I found useful and interesting. I hope I managed to make you reflect on what are the key components of longevity and maybe even make you consider happiness and mental health as a central aspect of lifespan. For now, we can only guess how to live very long ourselves and how to integrate this wisdom into society once acquired. But progress is moving so let’s keep an eye on the data incoming - and again: if you have relevant tips and tricks, please do reach out to me!?