Lesson #1 for Keep.Health.
“Life is all about the choices we make!”
Ken Sebesta
“Your mind is software. Program it. Your body is a shell. Change it. Death is a disease. Cure it. Extinction is approaching. Fight it.”
from the rule book for Eclipse Phase, a role-playing game
What are you willing to do to maximize your health and wellness? For example, if you were to commit ten hours a month to improve your health and in return were guaranteed an extra five years of health in your life, would you do it?
Although we don’t know the optimal ratio of time and money to spend to achieve healthspan and life extension, and there are no guarantees, we intuitively know that some investment will lead to worthwhile benefits. Most importantly, we know that unless we focus on making lifestyle changes to achieve those benefits, we just continue with our normal lives and then miss out.
How much do we miss? Tim Peterson, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis produced the above chart showing average healthspan vs lifespan in the United States. Average healthspan is 63 years. Average lifespan is 79. In today’s culture, few people realize they have the opportunity to add 10-15+ years to their healthspan. Most people fatalistically proceed through their lives as their bodies wear out.
Figure 1: Average Healthspan vs. Average Lifespan in the US (in years)
Valter Longo, PhD, a renowned professor of biological sciences and director of the Longevity Center at the University of Southern California thinks the opportunity is even bigger to increase both healthspan and lifespan. He states that “If we can learn from the past and match it to the science and clinical data, it’s not unreasonable to think we could add 20 or 30 years.”
So, how much time, money and behavioral change would you commit to each month to increase the number of healthy years in your life? That’s a big question. Take time to think about your answer..
How much is an extra year of good health worth to you?
An extra five years?
An extra ten years?
Which of the 25 Key Health Factors for 2025 are you willing to focus on improving this year?
Print out our Keep Health personal commitment sheet and then write down your time and money commitment along with your prioritized key factors for health improvement. Put your commitment somewhere you’ll see it as a frequent reminder.
Best wishes for many more happy and healthy years.
This is a great insightful article! Definitely worth the read!