Live Longer: What You Can Learn from Elite Athletes and Why the Japanese Never Die
I played baseball for 17 years. I had incredible teammates. I spent thousands
of hours practicing and training. And after my senior season, I was named an
ESPN Academic All–American. (Press release here.)
It’s safe to say that being a baseball player was an important part of my
identity. It gave me a sense of purpose.
And then, one day, I graduated and my career was over.
As soon as I finished playing, I felt lost. On the outside everything looked
fine. I went to graduate school. I graduated with my MBA. I started my first
business. But on the inside, it seemed like I was wandering through life without
a sense of direction. I did the things that were in front of me, but never with
a sense of true conviction.
When you’re an athlete, you wake up with a sense of purpose each morning. You
know what you’re working toward (a championship), you know who you’re working
for (your teammates), you know why you’re training so hard (to become your
best).
I didn’t know it at the time, but having a sense of purpose — like the one I
had from baseball — is critical for feeling fulfilled, happy, and healthy. As
human beings we need something to direct our attention toward and something to
set our sights on.
But it’s not just my personal experiences that say a sense of purpose is
important for your health and well being, the medical research says the
same.
Here’s why a sense of purpose can help you live a long, healthy, and happy
life…
Why Do Some People Survive While Others Die?
In 1955, a physician named Robert Butler joined the National Institute of
Health.
In the years that followed, Butler and his research team would study the
health and longevity of people over the age of 65 in great detail. Butler became
fascinated with aging and would publish a wide array of ideas about how the
elderly could live happy, healthy, and fulfilling lives in their final years. In
1976, he wrote about many of his findings in the book Why
Survive? Being Old in America and won the Pulitzer Prize for his work.
Butler’s research focused on subjects that were between 65 and 92 years old,
which meant that he had a front row seat for examining the factors that led to
longer life spans. As his career evolved, his research led to important
discoveries about what was required to live a long, healthy life.
One of the key discoveries that came from Butler and his research team
involved the importance of a sense of purpose.
As it turns out, people who had a strong sense of purpose in their lives
lived longer than those who didn’t have a clearly defined purpose. Moreover,
people who woke up each morning with clear goals for their life not only lived
longer, they also lived better than their peers (higher quality of life).
Most important of all, this wasn’t a finding that came from a single study,
but rather was repeated dozens of times in studies not only from Butler’s team,
but also from many other researchers.
For example, take recent research from Dan Buettner that looked at the women
of Okinawa, Japan…
Why the Japanese Outlive the Rest of Us
Okinawa is the southernmost region of Japan and consists of thousands of tiny
islands dotting the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. Those islands happen to be
the home of some of the healthiest people on the planet.
The Japanese have an average life expectancy of 83 years old, the highest in
the world. In particular, the women are incredibly resilient with an average
life span of 86 years, according to the World
Health Organization.
But in Okinawa, the story is even more remarkable. Despite being the poorest
prefecture in Japan, the residents of Okinawa have the “longest disability–free
life expectancy in the world.”*
Why?
There are many reasons, of course, but one of the most important is that
Okinawans have a strong sense of purpose. Okinawans are known for maintaining a
positive outlook on life and for pursuing their ikigai, which is a
concept that means “reason for being” or “reason for waking up in the
morning.”
Whether it be taking care of their grandchildren, working in the community,
tending to a garden, or anything in between, each person has an ikigai.
And as their long life spans reveal, having a sense of purpose is critical for
your health and happiness.
All of this begs the question, how can you find a sense of purpose in your
life?
Applying This to Your Life
There are two parts to every journey. Where you are now (Point A) and we’re
you’re headed (Point B).
One of the reasons we often feel stuck when thinking about our purpose in
life is because we have a tendency to get hung up on Point A and how that makes
us feel.
Want to lose weight? It’s easy to spend all of your time
thinking, “I hate how I look. I can’t believe I let myself get like this. I
want to lose 30 pounds.”
Want to become more creative? It’s easy to spend all of your
time thinking, “I’m not naturally creative. There isn’t enough time in the
day to pursue something fun. I have too many responsibilities that I need to
focus on.”
Want to accomplish just about any goal you’ve been delaying?
It’s easy to spend all of your time thinking, “I can’t stick to anything.
I’m easily distracted and I always end up procrastinating on things. I always
start with good intentions, but I can never seem to maintain it.”
The problem with these statements is that they are totally focused on Point
A. When you get wrapped up in your feelings about where you are now, you end up
focusing on the problem rather than the path forward. (This is exactly why I
wrote about the importance of building identity–based
habits.)
Thankfully, there is an alternative.
Live Longer: Purpose Comes With Practice
The problem with focusing on Point A is that you end up thinking too much and
doing too little. In my experience, the idea that you can “find your purpose”
simply by sitting around and thinking about it is a myth. Thought is good, but
purpose is the result of practice.
It took me 17 years to become any good at baseball, but by the end I loved it
with everything I had. I’m still not that great at writing, but after doing it
twice per week for the last nine months, I’m beginning to love it.
A lot of people like to volunteer, but it never becomes their purpose because
they never schedule time to practice it.
A lot of people like writing, but it never becomes their purpose because they
never schedule time to practice it.
A lot of people like to exercise or to garden or to teach or to do any number
of things, but it never becomes their purpose because they never schedule time
to practice it.
Imagine the opposite scenario. Imagine having something important that pulls
you out of bed each morning. Imagine focusing your energy on something that is
important to you and that fulfills you.
Most people think they need a better plan or more resources or more
experience or better advice, but really what they need is to commit to a
schedule and practice. Passion, purpose, and mastery aren’t the result of
inconsistent effort.
Pick something that seems fun or useful and start working on it. Choosing
something and moving forward is more important than choosing the right thing.
You can always practice something else later if this doesn’t work out.
Too often, we wait until we find the “right thing,” which means we end up
finding nothing. Purpose comes with practice.
*You can see further research on the life expectancy of Okinawans in the
studies here, here, and here.
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