Be a victim or conquer longevity. You must choose!
Longevity
- Longevity Definition: Long existence or service
- Human longevity relates to both existence (remaining alive) and service (remaining useful).
- I strive for nothing less than long existence and long service for both my patients and myself
My favorite part of Avatar II, Way of the Water:
- “Teach them our ways so they don’t have to deal with the shame of being useless”
- It blows my mind how many people are ok with being useless to society in 2023
My hospitalized elderly patient: “Keep me alive doc”
Me: “what makes you want to keep living”
Patient: “I have grandkids”
- But these people cannot watch their grandkids because their health is too poor. In fact, they need assistance even to perform activities of daily living (ADL)
- Like avatars of the sea, I would find this inability to contribute meaningfully: shameful.
- Being useful is about more than just pride. It is about service to the community.
- Service is what life is all about. If you are unhappy with your life, I suspect this is huge part of the problem.
Longevity is the Key
- By striving for longevity you are forced to become the best version of yourself right now.
- The best version of you, right now, will be able to live, thrive, and serve the longest.
- As such longevity, or as we call here, the Full Scope, is your best vehicle for health, extreme productivity, and service both now and in the future
Longevity by decades
The mindset, the decline, and the potential value Longevity has to offer:
- Teens and 20s. Most people this age don’t care about longevity, they feel invincible. Maybe a few piers start to die from accidents during this decade. But we all think, not me…. Death is not real for most 20 some year olds.
- 30s. Aging starts to show. Some 30-year-olds look 25, some look 50. Alcohol, cocaine, meth, and other bad habits start to catch up with people. Bodies start to break down, but true debility is far and away, or atleast it seems. Only 1 in 4 young adults exercise in many research studies. Disaster is coming both for the individual and society
- 40s. Shit gets real. Energy declines, disease sets in, most people continue to fall back on avoidance and denial. For the most part, these people can still do things though, but its challenging. These people talk about hiking, skiing, and traveling in their 60s and 70s. No chance of this unless big changes are made. 40s bring two architypes, victims and conquerors. Not conquerors of people or countries. But conquerors of death. These conquerors don’t fear death, but they do train to avoid it. Victims blame the world. Conquerors own mistakes, better themselves, contribute, and flourish.
- 50s. Diseases take hold. Activities often become limited. Yet some 50s-year-olds swim against the tide. They train and can outperform most complacent 30-year-olds. 50s are a great time to wake up to longevity, before its too late.
- 60s. This is the decade of the first sentinel health event for many. First heart attack, stroke, cancer diagnosis, etc. Both cognition and fitness have declined tremendously. But since victims avoid challenges like the plague, they never test themselves and are allowed to live in full denial of the catastrophe that is coming for them.
- 70. Middle age gives way to being elderly. Most people fall off a cliff in their mid 70s. At this point, the best people can do is maintain with diligent training. Both the victim and the conqueror, fall off this “elderly” cliff at some point. But the higher you are, the farther and longer you can fall before life gets shitty. Conquerors can fall for decades before their life is significantly impacted. This is where your health and muscle bank account, pays huge dividends.
- 80. Victims are dead. Yet, many conquerors look better than most complacent 60 year olds. Disease free survival into the 80s is possible for most everyone willing to make sacrifices and do the work.
- 90 and 100. This is an elite crew. 1 per 5000 people make it to 100 in the USA. Contrast that to 1 per 1250 in blue zones. Those who do make 100 (shout out Grandma Lourie and Aunt Doy), either trained hard or had longevity genes by chance. These people are often functional until the very end when they decline rapidly and die. Burden to family is minimal. Wisdom transfer to loved ones is tremendous.
Two Paths, You Choose
- You can take one of two paths. Complacency and Denial Or Challenge and Triumph. Victim or Conqueror, You must choose. These paths become very visual starting in peoples 30s. I am hypervigilant to this and watching my friends live out both roads in real time.
6 Values of Longevity
Remember, no-one, not even a doctor like myself can give you Longevity. Longevity takes hard work, discipline, and commitment. Longevity must be earned. Most people who state they care about life and health are pretending. Their actions tell of different story. So, what are the benefits of Longevity and choosing the path of the conqueror.
1. High Functioning Brain
Learn, think, create, reason, and lead. Brains work when we use them, challenge them, and move our bodies.
2. Able Body
Do the things you want to do physically. Climb, hike, ski, travel, play, dance. We all watch our elderly loved ones decline. 1 in 4 adults exercising in a culture that worships cars and chairs is a big problem. Disaster is coming for the victims.
3. Emotional Wellness
Longevity brings balance to emotions. Being emotionally well leads to clear thoughts and good logic. Think about anxiety. So many thoughts, fears, and fixations bouncing around in the brain. Clear thoughts become impossible. Unlearn the behaviors that have not served you, connect with others, love, cry, forgive, feel joy, and pain. Life is beautiful when you commit to feeling your emotions. Stop snowing yourself with alcohol, cannabis, and other emotional suppressants. Snowing and sedating ones self impairs REM sleep. REM sleep, the time of night where we have our most vivid dreams, is very important for emotional processing.
4. Security
Longevity is protection. Micro-organisms (think bacteria, viruses, and parasites) prey on the weak. Just like a lion singling out the weakest zebra in the herd. COVID19 crushed humanity disproportionately in areas like the United States, partially because our immune systems and bodies had become so weak. But Microbes are just the beginning. If someone or something attacked you or your loved ones, could you defend yourself and your loved ones?
5. Transfer of Knowledge and Culture
The wise old woman and wise old man are a classic archetype that society needs more than ever. Instead of burdening your loved ones as you age, put yourself in a position to offer them tremendous wisdom from a long life lived well.
6. Assign Value Appropriately
This is the most important benefit of Longevity. I believe, it is why society is so sick. People who are not well place value where it should not be. Examples: Valuing a cigarette over time with a loved one. Social media over time with your kids. Making money at the expense of others and your own health. Trading wealth for the success of future generations. Taking the easy road because you are “too tired”.
Society Is Botching Value
- We are destroying our planet and squandering our resources because we are unwell.
- The buildings and houses we build in 2023 are of the worst quality in 100s, in some cases 1000s of years. Our building practices are short sited. Some of the structures we are building today would be lucky to last a few decades. Contrast this to cities like London with beautiful stone buildings meant to last hundreds of years.
- The products we make are meant to last days and weeks. Amazon and Walmart trash.
- Young people want to be wealthy and get rich, without any clear purpose or value add to society.
- We are fine with levying trillions of dollars of debt on future generations and inflating our currency at the expense of society’s most vulnerable.
Its time to wake the f*** up. We need longevity now, more than ever. We are unwell. This un-wellness is eroding ourselves, our relationships, the very fabric of society, and the natural world we came from and depend on.
Longevity is the greatest gift you can give yourself and everyone else around you! The best time to start your longevity journey is as early as possible. Right now.
Wonder Medicine’s Longevity and Performance Program improves your lifespan and healthspan with a research-driven proactive program that focuses on the big picture of your health so you can perform at your highest potential.
