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As far as we know, humans are the only living things that are aware of their own mortality. Animals, of course, have survival instincts that drive their actions and behaviors, but a dog doesn’t lay around thinking, I’ve got about 15 years here, better make the best of it. They spend their days blissfully unaware that one day the lights are going to go out for good. But that’s not the case for people. The price of being human is the knowledge that, one day, we’re going to die. Everyone manages this knowledge in their own way. Some people obsess over it, others do their best to pretend it’s never going to happen. There are entire industries built around extending human lifespan as long as possible. Maybe even forever.
I remember this old gem from when I was a kid: A genie appears and gives you three wishes. What do you wish for? Invariably, the answers were always the same: An endless supply of money, some type of super power, for the girl you have a crush on to think you’re the bee’s knees. And, of course, to live forever. But what exactly would that look like? What if you went blind? Or were paralyzed? What if you were wrongly convicted of a crime and sentenced to life in prison? Talk about irony.
We are so consumed by how long we’re going to live that we often overlook, or completely ignore, how well we’re going to live. Recently, I’ve been hearing a new term out there (at least it's new to me) and I love it. In addition to LIFEspan, people are starting to talk about HEALTHspan. Not just length of life, but quality of life. Today, the average lifespan is right around 80 years, but it’s not out of the question to make it to 90 or even 100. Which sounds great, except that for most people, those last ten years or so are no party. For most people, their minds and bodies start to break down long before their heart is ready to stop beating. It usually means spending your last years in some sort of convalescence, managing things like heart disease, diabetes, dementia. In many of those cases, it’s not unusual to find people not only welcoming death, but wishing for it.
I want to create something different for myself. For the past two years I've been on a very focused health kick, setting benchmarks around how fit I could possibly be as I turned 40. I'm employing our Power of Intuition training and have been building my archive by absorbing information, leveraging mentors, hiring experts and taking action (using myself as a guinea pig). I take care of myself with an aim to fulfill my vision of being healthy and vibrant at 100 years old. But to do that, I’ve had to do some outside of the box thinking.
When I was young, I didn’t give a lot of thought to the healthcare system. When I got sick, or sprained an ankle, or broke a bone, I went to the doctor and I did what the doctor said and I got better. It doesn’t occur to most of us to question what doctors tell us to do. I mean, they’re doctors, right? We not only assume, we expect doctors to know everything. But if you’re relying solely on your general practitioner to have all the answers, you’re doing yourself a disservice.
Now, I’m not looking to bash the medical profession. I have nothing but respect for people who dedicate their lives to improving the lives of others. But the truth is, the practice of medicine is not what it was just ten or twenty years ago. It’s constantly evolving and expanding. The amount of knowledge about the human body and the intricacies of how it works has grown exponentially over the last couple of decades. It’s simply impossible to expect any one person to have expertise in all of it. Which, of course, creates obstacles of its own.
Because our knowledge of the human body has become so expansive, Western medicine has evolved into a system of specialists. Cardiologists, pulmonologists, oncologists, neurologists. There are specialists for every body part, every ailment. And that can actually create problems, because instead of treating the body as a singular system made up of different yet interconnected parts, today’s medical profession tends to focus on parts that just happen to make up this thing called a body. So when you pay a visit to your proctologist, he’s not always seeing the whole person. He’s just seeing an asshole that happens to be connected to a person.
Again, no disrespect to doctors. The point is, doctors who specialize in specific areas can’t always see the whole picture. That part is up to you. You cannot defer accountability for your health to anyone else, no matter what letters they have after their name. You need to be proactive by naming your vision for health and vitality, then seeking out the knowledge, the people, the strategies that will get you there. Gather information and take advice from the various specialists out there, but don’t just rely on any one of them to provide whole body solutions.
Our bodies speak to us. It’s our job to listen to what it’s saying, and then exhaust all possibilities for giving it what it needs. And there’s never been a better time to be alive when it comes to the health care opportunities that are out there. Researchers are now experimenting with AI to develop new and exciting ways to treat illnesses. There is growing understanding of how to extend health at the cellular level. Just in the last year, the new CRISPR technology was approved for use in treating sickle-cell anemia. CRISPR is a gene editing tool that allows scientists to literally remove and replace sections of DNA that are responsible for certain diseases. This could be a huge game-changer, theoretically bringing an end to all genetic illness.
Look, we may not have flying cars or teleportation devices, but in so many ways we live in a future that was once only imagined in science fiction. And more and more secrets of the human body are being unlocked everyday. As our knowledge continues to grow at an exponential rate, it’s not inconceivable to imagine a day when humans live for centuries rather than decades. But until that day comes, you’ve got to own your health. You can’t defer it to anyone or anything else. Where to start?
- Set a vision for what health and vitality means to you. For me, it’s waking up at 95 years old and hitting a black diamond run int Vail.
- Do your research, stay current, and take action. I’m always looking for new innovations in extending health and vitality, consulting with experts in a variety of fields, and employing new strategies.
- Evaluate and calibrate. When I hit certain benchmarks, I evaluate the results I’m seeing and feeling, then decide what’s working for me and what’s not.
And hey, at the end of the day, there are no guarantees, right? You can do everything right, eat all the best foods, build the perfect routines, and still something can go sideways in the blink of an eye. And that’s when we’re thankful for those specialists, who hopefully specialize in whatever we’re facing.
I love this new conversation about not just the length of our lives, but the length of our health. I teach an entire course on Health & Vitality where I share the pillars of health and how I engage them in my quest to extend my healthspan. At IMS, one of the key areas we tend is the Body and Health. We train for Health & Vitality at Reset, and we tend the Body and Health through The Power Series. So if you're on a health kick or the Body is your space to tune up this year, you'll have lots of opportunities to train. Click HERE to learn more about Reset, and HERE to learn more about The Power Series. Do yourself and favor and join us for both!
