Want to live a long, rich life? Find out you need to watch your thoughts, as science consistently proves that you are as old as you think.
Over the past few months, I have been reading posts in online pension groups and forums. I wanted to know what kind of things people worried about, planned for, and the many different ways people approach retirement.
I was mainly there to learn about the different ways people make plans for money, but have come away with an even bigger realisation: too many people are at risk of ‘thinking’ themselves into an early grave.
This might sound dramatic, but according to science it’s absolutely possible to shorten your life, and the quality of your life through your mindset.
I recently finished reading an excellent book: Breaking the Age Code by Dr Becca Levy. Dr Levy is a world-leading Yale Professor and pioneer in the field of ageing. The premise of the book is that we can potentially add years to our lives by changing our beliefs about ageing.
Here are just three of the life-limiting assumptions she explores in her book.
1) Your genes aren’t your destiny
One reason people often cite for being negative about their prospects of living a long, healthy life is the experience of their parents or grandparents. If their relatives died early, or developed dementia, they assume they will experience a similar fate, so see no need to plan for fulfilling later years.
But, just because an older relative may have suffered from dementia, it doesn’t mean you will do too – even if you share their dementia gene variant.
About 15% of the population are born with the APOE e4 variant gene, which makes you more susceptible to Alzheimer’s. If you have one variant, your risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease is double or triple. If you have two variants (one from each parent, like Chris Hemsworth) you could be 8 to 12 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
However, even if you are unlucky enough to inherit the variant gene, it doesn’t mean you are helplessly destined to develop dementia. There are lifestyle changes you can make to reduce your risk. But perhaps more importantly, you can change your mindset.
Research shows that people with the APOE e4 variant gene who have a positive age belief are 47% less likely to develop dementia, compared to people with a negative age belief. Your attitude to ageing is so powerful that it was found to be more influential in reducing dementia risk than other factors, such as age, sex, depression and earlier cognitive scores.
A lucky 10% of us are born with the APOE e2 variant gene, which protects us against dementia and promotes longevity. Dr Levy found that if the 90% of us not born with this gene embrace positive age beliefs, we enjoy the same reduced risk of developing dementia.
2) Having a positive mindset towards ageing is better for you than quitting smoking
If we want to live to a ripe old age, it’s generally accepted that we need to take good care of our health. That can include eating healthily, getting enough sleep, staying active and a healthy weight, and not smoking.
But there’s a piece of advice often missing, and more powerful than keeping our body fighting fit, and that is to think positively about getting old.
In 2002 Dr Levy co-published a study that showed that more positive self-perceptions of ageing “lived 7.5 years longer than those with less positive self-perceptions.” This is a better survival advantage than much of the accepted wisdom about living longer. For example, low cholesterol or low blood pressure can add four years to your life, having a low body mass index can give you an extra year, and avoiding smoking can extend your life by three years.
Just think: if we invested as much effort into having a positive mindset than we do researching the best supplements, or worrying about potential health issues, we could enjoy more good quality years.
3) Your later years can be more creative and productive
Some of the ‘wisdom’ often shared on pension chat forums is to take (and spend) as much money as you can early, as the best years of your life will soon be over. People speculate that they’ll be frail and won’t want to do much past their mid-seventies.
Luckily, the facts don’t support this depressing prediction! Anecdotally, within my own family people have had active, fulfilling lives well past 70 and 80. My grandmother was in her mid-80s when she looked after my baby son full time during the week when I worked as a single mum in London. (My grandmother died this year at the impressive age of 100.)
My aunt, 80 this year, is Chair of Governors at a local primary school and an active volunteer at her local church. She’s often busy organising events and, until recently, she helped cook weekly lunches for ‘old people’. And my parents – currently in their late 70s and mid-80s respectively – still have active, fulfilling lives, which involves frequent global travel.
Two years ago my mum, in her mid-70s, backpacked across Malaysia and Indonesia with me and my children, and we’re planning a trip to China next year. And last year my parents toyed with buying a new home as they had ‘one more renovation project in them’. Instead they decided to install a new kitchen in their current home. Here’s my 83 year-old dad today, mid-ripping out the old kitchen:
It’s also inspiring to learn that, for the past 100 years, the average age of the Nobel Prize winner has been 65. Frank Gehry designed Seattle’s rock museum when he was 70, and Georgia O’Keeffe was productive well into her eighties. The Cuban abstract painter Carmen Herrera was painting right up until her death at 106. She continued receiving recognition for her work, including a Whitney Museum exhibition, after she turned 100.
So there’s no reason to think that your productive, busy and traveling years will be over once you reach your 70s, or even your 80s. And even just planning for your finances to stretch well beyond your 80s could ensure you are more likely to still be enjoying an active life then.
Why science proves you are as old as you think
We know, from Dr Levy’s own research, and research she quotes in her book, that if we believe that our later years will be short, difficult, dogged with declining health and limited in possibilities, there is a greater likelihood this will be true. But if, instead, we expect to live long, rich and healthy lives, that too is more likely to be our reality.
Personally I am lucky as I have positive examples of fulfilling, long lives in my family, and I expect that to be my experience too, hopefully! Certainly I am taking every measure I can to ensure this is the case by making healthy choices and having positive expectations for myself – which includes ensuring my finances will afford me to stay active well past my 80s.
You too can help to extend your own life – by as much as 7.5 years – by taking similar steps. And by stopping yourself from assuming that the best of your life is over once you pass your sixties. Who knows? The best could be yet to come!
