Loving Your 100+ year life

Did your five words match up?

So did you do the little quiz?

Did you write down five words to describe the image that comes to mind when you think of someone in their 90s?

And then did you write down the five words to describe how you want to look and feel and live in your 90s? Wow.

There's often a real disparity between what we think of people who are in their senior years and how we think we will end up living out our own senior years.

Why is it some people live a healthy and youthful hundred years. While others can barely get out of bed at the age of 65.

Who do you know that is a vibrant senior? 

I'm really lucky, I'm surrounded by people who are in the 80s and 90s who are living vibrant and full lives. 

One of my friend's dad was still driving the tractor around their farm when on his 95th birthday. Another friend, Norma in her 80s goes a few days a week to look after the oldies in the nursing home. 

If you're like many people, the thought of getting old and aging is depressing. Most people when I talk to them about living to 105 or more, which the research is very clear, this isn't a possibility, it is more likely a probability they shudder.

It was certainly a wake up call for me when I became exposed to the research that says there's a high likelihood that I'll live to 95+.

We're in a time now when science and medicine mean we can repair ourselves and replace many body parts, that in the past we would have died from, and this is only going to continue.

You've Got Decades to Live NOT Exist!

So regardless of whether the number of decades you've been alive with begin with a 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8, you've got decades to live and not exist.

You want to live the next 50 years of your life so they are extraordinary. 

And because the hundred year life is our new reality. There are many assumptions we have made about life that we actually need to rethink.

Three Stages of Life

In the book "The 100-Year Life" authors Lynda Gratton, and Andrew Scott talk about the three stages of life.

Those of us over 30 have been raised with the idea of a traditional three-stage approach to our working lives. 

First you get educated.

Then you work and finally you retire.

But this approach is already starting to crumble as life expectancy rises and generous pension systems vanish.

Universities just won't be places for 20-30 somethings. We'll see people popping in and out of education well throughout the sixties and seventies. Some to continue studying for work. Some for pleasure.

Are You Set Up to Stay Interested and Interesting for 40+ Years of Retirement?

Unless you're financially abundant and have plenty of projects in mind that will keep you interested and interesting for 40+ years ... thinking you're going to retire and golf for the next 40 years, once you turn 60 is just not going to happen. 

And who on earth wants to play golf for that long?

Multiple Careers

You'll be having multiple careers.

A person could spend 30 years in the business world.

30 years as a doctor.

You could be in and out of education.

Working in corporate.

Working for yourself.

And bouncing between the two.

It's a whole new world for employers and employees alike. So in this program, we're going to delve deeply into your career.

How Do You Rate Your 100+ Year Life?

But for the moment, let's think about your 100 year life.

The question you need to ask and the challenge you need to put to yourself is, "How can I die healthy?"

Make your goal to go out of life dancing. Not living out your final days on a couch or in a bed.

A longer health span means more time to enjoy ...

A longer health span means more time to enjoy the wonders of life, including relationships with family and friends, career building knowledge, seeking adventure, and exploration.

To live a full and rich life, you need to ensure you have health in these five areas of your life. Career health, relationship health, physical health, attitude and mindset health and financial health. 

Take the quiz below and rate where you're at and where you want to be. Take some time, give it some thought, and I will see you after you've done that exercise.