Crafting Your Ideal 100+ Year Lifestyle

What's really possible?

Forget baby boomers. Nonagenarians and centenarians are one of the fastest-growing demographics in the western world. It’s estimated that there will be around 500,000 centenarians in the USA alone by the middle of this century.

Recently, while on a work project, I was discussing Aging with Attitude with an interested colleague when another colleague jumped in with 'why would you want to live to 100, on a pension in a nursing home?' and she promptly left the room.

She's right. Nobody drives past an aged care home and says to themselves, 'I want to end up there.'

Aging has always been considered decline or loss. Scientists base this theory on the work of evolutionary biologists. Survival and reproduction, once fulfilled, led to a decline in the body towards death. Aging was frailty.

However, right now, many people have been gifted long life. Dan Buettner has documented pockets of long-livers around the world. We are learning so much from these communities.

The New England Centenarian Study tells us that genetics plays a big part.

There is a cohort of people whose genetics have given them long life, but I am tipping that, for many, there may not have been much thought about preparing for this time. It has just happened. Some live full and rich lives until they die; others wait to die.

Poor aging is preventable. We have an inherited (genetic) lifestyle and an acquired lifestyle.

You can live out an acquired lifestyle or create the future you would like to have happened. As discussed in my previous article, as little as 12 weeks can shift your biological age. You can change the course of your history.

So, it's time to re-calibrate our attitude to aging. Our generation has advanced warning of what's possible. Now is the time to create a compelling future for however many years you will be gifted.

To create this compelling future, we need to imagine how life might look at 100. It is not an easy task. I asked myself the question and drew a blank. A blank slate!

I have 35 years until I reach 100, and who knows how the world will change in that time.

Right now, I continually look for examples of people currently living 100+ lifestyles that appeal to me. Who are they, and what do they do? Who inspires me to what might be possible?

I am seeking ordinary people like my friend Beryl in my previous article who accomplish extraordinary things. Here are a few of my current inspirations.

• 100-year-old Edith Murway-Traina has just been named Guinness World Record holder for World's Oldest Female Competitive Powerlifter and only started lifting at 91 as a hobby.

• The 100-year-old yoga instructor, Tao Porchon-Lynch (1918-2020), had no plans to stop practicing and teaching.

• Ida Keeling, at 104 years old, is a runner and world record holder inspiring others with her strength and boundless energy. She took up running to overcome the trauma of losing loved ones.

• Louise Signori, a 107-year-old in New York City credits never getting married as her secret to a long and healthy life. Her only medication is for blood pressure.

• This 103-Year-Old Woman puts on a daily piano recital at her Minnesota Aged Care Home.

• By far, my favourite is this 96-year-old grandmother. Nothing is going to stop her from having a great time out on the dance floor! 'I’ll have what she's having!' What an inspiration! If only I could dance like that. Maybe dancing lessons could be the next thing on my goal list.

I am so inspired by these womens' attitudes to life in general, from being dealt lemons to making lemonade, to deciding to do something bold and taking action, to just having a lifelong passion and sharing it with others or just dancing their way to joy.

How would you describe your ideal 100+ year lifestyle...

Let's start to throw some words and ideas around - healthy, fit, vital, vibrant, prosperous, engaged, passionate, resilient, a lifelong learner. What are your words, and what do they mean for you?

What's really important to you? - if you were told you had a month to live - what would you do with it? What might you want to put all your energy into?

What goals might you take on if you knew you couldn't fail? Remember you may not accomplish all of them, but put them there - more than you have time for.

We overestimate what we can do in a day but underestimate what we can accomplish in a year, five years, a decade. Between normal retirement and 100, there is a half-life, time enough to have a second career; maybe the one you always wanted.

Want to learn? There's time to do multiple degrees, the ones you always wanted to do. What about that PhD?

Are you a techie who can't wait to see what is coming down the pipeline?

I remember starting university in the days of punch cards and green screens. I once explained how to a work colleague how we did accounting in post-uni days only to have a young colleague ask me why I didn't just use an Excel spreadsheet! Excel wasn't invented then, Sonny!

And here we are in a world of the Web of Things (WoT). How did we get here? Where could we possibly be in five years, a decade, a half-life. Does that excite you?

Do you want to make the environment your passion? So many projects, so little time.

Who can you mentor and guide passing on your wisdom or skills? I have estimated that if I reach 100, I may have five generations gathered around me.

I am currently mentoring my grandaughter through her senior school years on her way to law school. It brings so much joy to discuss a classical novel or a knotty legal issue and relate them to current events. We both learn so much.

Is sport your passion? Like my 89-year-old Dad, whose life revolves around golf with his buddies.

Where do you see yourself living? I am so fortunate to live near the beach in Australia but I also hanker after a life in a quaint village in the English countryside or the South of France totally absorbed in a culturally different life.

Will your finances support your lifestyle? Might you need to work longer?

Most importantly, what habits are you willing to commit to?

Just some food for thought…

Centenarians disprove the concept that 'the older you get, the sicker you get; centenarians teach us that the older you get the healthier you've been' ~ The New England Centenarian Study

In my next story, I will let you in on my health and fitness secrets.