How To Have An Exceptional Final Decade
Just this past October 2nd, I gave the opening Keynote Speech for the LD Micro 16th Annual “Main Event,” a 3-day investor conference held at the chic LUXE Hotel in Los Angeles. When my friend, Chris Lahiji, Founder of LD Micro, invited me to deliver a keynote, I immediately knew I wanted to fundamentally reframe how people think about movement and exercise. I used this platform to provide easy-to-use tools to live a long life filled with meaning, joy, and optimal function and movement ability. Rather than viewing movement and exercise as a chore, I wanted to inspire people to view it as a privilege and a gift that we give ourselves. I asked the attendees to think about the final decade of life, how each person wants to feel, and to make a list of specific things each wants to be able to do. I asked them a question that I now pose to you:
What do you want to be able to do up until your final days?
Go on a trip with your family?
Carry your own luggage?
Open a jar?
Walk up a flight of stairs - without getting winded?
Reach down and pick up your grandchild?
How about put on your own socks and shoes, deal with your own hygiene?
I’m guessing everyone wants to live with independence and dignity.
At the “Main Event” conference I provided 15-minute one-on-one consultations to create a template of what each person would need to do to get to their exceptional final decade.
I work within a framework that includes the headers mobility, cardiorespiratory efficiency, and strength because most things require this relationship. For example, opening a jar would require the building of grip strength and mobility in the joints of the fingers, wrist, elbow, etc. Running through the airport to catch a flight requires cardiorespiratory efficiency and mobility, and on it goes.
I have a very specific list for myself. Here are some items on my list for an exceptional final decade:
Get down to and back up from the floor EASILY.
Put my suitcase into the overhead bin by myself.
Balance on one leg for 30 seconds, eyes open, and for 15 seconds with eyes closed.
Get out of a swimming pool without using the ladder (after swimming at least half a mile in max 30 mins).
Hike Mt Tamalpais in Mill Valley.
Swim in the ocean in Maui.
Walk up three flights of stairs with 10 pounds of groceries in each hand.
While many of us have thought about the last decade of life in terms of each of our financial futures - I ask you to think about it in terms of the future of your physical health. Sounds a little grim, I know. However, I hope to inspire you to no longer think about it as grim, but rather as meaningful, essential, fulfilling, and exceptional. It will make beautiful sense if you frame the journey toward these goals as Healthspan vs Lifespan. “Lifespan” is the number of years one lives from birth to death. I describe “Healthspan” as the maintenance of full function as nearly as possible to the end of life – basically, the number of years one is healthy without chronic and debilitating disease. I hope to inspire you to focus on healthspan v lifespan, because it is the science not just of prolonging life but of prolonging aliveness.
My goal in my work is to arm people with tools to live a long, meaningful, and joyful life.