At this past weekend’s community senior health expo I presented on the topic of Aging with Purpose and Independence. The key themes of my talk focused on: lifestyle choices, opportunities to engage, your relationship with your physician and embracing technology. These four themes can all be bundled under one major topic: Purpose.

I’d like to focus this blog issue on the very important topic of Purpose. As we age, finding our purpose becomes increasingly important to our health and happiness.

There is ample evidence in the medical literature that having goals and a purpose in life promotes good health and is associated with longevity. From the Blue Zone study (discussed in an earlier blog) the Okinawans in Japan call it ‘ikigai’ and the Costa Ricans refer to it as ‘plan da vida.’ Both of these terms translate to “my reason to get out of bed.”

Published last year, this article confirms the importance of having a purpose. I invite you to take a look: Purpose in Life and Its Relationship to All-Cause Mortality and Cardiovascular Events by Randy Cohen, Chirag Bavishi, Alan Rozanski.

I encourage all of my members to find their passion – and to use that to motivate them.

Find your destination and plan for it.

For more on Aging with Purpose and Independence please contact me at 512-553-1921 or send a note.