Add years to your life - and life to those years

What does a person do when they reach the ripe old age of 112? They publish their first book, of course! At least that's Britain's oldest person, Henry Allingham, did in December 2008 when he published Kitchener's Last Volunteer.

A great example of healthy or vital ageing, Henry lived through a period of amazing world change from June 1896 to July 2009. When he died it was determined that he was the the 14th oldest verified man of all time.

To get a sense of perspective on just how different the world was when he was born versus when he died:

• He was born in the year of Britain's first speeding conviction in the UK (for exceeding 2 mph)

• It was also the year that they repealed the law requiring a many with a red flag walk in front of each car

• The Second Bier War was still in progress in South Africa.

• Buffalo Bill's Wild West show was touring the US

• Marconi had Chief Sitting Bull had just been shot

• The Klondike Gold Rush was about to begin.

We're living longer

When Henry Allingham was born just 1 male in 7 was expected to live beyond 70. But since then things have changed dramatically.

In 1911 there were about 100 people in the UK over 100 years of age. Nowadays it’s nearly 10,000. And, because of improvements in lifestyle and health care etc. in 20 years time we will have around 30,000 centenarians in this country. On the BBC Today programme Geoff Mulgan of the Young Foundation suggested that one child in five who is born today will live to over 100.

Advancing age = decrepitude!

Since I began running NLP-based workshops in the early 80's I have asked hundreds of people the question "Would you like to live to be 100?" The majority reply "No – definitely not!"

Amazing, isn't it. Nobody wants to die… yet nobody wants to grow old…When we then chat about this it turns out that the reason these people don't want to grow old is quite simply - they believe they lose their ability to function as healthy human beings.

The believe that old age will inevitably result in decrepitude.

Now this destructive, and potentially self-fulfilling, belief is not surprising when you consider how such limiting beliefs are formed which is primarily through the high visibility of decrepit elderly people and through the media focus on the 'problems of an ageing society'.

The belief in the inevitability of decrepitude is also supported by the reality that people who are ageing healthily are still in a minority – and because those who are ageing healthily are simply not noticeable!  

After all a healthy 85-year-old who is quietly getting on with his or her busy life and who looks and acts like a 70-year-old will simply be taken for a just another 70-year-old.

Their beliefs are 'theirs'

One of the qualities (see the list below) of people who age healthily is a tendency to mis-match, or reject, or rile against the prevailing attitude to age. They have a "this doesn't apply to me!" attitude to the doom laden messages.

Good for them – because maintaining such a positive attitude does require effort especially if you are exposed to

• People who are already looking forward to retirement once they reach 40

• People in their 50s and 60s who make their illnesses and aches their hobby

• Endless encouragement to "act your age" and not challenge prevailing attitudes to what is appropriate and inappropriate for people of a particular age..

So how much time have you got to look forward to?

Let's say that with the improved quality of life in the Western World, with more information about ways of improving health and, with a determination to have more years in your life and more life in those years, we can all expect to live healthily to Henry Allingham's age of 112.

Consider this:

If you're now 20: When Henry was 20 the First World War was just halfway through and he, as an aviator, was flying in aeroplanes consisting of canvas stretched across a wooden frame. Look at how the world has changed since then and look at how the 90 years ahead of you will be filled with change.

If you're now 30: You've got over 80 years ahead of you in which to enjoy life. When I reached 30 I thought "That's it! It's all the way downhill from now on" yet, if you're on the way to 112, you're not even a third of the way there…

If you're now 40: Instead of looking forward the 20 or so years to retirement how about looking forward to the next 70 years and how you are going to make them fun-filled and fulfilling!

If you're now 50: On reaching 50 lots of people think "Oh well, I've had a good life - mustn't grumble!" and begin looking back on and talking about the good old days. Yet you could consider that you're not even halfway there yet – and start planning for the next 60 years.

If you're now 60: With over half a century ahead of you it's a bit too early to settle down in the armchair and start watching daytime TV.

And if you're around 70 you might like to begin thinking about how you're going to make the next 40 years rewarding, challenging, and exciting.

Silly dreams?

Maybe. Or maybe not. You could say that dreams are goals which have not yet been clearly thought through and supported by an action plan!

In the world of NLP Robert Dilts has done more research into and modelling of healthy ageing than anyone else. You can read his article here: http://www.nlpu.com/Articles/artic26.htm.

Practical steps for vital ageing

The following list includes tips from Dilts' NLP modelling work, my own discussions with and observations of healthy elders, and comments from people who have lived to a ripe age.

1. Live a physically active life
2. Search for and focus on the positive side of events rather than the negative
3. Set your own standards for your life and mismatch the negative messages of others
4. Have a sense of humour
5. Have lots of goals - including the goal of continually improving your health and vitality
6. Have a number of inspiring role models
7. Have friendships with people of all ages
8. Find ways of adding value to the lives of others
9. Decide that old age is a benefit to be enjoyed
10. Respect yourself and your uniqueness

Take the spirit of these tips, connect them with your personal lifestyle, and you've got the beginnings of an action plan for adding years to your life – and life to those years.

Click here for another Pegasus NLP article on healthy ageing - written in 2001
 

To receive our free newsletter subscribe here

© 2000-2010 Reg Connolly - copyrighted, all rights reserved - but you can freely pass this newsletter on to friends as long as you do so in its entirety, include this message and link: http://www.nlp-now.co.uk. Please contact us for written permission if you would like to reproduce this article in your own newsletter, literature or web publication.