How To Live To Be 100+ (And Why You Should Invest in Adventure)

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“The calculus of aging offers us two options: We can live a shorter life with more years of disability, or we can live the longest possible life with the fewest bad years. As my centenarian friends showed me, the choice is largely up to us.”

Dan Buettner

Somewhere along the way, you’ve likely heard of something called the Blue Zones — a term coined in reference to five hidden slivers of the world that boast the highest per capita populations of centenarians – people who thrive to 100 and beyond. Unlikely locales were people not only live inordinately long, but also seem resoundingly happier than their fellow western world equals.

Places where people forgot to die.

This is the work of my friend  Dan Buettner.

A renaissance man in the truest sense, Dan transcends categorization. Global adventurer. Three-time Guinness Book world record holding endurance cyclist. National Geographic Fellow. Multiple New York Times bestselling author. A wellness and longevity superhero, Dan has keynoted speeches for Bill Clinton’s Health Matters Initiative, Google Zeitgeist, and TEDMED.  He’s appeared on Oprah twice and his TED Talk “How to live to be 100+” has been viewed over 2 million times.

Without mincing words, Dan is my hero. A man who exudes life. A man with huge vision. And a man whose life work has positively, permanently and quite unequivocally improved the well being of millions.

You might have caught Dan on  The TODAY Show (which is featuring segments on Dan and his work throughout the week),  read about him in last Sunday’s PARADE magazine,  seen him on NBC News  or caught him on  CNN’s The Wonder List a few weeks ago. The common theme of these stories? Grappling with the lifestyle tenets that govern Blue Zone cultures as a means to help the rest of us live longer and better.

According to Dan, Blue Zone cultures extending wellness into Ponce De Leon territory all live in accordance with 9 identifiable, convergent lifestyle principles (listed in the show notes below). Principles that are replicable on both the individual and civic level, as demonstrated by Dan’s Blue Zones Project— a community well-being improvement initiative that has wholly transformed 20 cities and municipalities to date by implementing permanent changes to environment, policy, and social networks that make healthy choices easier.

The Blue Zones Solution*,  Dan’s new book out this week, is a highly detailed primer that extrapolates from these principles powerful eating and lifestyle tools to transform your health. Buttressed with highly entertaining stories from Dan’s travels, I highly recommend checking it out – I was lucky enough to get an advance copy, and it’s a terrific read.

This is a phenomenal conversation that explores Dan’s new book, the aforementioned principles and what this means for you – how we can all implement certain lifestyle tenets to live longer and, most importantly, get the absolute most out of our years.

Beyond the Blue Zone universe, I tackle the story of the man behind the vision. A story that begins with Dan’s improbable encounter with the singular  George Plimpton (lion of The Paris Review and another personal hero of mine) — a visionary man who catalyzed Dan’s purposeful life with one simple, yet powerful idea:

Above all, invest in adventure.

I sincerely hope you enjoy the exchange.

Peace + Plants,

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Production, music & sound design by Tyler Piatt. Additional production by Chris Swan. Graphic art by Shawn Patterson. Thanks boys!

*Disclosure: Books and products denoted with an asterisk are hyperlinked to an affiliate program. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.