100 Year Goals
An approach to setting goals that'll last a lifetime.
POSITIVE AFFIRMATION
"Today I’ll be patient and understanding beyond belief."
If the goal is to age to 100 and still be capable of living an independent, healthy life, then Peter Attia lays out a bunch of great example goals. For example, living independently in older age means you may want to travel on planes, which means being able to lift a 20 lbs bag over your head to cram into an overhead cabin. Or go to the grocery store and carry bags of milk, eggs and fruits home a few blocks away. (I literally just saw an elderly lady do exactly this while on travel to Greece.) This hopefully sounds easy now… but it prob won’t be in the future.
Whatever your age, now is the time to future-proof ourselves.
A few facts are important to understand, which inform us on how to approach our future goals.
VO2 max, aka the max ability to process oxygen, is a great predictor of overall health and longevity. On average, VO2 max declines 7% for females and 10% for males, per decade.
Muscle mass declines at 3-8% per decade, with rate of decline higher after age 60.
Quality of sleep, critical for a clean and functional brain
Relationships, critical if you want to have someone to talk about the latest Netflix show with
Visioning what the future will look like is impossible, but… we gotta try. Here’s what I came up with:
Always able to get up from the floor - unassisted. Sounds easy now, but wait until we’re 90 years old.
Able to jog and/or bike ride.
Competent in the latest technologies.
Immersed in deep & satisfying relationships.
Using Attia’s approach, he wants to “backcast” those into what that would look like today.
“In my practice, we call this backcasting, or reverse-engineering.
We break down and train the movements of everyday life, outlining how “good” you need to be TODAY to achieve your goals tomorrow.”
- Peter Attia
Breaking down the above goals, it could look something like this:
Ability to get up from the floor:
Normalize sitting on the floor, such as for eating meals, watching TV, and just squatting whenever practical, like over the toilet.
Strengthen mobility and stability. That means training all those tiny, unappreciated muscles. Do yoga & stretching, and workouts with functional, dynamic movements.
Ability to jog and/or bike ride:
Don’t run out of breath, aka VO2 max, aka moderate and intense cardio sessions plus lovely walks with the wife and kiddo.
In my observation of the moment when older people stopped running, it was because of a joint or muscle preventing it. To prevent the preventing, do yoga and stretching with those functional, dynamic moves.
Listen to the body. Is your body telling you it needs more rest or that maybe it’s up for a more strenuous workout? Make sure it’s the body talking and not the mind talking you out of things.
Competent in technologies:
For example, AI and ChatGPT. What the heck is that stuff and yet, it’s everywhere and apparently will lead to humanity’s demise. Similar to how I made the jump from PC to Mac, Just jump in.
Immersed in relationships:
It’s gotta be deep and it’s gotta be plural.
TAKEAWAY
Take a minute now and think about at least one thing you want to be able to do when you’re 100 years old. Then try and guess what that same task should be like at your current age. The goal is to have something - anything - to aim for.
(misc)
➩ An old post of mine getting the most hits recently, not sure why, Let Bobby Kennedy Make You a More Awesome Person, published in Wholistique.
➩ Several movies and shows I can’t wait to get started on - Netflix’s Leave the World Behind, starring my fav Ethan Hawke, Julia Roberts, and Mahershala Ali; May December starring a creepy Natalie Portman and the great Julianne Moore; and HBO’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, starring Kurt Russell and Godzilla.
➩ Recently really enjoyed both Josh Adamson’s and Betina Gozo’s workouts, for free on Nike Training App and some available on YouTube. Don’t have dumbbells, no prob, just use 1-gallon jugs of water!
