Gratitude always comes into play; research shows that people are happier if they are grateful for the positive things in their lives, rather than worrying about what might be missing.
Dan BuettnerA long healthy life is no accident. It begins with good genes, but it also depends on good habits.
Dan BuettnerI wake up in the morning and I see that flower, with the dew on its petals, and at the way it's folding out, and it makes me happy, she said. It's important to focus on the things in the here and now, I think. In a month, the flower will be shriveled and you will miss its beauty if you don't make the effort to do it now. Your life, eventually, is the same way.
Dan BuettnerHaving a purpose and knowing exactly what your values are will add additional years to your life.
Dan BuettnerIf one fails to develop goals that give meaning to one’s existence, if one does not use the mind to it’s fullest, then good feelings fulfill just a fraction of the potential we possess. True happiness involves the pursuit of worthy goals. Without dreams, without risks, only a trivial semblance of living can be achieved.
Dan BuettnerDrink without getting drunk Love without suffering jealousy Eat without overindulging Never argue And once in a while, with great discretion, misbehave
Dan BuettnerI live on the water. I live in a neighborhood that's consummately connected to my neighbors. I bump into them every day. I can bike to work.
Dan BuettnerActually, when you get into your sixties and above, you want to think about exercise differently. It's not just about you know cardiovascular or lifting weights. It's also about avoiding accidents.
Dan BuettnerSo learning to play a new instrument, learning a new language - those sorts of things will pay dividends for years or decades to come.
Dan BuettnerYou rarely get satisfaction sitting in an easy chair. If you work in a garden on the other hand, and it yields beautiful tomatoes, that's a good feeling.
Dan BuettnerThe people you surround yourself with influence your behaviors, so choose friends who have healthy habits.
Dan BuettnerLife expectancy in America is about 79, we should be able to live to 92. Somewhere along the line, we're leaving 13 years on the table. So my quest is -- how do we get those extra 13 years? And how do we make those extra 13 years good years?
Dan BuettnerInconvenience yourself: ditch the remote, the garage door opener, the leaf-blower; buy a bike, broom, rake, and snow shovel.
Dan BuettnerThe brutal reality about aging is that it has only an accelerator pedal. We have yet to discover whether a brake exists for people.
Dan BuettnerIf you’re eating vegetables you are probably pushing unhealthier food out of your diet.
Dan BuettnerSo setting up automatic savings plans, and buying insurance as opposed to buying a new thing. The newness effect of a new thing wears off in nine months to a year, but financial security can last a lifetime.
Dan BuettnerI think we need to think about our physical activity as a reward, as something enjoyable and something we look forward to doing, not something that we regard as self-flogging.
Dan BuettnerThe longest-lived people eat a plant-based diet. They eat meat but only as a condiment or a celebration. Nothing they eat has a plastic wrapper.
Dan BuettnerTrue happiness involves the pursuit of worth goals; without dreams, without risks, only a trivial semblance of living can be achieved.
Dan BuettnerIt's hard to reach [the age of] 100. We're not programmed for longevity. We are programmed for something called procreative success.
Dan BuettnerThe beauty of moving naturally, i.e. walking and gardening, is they're low impact. You're less likely to fall down and break a hip. Setting up your life so you're nudged into general physical activity every day is a strategy for your entire life from age 10 to 100.
Dan BuettnerExercise, from a public health perspective, is an unmitigated failure. The world's longest-lived people live in environments that nudge them into more movement. They don't use power tools, they do their own yard work, they grow a garden.
Dan BuettnerThe gym and the treadmill is a good idea. But the problem is we spend so much effort in marketing messaging, deluding people into thinking if you get on your treadmill or you go to the gym, that's what you need. People who join a gym, the vast majority of them have quit within nine months and almost all of them have quit within two years. So if it's a longevity strategy, does not work.
Dan Buettner