The people you surround yourself with influence your behaviors, so choose friends who have healthy habits.

I 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.

You have to know why you get up every morning.

I 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.

So learning to play a new instrument, learning a new language - those sorts of things will pay dividends for years or decades to come.

Walking is the only way proven to stave off cognitive decline - it works.

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.