Psst.

Do you want to know how to add 7.5 years to your life?

Quit smoking?

Lower your blood pressure?

Reduce your cholesterol?

This one thing has a bigger impact on your life span than those other things.

What is it?

Having a positive attitude towards getting old.

Having a positive mindset has as much of an impact on your longevity as exercising regularly! Or maintaining a healthy weight!

I came across this nugget of wisdom this morning. It was in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s newsletter.

Just as I was feeling “old”…

My sixty-first birthday is coming up. I’m preparing for a 30km race but my training lagging behind a little. And the aches seem to last a little longer than 20 years ago.

But I’ve got to stop the whining about being old. I’m a baby compared to an eighty-year-old. A spring chicken.

And I’m — knock wood — healthy.

I usually have a good mindset. But I will need to be more aware of it.

I sometimes get the nagging feeling that I’m too old to write plays. But when I was in my forties, there was a seventy-year-old lady that would come to some of the playwriting classes I was in. She was vigorous and focused. And still writing plays.

Being physically or mentally active is great way to maintain a positive attitude.

Learning a language or starting a new hobby. Volunteering.

Even hanging out with friends can elevate your mindset.

Reduce your mortality! Cultivate your positive attitude to getting older.

It’s better than the alternative!

P.S. If you want to subscribe to Arnie’s newsletter and get some of these nuggets of wisdom yourself, you can get the free daily email here.​