Based on the feedback from last week’s post, a lot of you want to learn more about how to live 7 ½ more years. I dug deeper into the science, this time from Professor Arthur Brooks’ weekly column “Happiness Is an Investment” (Dec. 2, 2024) and his recent speech at a TIGER 21 conference (Jan. 29, 2025). Here are more tips on how to live a longer, and happier, life.
As we strive for longevity, Brooks’ emphasis is on finding happiness in the second half of life. He describes the “U-Curve of Happiness.” We are actually happiest at the beginning and end of our lives. Happiness starts declining at age 16, bottoms out at 52, and then goes up again. The goal is for the curve to keep going up for as long as you live.
However, there’s a phenomenon at about age 70. Half keep getting happier, but the other half goes back down again. Research at the University of Texas described this as the “Striver’s Curse.” Those who were high achievers begin to feel irrelevant and unhappier late in life. Brooks gives the example of scientist Charles Darwin, world-famous by age 27, but after 50 with no new research he could do, he died 19 years later as a broken man.
When the fork in the road appears, the key to taking the high road rather than the low road is to celebrate a new kind of intelligence in later years. Shift from “fluid intelligence” (complex problem-solving and innovation, which declines with age) to “crystallized intelligence” (wisdom, judgment, and teaching skills, which increases with age). Per Brooks, that’s why teachers older than 65 get better teacher evaluations. When young, do innovation; when old, do instruction. Be the star lawyer at 30 and the managing partner at 65.
Brooks lauds Bach as a role model. The famous composer was the master of Baroque music in his fluid years. When Baroque fell from favor and gave way to classical music, Bach shifted from composer to professor, dying a happy man who was surrounded by his adoring students.
Another key to late life satisfaction is to reduce your “wants.” Satisfaction equals “haves” divided by “wants.” The better path to happiness is to reduce your “wants” (the denominator) rather than increase your “haves” (the numerator). Brooks contrasts Western civilization (where we treat life as an empty canvas on which we keep adding and adding paint) vs. Eastern civilization (where an intricate jade sculpture starts as a big block of jade, and the more you chip away, the more beautiful it becomes). Be a jade sculpture rather than a blank canvas. As we age, subtract rather than add.
In his article, Brooks also offers these tips:
- Don’t smoke.
- Watch your drinking.
- Maintain a healthy body weight.
- Prioritize movement.
- Practice coping mechanisms.
- Keep learning.
- Cultivate long-term relationships.
All of this is common sense, but the science actually proves it. Following these tips improves the odds of a life that is not only 7 ½ years longer, but also more enriching.
Marvin and Laurie Blum with his mother Elsie Blum, now 94 and a role model for improved longevity.
