Welcome to September.  Time to dust off those new year resolutions left on the shelf months ago.  Today is the day to commit to new beginnings.  Are you ready?

What is Your Health Style?

Dr. Ken Dyckwald and Robert Morrison, longevity expert and researcher, released What Retirees Want” A Holistic View of Life’s Third Age in July.  It is an inspiring analysis of what aging means today. I highly recommend adding this to your reading list.

He defines four health styles:

• Healthy on Purpose – those who consistently eat right, exercise, and live a disciplined life.
• Course Correctors – those who answer the wake-up call when diagnosed with a chronic condition leading to behavior change.
• Health Challenged – those living with health complications that believe outside influences or other people dictate their choices.
• Lax but Lucky – who “have their genes to thank, not their behaviors” according to Dyckwald, despite poor health habits, they have the good fortune of health.

All four styles view their locus of control differently.  However, all four worry about health care costs and insurance coverage according to the authors. Do you view your health is in your personal control or whether you believe that the community and access to care are the drivers of your health?  Like the authors I believe we are a combination of both our choices and our environment, both can be controlled.

Do you Add Years to your Life or Life to Your Years?

It is within your control to live a healthy life while aging even with the constraints of chronic health conditions.  Healthy aging means maximizing your functional abilities to live with well-being.  In other words, most of us never were or will be Olympic athletes but that doesn’t negate our ability to remain fit and enjoy a healthy life.  I challenge you “do you want to add years to your life or life to your years?”

Now is the time to start anew. Is it time to add or subtract some activities from your life? We have developed an Advanced Resource Finder to help.  Answer this fun survey and we will recommend where you can find help to set you on a new path.  It is within your control.