Health and WellnessNutrition

Biohacking: To Help You Live a Longer and Healthier Life

By November 28, 2018553 Comments

Most of us spend our entire lives trying to achieve happiness and the perfect life balance to leave us fulfilled. What is the key to biohacking your body to live longer? In Japan, a concept called “ikigai” is central to finding one’s satisfaction and meaning in life. In fact, Ikigai translates to “reason for being.’’

Ikigai is certainly not tied just to financial status. It’s more about what puts a smile on your face when you wake up in the morning and keeps you motivated. Finding your ikigai can be a super long process that requires deep reflection into your wants and needs in all areas of your life. In short, it’s finding the answer to the question: “what should I do with my life?”

This question has many of us struggling to understand our whole lives. While some people feel a call to a specific profession or passion early in life, the majority spend a good part of their lives figuring out what truly makes them happy.

 

Ikigai Breaks Down Into Different Areas:

  • What you are good at (Profession and Passion)
  • What you can be paid for (Vocation and Profession)
  • What you love (Mission and Passion)
  • What the world needs (Vocation and Mission)

 

HOW TO ACHIEVE IKIGAI

Ikigai is achieved when all areas overlap in the center for well-balanced. Happy life. You can pursue what you love and what the world needs, but this may leave you without any wealth. Conversely, you can go after what pays you well and what you are good at, but still feel empty and unfulfilled.

Pursuing your ikigai is meant to be a challenge and takes hard commitment, but you should also be a boost to your well-being and promote positive relationships. So where do you start? Ask yourself questions, just as if you would when changing careers. Start with basic questions outlined in the ikigai diagram and then home in specifically from there. You must remember, ikigai isn’t achieved overnight and isn’t meant to add undue stress to your life. What it should do is remind you that there is more than just one area of life that needs to be considered in order to be a well-rounded individual.

For every financial decision made, career or otherwise, consider the other areas of the ikigai puzzle. And, not everything can be motivated by passion if it also doesn’t make sense financially and isn’t within your skill set.

 

BIOHACKING YOUR BODY TO LONGEVITY

Your body is a machine, with inputs and outputs, that can be manipulated to improve its performance. No matter what your age is you have the power to change many of the variables that may influence longevity, and how active you feel in your later years. Here are some actions you can take to increase your odds of a longer and satisfying lifespan:

 

  • Don’t smoke.
  • Eat a healthy diet rich in whole grains, vegetables, and fruits, and substitute healthier monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats for unhealthy saturated fats and trans-fats.
  • Start doing physical and mental activities every day.
  • Maintain a healthy weight and body shape.
  • Take a daily multivitamin, and be sure to get enough calcium and vitamin D.
  • Challenge your mind. Keep learning and trying new activities.
  • Follow preventive care and screening guidelines.
  • Floss, brush, and see a dentist regularly.

 

Needless to say, living a long, happy life depends largely on your personal lifestyle choices. From what you eat to how much exercise to the speed at which you walk can impact your long-term health and longevity. But according to a new assessment by the US Burden of Disease Collaborators, so does where you live.
The study analyzed 333 causes and 84 risk factors of mortality from 1990 to 2016 to provide the first-ever assessment of patterns of health in America state by state. Fortunately, the overall death rate in the US has declined, going from 745.2 per 100,00 people in 1990 to 578.0 in 2016. The highest life expectancy went to Hawaii, which clocked in at 81.3 years. The lowest went to Mississippi, where the life expectancy was only 74.7 years.

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