LifePower

From Honey to Napping

I have been following Dan Buettner's research adventure to Ikaria in the Aegean Sea.  In the first seven days he has teased out a number of factors that have obviously contributed to individual longevity on that island.  Here are a few...

His findings estimate that 80% of the longer life equation can be contributed to lifestyle... the remaining 20% to genes.  This means we can all make a significant difference to our potential wellness by doing a lifestyle check-up and making some changes.  My motto... stay away from the public health care system at all costs... its no all inclusive hotel!

Ikarians produce a special honey that is high in antioxidants and has some extraordinary healing powers.  Make sure you are choosing food items that provide the necessary vitamin and mineral intakes.  If not... supplement.

Their Mediterranean diet of herbs, vegetables, beans, little meat and extra virgin olive oil drizzled over many dishes is a winner.  Good food leads to great socialization, sharing and a glass of wine.

Napping appears to be important because it lowers the heart rate and production of stress hormones.  Better sleep leads to more work.  More work leads to more exercise.  More exercise leads to better health.

Stay as active as you can.  Do things manually rather than mechanically.  Ikarians are used to walking everyday as part of their lifestyle.  Herding goats in mountainous terrains is a big thing.  One priest aged 95 uses an ATV to travel to his parishoners.  Stay mobile.  Get a pedometer and start a walking regime... with a minimum goal of 10,000 steps a day.

Family community enables grandparents to visit with grandchildren everyday.  That's their purpose and it gives them the opportunity of both giving and receiving love and also the opportunity of passing along wisdom and family history inter-generationally.

Stay tuned for more of Dan's thinking.  Watch his research.

Travel to a New Longevity Hotspot

Dan Buettner, author of best seller The Blue Zones, is with his research team on the island of Ikaria in the Aegean Sea.  Starting today you can participate in this research by logging on to www.bluezones.com .  Each day you can follow their experiences and more importantly their findings as they tease out the reasons for these island people to live longer than any other place in the world.  Their secrets will be yours to behold!

Caring for Family Elders

A friend of mine has just lost her Dad... he was 91 years old and had experienced health difficulties for the last 10 years.  His care became more demanding as he aged and despite him being in escalating levels of care towards the end his care practically became a full-time job for my friend and a part-time job for other family members.

There are close to five million Canadians caring for older family members with health problems and for one-quarter of them it is a full-time job on top of their own jobs and other family responsibilities.  It is modern-day intergenerational living.

Read the entire article in the National Post to better understand the impact of what some researchers have called "the juggling act of this sandwich generation" and how this struggle has become a mainstream concern for many baby boomers.

In the U.K more than half a million households support three generations in one home according to Lloyds TSB Insurance.  Impacted by the recession younger family members are staying longer in the home and older members are turning to the sandwich generation for care and companionship.

A Mature Trend

Even with thousands being laid-off in the current economic slump some experts are suggesting that by 2025 there will be a shortage of 1 million workers in Canada.

Currently 22% of Canada's work force is within 10 years of retirement... that is more than twice the number in the mid-80's.  This is why more mature workers are in such demand... governments and employers are starting to design strategies to encourage the older employee to stay on.  They need to as an average of 1 million workers turn age 65 each month on a world-wide basis.  Within 15 years it is expected China will have over 332 million Chinese over the age of 65.  It's a worldwide challenge.

The wise Canadian employer is encouraging the retirement conversation much earlier recognising they can not only support employees who are within thinking distance of leaving their primary careers but also influence them into an exit plan that will help maintain current employee engagement in the job, provide consistent productivity and enable the transfer of corporate knowledge to remaining employees.  None of this can be accomplished if the employee gives a few months notice.

At a recent job-fair in Vancouver the average age of job seekers was sharply higher no doubt caused in part by the depletion of savings caused by the economic slump.  Sole proprietor/entrepreneurs are staying at the helm longer as well.  In Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Global TV recently ran a story about an 84 year old man (he looked and acted more like 64) still working every day in his own retail store that supplied oil stoves.  He was definitely working in the flow of his purpose!

Richard Leider, co-author of Something to Live For says "that life in the second half is more about content than plumage... many boomers think if they get the plumage right the second half will be ok but that is only part of the picture."  The challenge is to find work that gives you a reason to get up each morning... its about engagement and working in the zone... working in your purpose rather than working at your purpose.

   

Best Workplaces

The 2009 Best Canadian Workplaces list has been published (Globe and Mail April 6, 2009).  The five leading indicators of what might constitute a Best Workplace are comraderie, credability, fairness, pride and respect.

These were interesting to me because LPM conducted a pilot workshop project earlier this year with a company that came in 5th place on this list.  From the very beginning and starting with the negotiations for planning this event I knew we were working with a company that had an unusual corporate culture.  It was very exciting for me because I felt they "got it" from the very first meeting.

Titled Charting your Course to Retirement why shouldn't a best place to work encourage their more senior employees to start planning their second half of life.  Rather than leave an employee to worry over this significant transition thereby reducing their real work productivity... wise employers are encouraging their employees to face this midlife challenge like any other.

There are some professions that are harder to work with than others particularly in an experential workshop setting.  This might have been one of them but my assumption was quite incorrect.  The participants were totally into the process and it was one of the best groups I have worked with.  For most of the time they were totally engaged and enjoyed the experience.

The wives/partners also participated and there was no doubt that this excellent corporate culture had found its way home into the lives of the family units themselves.  One participant later commented;  "Not only did we learn masses of relevant info regarding the technicalities of retirement, we are more comfortable with how to prepare ourselves to use our newfound time in meaningful and healthy ways.  Urban Systems truly cares about its employees AND their spouses and families, and I’m proud to be part of that team!"

 There was no skimping on the venue choice.  I have always said that the venue choice for a 2+day event is crucial to the outcome and learning for the participants.  Lots of natural light, a comfortable room and healthy food with plenty of breaks and leaving room for fun greatly helps the process.

By the end of the workshop I was ready to apply for a job with this company!  After all they have a well funded permanent learning program named the Urban University for all employees as well as an internally funded foundation that is working in parts of Africa.

The workshop was overwhelmingly successful and now forms part of a more permanent program.

You can check out more about the Best Canadian Workplaces here.  Strategic human resource professionals will help their firms win the new global economy by hiring the best educated and prepared minds, and offering continuous opportunities for learning within the firm.  It's time for "a new way to think."

    

Aging Boomers Redefine Travel

It seems appropriate to follow the last post Where People Forget to Die with a travel story!  Aging baby boomers are changing the travel scene and are demanding educational travel.  Over the next two decades, the ranks of seniors will swell and many will be more discerning about travel than any before them.

They want experiences, they don't want the beaten track.  Just the other day there was a media story about a 91 year old man making his first sky-dive.  Some might say if you are going to take a risk like that, being 91 is to time to take it because you have lived and have little to loose.  Eventually of course there are physical constraints to travel but that doesn't mean the experential component has to vanish.

By 2026 the aging population will start to disappear from the ski hills, wilderness lodges and from kayaks.  Low energy activities like museum visits, live theatre, wine tours and culinary experiences will become more popular.

There's a big appetite for more specialised educational and experential travel, including hobby vacations, cargo ship cruises, voluntourism and literary-themed travel.

Travel is much more important to them than the average traveller, meaning in tough economic times when people are thinking, 'Should I replacemy refrigerator or should I go on a trip' the trip's more likely to win out.

Where People Forget to Die

Ikaria is on a small island off the coast of Turkey in the Aegean Sea and it is where people forget to die.  With a population of about 10,000 Dan Buettner will be travelling to the island later in April.  You can follow his expedition by visiting www.bluezones.com .

Living longer can be attributed to having the right genes but about 80% of that reality is attributed to lifestyle.  Things like surrounding yourself with healthy friends, eating the right foods, using convenience tools less and walking everyday.  Ikarians seem to have the right formula since many of them live well beyond their nineties.

Dan Buettner's research is funded in part by National Georgraphic and AARP... his book Blue Zones is a great read.  Become intrigued with his work and research... you might live longer as a result!

                     

Aging Body, Ageless Soul

Some years ago a collaborator friend of mine tells of meeting Trungpa Rinpoche, the Tibetan Buddhist teacher, when he first came to North America. Sitting with Trungpa for a time my friend finally got up courage to ask him a question that had bothered him for some time: What is the cause of boredom? Trungpa didn't answer directly.

Instead, he simply reached into his pocket, pulled out a water pistol and shot me with a spray of water. It was the end of the discussion and an answer to my friend's question. His surprise shattered any boredom he might have felt.

Boredom, and related maladies, point to what Soren Kierkegaard called "the sickness unto death." Kierkegaard believed that the human being is intrinsically related to what is Infinite. If we evade that truth, we find ourselves in despair - or in boredom, which is its twin in another guise. Along similar lines, Albert Schweitzer warned about what he called the "sleeping sickness of the soul," which must overcome us if we live without a sense of seriousness in our lives. Schweitzer concluded that "you should realize that your soul suffers if you live superficially."

What does boredom have to teach us about aging? Ram Dass observed that "The whole journey of aging is something designed to lead us from thinking of ourselves as egos to knowing ourselves as souls."

For more on this, see the essay by Ram Dass "Aging Body, Ageless Soul," at:

http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/2005/03/Aging-Body-Ageless-Soul.aspx

Thanks to Harry Moody - AARP Office Academic Affairs - for this story