UnitedHealthcare (UHC) recently interviewed 100 centenarians, or people who have lived to the ripe age of 100.
Fascinatingly, 100-year-olds feel younger than ever. The report reveals that the average centenarian only “feels” about 68. It’s a number that’s dropping dramatically. In 2015, when UHC conducted a similar survey, the average respondent said they felt 79. That’s incredible.
What that ultimately means is that these folks can teach us an awful lot about how to live both a long and joyful life, how to feel decades younger, and how to keep living life to the fullest into our 100s and beyond. Here are some of their secrets:
1. Staying up-to-date on tech keeps you young
You might think of centenarians clinging to their rotary phones and the vinyl record players they had long before they were “cool.” You’d be wrong.
UHC found that 100-year-olds are experimenting with ChatGPT and other AI—around 27% of them. And a stunning 40% of them regularly play video games.
2. A strong body can go the distance
Centenarians have changed their approach to longevity in the past decade. Compared to 2015, far more respondents today are doing regular strength training and monitoring their diet.
Overall, they’re more active in almost every way. A higher percentage of 100-year-olds are doing cardio, gardening, and even meditating or practicing intentional stress relief. Meditation jumped from 29% of centenarians to 42% today.
“Staying active keeps my heart strong, mind sharp, body moving, spirit high, and health steady every day,” one said.
The only activity that declined was walking and hiking, and only by a small margin. But these busy seniors had to find the time to hit the gym somewhere.
3. Finding humor in daily life is the best medicine
It’s one thing when Joe Schmoe says “laughter is the best medicine.” It’s another when some of our oldest citizens are living proof that it’s true.
It might be reading between the lines, but the cranky and miserly don’t seem as likely to make it to 100. Eighty-five percent of respondents said they laugh often and find that having a sense of humor comes easily to them.
“A good belly laugh can make you feel better than any pill, I’ll tell you that,” one said.
4. There’s something to look forward to at every age
One of the most interesting questions asked of the participants was about their “best decade.”
The answers from the 100 centenarians, who’ve lived through and seen it all, reveal that there’s so much good to find in every season of life. Life doesn’t go downhill after a certain age; you just have to learn to appreciate what it has to offer.
Your 20s are for freedom and exploration. Your 30s and 40s are all about family. Your 50s and 60s are the best for community and friendship. Your 70s and beyond are about finding contentment and joy in the simple things.
Even in the harder decades, the centenarians now have the perspective to know there was always light at the end of the tunnel:
“I’d tell myself to embrace every messy moment because it all works out in the end. I really needed to hear that in my late teens when everything felt like such a big deal.”
5. “Feeling old” has nothing to do with age and is sometimes out of your control
Fascinatingly, the respondents were asked when they first started to “feel old.” Their answers had nothing to do with a specific age.
It came down to the moments: giving up driving, the death of a spouse, and moving out of a beloved home and into a smaller place where they could age.
There’s something peaceful about that. Some things may be in your control—keeping your body and mind sharp can delay certain events. Others are completely out of your control. But the overarching theme is that there’s no reason to fear a number.
6. Family and friends are key to survival
Being isolated and lonely is devastating for your health and longevity. Seventy-eight percent of the seniors in this report, thriving at the age of 100, credit a big part of their vigor to regularly spending time with friends and family.
“They are everything to me. I try to spend as much time with my family as I can,” one of the 100-year-olds said. “Life is short; you never know when it’ll be the last day.”
7. The advice they’d give their younger selves is what we all need to hear
Centenarians say the secret to happiness is really no secret at all. It’s mind-numbingly simple: Don’t worry so much. Spend time with your loved ones. Move your body. Be true to yourself.
The difference is that these 100-year-olds have the wisdom and urgency to really mean it. Don’t wait until you’re their age to start living like you know you should.
“If you don’t ask, you don’t get,” one said, referring to getting a promotion at work, but more generally, anything you truly want. In other words, go for it.
The overall trends identified in the report are surprising and hopeful.
In 10 years, our centenarians will likely be even more focused on their physical and mental health, finding even more joy in their lives as they age, and, through it all, feeling younger than ever. We can learn a lot from watching what they’re doing right.
