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Gen Xers share their healthy aging tips.

Gen X (people born from 1965 to 1980) are currently 45-60 years old. While they're a generation known for living full, happy lives...aging is one thing they can't escape.

In a Reddit subforum of Gen Xers, member ggoptimus posed the question: "What’s your Gen X getting old pro tip?" They went on to add, "I’ll share mine. Make the clock app on your iPhone a widget so you can read the time without grabbing your reading glasses."

Fellow Gen Xers had lots of aging advice to give. These are 25 life hacks from Gen Xers for how to age well.

aging, aging well, aging hacks, aging tips, getting old Aging Matt Damon GIF Giphy

"Don’t make plans when you’re in a good mood." —porkchopespresso

"Put things, especially tools, where they belong when you're done using them. Otherwise, you will never find them now." —freshcoastghost

"This reminded me of Stanley Kubrick’s house rules. Stanley Kubrick’s House Rules at Abbot Mead:

  1. If you open it, CLOSE IT!
  2. If you turn it on, TURN IT OFF!
  3. If you unlock it, LOCK IT!
  4. If you break it, REPAIR IT!
  5. If you can't fix it, CALL IN SOMEONE WHO CAN!
  6. If you borrow it, RETURN IT!
  7. If you use it, TAKE CARE OF IT!
  8. If you make a mess, CLEAN IT UP!
  9. If you move it, PUT IT BACK!
  10. If it belongs to someone else, GET PERMISSION TO USE IT!
  11. If you don't know how to operate it, LEAVE IT ALONE!
  12. If it doesn't concern you, DON'T MESS WITH IT!" —mrbaggy
"I have a list in Apple Notes where I quickly jot down where I put things and other notes to myself. It’s a sea of randomness. But it’s searchable." —wallix

smart, hacks, life hacks, life advice, aging advice Dj Khaled Compliment GIF Giphy

"In my phone contacts there is an entry called 'Me' which is my own phone number. I text myself notes. It's searchable." —ImCaffeinated_Chris
"How many healthy years do we have left? No one knows, so do the thing now while you can. Take the trip. Have the experience. Create memories." —Riffman42
"Squat to pick shit up." —Beliliou74
"Do not stop moving. Exercise, while tedious and lame, is how we prevent sh*t from breaking down (from one who stopped moving...)." —GornoP

exercise, exercising, working out, workout, keep moving the simpsons exercise GIF Giphy

"You should exercise and stay fit, but you’re too old to help a friend move. Help them pack, send them 50 bucks or whatever, but you’re not lifting squat." —TravelerMSY

"Distance yourself from crazy." —xgenerd

"Lose weight now. It gets harder and harder the longer you wait. Don’t put it off. Set a routine. Seriously. Same bed time. Same wake time. Be strict with it. If you have sleep apnea, use the damn CPAP machine. Just get used to it. Throw a hydration tablet or powder with electrolytes in your water in the morning. Walk any time you get the the chance. And get good at getting yourself up off the floor. You would be shocked how many years this will give you." —liquilife

"See live music. Buy the ticket see that show. Have concert pals and a spouse who enjoys the same. This allows you to maintain your social connections and have the enjoyment of live music." —zionzednem

concert, concerts, go to concert, seeing concerts, live shows Excited Hell Yeah GIF Giphy

"Drink water, eat fiber, look at your poop." —Strong_Molasses_6679

"Stretch.....and often." —pcadv

"Get tested for cancer." —RockHopper707

"Never pass up an opportunity to go pee." —rink_raptor

"The wooden backscratcher I bought for $1 at Dollar Tree is one of my best purchases! It hurts to contort to get at the itch in the middle of my back, plus it’s great for retrieving items from under the bed or on the floor. Make the investment!" —MyThrowaway787

back scratcher, back scratch, scratching, scratch, scratch help Dog Pug GIF by The Dodo Giphy

"Stay curious. Keep your GenX youthful outlook on things. I saw a shirt that Johnny Knoxville was wearing that said something like, 'F*ck Politics. Let’s Dance'. Don’t take shit too seriously. Don’t believe the hype. Don’t trust the media. Don’t trust politicians. These were ingrained in us as kids when we realized we couldn’t trust our parents or our teachers or the clergy. Be cool. Help where you can." —Beneficial_Fix_7287

"Forgive those who have wronged you. Family, friends, whomever. Life is short, and bitterness is toxic." —AppropriateQuantity3

"A daily oil self-massage (or at least 3x weekly) is the best anti-aging routine you can have. It keeps the entire body healthy by promoting circulation, creates a positive parasympathetic healing response, makes the mind calm and keeps the joints and connective tissue lubricated and firm. Look up Ayurvedic abhyanga on YouTube for how to do it. Best done with raw sesame oil (messy but really good for bone and muscle)." —ahamasmi

"Now that you have the time, learn to grow, build, create, and fix again. Even if the civilization doesn't fly apart you'll have a bunch of skills that give you a sense of satisfaction and stable control of your own personal 'right now'." —Fulghn

learn, learning, learning gif, study, always learn Learning Studying GIF by Mad Monkey Media Inc. Giphy

"Do LOTS of different kinds of puzzles. Word, memory, number, mazes, jigsaw, Rubik's cube, and etc., NOT just one kind/type. Your brain will only use the connections it needs for that specific puzzle category, and won't use the existing ones nor make new ones. I got a traumatic brain injury from a bad car wreck at 30 where I nearly died (not my fault). Puzzles are the reason I don't have the mentality of a 12 yo, like the doctors told my mom I was going to be. I can't work at a job again, but I can do everything else adults need to do. My short term memory is still not great; however, I also have less of a risk for dementia and Alzheimer's because I keep my brain active. If you don't use it, you lose it has been my motto since high school and it's definitely true." —MsTyped

"It's ok to opt out of everything. You have a choice. Also, get up and get going. Life is a fatal condition." —justpuddingonhairs

"Shoe horn. Changed my life & my shoes!" —1Steelghost1

"I stop, take a few breaths & remind myself 'Go slower.' 'Be mindful.'" —Justify-my-buy

Identity

Watch this 104-yr-old woman break the world tandem skydiving record

Dorothy Hoffner tried skydiving for the first time on her 100th birthday and loved it.

@skydivechicago/Instagram

Dorothy Hoffner is pure #agingoals.

If you're looking for some aging inspiration, look no further, because Dorothy Hoffner is about to blow your mind.

At 104, Hoffner just became the oldest person to parachute out of an airplane in a tandem skydive. That's right, skydive. At 104 years old—or to be exact, 104 years and 289 days old—beating the previous world record set by a 103-year-old in Sweden in May of 2022.

But it's actually even more impressive than that. It's not like Hoffner is someone who's been skydiving since she was young and just happened to keep on doing it as she got older. She actually didn't go on her first skydiving adventure until her 100th birthday.

On Oct 1, 2023, she joined the team at Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, Illinois, for the world-breaking tandem skydive. Though she uses a walker to get around, she manages the physical toll of plummeting through the air at 10,000+ feet before parachuting to a skidding stop strapped to a certified U.S. Parachute Association (USPA) tandem instructor with impressive ease.

“Let’s go, let’s go, Geronimo!” Hoffner said after she boarded the plane, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Watch her do what many of us would be too terrified to attempt:

The way she rolls right out of that plane cool as a cucumber! Hoffner told the Tribune that on her first skydive, at age 100, she had to be pushed out of the plane. But this time, knowing what she was in for, she took charge with calm confidence.

“Skydiving is a wonderful experience, and it’s nothing to be afraid of," Hoffner shares. "Just do it!”

That's some seriously sage advice from someone who knows firsthand that age really is just a number. Learn more about skydiving with Skydive Chicago here.

Bob Moore just turned 91—a fact that will leave your jaw on the floor when you see a video of him in action. Though he handed over the title of CEO two years ago, Moore still works full-time as president of Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods, the company he founded with his now deceased wife, Charlee, in 1978.


Moore was 49 when they started the company—an inspiring example for those of us who worry it's too late to start something new in middle age. The couple channeled their love of natural foods and whole grains into a continually growing business, which has not only spelled success for the company, but for its employees as well.

Just three years into the business, Moore started a profit-sharing plan for employees. As the business grew, so did the employee pay outs.

"I wanted everyone to share in the profits of the company. It has increased paychecks by a nice amount," Moore told CNN. "I'm more proud of that than anything."

Moore has had ample opportunity to sell the business, but has always declined. In 2010, Moore's executive assistant Nancy Garner told Oregon Live that buyout offers were coming in almost daily, but Moore wanted nothing to do with them, preferring to transfer the company's value straight to his employees.

"These people are far too good at their jobs for me to just sell it," said Moore.

Moore's says his treatment of employees comes straight from the so-called Golden Rule in the Bible—"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." As an employee, he told CNN, he would want a stake in the company. That's why he created an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), which holds stocks in a trust for employees rather than putting them out to be bought and sold. He officially handed full ownership of Bob's Red Mill to workers in 2010.

Any employee with at least three years tenure is fully vested in the program and will receive their stake in cash five years after they quit or when they retire. Moore keeps the company's value private, but public data shows it has grown substantially in the past two decades. Employee count has tripled since 2010, and the company confirmed to CNN that it did more than $50 million in revenue in 2018. Another 2018 estimate put Bob's Red Mill at more than $100 million in revenue. Either amount means a handsome payout for Moore's 600+ employees.

"This is Bob taking care of us," employee Lori Sobelson told Oregon Live. "He expects a lot out of us, but really gives us the world in return."

While we would all love to have a boss like Bob Moore, most of us would also love to have his sharp mind and youthful energy at his age. Check out this video of him at 90 years old talking about his company, and be prepared to make him your new #aginggoals icon.

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