Chapter 1: Painful Birth of the Longevity Habit

My body was giving me an eviction notice.

I was 52 years old and, after five years of grinding, my business was finally succeeding. I was working up to 300 days in a row without a day off, and I figured I could handle it. 

Then one hot summer night the pain started. It wasn’t a dull ache. It was a terrifying, absolute tightening in my lower back that would wake me up after a few hours of sleep and forbid me to go back to bed. Aches and pain are always temporary. I waited for it to disappear in a few days, then weeks, then months. But it didn’t.

That’s when the real fear set in: What if this is permanent? What if this is just the first domino? I’d always considered myself healthier than average, yet here I was, broken at middle age. All the news headlines I’d dismissed—the terrifying rise in heart attacks, cancer, and dementia—suddenly became my personal countdown clock. I had achieved my professional goals, only to realize I was on a path where a longer life meant more time in an increasingly broken body. I had to stop chasing success and start building survival.

Life Expectancy vs Healthspan

The average global life expectancy in the year 1900 was 32, in 2024 it is 74 years. That is an increase of 42 extra years or more than doubling the of how long each person lives.

The term healthspan refers to the length of time in a person’s life during which they are healthy and free from significant illness or disability.

The World Health Organization (WHO) did research on the healthspan to lifespan gap between the year 2000 and 2019 of 183 member states. In essence, it measures the period of life that is spent living with illness, chronic conditions, or reduced functional capacity.

The research showed the global lifespan gap of 9.6 years. The number one country with the greatest number of unhealthy years was USA at 12.4.

The figures we just reviewed paint a sobering picture of the default future. If you are approaching age 67—the full retirement age for Social Security—the statistics are stark. The average woman is looking ahead at roughly 13 years of illness before she passes. For the average man, the unhealthy years often began three to four years ago, with nine more years of discomfort expected.

These are not just numbers; they are a threat to your future freedom. I am 63 years old right now, and I look at these predictions and flatly refuse to accept them. I see friends and family already immersed in those “unhealthy years,” and I am determined to carve out a different, healthier path for myself and for everyone who reads this book.

What good is a longer life if those expended years are defined only by pain, disability, and medical dependence? As a society, we have focused relentlessly on maximizing our lifespan—how long we live—but we have failed to focus on maximizing our healthspan—how long we live well.

This book holds the answer I found. It is the practical system designed to close that painful gap, helping you ensure that your extra years are your best years. For many, the window between age 55 and 65 is the perfect time to start this program. You’ve finished the intense career-building phase, you still possess the energy to work on yourself, and if you’ve recently retired, you have a wealth of free time. Ten years of consistent practice can easily yield five additional years of vibrant wellness and five extra years of overall longevity. To understand how we build this reliable health span, we must first look at the landscape of modern longevity philosophy.