Three Ways To Live Longer

You won’t read a single word in this piece about diet, exercise or sleep – makes a change.

When it comes to the longevity of human life, 70-80% of factors are environmental and not genetic. That is to say, your choices generally make more of a difference than who birthed you. This rough percentage emerged by studying tens of thousands of identical twins.

One might immediately think “Oh, blue zones!” Nope. In fact, in 2025, a landmark study revealed “fundamental flaws” in the data surrounding these areas.

So today, we’re highlighting three ways to live longer, with scientific backing, that don’t include your bed, the gym or your fridge. Let’s get straight to it.

Purpose

Sounds wishy-washy, but there’s a strong connection between the longevity of people who feel they have a purpose and those who don’t. 

When we say purpose, we mean perceiving life as having a sense of direction and goal; considering what you do as meaningful and contributive; a reason to peel yourself from your Temu sheets and, well, actually bother.

The scientific data surrounding purpose tends to target the already elderly, but getting a purposeful foothold sooner rather than later won’t hurt. This 2022 study, surveying over 13,000 adults aged 50+ found that those with the strongest sense of purpose, compared to people with the least sense of purpose:

• Lowered their risk of death by 15.2% 
• Lowered their risk of becoming physically inactive by 24%
• Lowered their likelihood of developing sleep problems by 33%
• Lowered their likelihood of developing unhealthy BMI by 22%

Whether the Costa Rican idea of plan de vida or the more popular Japanese notion of ikigai, it goes without saying that we’d all love to feel a sense of purpose – data backed or otherwise. 

That said, data helps to justify decisions: a 2009 study specifically looking at ikigai found that men and women who had a sense of purpose had significant reductions in the likelihood of death from external causes (26% lower for men and 33% lower for women) than those without.

If the notion of finding a purpose sounds lofty and unreasonable, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Sure, a career can be a route to purpose, but outside of that, there are fitness goals/ competitions, volunteering, donating, democratic engagement, mentoring and creative goals just to name a few.

One more study from 2019 just to drive the point home: researchers tracked 6985 adults and found a 143% higher risk of death from all causes when comparing those with the “lowest life purpose” with the “highest life purpose.”

There’s no entitlement behind the notion of finding a purpose in life. Some are lucky enough to find it dropped into our lap. For the rest of us, we need to seek it out. For our own sake.

Friendship

COVID forced many of us into loneliness but, since emerging from the “wash our hands and sing happy birthday” nightmarish existences, hope has returned but so too has loneliness.

Research on the physiological impact of loneliness on the body is damning – from exaggerated blood pressure & inflammation, to a higher resting heart rate, higher cholesterol and weaker bodily response to stress. No wonder studies highlight loneliness’ impact on the body as comparable to smoking 15 cigs per day.

Evolutionary biologists argue that the reason loneliness causes such a tax on our systems is essentially due to the aspirant desire to pass down our genes. Historically those out of the group were less likely to survive, thrive and reproduce.

It’s a serious health concern. The U.S. Surgeon General went as far as to state that “Loneliness and social isolation increase the risk for premature death by 26% and 29% respectively.”

In possibly one of the most clear-cut examples I’ve seen in any scientific literature, a meta-analysis of 148 studies, comprising over 308,000 participants found a “50% increased likelihood of survival for participants with stronger social relationships… consistent across age, sex, initial health status [and] cause of death.

What’s more, another meta-analysis spanning 34 years of studies found “no differences between measure of objective and subjective social isolation.” That is to say, even if you convince yourself that you’re not lonely, your body will respond if you indeed are.

In a remarkable segue, social integration is correlated with the third point we’re underlining today:

Optimism

“Negativity is food for a malady.” - Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Back in ‘82 Schier and Carver defined optimism as a “general and global positive expectancy of the future.” As you’ll likely have twigged by now, having an optimistic outlook has credible scientific backing for increasing the longevity of life.

Though predominantly focused on women, one analysis looked at over 70,000 people and found, even “after adjusting for health behaviours… the highest versus lowest quartile of optimism was associated with an 8.7% longer life span.” Whilst a Dutch study with a smaller sample size (941) found an even greater correlation between optimism and longevity – with those reporting high levels of optimism experiencing a 45% lower risk of death compared to those with a high level of pessimism.

Born This Way

One of the most effective ways to cultivate optimism is to run Laura King’s best possible self manipulation. It’s a positive future-thinking technique that’s been rigorously studied and has repeatedly demonstrated itself as a genuine tool to improve mood and well-being. Across twenty-nine studies including over 3300 participants, the overall impact of the technique was found to improve optimism by around 20% on average.

Hopelessness is a strong predictor of “adverse health outcomes, independent of depression and traditional risk factors.” We all know life is hard, but if you tell yourself there’s no hope of it getting better, it’s only going to get worse.

Rinse & Repeat

Like everything, you need to continuously try to experience genuine benefits. That’s the hard part. 

One shot of ZAAG won’t touch the sides, but take it daily for two weeks, a month, then half a year and you’ll reap the compounding benefits of our potent performance shots. Think of your mentality as you would your body in the gym. It’s an easy comparison to draw.

Circumstances won't change overnight. One meal of chicken and rice won’t get you a six-pack. Just as one night of writing your idealised best possible self won’t rollcage your perspective.

But if you want to change. Like really want it, and you’re willing to put in the work, you truly can.