Ben Franklin found the secret to happy aging 275 years ago. Modern psychology agrees
American statesman and polymath Ben Franklin’s legacy includes inspirational quotes on frugality, honesty, and hard work. He’s less frequently thought of as an icon of successful aging. But as doctor and author Ezekiel Emanuel recently pointed out on Big Think, “At a time when the average age at death was under 40, he lived to 84, fully mentally competent all the way to the end.”
That makes the founding father a worthy source of advice on aging well. What’s the biggest lesson we can learn from him.
Unsurprisingly, given he lived at a time when dentures were made out of wood and surgery was done without anesthesia, Franklin can’t teach us anything about the latest aging breakthroughs.
But he can remind us of a fundamental truth that’s thoroughly backed up by modern science, but still frequently forgotten: Staying useful is as important to aging well as any fancy new drug, fitness routine, or diet plan.
Ben Franklin’s secret to healthy aging
Ben Franklin was 70 when he signed the Declaration of Independence, and he churned out inventions into his eighties. (Those include inventing bifocals to solve his own issues with failing eyesight). That might leave you with the impression that he was a work-until-you-drop kind of guy. But Emanuel points out that’s not actually how Franklin understood his own life.
Franklin “invented retirement for working-class people,” Emanuel insists. “He made enough as a printer that he could retire at 42, and he said, ‘I’m going to live a life of leisure.’”
That means everything that followed the ending of Franklin’s career as a printer, including much of his work helping to found the University of Pennsylvania and the United States, were technically retirement hobbies.
His golden years didn’t look anything like the golf, pickleball, or Caribbean cruises many of us dream about today. But that, Emanuel stresses, is the central wellness lesson we take from Franklin’s long and exceptionally productive life.
Leisure, for Franklin, didn’t mean “going to the Jersey Shore. It meant that he didn’t have to worry about business and making money. He could focus on doing good, and for him, doing good was science and social improvement activities,” Emanuel says. “Not contributing to society is not good for the soul. You have to be useful. You have to try to make the world a better place. That’s key to wellness, too.”
What modern psychology says about purpose and aging
About 275 years ago, when Franklin stepped away from his first, moneymaking career, he understood that the key to aging well was to find purposeful ways to use his newfound leisure time. That’s a simple enough insight. But research suggests that even today a great many of us fail to remember it.
Research out of Insead, the European business school, shows that many successful entrepreneurs struggle after exiting their businesses with big paydays.
“It is perfectly normal to discover that life post-financial freedom isn’t as happy as one might have expected it to be,” the researchers noted. The most common reason for these problems is a sense of aimlessness and boredom.
Studies of retired Japanese salarymen and personal commentary from many who have pursued the popular Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) movement point in the same direction. Many of us dream of wide open days after leaving the world of work. But when confronted with the reality of long stretches of unstructured time, unless people have many explicit plans to stay useful, they tend to spiral.
And not just emotionally. Neuroscience research has found that a sense of purpose helps delay dementia. Its absence, on the other hand, can speed cognitive decline. Meanwhile, an absolute mountain of studies testified that one of the best ways to look after your own wellness is to find ways to help others.
A Google founder and the Governator agree
It can be tempting to think of retirement in terms of numbers. If you have enough saved, your later years will be comfortable and stress free, and therefore healthy and happy, too. But even billionaires seem to flail in retirement unless they, like Ben Franklin, figure out how to continue to contribute to society.
Sergey Brin is worth a cool $200 billion or so. He unretired and went back to work at Google because, he says, “I was just kind of stewing and . . . not being sharp.” Bill Gates is another guy with no financial constraints, but he, too, has written about how post-work life presents “a lot of time to fill” and that “people need a reason to get out of bed in the morning.”
On the other hand, action star turned Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger credits his peace of mind at the age of 78 to a simple life motto: “Stay busy. Be useful.” That’s basically Ben Franklin’s whole approach to aging well boiled down to four snappy words.
Healthy aging wisdom that’s stood the test of time
So if you’re in the market for some good advice on how to stay mentally and physically healthy for as long as possible, you could look to wellness influencers and tech bros chasing immortality. But all their dubious routines probably won’t buy you nearly as many healthy years as Ben Franklin’s straightforward 275-year-old wisdom.
If you want to age well, stay useful.
—By Jessica Stillman, Contributor, Inc.com
This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister website, Inc.com.
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