Change This to Get Younger

What do you expect? Be careful: You might get it.

Sure, you’ve heard us tell you to aim low. But that’s when we’re talking about blood pressure. When it comes to your expectations, go the opposite way. Because in terms of keeping your mind and body young, you get what you think you will.

When researchers looked at more than 600 seniors, they saw that people who expected their health to decline with age were less likely to do physical activity (barely 30 minutes a week!) than people who didn’t have that belief. Why? That mindset generally comes with a “why bother” attitude, especially about staying physically active or choosing health-giving as opposed to health-robbing foods.

If you can’t change your mind right away, at least get out and walk 30 minutes every day. If you want to do it in 10-minute chunks instead, fine. The secondary payoff: Activity is a natural mood booster, and that makes the assets of aging -- from deep friendships to loads of experience -- feel even more rewarding.

Your mindset affects your memory, too. When older people were told that people their age don’t do well on certain tests, they performed more poorly on them than people who weren’t told that nonsense. Performance also dipped when people felt as if they were disrespected because of their age.

So when it comes to staying young, the key is to think that way. Then, take action. You get a do-over, but only you can give yourself that do-over.