The Power of Your Own Imagination

Positive Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long and Well You Live

Photo by Michael Martinelli on Unsplash

Athletes know the power of visualization.  They imagine themselves playing the perfect game or performing the perfect routine.  The mind, it seems, can’t really distinguish imagining an event from the actual performance. And so, the more time we spend visualizing how to achieve a goal, the more likely we are to succeed.  That is also true for our health and even our longevity.  Becca Levy in her groundbreaking book, Breaking the Aging Code, presents research showing that we can increase our life span (by 7.8 years!) if only we are able to embrace positive age beliefs.  That’s often more difficult than it might appear because our culture is filled with ageist stereotypes.