Newsletter

What’s your definition of nirvana? (Well, besides the obvious.) Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor first experienced nirvana in 1996 when she was 37, working as a neuroscientist at Harvard University. But it wasn’t anything she conjured in a lab — she had a massive stroke. While most of us would be terrified, Taylor found the experience …

From the June 7, 2023 issue of Further Recently I chatted with a friend who had coffee with his ex. A year earlier, she blindsided him when she broke off their long-term relationship. Today he says he’s found “closure.” As I listened, I realized it was a classic case of the lips saying one thing …

Last week, the MTV generation and the whole world lost one of our brightest musical lights: Tina Turner. For Further readers, Turner wasn’t just a rock ’n roll star — she embodied midlife transformation. After leaving her abusive husband with just 37 cents in her pocket, Turner embarked on a humbling path of cleaning houses, low-paying …

It’s hard to find good news about retirement these days. Part of the reason is that our popular conception of how retirement is supposed to be has been obsolete for four decades. Longer lives and extended healthspans make the popular conception of retirement even less obtainable, at least at the young age of 65. But …

It’s a tale of two very different career paths at midlife. On one hand, most people at 50+ are head down on the job and putting away as much as they can into retirement accounts. But what really matters is that they keep their jobs until they decide to retire of their own volition. We …

Last week we talked about how the buzzword “lifelong learning” is becoming the very real need for long life learning as we live extended healthy lives. In short, perpetual learning is the key to success at work, now and into the future. Current thinking divides life into three stages — learn, earn, and retire. Going …

To say we’re living in uncertain economic times is an understatement. Since 2019 we’ve told you artificial intelligence was coming, and now it’s here (and yet, it’s really just the beginning). We still don’t know who’s right — those who think we’re going to see massive job losses, or others who see AI as an …

What you believe about getting older is a powerful predictor of how well you do it. The more positively you think about getting older, the better your life actually is as an older adult. Plus, people with the most positive beliefs live over seven years longer than those with the most negative mindsets. This longevity …

We constantly preach the longevity trinity of exercise, nutrition, and sleep. That’s because these are the core components of healthy aging. But when it comes to controlling the killer that is high blood pressure, there’s another component to consider. And that’s the defining aspect of life — breathing. Just as we want to strengthen our …

If you’re feeling the urge to make a change at the life stage you’re at, don’t worry … it’s likely not a midlife crisis. It’s just a normal part of becoming the next version of you. And frankly, given everything we know about longevity, healthspan, and the realities of retirement, you should be thinking about …

Early on in Steven Kotler’s new book Gnar Country: Growing Old, Staying Rad, I came across this gem: … how to kick ass until you kick the bucket. Sure, it’s a bit much. But it could also be an alternate headline for the Further About page. Kotler is walking the talk, too. At age 53, …

Losing weight is passé. That’s because what we’re really trying to do when we “lose weight” is eliminate fat. But weight loss often also involves muscle loss, and muscle is something we want to keep. This is why measuring body mass index (BMI) is flawed and falling out of favor. A simplistic ratio of height …