People often ask me what motivates my interest in longevity. My passion for health has been intertwined into my life for so long that the answer is lost in the noise of time and myopia. Hearing the question and attempting to answer it repeatedly has made me think on what my truth is.
I’ve responded a few different ways, each time with more clarity and conviction like every answer is one layer closer to my actual reason. It isn’t a tear-jerker story of a relative that passed too soon or overcoming a chronic illness myself. The answer is woven into my personality and the common thread that seems to string through everything I do in life—peak performance and control.
Before college, the gist of my efforts towards health started and ended with high school sports. Track, field hockey, lacrosse. Exercise was the default because we practiced daily so I didn’t think much about it. When I got to college, all that ended. Being healthy and active and to what degree was now up to me.
Two things happened. 1, I realized a fit body and everything associated with health like mood stability, good sleep, and clear skin were things that didn’t come automatically. Now that I didn’t have a coach telling me what to do and when to do it, I’d have to figure it out and take action myself. And 2, double click on the second point: I didn’t have a coach telling me what to do and when to do it, I’d have to figure it out and take action myself.
I like control, I like autonomy. My health was now something I could take complete control over, the pure joy I had in that realization was enough to tell me I really shouldn’t have been in team sports for the majority of my life but that’s for another introspective blog post. So I took action, a bit too much action maybe.
Freshman year, I joined the boxing team. We met every weeknight at 9 to quite nearly die for 2 hours. My dorm mates never understood why I prioritized it over Loose Tuesdays and $2 well drinks but once getting started there was no pulling me out of it. I needed to reach peak performance—not necessarily the best on the team but the best I knew I could be. (Although, to be fair, I did periodically rush home shower and meet everyone out after).
Boxing introduced me to weight lifting, I soon took that up myself which turned into daily gym sessions between bioengineering classes. Next came nutrition. I realized that eating differently would impact how strong my workouts were, it was another tool within my control to reach peak performance, so I started optimizing there as well. I cut out processed foods then meat then grains then dairy. I ate more fruits and vegetables, researched the best protein powders and supplements.
Looking back, I realize I dove head first into this world and went a little stir crazy. I won’t bore you with the progression from there to now but the gist is that I continued optimizing diet and exercise until I was introduced to the other vital pillars of health: sleep and mindfulness. Both of which I was almost certainly sacrificing in order to optimize the first two. As a result, I reeled back some of the methodical perfectionism until I reached a routine that’s made me feel the best, in both body and mind. I now enjoy helping others do the same.
The next logical step was thinking longer term. What can we do to maintain a healthy, thriving state for as long as possible?
Longevity for me is about peak performance, the pinnacle of health. What’s next after optimizing how we feel every day? It’s making sure we can have that for as long as possible, extending both healthspan and lifespan—the self actualization of health.
Today, most people don’t know how to approach the first part (feeling great today) let alone the second (feeling great till 100). I want to take everything I’ve learned from applying it in my life, my friends’, and my startups to change that.