Dan Buettner

People are constantly trying to monetize their brand.

I think that puts people off.

Purpose is not something you really sell.

I can't make any money from you by trying to help you find your purpose.

Purpose is really your internal inventory of what your passions are, what you're good at, what your values are, and an outlet.

And by the way, that's usually with your family or volunteering.

And I really actually avoid monetizing that idea because I think it's an open source insight that Okinawans mostly give us.

Their word for finding and living their meaning is ikigai.

In Costa Rica, it's plan de vida.

In Kauai, which is another extraordinary longevity hotspot, it's kuleana.

So in all of these cultures of longevity, there's vocabulary for purpose.

And the good research shows that if you wake up knowing what your life meaning is, why you're on this earth and you have a way to put it to work and serve others, that's worth about eight years of life expectancy over being rudderless in the world.

Part of it might go back to the existential stress of waking up and saying, shit, what am I doing with my life?

Or hating their job, which 30% of Americans do.

It's so important.

And it really underscores another important point to Blue Zones as opposed to, say, the Brian Johnson approach to longevity.

For a lot of people, these injections and pills and supplements, 100 supplements a day and these extreme vegan diets work.

They may add years to your life.

They may not, by the way, but they may.

And even if they do, they often prolong a crappy life.