Every year we wish each other the best, and many of us make commitments to make lifestyle changes that we know would be good for us. You’ll hear people say things like, “I know I need to lose weight, eat healthy, spend more time with my family, start saving money, take care of myself better.” If you are one of these people and you have said these words before, then maybe you need The Longevity Solution to get you on track.

What is The Longevity Solution? It is a program that uses the “Leverage of Longevity,” or the reality that you will probably live longer than you ever thought, whether you like it or not, as a motivator to get you to make the lifestyle changes you know you need to make, and then stick with them as your new habits. The Leverage of Longevity is one of the most powerful motivators that I have ever seen to get people like you to change, and we are the first generation in history to be influenced by it.

Here is a simple and quick calculation to put the Leverage of Longevity into perspective.

Calculate Your M-PYR™ (Pronounced “Empire”). M-PYR is an acronym for Minimum Potential Years Remaining. It is a calculation that takes into account what you know about your personal family history of longevity and compares this to your current age to determine the minimum number of years that you have left. Calculating your M-PYR will make longevity real for you and hopefully get you to make your Longevity Solution a priority.

Calculate Your M-PYR NOW:

1. What’s the age of your oldest grandparent ever (living or deceased): ______
2. Your current age: ______
3. Your M-PYR (2-1): ______

So what’s your M-PYR? If your oldest grandparent ever was 90, and you are currently 45, then you have an M-PYR of 45. This is your MINIMUM potential years remaining. If your oldest grandparent ever was 82 and you are 77, then your M-PYR is 5. If your oldest grandparent ever was 102 and you are 32, then you have an M-PYR of 70.

Understanding your M-PYR can be life changing for so many reasons. If your M-PYR is longer than you thought, then it gets you to look at the choices that you are making today and evaluate their long-term benefit to you. Time is one of the most common excuses that people make for not doing things differently, getting healthy, changing jobs, etc. Knowing that you have more time than ever to accomplish your goals and enjoy the benefits of making lifestyle changes can give you the extra incentive you need to get into action.

On the other hand, if you are a procrastinator who is experiencing some level of suffering in your current life by not making the lifestyle changes you know you need to make, then a long M-PYR can give you some very motivating perspective also. After all, there’s only one thing worse than suffering, and that’s suffering for another 25, 50, or 75 years. Whether you are a crisis- or quality-of-life–motivated person, a long M-PYR can really get you off your butt and get you motivated to change.

When I wrote The 100 Year Lifestyle and recorded The Longevity Solution: Secrets of The 100 Year Lifestyle for Nightingale-Conant, I would often hear people say things like, “Dr. Plasker, I’m not sure I want to live that long.” Understanding your M-PYR can get you to realize that whether you want to or not, you may not have a choice. Committing to making the lifestyle changes you know you need to make will ensure that the quality of your remaining years are good ones and not years that are filled with sickness, poverty, and loneliness. Healthy choices now will not only give you a better quality of life now, but they will also give you a better quality of life as you age.

If your M-PYR is short, than you will surely feel a sense of urgency to get your act together. At a recent corporate event where I was speaking, there was a gentleman in the audience who became panicked when he realized that his M-PYR was only 10 more years. He was upset that his health was not very good, and he was concerned that he truly only had 10 more years. He vowed to make a healthier lifestyle his top priority. He did, is implementing The Longevity Solution and living his 100 Year Lifestyle, and he is enjoying the newfound energy, youthfulness, and health, while having more fun than ever.

The challenge is that while the human body is very adaptable and can adjust to changes in your lifestyle, putting off the changes until you are forced into it can lead to severe and unnecessary crisis and suffering.

Waiting for a heart attack to eat healthy and exercise is a bad idea.

Waiting for a diagnosis of cancer to eat healthy, exercise, and strengthen your immune system is not a good idea.

Waiting for a bankruptcy to begin managing your money effectively is not a wise decision.

Just because society is crisis-motivated, doesn’t mean that this is the way that you should be. I love seeing people who embrace The Longevity Solution, commit to living their ideal 100 Year Lifestyle, and, regardless of their age, become younger and healthier than ever.

In my chiropractic practice, it is always amazing to see the healing capacity and adaptability of the human body when people commit to change. The stories that we hear about in The 100 Year Lifestyle Affiliate Offices around the country are a consistent testimony to the fact that it is never too late to adjust your lifestyle. But waiting for a crisis to motivate you to change can cause so much unnecessary suffering.

Look at your family photos of parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Do you like the way they have aged? Do you think that if they knew they were going to live as long as they are, or did, that they would have made different choices along the way? You are getting the advance notice that they never received. What are you going to do with this information?

Your M-PYR is not your MAX-PYR™. Your M-PYR, minimum potential years remaining, is not your MAX-PYR, or maximum potential years remaining. Who knows what your number could be if you began living your ideal 100 Year Lifestyle today? If you were healthy, had great relationships, plenty of money, and a sense of purpose, what would be the limits of your longevity? When would be the time to pass on? I wonder what our true longevity potential is as a society if we all embraced the healthcare strategies that are a part of The Longevity Solution: Secrets of The 100 Year Lifestyle, and made them a part of our culture. This is exciting!

New research in The Lancet stated that they estimate that more than 50% of the babies can expect to live into the triple digits. Some scientists go way out on the limb and say that we can live to be 1,000. I don’t know about that, but I do know that if you make good lifestyle choices and live The Longevity Solution: Secrets of The 100 Year Lifestyle, you will enjoy quality days, months, and years for every moment that you are alive, whether it is for 80, 90, 100 years, or beyond.

At another recent corporate event that I was speaking at, there was a gentleman in the audience whose M-PYR was -1. He had already outlived the oldest relative in his family history, and he was really happy about it. He was healthy and functioning at the highest level of his entire life, and he was engaged in meaningful work, enjoying a great relationship, and had a great perspective on life. He was living his ideal 100 Year Lifestyle.

If you have a family history of heart disease, diabetes, or cancer, or if you have a history of destructive relationships or not enough money, chances are excellent that if you make this year the year that you truly commit to change and adopt the principles of The Longevity Solution, you will pave the way for an exciting future that will last a really long time. If not now, when? Do we really want to have this conversation again next year with you experiencing the guilt for once again not following through?

Now is the time. 2011 is your year. Make the changes you know you need to make, make them your new lifestyle, and you will enjoy the quality of life you deserve for decades. This is your Longevity Solution, and your secret to a sensational century!