A long time ago I read a book by a Polish army officer.

He escaped from a Soviet prison camp and walked 4,000 miles to India, and freedom.

A very good film was made about his story, called The Way Back.

What struck me was the sheer willpower of the men who managed this feat.

They had the will to live, where others would have given up hope.

The will to live isn’t usually something we think about when dealing with our health or lifespan.

We usually think in terms of purely physical effects.

But can you quantify the will to live, or purpose in life, and how it affects health and lifespan?

Turns out, a recent study did just that.

It followed about 7,000 people for a number of years.

People who had "low life purpose", in the lowest category, were 2.4 times more likely to die during the follow-up period.

Most of the increased mortality came from heart disease, which somehow seems apropos.

People who have little purpose may feel without hope and unmotivated.

They might not feel that trying to be healthy is a worthwhile pursuit.

There’s probably a lot more instant gratification going on...

And there’s probably also an element of actually willing yourself to live, which has a real effect.

Since aging is a huge risk factor for health, and given what we see about purpose...

Retirement appears to be a danger for health.

And indeed, a number of studies have found that early retirement brings a greater mortality risk.

Possibly people who retire early had only their jobs to give their lives meaning, and when they retired...

Purpose was gone.

The greater mortality risk, 2.4 times, from having little purpose, is large.

Lots of things we talk about and are concerned about have much lower risks.

Furthermore, purpose in life seems non-overlapping with many other health factors.

In other words, if you have purpose in life...

You may get something extra, beyond what nutrition and exercise would yield in theory.

So allow me to get a little philosophical

If you lack purpose, consider the following quote from the famed physicist Richard Feynman:

“Fall in love with some activity, and do it! Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn’t matter.”

Another lesson is about retirement, which we tend to see as a golden land beyond the realm of offices, commuting, and drudgery

Based on what I’ve written above, it is not

If you ask me you can't go wrong with making your purpose something like being the best version of yourself

Health and fitness is at the center of being your best self, obviously.

It's an enabler for everything else... or a limiting factor, if you don't take care of yourself.