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Answer 9 Quick Questions & Live Longer By Living Purposefully
Living purposefully adds years — as well as higher quality — to your life. But how do we go about living purposefully?
First, let’s look at a couple of recent studies and what they say about purpose and longer life. In one study done in the UK, researchers found that people who believe their life has meaning and purpose die later than people who have a lower sense of well-being. According to Time Magazine,
About 9,000 people over age 65 were followed for eight and half years as part of a study published in the Lancet. Researchers measured their well-being by giving them a questionnaire that gauged how much control they felt they had over their own life, and how much they thought what they did was worthwhile. The participants were then split into four groups, ranging from the highest to lowest levels of well-being. Happier people tended to outlive their less fulfilled peers. Over the eight years, just 9% of people in the highest well-being category died, compared to 29% in the lowest category. Previous research has linked happiness to a longer life, and this new finding adds weight to the theory.
Another study in Canada confirms the supposition that believing your life has meaning leads to a longer, happier life. This study shows that,
