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​I never really knew any of my grandparents, so, when contemplating the bigger questions of life, I’ve often wished I could ask one of my wise elders, “what would you say?” Perhaps this is why the Harvard Grant Study particularly interests me, since it essentially asked the question, “what makes a good life?” of nearly 300 elders. Dive into their response below:

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What Makes for A Good, Long Life? One Clear Answer from Research Study

In 1936, nearly 300 Harvard University undergraduates volunteered for a study that promised to follow their lives until death.

Through college graduations, wars, marriages, parenthood, and, finally, the end of their lives, the Harvard Grant study regularly and comprehensively conducted extensive interviews and medical tests to better understand the lives of the participants. The study measured several factors: the participants’ income, physical health, fame (one participant was US President John F Kennedy), hereditary factors, and IQ, all with the intention of answering this fundamental human question: what makes for a long, healthy life?

And, after 80 years of data-collection, one conclusive theme emerged amongst the most-fulfilled, longest-living, and healthiest of these 300 participants.

In the words of the Robert Waldinger, the current director of the Harvard Grant study:

“It was how satisfied they were in their relationships. The people who were the most satisfied in their relationships at age 50 were the healthiest at age 80.”

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How close would you like to be with these three people? How will you know that you’ve gotten there?

As uncomfortable a truth it is, we all must die. At the end of your life, when you look back, what will your ‘good life’ look like? Who will you want to remember as being important people in your life?

See you next week 🙂

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