Applying PAEI to Longevity

Years ago, I was invited to deliver a lecture at the Academy of Anti-Aging in Las Vegas. 5,000 medical doctors in the audience. And I am not an MD. But I had the courage to deliver the message that love gives energy. Hate diminishes energy. And how much energy we have determines how long we live. When we have none left, time to go.

So follow your heart. The more you love—not just your spouse and children but everything you interact with: your car, your bed, your food, your neighborhood, your country... everything—the more you love, the more you conserve energy, the longer you will live.

I was not chased out of the hall.

Now I have a new insight.

If you are healthy, you live longer. If sick, less. Right?

Now, the Adizes Methodology says a healthy organism is one that is effective and efficient in the short and long run. For that, four functions—PAEI—need to be functioning well.

Well then, to live longer you need to be healthy, and for that the PAEI functions have to operate optimally. What does it mean?

First, the (P) function is to satisfy client needs. In personal life it means, to me, that we will get more energy if we have someone or something that needs us, and we fulfill that need. Many people, when they retire, stop functioning. No one needs them, and they feel discarded.  Never stop serving whatever turns you on. Maybe be a very active grandparent so it is your grandchildren that need you. Feed them. Teach them. Play with them. Or volunteer to work in a hospital, or an orphanage, or whatever. Keep feeling needed and go and fulfill that need—and get feedback that you are still functioning. You are still worth living.

The (A) function is to deliver efficiency. What does it mean in personal life? To minimize uncertainties. Surprises that cause stress and rob you of energy. Have a routine. Get up at the same time. Eat at the same time. Walk for exercise at the same time. Socialize at a certain time. Visit friends at the same time. In other words, minimize change. Minimize surprises. Keep the energy from being wasted.

The (E) function is to handle the long run. To stimulate change. It is different from the routine but can and should be integrated with the routine. (E) means to learn something new, and that can be planned as a routine. Go take a course at the university on something you always wanted to learn. My father, at the age of seventy, decided he wanted to learn how to play the guitar and sing. Some want to learn a new language. Read books they missed reading when young. Whatever stimulates your creativity. Some just travel and visit new countries. That is the (E) function.

And the last is the (I) function: socialization. Make it a routine to meet close friends. Must be ones you laugh with—a lot. Not debate and argue. LAUGH. I measure quality of life by how much we laugh. I already wrote about it in another blog. I can predict if a marriage is on the rocks by the degree of laughter in that marriage. Same with successful companies. They are managed by relaxed, often laughing executives. Laughter means the subject that bothers you is not that important to lose energy over. Take it easy.

To summarize: to live longer, be healthy. To be healthy, have a reason to live—and that is to serve others. Have a routine so you do not waste energy handling surprises. Keep learning, and keep laughing with good friends.

Obviously, also eat right, exercise, and sleep enough—the three columns of health.