Latest / The Midlife Guys / Midlife Health Fails Quietly. Here’s Where It Starts
Transcript
- 0:00because they're just spreading disinformation about medicine
- 0:04and they know they're spreading disinformation.
- 0:08They're fucking lying and they know it.
- 0:10So that's that's infuriating.
- 0:13Yeah, there are lots of charlatans out there that is.
- 0:16Yeah, charlatan.
- 0:17Well, I know. Look at that.
- 0:18That's my big word for the day.
- 0:27Hey, everyone, I'm Mike.
- 0:28And I'm Andrew.
- 0:30And we're the midlife guys.
- 0:32So, Andrew, last week we started diving
- 0:36into the subject of building healthy habits in midlife.
- 0:40And I cited a paper that was published by Stanford University
- 0:44School of Medicine that was published on January 7th, 2026.
- 0:48So this is brand new, brand new.
- 0:51And last week we talked about two of the five
- 0:56focus areas of that paper, which were prioritizing exercise
- 1:01and protecting muscle and bones, as well as eating a balanced diet.
- 1:06And this week, I'm going to dive into the last three recommendations.
- 1:10They include protecting your sleep and recovery,
- 1:13monitoring your health before problems arise
- 1:17and managing stress and staying social.
- 1:20Are you ready to continue our discussion about building
- 1:23healthy habits after 40?
- 1:26I am ready. Although a quick note, if you haven't listened to last week's episode,
- 1:30go check that out real quick.
- 1:31You can get caught up on the full study in the first two parts.
- 1:34But yeah, let's let's get back at it.
- 1:37All right.
- 1:38So we talked about the importance of sleep in a previous episode.
- 1:43So if you not listen to that one, we will leave a link to it in the show notes.
- 1:49But one of the things that we didn't really dive into
- 1:52is ways in which you can monitor your sleep and improve your sleep
- 1:57and ways that you can be proactive about your sleep health.
- 2:01So first off, a startling fact
- 2:05is that nearly one billion billion with a B
- 2:10people have sleep apnea or obstructed breathing as they sleep.
- 2:15Most people assume that this is a condition that only individuals
- 2:19who are overweight or suffer from.
- 2:23But that's not true.
- 2:24As we age, the muscles around your airways can become weaker.
- 2:30We talked about the need to exercise, but most people don't realize
- 2:34that exercising also extends to the muscles around your neck,
- 2:37which are pretty important as well.
- 2:40How do you exercise those muscles around your neck?
- 2:43Stretch, stretch, stretch.
- 2:47Mm hmm. Additionally, the lining of our nasal passages
- 2:52become weaker as we age, which is probably why we all hate the cold so much.
- 2:58I know I have a cold right now because the cold.
- 3:04These factors are why more and more people are suffering
- 3:09from challenging sleep, or they also are going undiagnosed with sleep apnea.
- 3:16They just don't even know it.
- 3:17They don't want to undergo surgery.
- 3:19They don't want to use a CPAP machine.
- 3:21They feel like there's a stigma behind all of that.
- 3:26There are other factors that are leading men and women
- 3:30over their 40s to have sleep problems, including high blood pressure.
- 3:37Kids, kids.
- 3:39I can relate to that one. Mm hmm.
- 3:41Even your anatomy, which kind of hard to change
- 3:46unless you want to do a whole plastic surgery type of thing.
- 3:49But your anatomy actually does impact your sleep habits as well.
- 3:54So doctors recommend that everyone and I do mean everyone
- 4:00try to do at least one sleep test
- 4:05in their lives in order to ward off future complications.
- 4:10This is especially true when you start getting to a point
- 4:14where you're always fatigued when you wake up.
- 4:19Many of us, although not enough,
- 4:22get our blood pressure drawn on an annual basis to check on the factors
- 4:26that could impact health in the future.
- 4:28But we don't tend to to monitor things when it comes to sleep.
- 4:34A lack of sleep
- 4:36factors can show up in blood results through higher cholesterol.
- 4:41But a doctor doesn't necessarily know if you're higher
- 4:44cholesterol is because of your diet or it's because you're not getting any sleep.
- 4:48And why would in the hell would anybody want to be on a medicine
- 4:54that they don't really need to be on if all of it boils down
- 4:59to the fact that you're just not getting enough sleep at night?
- 5:02So what do you think about that, Andrew?
- 5:04I'm one of those people who've never had a sleep study.
- 5:06I'm kind of curious about that now.
- 5:07I get to get a physical every year, but I've not done a sleep study before.
- 5:11So maybe I'll add that to my 2026 bingo card.
- 5:15But I do think sleep in general is very, very important.
- 5:19I certainly agree with that.
- 5:22You know, when I think about it, especially in midlife,
- 5:24I feel like not getting sleep definitely impacts me more than it did in the past.
- 5:29I feel like I drag for longer.
- 5:32I'm more irritable if I'm not sleeping on a consistent basis.
- 5:35And just, yeah, I feel fatigued.
- 5:38I can relate to this recently, because in the past week, my
- 5:42two kids have been taking turns, once again, getting up in the middle of the night.
- 5:46And sometimes both of them wanting to chip in, getting up in the middle of the night.
- 5:49So neither my wife nor I have had like a really solid uninterrupted
- 5:54night's sleep for a couple of days.
- 5:55And the impact is real.
- 5:57Like it definitely does affect all other parts of your life.
- 6:00So I could certainly see the connection to your health.
- 6:02And it's definitely something that is really important to try to,
- 6:06you know, get more sleep or do a better job getting sleep.
- 6:10It's actually interesting, because I saw a bunch of news reports recently,
- 6:14probably in the last week or so,
- 6:17that had some fascinating studies that were showing that it's not just
- 6:20the amount of sleep that you get, but it's your sleep regularity
- 6:23that's really important, especially for brain health, like to counteract things
- 6:26like dementia and other sort of brain issues.
- 6:30And so are memory issues, especially.
- 6:32And so it's saying that you really need to fall asleep within a 30 minute window,
- 6:36at least five days a week to have that sleep regularity
- 6:39to kind of counteract some of those other issues.
- 6:41So that's something I'm trying to work on, too, now,
- 6:42is not just trying to get sleep when I can, but going to bed at the same time
- 6:46each night to kind of help with creating that natural schedule
- 6:49and having the regularity.
- 6:51And so, you know, for me, that's been trying to read a little bit more before bed
- 6:55because less screens usually means I fall asleep quicker if I'm reading something
- 6:58for like half an hour, 45 minutes first.
- 7:01But I just thought that idea of the amount of sleep plus the regularity
- 7:05of when you sleep are really important factors, especially as we get older.
- 7:09And I think that's great.
- 7:10I'm glad you brought that up, and especially trying to find
- 7:14a regular time in which to go to bed.
- 7:17Yeah, I know that's challenging sometimes
- 7:22with kids and also just like, you know, life stuff happens
- 7:25that you got to take care of.
- 7:27Yeah, if I'm being honest, sometimes it's also just laziness on my part, too, right?
- 7:30I'm like, oh, I want to watch another episode of whatever I'm like binging at the moment,
- 7:33or I don't really feel like going upstairs yet.
- 7:35And it's just kind of, again, getting into a good habit, right?
- 7:38Of like, OK, we're setting a bedtime that we're sticking with.
- 7:42Yes, even as adults, we need a bedtime.
- 7:47So think about that, folks.
- 7:48Think about that, listeners.
- 7:49You need a bedtime.
- 7:51Yeah.
- 7:52Sleep, especially in midlife, is just so important.
- 7:58As I mentioned in a previous episode, I have terrible environmental allergies
- 8:06that includes like dust mites and pollen and stuff like that.
- 8:09And I do my damnedest to try to keep everything in my home very, very clean.
- 8:16But there's some things that are just out of my control when it comes to allergies.
- 8:22So that's why I started using a CPAP machine several years ago.
- 8:25It's made a significant impact in the quality of my sleep at night.
- 8:29Sometimes it's made it worse, but sometimes, most of the time, it's made it better.
- 8:36You know, and I know this because I try to measure my sleep rhythm on my Apple Watch.
- 8:45I don't do it every night, but I try to do it at least a couple nights a week
- 8:49to really track where I am, you know, REM cycles and stuff like that throughout the night.
- 8:59And I think that's important for us to be proactive about that type of thing.
- 9:05If we have, I know there are rings now that monitor stuff, your sleep habits.
- 9:11And, you know, of course, I think Fitbits do it and Apple Watches do it.
- 9:15I think if we have access to technologies that can help us with this,
- 9:23I think that's important that we try to utilize them just because it is so important.
- 9:31I know we've talked about this before, about the idea of
- 9:34really working on getting that seven hours of sleep at night.
- 9:39If we can do that, this will help protect us when we hit our 60s and 70s.
- 9:45Especially with issues related to dementia and other cognitive decline.
- 9:51But now's the time to be proactive about this.
- 9:55And unfortunately, it's not something that anybody really pays attention to.
- 10:00I do think that we dive too quickly, and sometimes the medical profession does this,
- 10:06as they dive too quickly into prescribing a medicine.
- 10:09When you don't really need a medicine, you just need a better night's sleep.
- 10:14But what about you, listeners?
- 10:15How are you building good sleep habits?
- 10:19And what are you doing to ensure a good night's sleep?
- 10:21Yeah, I'm definitely interested in people's thoughts on sleep.
- 10:23That's something I'm still trying to work on.
- 10:25So I would love any advice or suggestions on getting a good night's sleep.
- 10:29You know, one might be that I thought about recently was just
- 10:31locking the kids in their room so they can't get out.
- 10:34Is that an option, anyone?
- 10:35No, I'm kidding.
- 10:36I'm not locking my children in their room at night.
- 10:39But seriously, any suggestions on better sleep?
- 10:41I'd love to hear it.
- 10:43Yes, please share your thoughts.
- 10:46So the fourth recommendation in the Stanford paper was
- 10:48monitoring your health now before something arises.
- 10:53Our 40s and 50s are the years when signs for chronic diseases
- 10:58such as diabetes, heart disease, cancers, and others begin to develop.
- 11:03So if you catch these things early and you start making lifestyle changes,
- 11:08you can ward off many of these diseases.
- 11:11So you don't have to worry about them later in life.
- 11:14As we discussed last week, you need to spend more time
- 11:17in your golden years, your retirement years, enjoying yourself,
- 11:22not worrying about chronic diseases or problems.
- 11:28The problem is that men and women in their 40s
- 11:32usually only get a checkup every two to three years.
- 11:37They do this because they don't feel like it's necessary
- 11:39and they only go to the doctor when they feel sick.
- 11:44But the research is clear.
- 11:45Men and women in their 40s need annual checkups
- 11:49to test for things like colon cancer,
- 11:52which is steadily on the rise all across the world, which is terrifying.
- 11:59Mammograms, blood tests, diabetes screenings.
- 12:03You know, you don't have to have all of these things every year,
- 12:06but you definitely need to go and get a checkup every year.
- 12:11Now, I know this is easy for me to say that,
- 12:15but there are a number of reasons
- 12:17why people also don't go to the doctor on an annual basis.
- 12:20Health insurance.
- 12:23Health insurance doesn't necessarily cover
- 12:26all of the screenings necessary to diagnose problems in the future.
- 12:31That's a problem.
- 12:32They may cover a visit to the primary care doctor,
- 12:37but that's about it, none of the screenings.
- 12:41Second, a lot of people in their 40s just don't want to know.
- 12:45They feel fine.
- 12:47They think things will be fine in the future.
- 12:51They don't want to be aware of any problems
- 12:53that may show up in the future.
- 12:55It's kind of this willful ignorance type of thing,
- 12:58which is not really great.
- 12:58Ignorance isn't always bliss.
- 13:00Yeah, sometimes you need to know things.
- 13:02Yeah.
- 13:03There's also a distrust in the medical community.
- 13:05You know, many individuals in their 40s and 50s are wary of physicians.
- 13:10I don't think this is new.
- 13:11People have been wary of physicians since the beginning of time.
- 13:15They don't necessarily trust what the medical community has to say,
- 13:19and they feel like they can manage any issues that they may have.
- 13:22So what do you think about taking care of your health
- 13:27before problems arise, Andrew?
- 13:29How have you made that part of your annual habits?
- 13:33Yeah, I mean, I think being proactive is important.
- 13:35I will say I was in the camp in my 30s of never going to the doctor.
- 13:38I think in my 30s, I went once maybe for my annual physical
- 13:41because I was like, I feel fine.
- 13:43I'm young. I'm healthy.
- 13:44Why am I going to go?
- 13:45And it's not because, I mean, luckily, my health insurance
- 13:47covered annual physicals and blood work and stuff like that.
- 13:49So it wasn't that.
- 13:50It was just laziness or kind of the somewhat willful ignorance piece.
- 13:54But it was, I think, especially being married to someone in healthcare.
- 13:57So my wife is a nurse.
- 13:58And when I turned 40, she was really like, no,
- 14:00you need to start going back and getting your annual physical
- 14:02to make sure everything's OK.
- 14:04And so I did start doing that again.
- 14:06And I know it kind of can seem like a pain
- 14:08or scheduling can seem challenging trying to find the time
- 14:11or a right doctor to go to or whatnot.
- 14:13But it is important because you don't know what you don't know.
- 14:15And as you've talked about before, Mike, this isn't something
- 14:18you just want to kind of like cross your fingers,
- 14:20like hopefully we're going to be OK.
- 14:22Because if there are ways that you can be proactive to prevent future issues,
- 14:26like I always think that's a better approach.
- 14:28And I had a personal experience of this when I went.
- 14:31It was the most recent physical.
- 14:34So I turned 41, got blood work drawn.
- 14:36And it wasn't crazy high, but like my bad cholesterol.
- 14:39I know the doctor says there's good cholesterol and bad cholesterol.
- 14:42So the bad one was like kind of high.
- 14:43It wasn't like super high, but it was elevated enough that he's like,
- 14:45oh, we should probably go back to listen to our other episode.
- 14:48Like change your diet.
- 14:48Think about how you're balancing it better.
- 14:51Like cut out cheese and things like that, which made me very sad.
- 14:55But like really think about how you're eating.
- 14:58And I'm glad to have known that because I'd rather like make some adjustments now
- 15:02than a number of years down the road,
- 15:04realize my cholesterol is like way off the charts
- 15:06and that's impacting other parts of my health.
- 15:08Or I'm on a bunch of funky medicine that isn't always the best to be on
- 15:13or maybe helps the cholesterol, but can impact other things.
- 15:16So I think it's just a matter of knowing in advance is not a good thing.
- 15:20Or is a good thing, rather.
- 15:21It's good to know these things up front and try to be proactive.
- 15:24So for those who haven't gone in a while, it's worth doing it.
- 15:29Find a time to go.
- 15:30Get checked out.
- 15:31It's always better to have information that you can figure out how to use it.
- 15:37I agree.
- 15:40A doctor can tell you the facts, but you're the one that's got to walk the walk.
- 15:47And I think that's important.
- 15:48I mean, that's definitely my experience.
- 15:53Going for my annual checkup has become a habit for me.
- 15:57I appreciate that.
- 16:00Go through, well, I first go and do all the diagnostic tests
- 16:05to make sure that everything's moving in the right direction, the blood test.
- 16:08And then I have a follow-up appointment with the doctor
- 16:10to go over the test results and say like,
- 16:12all right, here's what it says.
- 16:15Here are the adjustments that I recommend you making.
- 16:19And this has just become a part of my life, essentially.
- 16:29It's just what you do, right?
- 16:30It's just what you do.
- 16:33It's no different than renewing my annual auto insurance policy, really.
- 16:38These checkups are insurance for my future
- 16:42so that I can stop any problems before they arise.
- 16:48Because I don't want to sit there and fucking end up dying in some hospital bed,
- 16:53and God knows where, well, over something that I could have easily fixed.
- 16:57Right.
- 16:58Or just having to manage something that snowballs into something bigger
- 17:01because you didn't get it early enough.
- 17:03And you made a good point about the idea of you've got to walk the walk.
- 17:06And it's true that us as individuals all have to make decisions.
- 17:08And we have agency to do what we want to do and what not.
- 17:11But that idea also makes me think of like,
- 17:13but you need to at least have some map of where you're going,
- 17:17right, or directions.
- 17:17Like, you need the information about like, am I going on the right journey?
- 17:20Am I walking in circles?
- 17:21Am I going backwards?
- 17:22Like, I mean, I just feel like it's kind of hard to even use that agency
- 17:25or make those decisions if you don't have some information to go by.
- 17:29I 100% agree with you.
- 17:31And I think that is the big takeaway for me
- 17:37out of this particular recommendation from the Stanford paper is that like,
- 17:41if so many of us are not just doing an annual checkup,
- 17:47that takes an hour out of a day,
- 17:54one time a fucking year,
- 17:56then you're just making an incredibly big mistake.
- 18:01Because, you know, it may show up in your blood test that you are perfectly fine
- 18:07and that what you're doing is working out perfectly.
- 18:12And that's great.
- 18:13I'm thrilled for you if that's the case.
- 18:16But if there's just like the smallest change that you need to make,
- 18:24you know, these things snowball as you get older.
- 18:27They just snowball.
- 18:28And so it's really important that we make going to the doctor
- 18:32and doing the diagnostic stuff and doing all of these screening tests,
- 18:37just part of our habits, that they're part of our daily routine.
- 18:41Yeah.
- 18:43You know, and I understand a lot of the stuff
- 18:51as to why people either can't do it because of health insurance.
- 18:57Health insurance in the United States is a fucking joke.
- 19:02The whole health care system is kind of a mess.
- 19:04The whole health care system is a fucking joke.
- 19:06Yeah.
- 19:07And I understand that mentality of people feeling like,
- 19:12because I know a lot of people like that's like,
- 19:14I feel fine.
- 19:15And I'm like, right, go anyway.
- 19:18I will say you don't.
- 19:19And then all of a sudden, yeah.
- 19:21Yeah. I mean, I do have a problem with all of these, you know,
- 19:26social media doctors, essentially,
- 19:31are people that think that they do.
- 19:34I do my own research type of crowd.
- 19:37Because they're just spreading disinformation about medicine.
- 19:41And they know they're spreading disinformation.
- 19:45They're fucking lying and they know it.
- 19:47So that's infuriating.
- 19:50Yeah. There are lots of charlatans out there.
- 19:51That is, yeah.
- 19:53Charlatan, wow.
- 19:54I know, look at that.
- 19:55That's my big word for the day.
- 19:56Yeah, that is a big word for the day.
- 19:59I will say, this is a good point to just do our quick disclaimer
- 20:01that we did in our first episode, but not this one,
- 20:03which is that, just if you haven't picked up on this yet,
- 20:05Mike and I are not doctors.
- 20:06So we're just sharing our experiences about health issues.
- 20:09If you actually do have health concerns,
- 20:10you should talk to a doctor who's actually licensed
- 20:13and is a real doctor to do that.
- 20:14Yeah. Yeah.
- 20:15Yes. Go see your doctor.
- 20:17Go see a doctor, someone who is licensed,
- 20:20someone who has an accredited degree,
- 20:22usually multiple degrees from an accredited medical school.
- 20:30Reminds me of like the fake doctor from the Simpsons.
- 20:35Oh, yeah.
- 20:37Not that guy, because there are plenty of those guys around.
- 20:40Yeah, there are.
- 20:41But just, you know, I implore all of our listeners,
- 20:45get your annual checkup, make it a habit,
- 20:47get checked for everything that you need to be checked for
- 20:51and tell your doctor, this is a really important part too,
- 20:55tell your doctor about family histories.
- 20:58Yeah.
- 20:59So if your mother or grandmother, you know,
- 21:03had an issue with high blood pressure or high cholesterol,
- 21:07whatever it may be, you know, those things,
- 21:12I mean, we're the product of our parents and our grandparents.
- 21:15So those things can show up in you.
- 21:20And so it's important that your doctor is aware
- 21:22of your family medical history too.
- 21:25And yet again, you know, these are ways
- 21:28that we can be proactive about having a better future
- 21:35if we're proactive about our health right now.
- 21:38Yep.
- 21:39And while you're at it, make sure you go to the fucking dentist
- 21:42and go to the dentist twice a year.
- 21:44And the eye doctor too, we're getting older now.
- 21:45And the eye doctor.
- 21:46All the doctors.
- 21:48I know, I have an eye doctor appointment tomorrow.
- 21:50I'm sure I'll be walking away with glasses.
- 21:54So what about you listeners?
- 21:56Do you go to the doctor every year for a checkup?
- 21:59Why or why not?
- 22:00Please leave your thoughts.
- 22:03So Andrew, final recommendation from this paper,
- 22:07stress management and staying social.
- 22:10So chronic stress can weaken your immune system,
- 22:13damage your cardiovascular system,
- 22:16and accelerate cognitive decline.
- 22:18We've talked a lot on the show about how midlifers face
- 22:21a lot of stress, especially right now.
- 22:23The balance between kids and work and parents
- 22:27and money can be overwhelming.
- 22:30Men and women in their 40s and 50s are open to doing things
- 22:35like therapy, meditation, and other ways to help
- 22:37with their stress.
- 22:40The challenge is most of them don't actually do it though
- 22:42because of time constraints.
- 22:44The same is true with social interactions.
- 22:48But here's the thing, especially on the social side,
- 22:52social isolation increases premature death by 30 percent,
- 22:57which is the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
- 23:03So as we've discussed in previous episodes,
- 23:07a lot of midlifers really struggle with social isolation
- 23:11because, again, they feel like they just don't have time.
- 23:15These are major red flags within the health community
- 23:19because they're seeing troubling signs among men
- 23:22and women in their 40s and 50s who are significantly
- 23:26more stressed and more socially isolated
- 23:29than previous generations.
- 23:31What is more interesting, though,
- 23:34is that this particular factor seems to be very limited
- 23:38to the United States alone.
- 23:43Other countries, including Canada, Australia, France,
- 23:46Spain, everywhere else, people in their 40s or 50s
- 23:51are less stressed and they have much higher social
- 23:56interactions with their peers and friends.
- 23:59So this is clearly a U.S. problem, which is terrifying.
- 24:05But what do you think, Andrew?
- 24:07How are you making stress management
- 24:10and social interaction a normal habit?
- 24:14A normal habit, yeah.
- 24:15I mean, this is, I think, a hard one
- 24:18because, as we've talked about in previous episodes,
- 24:20stress is real.
- 24:22And I think midlifers, and maybe particularly
- 24:23in the United States, it seems like
- 24:25have a lot of different stresses on them.
- 24:28I can tell you, just this past week,
- 24:30I'm trying to figure out, well, my wife and I
- 24:31are trying to figure out summer camps for two kids.
- 24:33And we just got our heating bill for,
- 24:35after getting this Arctic freeze.
- 24:37And I'm like, I'm about to lose my stress
- 24:38or my mind off the stress.
- 24:40It's just like, there's a lot that goes on.
- 24:41And so, I mean, I think it's trying
- 24:43to get through the day and manage it
- 24:45and acknowledge that the stress is there.
- 24:47I mean, I think some days are more stressful than others,
- 24:49but there's always at least like a baseline of stress
- 24:51that I think kind of exists, especially for midlifers.
- 24:56I do think, as you talked about, Mike,
- 24:58I mean, it makes a lot of sense to me.
- 24:59It seems very logical that there is a direct relationship
- 25:03between level of stress and social isolation as well.
- 25:06Because if you're dealing with all these pressures
- 25:08and then you're isolated on top of that,
- 25:10I feel like it would just compound you
- 25:11if you don't have other people to try to lean on
- 25:14or to share that with or to interact with
- 25:16or to have positive experiences
- 25:18to balance out the stressful experiences.
- 25:20Like it would just feel kind of suffocating,
- 25:22I would think, after a while.
- 25:23So, I mean, I think that trying to address
- 25:26both stress for sure, but also the social isolation piece
- 25:29is really, really important.
- 25:31And I think it's something,
- 25:32Framing mentioned a couple weeks ago
- 25:35about this idea of like people kind of
- 25:36have forgotten social skills, right?
- 25:38We kind of forget after COVID and all
- 25:40how to interact with one another.
- 25:41And so I think that's something we've got to work on
- 25:43is how do we get better social skills?
- 25:45I mean, humans are social animals.
- 25:47I think we're supposed to be around other people
- 25:49and interacting with other people
- 25:50and spending time with them.
- 25:53I know one thing I've tried to do recently
- 25:57is once a week,
- 25:57which doesn't seem that difficult to me at least,
- 26:00to text someone I haven't talked to in a while.
- 26:02So it's a friend, a former classmate,
- 26:04maybe a colleague, a neighbor, whomever,
- 26:06just like say, hi, how's it going?
- 26:08And if we're like in the same general area,
- 26:10maybe see if they want to try to meet up in person
- 26:12to just catch up or whatnot.
- 26:14And so I think that's even little,
- 26:16yeah, like little things like that,
- 26:17I think can help too, right?
- 26:18Just like pick a person.
- 26:19And so far I've had some responses from folks
- 26:22and not from others, and that's fine.
- 26:24It's not a big deal.
- 26:24Like, I'll just keep trying it though,
- 26:26because I think trying to get out there
- 26:28and be social is really important,
- 26:30especially to try to counteract the stress piece,
- 26:33because I do think that stress underpins
- 26:35a lot of the other health effects,
- 26:37especially in midlife,
- 26:38because it does feel like it ramps up a lot,
- 26:41the stress does, at least.
- 26:43Yes, 100% agree with that.
- 26:48You know, for me, I, of course,
- 26:52deal with stress as well,
- 26:55but I try to stay ahead of it
- 26:59by staying very organized.
- 27:01So I write down five to 10 things
- 27:07that I want to accomplish in any given day.
- 27:09And Andrew and I actually share a list of those things,
- 27:13because they include work stuff, life stuff.
- 27:16And so we kind of encourage each other by doing that.
- 27:20I find this technique to be incredibly motivating,
- 27:24and it helps me, it helps ward off stress for me,
- 27:28because I can, you know, go through that list.
- 27:30And, you know, of course,
- 27:31there's going to be things that pop up,
- 27:32but I personally find that to be a great way
- 27:36to just manage stress by staying focused on that list,
- 27:41but also leaving some room for flexibility.
- 27:45In terms of the social side of things,
- 27:48I do try to, we've talked about this before,
- 27:51but I try to stay in touch with friends
- 27:54as much as possible.
- 27:56I have not always done a good job about that
- 27:58with like family members,
- 28:01especially family members that don't live locally.
- 28:03So I've tried to do a lot better job about that.
- 28:05That's a good point, too.
- 28:07It's a whole group, yeah.
- 28:08Yeah, so, you know, I wanted to,
- 28:12so that's something that I'm really working on.
- 28:19I wasn't always this way.
- 28:21You know, there was yet again,
- 28:22as I mentioned in the previous episode,
- 28:25when Andrew and I were first building our company,
- 28:27it was a pretty dark time for me.
- 28:30And so, you know, I quickly learned though
- 28:34that I needed to, by doing,
- 28:37by being more caring, empathetic,
- 28:38going out and actually socializing with people,
- 28:42that helped lift my mood quite a bit.
- 28:46And so like today, I host lots of parties
- 28:48and get togethers and cocktails.
- 28:50I love to travel with friends and family.
- 28:53In fact, you know, heading on a trip in a couple of weeks
- 28:57with friends and family.
- 28:58So I'm very, I try to really stay on top of that.
- 29:05Just calling people, just texting people,
- 29:08to Andrew's point.
- 29:09The key is not to be shy.
- 29:10You just can't be shy.
- 29:12You got to be outgoing,
- 29:15as well as connecting with many,
- 29:16with as many people as possible as you can.
- 29:21Because, you know,
- 29:24there's a lot of folks out there in the world
- 29:26that could add a lot of meaning to your life.
- 29:29So it's important to connect with as many people as possible.
- 29:33But I think for some folks too,
- 29:34that can feel kind of overwhelming or like a lot.
- 29:36So maybe again, start with like a couple people,
- 29:39maybe some friends or family members
- 29:40that you haven't talked to in a little bit
- 29:41and just, you know, make a list of who they are.
- 29:44And one by one, just reach out to them every now and then,
- 29:46you know, start up, try to start up a conversation.
- 29:48I just think anything we can do to be more social
- 29:51or interact with one another is valuable.
- 29:54I agree. I agree.
- 29:56But what about you listeners?
- 29:58Have you managed your stress?
- 30:00What have you done to be more sociable?
- 30:04You know, please let us know in the comments,
- 30:07share your feedback with us.
- 30:09And with that, I want to thank you all
- 30:11for being part of this two-part episode
- 30:14about building healthy habits.
- 30:17Share your thoughts, comments, experiences
- 30:19about all the five focus areas out of this paper.
- 30:22We want to hear from you.
- 30:24As I mentioned last week, you know,
- 30:26your comments, your feedback,
- 30:30especially the positive experiences
- 30:33that you've had in building healthy habits
- 30:35may, you know, may work for someone else
- 30:38who reads those comments.
- 30:39And so you never know whose life you may improve
- 30:43by sharing your positive stories as well.
- 30:45You know, we want this to be a community
- 30:47where midlifers can share their ideas and stories
- 30:50because we aren't alone.
- 30:52We're all experiencing many of the same challenges.
- 30:56In the meantime, I also want to hear
- 30:58how you all are going to build healthy habits
- 31:00around the recommendations that we've discussed.
- 31:02And if there's certain things that we've discussed
- 31:04that you're like, oh, I should really think
- 31:06about going to the doctor more often
- 31:08or, you know, creating a bedtime for myself.
- 31:11We would love to hear that.
- 31:15So be sure to tune in and tell your friends.
- 31:20If you've not done so already,
- 31:22please like and subscribe.
- 31:24It doesn't cost you a thing, but it helps us a lot.
- 31:26Remember that you can find us on YouTube,
- 31:29Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartMedia,
- 31:31and all your favorite podcast platforms.
- 31:34And until next week, good luck, guys.
- 31:36Thanks, everybody.