Jon Butcher explains how decades of consistent exercise, diet, and purpose-driven habits have kept him physically fit and slowed visible aging. He stresses that strong purpose, like setting an example for family, sustains the discipline needed for lifelong health. Vishen cites research suggesting medical progress and meaningful work can extend lifespan significantly.
Questions this video answers
December 23, 2016
Medical science is adding three months to lifespan for every year lived between now and 2030.
From 2030 onwards, medical progress will add one year to life for every year lived (1:1 rate).
He cited ~77 years as the average developed-world male lifespan and said, based on projections, he expects to live to 100.
John is described as a man in his 50s, a grandpa, with four kids and "two and a third grandkid on the way," and shown in a photo at ages 29 and 49 where he appears little changed.
Chapters
So guys, I have something to share with you. When I saw this picture, it, it blew my mind. I did not believe it was real, but when I realized how real it was, this particular picture of this man, this grandpa, John Butcher, a guy in his 50s with four kids, two and a third grandkid on the way. This particular picture, let's put up the picture right here. This picture blew my mind because it shows John in his in peak physical state at 29 and how at 49, 20 years later, he barely seems to have aged. John, like most men, like most women, as I turned 40, I started worrying about my body. I started thinking about my life at 50 and 60 and looking at my parents generation and thinking about how my body was going to break down. When I saw that picture, it was a paradigm shift. It made me realize that I was buying into a societal rule, a societal bullshit rule that may not necessarily be true. And I think that picture is going to shake up a lot of your belief systems as well. Especially when you realize that this man, John Butcher, is a grandpa. This is the. You're one of the fittest granddads I've ever seen. What's the secret?
Well, I'll tell you, but you won't like it. Diet and exercise, that is the truth. But there's something deeper. Here's what I talked about in that blog post that I released to the Lifebook community. I never set a goal to be in great shape at 54 years old. I never set that as a goal. I've always worked on my health and fitness, but I never was like when I get to be 55, I never did that. What I did was I installed good habits in my life in my 20s and I ran those habits through my 50s. It's as simple as that. You have to figure out what a healthy plate of food looks like, generally, what a decent exercise program is for you generally. And then literally I worked out, you know, five or six days a week for 30 years. That's how you do it. Not everyone wants to hear that, but that is the truth. Now everybody knows how to get in shape, eat right and exercise more. That's how to get in shape. That's not world changing news. And of course you can spend your entire life studying those two things, but that's the bottom line and pretty much everybody knows it. This is something we talk about pretty deeply in Lifebook's 30 day challenge that we made for Mindvalley. The key to the health and fitness category is your purpose. It's not the how Everybody knows the how, it's the why. So for me, connecting deeply with my purpose was what made it so that I was disciplined for 30 years and just did my workout. It's never been for me. Should I work out today or shouldn't I? It's a given. I don't have to ask that question. It is a part of my lifestyle because my purpose is so strong. My purpose is the relationship that I want to have with my wife, our sex life. We want to be turned on by each other. I want to set a good example for my kids. I want to be able to climb Machu Picchu and have amazing experiences. I am so dialed in to the reasons that I want to be in good shape that it's easy for me to do the things that are required to be in good shape. And it's also relatively easy for me to avoid the things that are going to take me in the wrong direction. Missy and I don't live like monks. We don't live on fruits and berries. We party. We have a good time in our lives. We don't deny ourselves anything that we really enjoy. Sugar, alcohol, caffeine. We don't deny ourselves anything. But we're sensible, we're moderate. We enjoy everything in moderation. And that's pretty much it. The key is the habits that you put in place and then being true to those habits and the way that you're going to make sure to get that done is to have a strong purpose. That's what it always comes down to. Purpose.
Purpose is the key. You're absolutely right. One thing that shifted my treatment of my body when I was in my 20s and my 30s, I was not in the best physical shape. Today, at 40, I'm fitter and I have a better body than I did almost 15 years ago. So my purpose shifted when I heard about an article published by Singularity University that said that medical science is adding three months to our lifespans for every year we live between now and 2030. So between now and 2030, you've probably added an extra three to four years of your life. So the average American lifespan wouldn't be 75. If you lived to 2030, you'd be like 79. But it gets weirder. Medical science is progressing at an exponential rate between 2030 onwards. Singularity University says that we'll be adding one year to our lives for every year you live.
That's nuts.
Now, when I did the math, I realized that I wasn't going to live to the average developed world lifespan for a Male, which is about 77. I'm actually going to live to be 100. If you're 40 today, more than likely you are going to live to be 100. So 40 isn't even the midpoint of your life.
Right.
Retirement. Why do we even think about retiring? Because if, like most successful people, you're living in a job that is fueled by mission and purpose, you don't want to retire.
Exactly Right.
Another study by Gallup shows that people who are living their mission work well into their 90s. So that became my purpose. I wanted to have this body fully fueled, ready to do what I needed it to do so I could play with my grandkids or great grandkids. I could live my purpose when I'm 100. And that fundamentally changed the way I approach my health.
I love it. Yeah, that's great.
So it is vitally important that you start asking yourself these questions. And thank you for sharing that, Joan. Hugh. Purpose is the key. Any final tips?
One final tip is this. Over the last 25 or six years that Missy and I have been married, we've done these little episodic sprints or challenges. So we're going to go to Hawaii. We want to get in great shape. That's a month of hardcore, you know, or we're going to do some video shoot or pretty much anything you can think of where you have something that you've got to get in shape for. We probably do one of these a year where we stay in pretty good shape throughout the year. But then at least one time we're going to be pushing for something specific. Got to have a photo session or whatever it is that has been awesome in our lives. Like for instance, the picture that you just put up there, that was a two week training that I did. And I've done a number of things like that over the years. That. That just kind of pushes you forward a little bit extra.
Right.
And so that's a good tip.
Right? I love that tip. I'm on a challenge right now. WildFit by Mindvalley so there are multiple challenges you can put into your life to constantly keep you at your peak physical state. But thank you. I hope you enjoyed this content training and I hope it shifted the idea in your mind that purpose is really the secret to health and define aging. Thank you.
