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Bryan Johnson: Five Habits for Longer Living

Feb 20, 2024 1h 26m 27 insights
What can you do (or avoid) tomorrow to guarantee you can live longer? In this episode, Bryan Johnson reveals the five simple disciplines you can start doing to live healthier and longer. Johnson shares what his daily routine looks like, the ins and outs of his experimentation process, and why he gave his father plasma. Johnson also opens up about the constant hate he receives from people online, how he deals with it all, and what he wishes he'd known when he sold his company. Bryan Johnson is the world's most measured human. Johnson sold his company to PayPal in 2013. Through Project Blueprint, Johnson has achieved metabolic health equal to the top 1.5% of 18 year olds, inflammation 66% lower than the average 10 year old, and reduced his speed of aging by the equivalent of 31 years. Johnson is also the founder of Kernel, creator of the world’s first mainstream non-invasive neuroimaging system; and OS Fund, where he invested in the predictable engineering of atoms, molecules, and organisms. Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/theknowledgeproject/videos Newsletter - Each week I share timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/ My New Book! Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results is out now - https://fs.blog/clear/  Follow me: https://beacons.ai/shaneparrish Join our membership: https://fs.blog/membership/
Actionable Insights

1. Prioritize High-Quality Sleep

Make sleep your number one life priority, building your life around it to improve energy, motivation, and willpower, which are crucial for overcoming depression and other challenges.

2. Follow 5 Longevity Power Laws

Achieve a life expectancy of 92 by consistently applying five key habits: 1) Don’t smoke, 2) Exercise six hours per week (combining strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular training), 3) Eat a Blueprint or Mediterranean-like diet, 4) Maintain a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 18.5 and 22.5, and 5) Limit alcohol consumption (e.g., 1-3 glasses of wine equivalent per week, ideally none).

3. Eliminate Self-Destructive Decisions

Personify and ‘fire’ the version of yourself that engages in self-destructive behaviors, and use data-driven algorithms or pre-set rules to remove opportunities for impromptu, self-sabotaging choices.

4. Structure Life for Zero Decisions

Build a life where you make zero decisions about doing things you don’t really want to do, by structuring your environment and routines to eliminate willpower drain and regret.

5. Model Pain of Bad Choices

Mentally model the long-term negative consequences (pain) of an unhealthy choice to outweigh the immediate pleasure, thereby eliminating temptation and fostering better decision-making.

6. Segment Identity for Decisions

Segment your identity into different ‘selves’ (e.g., Morning You, Evening You) and pre-determine which ‘self’ has decision-making authority in specific situations to avoid present-moment self-sabotage.

7. Identify Your Core Motivation

Clearly define a strong, compelling end goal (e.g., participating in a spectacular future, fitting into clothes, specific physical outcome) to serve as the primary motivation for behavioral change.

8. Adopt ‘Don’t Die’ Philosophy

Adopt ‘Don’t Die’ as a foundational philosophy, encompassing individual longevity, avoiding harm to others, protecting the planet, and aligning AI with these objectives, to ensure presence for future advancements.

9. Take Baby Steps for Improvement

After prioritizing sleep, take small, incremental steps with exercise (e.g., daily walks) and diet (add good, reduce bad foods) to build momentum and gradually improve circumstances.

10. Establish Daily Exercise Rule

Commit to exercising every single day, allowing duration or scope to change, to remove internal negotiation and ensure consistent physical activity.

11. Eat Last Meal Early

Consume your last meal early in the day (e.g., 11:30 AM) to allow for complete digestion before bed, which significantly improves sleep quality by lowering resting heart rate.

12. Identify Sleep-Disrupting Foods

Actively measure and identify specific foods (e.g., carbohydrates, fried foods, sugar) that elevate your resting heart rate and impair your sleep, then avoid them, especially in the evening.

13. Position for Success with Sleep

View good sleep as ’easy mode’ for daily life, enhancing emotional regulation and your ability to handle challenges, rather than just preventing grumpiness.

14. Maintain Good Posture

Actively work on maintaining good posture to optimize blood flow (especially to the brain) and support overall health, potentially by strengthening specific muscles through physical therapy.

15. Create Family Posture Reminders

Establish a family habit of gently reminding each other to correct poor posture, fostering mutual support for health.

16. Manage Sun Exposure Mindfully

Avoid peak UV index times (above four) and get sun exposure in the morning and evening, using a high-quality sunscreen (e.g., Elta MD) to protect skin from aging and damage.

17. Avoid Environmental Pollutants

Actively avoid microplastics and other pollutants by using filtered water, ceramic/stainless steel cookware, and minimizing takeout materials.

18. Read Biographies for Reality

Invest time in reading biographies to gain diverse perspectives and understand reality across different times, places, and human experiences.

19. Delay Lifestyle Changes Post-Wealth

Upon receiving significant wealth, maintain your current lifestyle and habits for 6-12 months to avoid scrambling your reality and losing perspective on your true preferences.

20. Define Money’s Objectives

Clearly define your personal objectives for the money; otherwise, the money will dictate your life rather than serving your goals.

21. Anticipate Financial Expectations

Be aware that many people, including close ones, will likely expect more from you financially, leading to potential shifts in relationships and expectations.

22. Cultivate Empathy for Struggles

Practice empathy and understanding towards those who express hate or negativity, recognizing that their behavior often stems from their own internal struggles.

23. Adopt Positive View of Criticism

Adopt a positive, amused, and energized perspective towards hate and criticism, viewing it as a form of engagement rather than a personal attack, especially if you’ve overcome deeper personal struggles.

24. Implement ‘No on Phone’ Rule

Adopt a rule like Daniel Kahneman’s ’never say yes on the phone’ to delay decisions and avoid agreeing to things in the moment that are not truly aligned with your best interests.

25. Monitor Nighttime Erections (Males)

For males, monitor nighttime erections as a key biomarker for sexual health, psychological health, and cardiovascular health, recognizing their absence as a sign of insufficient sleep.

26. Consider Plasma for Parents

Explore plasma donation to older parents as a potential intervention to slow their biological aging, based on observed benefits in slowing a father’s aging speed.

27. Implement Hair Loss Protocol

If experiencing hair loss, consider a multi-faceted protocol including topical applications (e.g., minoxidil), red light therapy, specific shampoos, and advanced treatments like laser and exosome therapy.