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Of all the high priority activities you re now doing in your life, what could be more important than those that promote your ability to increase the quality and length of your life? Here are five major steps that you must start developing now to accomplish this.

There are of course some uncontrollable causes of death. But there are many causes of premature death over which you have total control. These are the areas that we are going to explore, which if acted on in a sincere manner will allow you to live a longer and more healthful life.

1 - Improve Your Attitude Toward Life

If you want to live longer, start by improving your attitude toward all aspects of your life. It has been well established that being an optimist will add more than seven years to your lifespan. Your habitually cheerful outlook can actually boost your immune system and reduce the probability of contracting various diseases.

2 - Improving Your Longevity Through Better Nutrition

Your nutrition plays a major role in your healthy longevity. Recent studies indicate that as much as 80% of heart disease and 90% of diabetes can be traced to unhealthful eating. And of course, we all know the negative consequences of any level of obesity. Cutting calorie input is probably one of the most important factors in improving your health and longevity.

Also, I am a strong advocate of taking supplements to enhance ones diet. With nutrient depleted farm soil becoming more common, and having to resort to the greater use of strong fertilizers to offset this makes our food less nutritious than in the past.

May I suggest eating an oatmeal and raison based breakfast, having a piece of fruit for lunch and a reasonable proportioned dinner each day.

3 * Reduce Unnecessary Everyday Stress

Monitor yourself throughout the day and observe what causes an increase in your stress level. Being self-aware of what causes stress in your life is a major step in reducing or eliminating it. When you detect yourself becoming stressed, step back and examine the situation. For me, just becoming aware of stressful situations is a major step forward.

During each day, picture yourself as a small bird sitting on your shoulder, ever watchful of what's going on in your life. Often you can break the pattern leading up to being stressed by interrupting what you are doing and perhaps performing some light physical exercise.

Consider setting aside 15 minutes a day to meditate. Don*t worry about the loss of time, your increased subsequent productivity will more than make up for it.

4 - Develop the Habit of Daily Exercise

Physical inactivity causes muscle loss and a weakened immunity system, which may contribute to the shortening of your life span. When you do not do regular exercises your muscles get smaller causing you to tire more quickly, get sore too easily, which discourages you from continuing to do exercises.

To the extent possible, interlace your day with several 10 minutes periods of exercise, followed by perhaps three times a week taking brisk 30-minute walks.

5 * Improve Your Lifestyle

Most of the lifestyle factors you have heard before. But how seriously have you addressed them in your life?

- Eliminate smoking! This is the number one cause in shortening your life. A shocking 18% of all deaths can be attributed to smoking.

- The next major cause of death is poor diet and physical inactivity.

- Car crashes will be minimized by practicing defensive safe driving techniques. These are particularly important as we age and our sensory skills tend to become poorer.

- Alcohol consumption contributes to over 3% of all deaths. Stick to your daily one drink of red wine.

In conclusion, without having to make major sacrifices, there are a number of areas you can improve upon to live a longer and more healthful life. I challenge you to stand up and starting now, take full responsibility for enhancing your own life.