I know people who “got old” in their 30s. I have friends who in their mid 80s still carry hundred-pound stacks of bricks to do masonry work, because it interests them and they’re good at it. If you follow my work, you know that I lean heavily on the concept of purpose as a way to find meaning in your life and to be productive and healthy. For now, I want to focus on one side effect of purpose that helps people remain vital and relevant regardless of how many revolutions around the sun they have completed. No matter what your situation, it turns out it is essential to keep moving.

Why Stop?

I have heard it said that “aging is the aggressive pursuit of comfort.” While this certainly can be a trend, it is not relegated solely to senior citizens.

Newton’s First Law of Motion is in effect here, physically, psychologically and in terms of lifestyle. Old Isaac’s (well, actually he was only 22 or 23 when he discovered the Laws he would later publish as the Principia, when he was 44. Cambridge was closed - ‘cause of the plague and all - so he was just chillin’; you know, inventing calculus and revolutionizing physics, probably because Xbox hadn’t yet been invented. But I digress.) First Law of Motion says that a body at rest tends to stay at rest.

This is why those weights are heavy at the gym. They don’t lift themselves and they really want to stay on the rack or the floor. It takes energy to move them from their resting state. Just like your butt on the couch or in bed. You really don’t want to get up and move when that alarm goes off or when that episode of your favorite show is over. Worse still is the amount of effort it takes to make a major lifestyle change. It is SO difficult to change the direction of ingrained habits.

But here’s the good news: The Laws of Motion work in your favor as well.

Why Move?

Newton’s First Law goes on to say that a body in motion tends to stay in motion. The principle holds not just for classical mechanics, but also in your psyche and actions. Once you start to do those 10,000 steps every day, you want to continue! Once you conceive of a better life and take the first steps in that direction, you become hell-bent on achieving your goals.

TLDR: once you start moving, you want to keep moving.

We have all heard the cliché - but accurate - advice to “stay active.” Clichés are clichés because they have at least a modicum of truth. But I need to make a distinction.

Keeping busy for the sake of busyness is better than doing nothing at all, but not by much. The fact that we are so powerfully motivated by dopamine reward circuits is testament to the fact that we humans are at our best when we are in pursuit of a meaningful goal. This is where mindset and purpose come into play, as they inevitably do when talking about self-actualization.

We know that we need to remain physically active, no matter what our age or situation. The health benefits of physical activity are well documented. But movement goes beyond the physical, and starts before the movement itself.

Where to Move

Purposeful activity begins with a thought. It starts with understanding that activity in pursuit of a goal is good for us in terms of body, mind and spirit. But that realization is not enough. We have to move beyond the mere construct and make a personal decision that we intend to be active, physically, mentally and spiritually.

The first two steps - understanding and deciding - are not difficult and tend to happen fairly quickly. For those who get this far in the process, the next question requires more soul-searching and is where people get stuck: towards what shall we move?

The long answer is that we should move towards our purpose in all things. To pursue purpose is to move intentionally towards a lifestyle that brings sustainable happiness and benefits others around us. Exactly how that is done is the topic of hundreds of thousands of words, many of which I have written, and many more I will undoubtedly write in the future.

The short answer is it doesn’t really matter, at least to get started. Pick something that looks interesting and go for it. In most life matters, action trumps philosophy. You can work out the details later, but the important thing is to start moving.

Think of it in terms of body, mind and spirit. In each case do something that you already know to be enjoyable and beneficial, or try something new that sounds like it might be.

The worst that can happen is that you will change activities and move onto something else. The best that has happened is that you have already started to move.

How to Move

Start with a physical movement that you enjoy. Don’t be influenced by the gym bros on social media who tell you you need to spend $1000 on a month on hormone replacement and creatine and steroids and special, rare nutrients taken from mushrooms that grow on the dung of an albino water buffalo that lives above 18,000 feet in a section of the Himalayas blessed by the Dalai Lama. Just start moving. Maybe you like to walk. Maybe you enjoy running. Maybe you would rather take a swim or a bike ride. It doesn’t matter. Just start.

The same goes for mental activity. Sudoku and crossword puzzles are fun and way better than not doing anything except watching TV. But you are much more likely to sustain your mental pursuits if they are in service of your goals.

Learn to do something new. Or get better at something you already know how to do. Learn a new language, take an online course on programming or photography or knitting or woodworking or whatever floats your cognitive boat. Take a course at the local community college. Hell, go get a degree in something that interests you. In my decades as a professor, I had many students in their 60s and 70s who had become bored and realized that they wanted to add formal knowledge to their life experience. In every case, they were the best, happiest, and most motivated of students. None of them regretted a moment of the effort it took to get their degrees.

Likewise, find something that brings you peace and pursue it. It doesn’t matter whether you practice Kabbalah or Catholicism, Eastern mysticism or the Western Mystery Tradition. Go to the beach and breathe in sync with the waves as they come in and out. Or simply sit mindfully in your garden and enjoy the stillness.

These activities can be as relaxing or as strenuous as you desire. If you are training for an ultramarathon while you’re finishing your residency in neurosurgery between bouts of becoming ordained as a Buddhist monk, I say go for it (you definitely will be able to sell books based on that later). If you would rather take a walk every morning and sip tea while you read your Bible, then do that.

The important thing is to start that motion that will then tend to stay in motion.

Keep Moving

This is your life. Do with it as you please, but make sure that there is purpose and progress in the doing: keep moving.

This is how, in my personal life, in the extensively documented scientific literature, and in decades of my professional experience, that you enjoy life the most for the longest.

Am I saying that when you avoid mental and physical stagnation, you will tap into the mythical fountain of youth? Maybe.

And, while this is a topic best examined another time, here’s a tip on how to get the most bang for your buck in this whole “being alive” thing: share what you learn with as many people as will listen.

Love, joy, and knowledge are increased when given away.



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To learn more about how to use these concepts or to inquire about working with me, you can contact me on the Hardcore Happiness website, the comments section on my Substack or Medium accounts or the Hardcore Happiness blog page. If you have found value in this article, follow my Instagram account for daily insights, or my X account for occasional tweets. To support this community, you can Buy Me A Coffee or donate through my Patreon account.

- JWW