What age do you think you will die?

Dan Sullivan, the creator of Strategic Coach, a coaching business that has helped thousands of entrepreneurs around the world over the last 25-years, plans on living to 156 years of age.  Sullivan coaches participants in his courses to pick the age they think they will die.  This is often based on statistics, family history, and perhaps perceptions about one’s current health.  Next, participants are asked to describe each aspect of their life one year previous to that year.  If you select 82 years of age, then you describe what your life (relationships, finances, physical health, purpose, etc.) will look like at 81.  Then, he challenges his audience to imagine that they live beyond that age.  That everything goes right.  How much longer could they live?  Most participants state that they could live an additional 10-15 years.  He asks, “What would you do with these additional 10-15 years?”  And then he asks, “And when would you want to take them?”  Most participants, say, “now.”

This exercise, “The Lifetime Extender” changes our perceptions about what is possible in our life.  It reminds us that we still have time.  It reminds us that our future could be brighter than our past.  It changes how we think about our present capabilities and resources.

Sullivan suggests that it also teaches us how to prioritize our time.  According to Sullivan, all of his decisions are aligned with his plans to live to 156.  This means, for example, that each morning starts out with a commitment to exercise and that nothing gets in the way of this exercise.

What is your number?  And how many extra years can you get?  What will you do with those years?  What do you need to do now in order to make this a possibility?

For more: Read Sullivan’s book My Plan for Living to 156 (about a 90 minute read).