Know that to everything, there’s nuance. Life exists in the grey area between the black and white of extremism. It’ll help you to not take things so seriously until you know they warrant being taken seriously.

All else is sensationalist bullshit.

Just off the top of my head:

• If It’s at all possible, retire early! Look into FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early)
• Carry as little debt as possible
• Max out your 401k (otherwise you’re leaving money on the table!), build a savings account, and maintain at least 6 months’ expenses worth of cash in an emergency account
• Where you can, plan ahead for large purchases (e.g., vacations, new roof) and make them in cash instead of financing them
• Minimize consumption of goods to maximize financial power (i.e., don’t get sucked into lifestyle creep!)
• Do spend money on things that are high-quality and will last
• Lift heavy things often
• Don’t skip cardio
• Hydrate!
• Use sunblock (physical >>> chemical)
• Get your routine medical stuff (e.g., mammograms start at 40), even the uncomfortable ones (colonoscopy!), and don’t wait until minor things become major to get them checked out
• Be calm, rational, and intentional in your interactions with others, and if you’ve behaved poorly, give a heartfelt apology. This is especially important with your significant other.
• Pay closer attention to your parents’ needs - they are aging and will start to need help they may not be willing to ask for
• Don’t be afraid to remove bullshit from your life. That one “friend” who you never want to hang out with because they just drain your energy? It’s OK to let that friendship go.

I don’t have kids so no advice there.

Wear sunglasses that wrap around and protect your eyes. Wear the kind that work, not just the fashionable kind.

Do whatever you can to get away. Even for just 3 day weekends. Even just camping should be inexpensive enough.

If you can afford more … Get as far away as possible. Stop making excuses.

40 is where your slow decline from your 20s and 30s starts to accelerate.

Be more active, but not so active you risk injury.

Geez. This thread is making me feel like I should be in pain 24/7.

I just turned 47. It was around 41 when I realized my body was changing, less testosterone, less muscle mass. The new routine in 2020 of working from home was a major physical hurdle for me to deal with. All sorts of pains I never had before. Stretching, walking, sleeping, hydrating, eating better all helped with weight gain and stiffness. Pretty much what everyone else is saying here. For me though, it was (slightly) more about the work life transition than the getting older part.

What I would add to the conversation is to appreciate your memories.

As we get older and the people around us start fading away, I’ve found I’m spending a lot of time gathering photos and videos and collecting things that have special memories associated with them. I’ve been frustrated recently that we (my friends and family) do the same things year over year or even week after week and all those memories start to blur together as we get older. The exception to this is if there’s kids involved because you get to see them grow up so fast.

Make fresh memories. Embrace the ones you’ve made. Preferably all ‘good’ ones.

And I really want to promote the idea of printing photos, hanging them on your walls, and getting photobooks made. My uncle (who didn’t have a partner or kids) recently passed and he had all these photos hidden on his phone. He also had a bunch of printed pictures from the '70s through the '90s that I’m in the process of scanning. We have this great technology to capture awesome images at any moment but they often get forgotten immediately after they’re taken. Print your pics and have photobooks made that can be physically passed around and handed down. Sure, we can share digital stuff easily today but tech changes and people loose touch. As cool as image galleries are on our phones and how the AI curates them for us, there’s still something very special about holding a few dozen printed photos to look through. Like, Spotify playlists are great for what they are but holding a few CDs or records in your hands is a great thing too.

#1. Don’t get fat.

Most physical things are use it or lose it, so don’t slow down, move around, have sex, dance, lift weights and definitely do yoga but:

The one physical effect I’ve suffered getting older is that it takes for fucking ever to heal or recover. So don’t neglect rest and recovery either. Especially with lifting, every other day may work better now.

Don’t get old too soon, because then if you live a long time, you might be old for decades, wait until you are closer to the end to get old.

Most of all - enjoy! Enjoy life, now you have more experience and can feel it more. Like really look around at all the amazing things in the world. Even now. So much beauty, so much joy.

53m here.

Get into a work out routine. Particularly one that keeps your core strong. Back issues are just a few years away.

I am sitting here with a disk bulge between L4 and L5 and the bulge hits my sciatic nerve perfectly. My right leg has felt asleep for two years now and I’ve had to take gabapentin every day to keep the pain away. It’s a very minor bulge and non-operable, it just in the exact wrong spot.

Don’t let that happen to you.

I felt pretty good at 40. By the time that decade ended I was a wreck physically. I would appreciate your health if you still have it. And use it if you still have it.

You’ll need a nose hair trimmer. Avoid anything electric that’s overpriced garbage breaking after three uses, get one of those manual rotary ones. There’s also non-stabby small scissors but the rotary ones are much nicer to use.

Also if you aren’t fit yet now is high time to get there. Primarily focus on mobility and with that strength in all those small muscles your (statistically presumably) fucked-up movement habits have atrophied. Start here.

Whatever bit of fitness you may have - start honing it. Honestly, the massive physical slide didn’t start at 40, that came later, but if I’d started working out and really paying attention to my diet at 40 maybe I wouldn’t be the round ball of blubber that I am now. I say this as a guy who was fairly active and fit during most of my twenties to early thirties.

Never lie down as you may not be able to get back up again.

Enjoy it. I’m so much more comfortable with myself in my forties than it was in, say, my twenties. I’m much happier being me.

Also - life isn’t over. I’ve been surprised at the prevailing ageism that seems too suggest that there’s no point taking up any new hobbies or learning anything because you’re just too old now for there to be a point. This is nonsense. You’ve very likely got as many decades in front of you as behind you - maybe more.

Also: use sunscreen.

Smoke weed erry day

Be proactive about your health.