If you’re a sober, highly strung, fretty type you might find this cheering…a much-talked-about new book The Longevity Project, reveals cheery types die younger than the more sober, serious humanoid.
Howard Friedman and Leslie Martin, two psychologists, draw on a study of school kids by Stanford University that started in the 1920s to find what makes us live longer. It tracked these kids to their deaths.
The answer? Conscientiousness
Which is to say, “the often complex pattern of persistence, prudence, hard work, close involvement with friends and communities” which produces a well-organized person who is “somewhat obsessive and not at all carefree.”
Obsessive and not at all carefree?!! As an obsessive, rarely carefree individual this makes my day. It effectively confirms that my trying so hard at EVERYTHING actually pays off. It’s not uncool. Nor unnecessary. It has purpose. Even if it does mean I’ll be obsessive and rarely carefree for longer!