And now for something completely human

Thank you, John.

I guess I'm, sorry.

I feel as though I need to take everything every one of the speakers has just said, which has all been amazing, and jam it into a syringe in your arm.

So fasten your seat belts.

Good news everybody.

We've all been very, good and because we've been very good.

We are now living far longer than we ever have.

Now here's the thing, if you are reasonably well at age 65, you have a better than 50% chance of making it well to age 90.

This is of some import to me because I'm going to be 62 in a week and nothing has fallen off yet, so I'm looking pretty good for making it to 90.

Now, most of you folks are in the room.

How many of you are over 50?

45, I should say.

So Okay.

About 60% of the folks in the room.

So you have about half of your lives ahead of you, and that's raising a question, which is looking I can't believe I forgot to plan for my longevity, which is what I wanna talk about, because no one wants to spend the end of their life sad and alone and getting sicker.

And it turns out the even better news here is that we have cracked that as well.

I'm going to give you three simple techniques.

Note that I said simple, not easy.

Three simple techniques for ensuring that long life is as a amazing and wonderful and healthy and as long as it can be.

And you say, mark, what are those three techniques?

It's very simple.

You have to stay active, you have to stay connected, and you have to stay contributing.

Let me unroll these for you.

Stage one, staying active.

Now, it is vitally important to stay physically active.

If you don't stay physically active, you start to rust.

And when you start to rust, getting started again is really hard.

So to within the bounds that you can handle and your GP will let you handle and your physio.

And I saw my physio right before I came here today, will let you handle.

You need to stay physically active.

Because, and this is the thing no one told us, but I know for sure now bad news folks, the older you get, the harder you have to work.

It used to be that we would think that old people had a limited supply of vital energy, and so we told them to slow down when they were getting older.

Turns out that was a really bad idea.

In fact, the older you get, the harder you have to work.

Alright, that's really important.

That's moving the body, but there's a deeper, bigger question about activity.

What moves you?

What moves you in your gut?

What moves you in your heart?

What moves you in your head?

What motivates you to move in this world?

Do you know?

Can you touch that?

Can you bring that forward?

Can you use that to motivate you?

You need to find those places in yourself, where you are active, where you are moved, and bring those forward.

Because if you don't, you will start to rust in your soul, in your heart, and in your mind.

So you need to think about always staying active.

Next up, connect.

Now, it's interesting that I am doing this just a few hours after Australia made social media illegal for everyone under 16 in this country because, and I would want to iterate this point as much as I can.

Physical connection is vastly preferable to virtual connection.

And in fact, the further we get into virtual connection, the more we see that maybe it wasn't a good idea at all, and we need to put it back in its box and take it out behind the shed and bury it quietly.

We need to connect with one another as often as amazingly, as completely as possible if we don't connect.

What happens as we get older is our social circles become smaller and smaller.

And that kills us.

That kills us as much as staying in one place and not working out.

So what I want you to do right now, I want you to look around this room.

I'm looking around this room and there are just amazing people wherever I am looking in this room, and keep that in mind that this is the best room you will be in this year to connect.

And so my challenge to you is to keep that in mind and to only connect.

That connecting is the key.

We need one another, and we'll come to why in just a little bit.

Finally, contributing.

You need to ask yourselves just as I need to ask myself, what have we given?

What are we giving?

What are we providing from what moves us, from what we're connected to, who we're connected to?

That allows us to share from what we are with one another.

We remember giving is much better than receiving.

Yes, receiving is great.

Giving keeps you young.

Giving keeps you vital.

If you don't give, the rust builds up and you freeze into place.

Now, here's another thing we didn't get told.

The older you get, the more you have to give because you've had more experience, but you need to read that another way too.

The older you get, the more you have to give.

An older person shouldn't be sitting alone.

Not giving an older person should be continually in a giving mode because that is the way to be happy when you're old.

That is the way to live a long and happy life.

Alright, so we've covered the basics.

Now we understand that we need to be active, we need to be physically active in our bodies and in our souls and in our minds.

We need to be connected to one another and we need to be contributing.

Now let's land this right here 'cause this is not a theoretical talk.

This is an activation, folks for today.

Because here we are.

We are all in this room.

We are all amazing people probably.

So the first thing we need to keep in mind today, take away.

Always be active.

So yes, be physically active.

Make sure you get walkies in today 'cause you're gonna be spending a lot of time sitting in this room.

That's important.

But always be looking for those things inside of you that are active inside of you.

The things that move you.

Look for them, touch them, share them, bring them forth.

Always, be active.

Second, always be connecting.

It's funny because I know you won't reckon it.

I'm actually a shy guy and it's gonna be really easy for me today to hang out.

Like I can take a look at this entire front row, I know and pretty much love everyone in this entire front row.

I could just hang out with my friends today.

I have to make a conscious decision to be swarmed by all of you.

And if you guys don't come up and say hello and connect with me after this.

I'm gonna find you myself.

Always be connecting.

You will not get a better chance this year to find a room full of amazing, bright like-minded people to connect with.

This is the moment, and next always be contributing.

And contribution is a two-way street.

You can contribute by listening to what someone else is saying.

You can contribute by saying something that someone else needs to hear.

It works either way, but the point is to be leaning into the contributing.

You don't want any rust on your activity.

You don't want any rust on your connecting.

You don't want any rust on your contributing.

So as we go out to morning tea.

My request to you is go and meet each other.

You are amazing people.

It is my privilege to be in this room with you.

And remember, treasure this moment because you are in this room, at this place, at this time with this incredible opportunity to be active, to connect and to collaborate.

And here's the thing.

That plan for our lives to be active and contributing and connecting.

It can't just land in us.

We are not, as Nicholas pointed out, saints, we have to build the systems that will support us in doing the right things.

This is our own little island universe Today.

We get to make the rules for what our behavior is, what our norms are, and how we will support each other.

So remember that in this, we are not alone.

We need one another.

Because it turns out at the end of the day, the secret to long life is not a magic pill.

It's not an exercise regime.

It's us.

It's always been us, and it always will be us.

So please take this opportunity, be active with one another.

Connect with one another, collaborate, contribute, and thank you.