March 2026-Longevity

Longevity gets a lot of buzz. Maybe people like to bet on an uncertain outcome, take a chance or gamble, I don’t know. Maybe the appeal is beating the odds? For me it’s enough to just work on not losing function.

Bryan Johnson is a venture capitalist and entrepreneur who has taken longevity to the extreme. He’s been known to swap blood with his son and he spends millions monitoring and enhancing factors that influence the speed of biological aging.

Johnson has created a new sport out of health. Humans love games, games with points. He co-created the Rejuvenation Olympics, ranking people’s speeds of aging. Anybody can compete; it’s open to all. Johnson is currently ranked No. 1 on the leaderboard, based on a blood test that purports to measure the pace of biological aging.

He’s different, so naturally he is critiqued and criticized. He calls himself a “rejuvenation athlete” and responds to his critics with, “When LeBron James sleeps well, eats well, and prioritizes sleep, nobody is critical of his protocols. They admire his athleticism on the basketball court. And yet, people are critical of my protocols because they don’t understand the context within which they are being done.”

Johnson is now accepting applications for his program he called “Immortals.” More than 1,500 people applied for three spots, for which they’ll pay Johnson $1,000,000 annually for access to his protocols.

If you read what I write, you’ll notice that most of my information is deciphered from original research, journal and clinical reports. Not too much different from what Johnson follows, except for the costly monitoring and blood swapping. The problem with Johnson’s program as I see it is most everything is done indoors, away from everything that matters; sunlight, mud, dirt, wind, pelting rain—the conditions we love.

I’m not saying one approach is better than another. It comes down to what you want. The difference between what Lebron James does and what Johnson does is performance. Johnson’s goal is “don’t die.” LeBron wants to stay on the court, competing at the top of his game.

That’s what I prefer. The longevity I am working toward is performance longevity. I don’t want to just live, being ejected out of a power recliner chair. I want to be hiking, climbing and fly-fishing in remote, roadless Wilderness Areas.

What do you want? With a little effort, you can develop your own protocol and teach yourself what you need to age far better than the status quo. You don’t need anything special, just insight, mindset, and a plan. Drive comes out of knowing your why. Then effort comes naturally. You shift from I must to I want. Effort that was once exertion becomes rhythm and flow.

The Lancaster Fly-Fishing Show

I will be at the Lancaster Show Author’s Booth at 1:30PM on March 14, and presenting at 3:00PM.  Stop by and introduce yourself!

Book

My book, The Ageless Angler: A Guide to Fly-Fish More as You Age