Persistence

I was sitting and waiting to be called for a jury panel as I read the December issue of the APA Monitor. “The Real Secrets to a Longer Life” is an interview with Dr. Howard Friedman. Dr. Friedman has spent his career as a psychologist working with the longitudinal data first initiated by Lewis Terman, Ph.D., in 1921 with 1500 children.

Baby boomers are always drawn to such titles as: “The Real Secrets to a Longer Life.” We can’t help ourselves. At least with this article I can pretend I have a scientific motive operating as I see how my life compares to the data in Dr. Friedman’s study. (That’s another article!)  More importantly is the article’s relevance to the young adult population that I work with everyday.

According to the research, “ …persistence turns out to be one of the best predictors of health and long life.” Other factors his research supports for a long and healthy life include working hard in a meaningful career and maintaining healthy relationships. I work to help young adults who face major setbacks and obstacles that persistence and hard work matter more in the long run than immediate gratification and good intentions.

Dr. Friedman uses the example of  “… the unconscientious boys—even though very bright—were  more likely to grow up to have poor marriages, to smoke and drink more, achieve  less education, and be relatively unsuccessful at work. And they died at younger ages.”

I often tell my families that the young adults who I work with could arm-wrestle over IQ points. They are often very bright. What matters is can they engage that bright mind in learning, producing, and working towards goals? And also, can they find meaning in life? These are tall orders for immature young adults who need more time to grow and get there.