Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara is Japan’s oldest practicing clinician at 104-years-old, and is thought of by many as one of Japan’s national treasures.

He has authored over 150 books, and one of his best-sellers which topped 1.2 million copies sold is titled, “Living Long, Living Good.” He was born in 1911, and after the second world war Dr. Hinohara established a world-class hospital; St. Luke’s International Hospital, and also a highly sought after college; St. Luke’s College of Nursing, both of which are located in Tokyo, Japan. His organizations are ranked as two of the top within Japan, and his 14 pieces of advice on how to live a long and happy life just might be worth listening to.

1. Energy comes from feeling good, not from eating well or sleeping a lot.

Dr. Hinohara explains that children often have so much fun that they forget to eat and sometimes even to sleep. Staying youthful requires that we follow this example from children and have very few rules about mealtimes and bedtimes for ourselves. Stay focused on having fun.

2. Don’t be overweight.

Dr. Hinohara’s research found that the people who tend to live the longest are not overweight. He himself maintains a balanced diet, and he also implements olive oil into his diet regularly, and says that it helps to maintain the arteries and also creates healthy skin.

3. Always plan ahead.

The good doctor mentions that he always keeps a full schedule, often times planned an entire year in advance. He gives lectures, helps hospitals with their projects and helps many students who seek his advice.

4. You don’t have to retire.

Continuing to work is important when it’s something you love to do, and Shigeaki thinks people should only retire when they’re much older than 65.

5. Share what you know.

On average, Dr. Hinohara gives over 150 lectures a year, often times to public schools and younger children. Giving back to the community gives him joy, enjoy joy to stay standing for the entire 90 minutes at 104 years old, he says.

6. Don’t believe everything your doctor says or recommends.

Dr. Hinohara believes that doctors can’t cure everyone and everything. He recommends that patients get personal and ask their own physicians whether or not they would want their own loved ones to go through the recommended procedures that they advise you to do. If they don’t, then perhaps seeking alternative therapies is a better idea. Dr. Hinohara believes that music and animal therapies support healing in ways not yet recognized by the medical community.

7. In order to stay healthy, always take the stairs and carry your own belongings.

Japan is a place with escalators and elevators at every turn, but Dr. Hinohara chooses to get that extra exercise and take the stairs.

8. Be inspired.

The poem “Abt Vogler” by Robert Browning provided deep inspiration for Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara throughout his life. The poem speaks of drawing a circle so big that there is no way you can finish it while you are still alive. You can only see the arch, the rest is beyond your vision, yet it is always there in the distance.

9. Pain is mysterious.

He believes the best way to relieve pain is by forgetting it through having fun. He explains that if a child has a toothache, after he begins playing a game with that child, they immediately forget the pain. At his hospital St. Luke’s, they offer animal therapy, art classes and music therapy, all designed to focus on the creative and fun aspects of life, and meeting the deeper, more cerebral and spiritual needs of patients.

10. Don’t go overboard amassing material possessions.

He says that no one knows when they run out of time, and we won’t be taking anything material with us.

11. Science alone cannot cure or help people.

Science lumps all humans together medically in the same category, however illness varies individual to individual. Dr. Hinohara belives that each illness is unique and connected to each patients own emotional state and their heart. To be able to cure their illnesses, they need more liberal and visual arts, not just prescriptions and pills.

12. Life is most unpredictable.

Dr. Hinohara himself has lived through many traumatic experiences, but by viewing these experiences as experiments while going through them, he discovered that his body could slow down and adapt to difficult situations.

13. Find a role model.

A main role model for Dr. Hinohara was his father, who studied at Duke University in the US back in 1900. He says that we should strive to achieve more than our role models ever achieved, quite an inspiring take on life. Whenever he feels stuck, the good doctor asks himself how would his role models handle the situation or approach the problem.

14. It’s wonderful to live long.

Dr. Hinohara assures us that it is truly wonderful to live a long life. He recommends that our later years should be spent seeking to serve society in whatever way we can. Dr. Hinohara has been volunteering his time since the age of 65. He continues to work 18 hours a day, seven days each week, and he truly enjoys every minute of it.

The power of a sentence is tremendous. A single positive sentence can inspire someone to achieve the extraordinary, while a single destructive sentence can ruin somebody’s week or mood. Fortunately, there are some thought-provoking sentences that can give us the power needed to go on.

Here are 10 powerful sentences that can change your life for the better.

#1 “People aren’t against you; they are for themselves.”

#2 “Climb mountains not so the world can see you, but so you can see the world.”

#3 “You learn more from failure than from success; don’t let it stop you. Failure builds character.”

#4 “The most dangerous risk of all – The risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later”

#5 “Go where you’re celebrated, not where you’re tolerated.”

#6 “The person that you will spend the most time with in your life is yourself, so you better try to make yourself as interesting as possible.”

#7 “If you accept your limitations you go beyond them.”

#8 “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing.. that’s why we recommend it daily.”

#9 “Everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something, and has lost something.”

#10 “Comfort is the enemy of achievement.”

What is one sentence that you have heard or read and has made a great impact on your life?

We all see the world a little differently and through our own eyes; we each have our own unique perspective. These perspectives are shaped through our various life experiences and ideas.

The way we choose to see things stems from our chosen thoughts and resulting feelings, and helps to shape the reality we create for ourselves. Some people love watching a certain movie while others do not, and sometimes when two people observe a specific action done by someone else, they both have different takes on what happened. Sometimes the same object any two people see is interpreted in different ways by their brains, and these perspectives reveal hidden details about the personality. The following exercise is an analytical tool designed to help discover these subconscious secrets.




For this test, simply look at the following picture and take note of the first thing that you spot in the image. From your first glance, what did you see? Take note of it and we will explain what it could mean for you.

1. Face

Much like the face in the picture, various aspects of self growth interest you and you build your character like a puzzle. You strive to create the best version of yourself because you have seen the wonderful benefits that improving your thoughts and feelings can have, and success is very important to you.

In such a metaphor as the puzzle, you pick up pieces from things you learn throughout your life and put them together to form an ideal image of yourself.

These pieces can be material things (outside of you): clothes, accessories, electronics, friends, romantic partners and so on.

They can also be intangible things (inside of you): experiences, feelings, accomplishments, values, talents and memories that you use collectively to build your self-image.

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For you it can be important to remember that while you strive for perfection, that no one is perfect, it’s merely an illusion. Some would agree that you’re perfect just the way you are now.

Your strategy is natural and very okay, just make sure your main purpose is not chasing the approval of others.

2. Brain/Tree

Just like this tree which looks like a brain, knowledge and wisdom are both very important to you. Knowing your own psychology is of utmost importance, and this helps you to be a good judge of character when it comes to meeting and dealing with other people. Your friends may consider you to be somewhat of a wise philosopher. You can also have a tendency to overthink certain subjects, and staying rooted through physical exercise is very helpful for you to maintain your balance in life.

Your thirst for knowledge does not stop with just thinking, but can also extend to the realms of meditation and spirituality. You seek deep meaning about the nature of life; who am I, and why am I here?

The opinions of others do not easily sway you, as your firm grasp of what you know to be true through education helps you to hold your own in conversations.

Maintain your physical health through exercise and your emotional health through self compassion, and your mental ability is sure to be a bright light for those around you.

3. Birds and Nature

Like the birds in this image, you too feel that you are not confined by societies unnatural ‘box’ of expectations. The expectations of a ‘normal’ life hold no interest to you, as you desire freedom and the ability to follow your own heart more than anything else.

Conforming is not something you would ever seriously consider, as you love yourself enough to never give up your beautiful and inspiring individuality.

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Traveling and exploring the world; nature, scenery and different cultures is of great interest to you. Staying in the same place for too long and belonging to a routine can make life a little boring. Follow your heart and trust that when you act from a place of love, that it is in the right direction and is for the benefit of all.

It’s good for you to stay responsible, but let loose once in a while, or even more than once in a while.

Image Artist Credit: Igor Morski

Sometimes changing our daily routine or lifestyle can seem tough to do, however, it doesn’t have to be.

The benefits of making small positive changes in your lifestyle can be endless, leading to to an enriched and higher quality of life. It’s important to understand though that these positive changes only come when we make a decision and decide to take matters into our own hands. We are 100% responsible for our own lives, and knowing this, the joy that comes with it is the fact that we are able to create 100% of our own happiness by incorporating the healthy habits that can make just about any person on this beautiful Earth happy.




These positive tasks include what you need to integrate into your daily life over the next month so that their amazing results can come to benefit you.

First Week: Set Your Intentions

1. Wake up an hour earlier: Some of the best “me” time is in the morning after your mind has had time to rest. It is within the quiet stillness of your mind that your deepest and best motivations can come to light.

2. Journal and set your intentions: During this extra hour in the morning, begin by writing in a journal. Use this time to reflect on your thoughts, your goals and what you would like to achieve in life. Making a list of the top 5 things you want to accomplish each day has been shown to have magnificent results and to improve our efficiency in getting things done.

3. Exercise: That workout that you’ve been meaning to do for so long but couldn’t find the time for, this is your time. We all have the same 24 hours in the day, and how we choose to spend it determines the lifestyles we create and have for ourselves. Use this hour to practice Yoga, relaxing into some deep stretches that will have your body, feelings and mind feel great for your entire day.

Second Week: Cleansing Your Mind & Body

4. Get organized: To have a great flow in your life, you first need to clean your personal space. Clean and organize your living space so that it is productive and represents you bringing forth your highest self. Get rid of and donate items and clothes you no longer use. Dust, wash and mop everything so that you will be living in what becomes a refreshing space of productivity. Studies have shown that messy rooms generate anxiety, and by cleaning your living areas you’ll be creating the calm you need to succeed.

5. Improve your nutrition habits: We all know that changing our diets can be difficult to do, but the key to this plan is not eliminating the things that you love, but it’s simply finding healthier versions of the things you love. We don’t need to stop enjoying eating, we just need to find healthy meals that we truly enjoy. Try replacing sodas and coffees with tea and juice. Integrate fruits salads into at least one meal each day. Remove processed foods. Go organic. Take a multi-vitamin. Our bodies usually spend a lot of energy, vitamins and minerals processing the fried and processed foods that fast food chains offer. Making small changes in your diet upgrades your fuel from unleaded to premium, and your body will thank you for it.

6. Turn off your TV: The mindsets offered by the shows on TV are not going to give you a happy life. They are constantly programmed to sell negativity, to sell beauty images implying that you’re not already good enough just as you are, and to sell products that we don’t need. Replace the time you spend watching TV with something that equally relaxes you and that you’re passionate about: read a book in an area you’re interested in, take a walk somewhere beautiful, call a loved one and ask how they’re doing. Chances are you won’t look back on your life and wish you’d watched more TV, but you might wish you had spent more time living the life you’d always dreams of, and the way to get there is by making small changes in your daily routines.

Third Week: Work through your social life

7. Take some time to think about your social life, your friends and your family: Who do you feel empowered around? Who drains your energy? Who helps to bring out the best version of you? Make a list and spend this month giving 90% of your time with the people who bring you up in life. The people we surround ourselves with affect our daily moods and also the lifestyles we create.

8. Make a new positive habit at work: Whether it’s deciding to go the extra mile on work projects, or to add a new reward for yourself each time you complete a challenging task, make a new and positive habit for yourself that you practice while at work. You could decide to treat yourself to a yummy meal after finishing your busiest day of the week, or could plan to finish all of your tasks the day before they are usually due. This new habit should be one that empowers and encourages you in a way that you enjoy, so be creative and think of something fun.

9. Practice kindness: Studies have shown that we feel better about ourselves when we practice kindness and compassion to those around us and also to strangers. Do something this week that is completely selfless and that will make another person smile. These beautiful acts of love can often provide the missing meaning to our lives, and deep within our hearts we know that this is part of our true calling.

Fourth Week: Expand your limits

10. Try living in a different way: have an adventure and leave your comfort zone. Sometimes there are things in life that we would absolutely fall in love with, but we haven’t experienced them yet simply because we haven’t tried them. This week try a different kind of meal, go for a new kind of exercise class, buy a different style of clothing or personal hygiene product. Routines can make life go by too quickly and can also be boring, so spice life up a bit and try something new.

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11. Plan a vacation: Think of somewhere you’ve always wanted to go or something you’ve always wanted to do, and write down everything you need to do to get there. Then, plan to start saving for it. Maybe there’s a different country or another culture you’ve always wanted to experience. Learning about new cultures is a great way to expand and enhance our own understanding of ourselves and how much we’ve been influenced by our own cultures. Take this step in living a life that you enjoy.

12. Take a break: Realize that all of these things can’t happen if you’re stressed or overwhelmed, so give yourself time to relax, and to practice acts of self-care. Take a nap, get a massage, take a warm bath. Do something that you know helps you to relax and will leave you feeling refreshed. Change is never easy, but it’s needed to bring into your life the things that make it enjoyable and worth living.

Dating is often seen as a process of trial and error, one where we search for the good in another person while keep an eye out for any red flags. While our partners often capture our attention and our hearts, and that’s why we’re with them, it can be easy to let small mistakes frustrate us and cause us to question the relationship. It’s important to keep a positive attitude and to realize that no one is perfect, to ‘not sweat the small stuff’, especially when it comes to relationships. Especially when they are a partner who has certain habits that will lead to a healthy, loving and satisfying relationship.

When it comes to determining if a relationship will be truly satisfying, it’s important to listen to what professional psychologists have discovered during their research in their studies on relationships. The go-to-guide for the past several decades for thousands of psychologists on what determines if a relationship will succeed is Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love; a comprehensive study that mapped out the three major important areas of any relationship. Sternberg’s study uses data to predict that if the two of you have a 90% match in all three areas, you will likely have found your ideal match. These three important areas are; Intimacy, Passion and Commitment.

From Intimacy, which encompasses the feelings of closeness, connectedness, and bondedness one experiences in loving relationships, to passion, which encompasses the drives that lead to romance, physical attraction, and sexual consummation, to decision and commitment, which encompasses, in the short term, the decision that one loves another, and in the long term, the commitment to maintain that love, each of these three components of the Triangular Theory of Love have skills that can be developed to maximize a couple’s potential of reaching the desired consummate, or complete romantic love.

If you notice your partner doing one, five, or even all eleven of these things with you, psychology says you have found a great partner and should keep them in your life:

1. They are able to really listen to you

Whether you’ve had a great day and want to share your good news, or it’s been an exhausting day and you need someone to vent to, your partner is able to take time to compassionately listen to you, to hear your needs, and to reflect back your feelings to you in a gentle way. Having someone who gently listens and can listen for your feelings, and the needs behind those feelings, is deeply relieving and is a key aspect to a healthy relationship.

2. You are their biggest priority outside of themselves

They love being with you for the simple reason that it just feels right. You know they have your best interests in mind when making plans, making decisions and even when doing simple things such as deciding what to cook for dinner. They are passionately in love with you and are thinking of you often enough that you can see it, and it causes you to feel loved.

3. They desire the same amount of commitment as you

A key factor to having a satisfying relationship is that both partners desire the same level of commitment. Once you know what kind of commitment you desire; dating, a relationship, marriage, kids, seeing each other every day, or just a few times per week, etc, it’s very important that your partner shares their desired level of commitment with you; and that it matches! If you both are looking for the same with each other, then you’ve found someone special.

4. They don’t mind going out of their way for you

If you forgot to pick up something at the store, or if you’re not feeling well and really want that one soup that only your favorite restaurant can make, your partner is willing to go get these things for you because they love you. Showing compassionate support is a key component of intimacy.

5. They genuinely love themselves and are able to love you more because of it

The practice of self compassion is vital to a healthy relationship, because if we cannot love ourselves fully, we cannot love another fully. The key to having healthy and successful relationships always starts with the self, and when you’ve found someone who knows how to practice loving themselves, you can be sure they will use their heart and love as a guide when making their decisions with you.

6. Respectful

They value your opinion and seek to understand your point of view, rather than arguing against it all of the time. Their maturity when it comes to handling feelings and conversations helps you feel safe and trust them when it comes to important issues.

7. They are open about their sexual needs and listen to yours

Having a healthy passion and sexuality within a relationship is one of the three components of Sternberg’s triangular theory of love, and it’s important to take this seriously. A partner who understands this and openly communicates their sexual needs to you, and compassionately listens to and compliments yours, is valuable and can keep your love life satisfying and enjoyable. It’s also very important that the two of you desire the same level of sexual contact, as if one partner desires more or less than the other, it can lead to problems in the future. If your partner’s and your desires have a 90%+ match, then this is a person worth keeping.

8. They show you their vulnerable side

Being vulnerable in a relationship and showing each other our sensitivities is what it means to be intimate. The age-old idea that men are like stone and women are overly sensitive does not fly when it comes to healthy relationships. Both partners need to open up and share their vulnerabilities with each other, and in turn show love and care during these times.

9. They want their life to be with you

Your partner genuinely enjoys you and wants you to be a part of their life for the long-term. You don’t question their commitment because they’ve told you exactly what it is, and it matches yours. Their actions are consistent with their words, and you know this person will stay by your side.

10. They’re always honest with you

Whether it’s good or seemingly bad, you can be sure they’ll be honest with you and tell you the whole story. Honesty is the foundation of trust, and your partner knows this. If your partner is honest with you even when it comes to the difficult things and their mistakes, you can trust that they’re telling you the truth, and are doing their best.

11. You can count on them in times of need

High levels of intimacy are greatly desired in a relationship, and intimate relationships play a central role in the overall human experience. Humans have a natural desire to belong and to love, and this desire can be satisfied in intimate relationships (Perlman, 2007). Sternberg’s definition of intimacy includes the ‘desire to promote the welfare of the loved one’ as well as ‘being able to count on the loved one in times of need’ (Sternberg & Grajek, 1984). When your partner is there for you when you need it the most, you’ve found someone who knows the true meaning of family and a loving relationship.