People who live longer, happier lives tend to have some commonalities: strong social connections, healthier diets, a positive attitude.
They also have high levels of a specific personality trait: conscientiousness.
Of the big five personality traits — openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism — conscientiousness, or how organized and disciplined you are, is the most related to longevity, David Watson, a former professor of personality psychology at the University of Notre Dame, told CNBC Make It.
This is likely because people with high degrees of conscientiousness are better at taking care of themselves. They tend to drink alcohol in moderation and eat more balanced meals, he says.
“Conscientious people don’t do stupid things so they have lower rates of accidents and better health behaviors,” Watson says.
If you’re not someone who follows through on doctor’s appointments or social obligations, this could hurt your chances of living a longer more joyful life.
There are ways to fix this though. For her new book “Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change,” Olga Khazan interviewed dozens of people who were trying to up their levels of conscientiousness.
“The big challenge with conscientiousness is that a lot of the tasks related to it are very tedious and boring and not fun,” she says.
The big challenge with conscientiousness is that a lot of the tasks related to it are very tedious and boring and not fun.
She found that the most effective strategy for people struggling with being responsible was something called episodic future thinking.
Also known as EFT, this is the practice of imagining specific, personal situations you want to occur in the future as if they are happening right now.
“For a lot of the people who I interviewed to increase and conscientiousness, it seems like it was very important to have a bigger goal or a bigger project that they needed conscientiousness in order to achieve,” she says.
Let’s say you want to learn how to speak French, but can’t seem to get yourself to practice. Imagining yourself speaking fluent French might make going to lessons feel more exciting. If you want to landscape your backyard before summer starts, but dread going to Home Depot, picturing yourself sitting in a pristine garden could make the trip feel more less daunting.
All of the small, boring steps do eventually result in your achieving a goal. And imagining yourself already at the finish line can inspire you to actually get there.
Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.
Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.
