I was recently introduced to a fantastic info-graphic from Holland and Barrett called ‘The Good Life Research.’ We all know Holland and Barrett to be one of the biggest and best health food stores in the UK. It goes without saying that everyone would like to lead a good life but what exactly does that mean?

I currently live my life with a “life’s too short” message constantly going around in my head. The truth being that it is! Every second counts, so you should live your life to the max. Having two young kids certainly keeps my Wife and I on our toes. We’re constantly reminded, “kids grow up too fast” and “don’t blink because you’ll miss it.” We wish at times that some people would just let us enjoy the moments without being constantly reminded that they don’t last for long.

Everyone is different, which is what makes the world go around. There are no right or wrong answers here. If you are like me and work Monday to Friday, then weekends equal family time. If a good life to you is going to watch football regularly, then I suppose that’s fine too. Life is like one big pie chart. You need to section each part of your life and prioritise your time.

I believe that as long as you’re happy and the people closest to you are happy, then that’s an example of a good life. Health and fitness may or may not play a role in this. For me, this is an important factor. A healthy person is a happy person, I recently wrote this and it got a good reaction.

Holland and Barrett recently surveyed 4000 people, 2000 of them were 20-30 years old and the remaining 2000 were 50-65 year olds. Why? To find differences between people in their twenties now and those in their twenties in the 1970’s, when the TV show ‘The Good Life’ aired.

One of the most interesting bits of information for me was around smoking and drinking. 51% of the older age group smoked compared to just 19% of the 20-30 age group. The older generation also drank twice as much alcohol in their twenties as the younger generation do today!

It was great to read that family is just as important today as it was in the 1970s. I’m big on family. If you’ve ever had to rely on family through difficult times then you’ll know what I mean. It’s pleasing to know that gym increase has improved over the years too but then I read that body confidence has decreased fourfold! Surely going to the gym will increase your body confidence? I blame some of the media for this. The post I recently wrote about Marilyn Monroe (link above) sums up my opinion perfectly. Marilyn was and still is considered a beautiful woman. It’s all personal opinion but the skinny super models of today do nothing for me. They don’t look happy and they certainly don’t look healthy.

If you have a spare five minutes, I strongly suggest you check out this info-graphic from Holland and Barrett. You’ll be amazed at what some people got up to in the seventies!

Thanks for reading,

Post in collaboration with Holland and Barrett.