Many people set New Year's resolutions in January, such as quitting smoking, drinking less, or exercising more. But if you want to make the most of the last 30 years of your life, consider this resolution: embrace a mindset of voluntary discomfort. Countless ways exist to continue growing and staving off premature aging well into your 100th year. Still, they all require one key foundation—learning to find value in being uncomfortable, whether in your body, mind, or heart.

The evidence is abundant. Even in their 70s and 80s, "super-agers"—people with bodies and brains as sharp as those in their 30s and 40s—share an "active mindset" that keeps them learning, moving, and socially engaged. In Korea, centenarians are celebrated for their independence, activity, and strong social connections. A 2022 survey found that only 20 percent of Korean centenarians stayed confined to their rooms, while 7 in 10 spent at least 30 minutes outdoors daily. Few choose to stay in bed, underscoring their dedication to an active lifestyle.

Why not intentionally create discomfort? A study by Asan Medical Center in Seoul and Pyeongchang County found that older adults living alone experienced over a decade’s worth of improvements in physical function after participating in a twice-weekly outdoor exercise program. Similarly, research shows that adults over 60 who actively engage in learning new skills see significant memory improvements compared to those who stick to passive, relaxing activities.

Despite these clear solutions, I often feel like I’m hitting a “wall” when treating patients with musculoskeletal pain or metabolic conditions like diabetes and fatty liver. They want the pain to disappear but refuse to do the basics, such as strength training or stretching. Some even offer excuses like, “I can’t exercise because my back/neck/knee hurts.” Even when you explain that exercise programs can be customized to their needs, they flatly refuse to try.

What’s even more frustrating are the stereotypical questions they ask: “What ingredients are good for my knees?” “What nutrients can control my blood sugar levels?” “What’s the quickest and easiest way to get relief?” This mindset has turned Korea into a “republic of quackery and nutraceuticals,” fostering a culture obsessed with effortless symptom relief rather than addressing the root causes.

Looking deeper into this phenomenon reveals the perceptions and attitudes that pervade our society. We’re more inclined to make resolutions for quick results than to commit to long-term effort. However, if there’s a disconnect between your core beliefs, the mindset driving your life, and the habits you wish to build, your New Year’s resolutions remain just that—resolutions. They fail to address the essence of your life and lasting change.

If we dig a little deeper, we’ll find that many of our problems stem from a mindset fixated on comfort. As a society, we’ve prioritized making life more comfortable—think of chairs and beds designed for prolonged sitting, comfortable cars, and countless other conveniences of modern civilization. In doing so, we’ve outsourced all of our discomfort.

In a more subtle way, this comfort-worshiping mindset is deeply intertwined with the cultural foundations of our society. While we often say we should “honor our elders,” in practice, we frequently reduce them to “passive objects” who do little. Our seniority-based culture often implies that the older you are, the less you need to engage your mind, body, or heart. When we look at those in positions of wealth and power, they can sometimes resemble babies in cradles—fed, coddled, and crying out at the slightest discomfort. Professors grow distant from research, bureaucrats from the lives of the people they serve, and doctors from their patients.

Perhaps this reflects a culture fundamentally dissatisfied with the process. In a society undergoing rapid growth, we haven’t had the luxury of deriving healthy pleasure from the work and activities we do, nor have we come to appreciate that the process itself is what fosters growth. The result is that if you live to 100 in a state akin to lying in a perfectly comfortable bed, what you’ll end up with is a sluggish mind and body, losing muscle, cognition, and the ability to engage socially. It becomes a self-imposed death sentence.

If you avoid discomfort while your body is still functional, it’s likely that your abilities will gradually diminish and eventually disappear. For example, if you don’t use the muscles around your knees, the cartilage in the joint will bear more stress from your body weight, making it harder to exercise once arthritis sets in. This creates a vicious cycle: decreased activity leads to lower fitness, which worsens the disease, which further reduces activity, and ultimately leads to an aging body. The same principle applies to the brain. Without regular physical, cognitive, and social stimulation, there’s no opportunity for brain function to improve. Brain function peaks in the 20s to 40s, depending on the area, and once lost, it’s hard to regain. Prolonged inactivity not only makes it harder to rebuild muscle mass but also extends the rehabilitation process for joints that could have been kept flexible.

To transform the vicious cycle of comfort into a virtuous one, the key is to change the mindset that drives our lives. That’s why I encourage you to make it your goal this year to shift your mindset and embrace discomfort as an ally. A little discomfort now can lead to far greater comfort in the future.

Jung Hee-won, a geriatric physician at Asan Medical Center, graduated from Seoul National University College of Medicine and trained at Seoul National University Hospital. During his med-school days, while practicing the horn, he realized the importance of muscle maintenance and became interested in sarcopenia. His main research interests include frailty, sarcopenia and establishing age-friendly health systems for acute hospitals. This column was originally published in Chosun Ilbo in Korean on January 22, 2025. -- Ed.