5 Simple Habits to Live a Longer and Healthy Life

October 03, 2025 | 6 min read

Spend just five minutes on social media and you might be convinced that longevity comes from red-light masks, cryo chambers, and $200-per-month supplement regimens.

But as guests learned at The Globe and Mail’s Building Longevity event, sponsored by Manulife Canada, the real path to living better for longer is far less flashy. It’s built on simple, sustainable habits that can be built into your day-to-day life.

“There isn’t a magic bullet,” Dr. Stephen Pomedli, family physician at Cleveland Clinic Canada, Manulife’s medical director, said during a panel discussion about demographic health trends in Canada. “Most of the research shows that about 75 percent of contributions to longevity are things that we do with our bodies on a day-to-day basis.”

Throughout the event, experts shared dozens of micro-habits—drinking a little less alcohol, getting a half hour more sleep, seeing friends more often— that can lead to big improvements in physical and mental health over time. Here are five that can be adopted right away.

Karen Cutler, Head of Underwriting and Claims and Chief Underwriter for Manulife’s Individual Insurance business, kicked off the event by recommending a shift in the way we think about our health.

Most of us are familiar with the idea of investing in our financial futures, Cutler said—we get that small contributions on a day-to-day basis can compound into big returns down the line. What if we apply the same mentality to our health? “Imagine we started to think about each workout, each earlier bedtime or each nutritious snack as an investment in our longevity,” she said. Each of these choices is a contribution to our “health span,” the duration we’re able to enjoy a high quality of life.

Thinking about the Return on Investment (ROI) for our future selves makes it easier to put on the sneakers, Cutler said.

• Habit helper: Digital tools—like the Manulife Vitality app, or the Manulife Mobile app—can help you learn more about building healthy habits and track progress towards your goals.

“Diet quality is a leading predictor of chronic disease risk and premature death,” explained Registered Dietician Leslie Beck, Director of Food and Nutrition at Medcan, and the author of a popular weekly column in The Globe and Mail.

While dietary needs will vary by individual, Beck listed a few common components: unrefined and minimally processed foods, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans and lentils. All are central to several scientifically backed diets associated with healthy aging, Beck explained, referencing the Mediterranean diet, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet and the Mediterranean-DASH intervention for Neurological Delay (MIND) diet.

Beck also noted that plant-based fats (like extra-virgin olive oil) and proteins (such as legumes) support healthy aging in midlife and beyond. This doesn’t mean you have to cut out burgers and ice cream entirely. “Your diet doesn’t have to be perfect,” Beck said, pointing out that overall dietary patterns are what impact healthy aging the most. “The key is really to focus on increasing your intake of preventive plant foods.”

• Habit helper: Meeting with a registered dietician—whose services may be covered by your group benefits plan—can give you tailored advice on incorporating a plant-forward diet that works for you.

Exercises that get your heart rate up are clear contributors to longevity.¹ But if you dread the idea of an hour on the treadmill, Martin Gibala delivered some good news: Embedding even very brief bouts of vigorous physical activity into your day—a practice he calls “exercise snacks”—can reduce your health risks.

Gibala is a Professor of Kinesiology at McMaster University. He co-authored a 2022 study showing that three or four one- to two-minute bursts of intense activity throughout the day could reduce the likelihood of cancer and cardiovascular disease.²

What makes exercise “vigorous” is subjective, so Dr. Gibala refers to a 10-point scale where 1 is low, 10 is high and 5 is moderate activity that allows you to carry on a conversation as you’re doing it. Vigorous exercise is anything above a 7.

You can hit a 7 either by integrating power bursts into conventional exercises (charging up a steep hill during a run) or increasing the intensity of daily activities (briskly climbing a few sets of stairs instead of taking the elevator). “Simply pick an activity that works for you and use it to get into the vigorous range,” says Gibala.

• Habit helper: A personal trainer or fitness coach can help you find what types of high-intensity exercise are most effective for your age, stage and situation. Your group benefits plan may offer coverage for some of these services.

“Nature teaches us that when a plant is deprived of water for too long, the amount of energy and resources it takes to bring it back to life are a lot more than if we were to tend to it consistently,” said Registered Psychotherapist Jean Tsai. The same is true for mental wellness.

In a panel discussion on strategies to strengthen mental resilience, Tsai recommended making self-care a part of your daily routine. “We tend to say, ‘I’ll just wait until later to do this or to enjoy this or to care for myself,’” she said, adding that the tendency to defer is especially pronounced among people with caregiving responsibilities.

But simple activities—such as taking a moment to check in with your breathing while doing the dishes or jotting a few lines in a journal at the end of the day—can regulate your mood and interrupt negative thought patterns. “These techniques can be very effective at bringing you into the moment and making you feel more grounded,” said panellist Dr. Mina Husain, a psychiatrist who teaches Adult Psychiatry and Health Systems at the University of Toronto.

• Habit helper: Consider regular “maintenance” appointments with a psychotherapist or counsellor to calibrate your emotional health—your group benefits plan or employee and family assistance program (EFAP) may help cover the cost. 

Simply paying attention to the short-term gains you’re making can enhance your motivation to keep going. Think of how you feel after a good night’s sleep or a 10-minute walk in fresh air. Those immediate rewards reinforce the habit loop—helping today’s choices fuel tomorrow’s longevity. As Dr. Pomedli pointed out, “Future You” is not the only beneficiary of healthy choices: “Present You” gets a lot out of the deal, too. “You get a lot of the benefits back right away,” Dr. Pomedli explained.

• Habit helper: If you need a little extra motivation, programs like Manulife Vitality can give you added encouragement to stay on track with daily health decisions, even rewarding those behaviours with discounts on popular health brands and savings on insurance premiums.

This article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose or treat a condition. If you have questions or concerns about your specific situation or are seeking medical advice, contact your medical doctor or your healthcare provider.

A Cleveland Clinic Canada
Manulife is proud to have Cleveland Clinic Canada on board as Medical Director for our Group Benefits operations. Cleveland Clinic Canada has a wealth of global healthcare expertise and shares our goal to help Canadians live longer, healthier, and better lives. Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit organization that has been at the forefront of modern medicine since 1921. In recent years, Cleveland Clinic has worked with progressive companies in Canada and around the world to prioritize the health and well-being of their employees, customers, and communities.