The Strategic Meaning of Health

Why a well-lived life depends on four functions—physical health, daily routine, purpose beyond the self, and belonging to a community that loves and is loved in return.

BY ICHAK ADIZES

Can we agree that if we are sick—if we are not healthy—we will either live a shorter life or live longer but not well?

If that is true, then health is not just one goal among many. It is the primary goal, the foundation upon which all other goals depend.

We recognize its importance. Observe our behavior. We greet each other with a glass of wine and say, “to your health.”

So, the strategic question is: What does it mean to be “healthy?”

A healthy organic system—and we humans are one—is effective and efficient in both the short and the long run.

Effectiveness means that the system performs the function for which it exists—now and in the future. A kidney, for example, is healthy if it performs what a kidney is supposed to perform, today and tomorrow.

For human beings, the question becomes deeper: What is our function? Why do we exist?

In my case, I am clear:

To serve tikkun olam [repairing the world]—now and in the future.

Efficiency, on the other hand, means the system operates with minimal energy waste, in both the short and the long run.

For a long life—or more importantly, a well-lived life—the four functions of PAEI must be actively performed and satisfied. 1

The P Function: Physical Health

First, the P (Producer) function.

This is what we traditionally call health: the body performing well.

To be medically and physically healthy.

It includes eating properly, sleeping well, and exercising.

This dimension of health has been extensively covered in the literature. There is no need to elaborate here.

But physical health alone is not sufficient for longevity.

The A Function: Order and Routine

Second, the A (Administrator) function.

We need a certain level of routine in life so that as little energy as possible is wasted.

Routine reduces stress.

It minimizes the chaos of continuous, unstructured change.

It prevents unnecessary energy expenditure caused by living in constant disorder.

The E Function: Purpose

Third, the E (Entrepreneurial) function.

To live longer, we need a reason to live.

That reason cannot be self-centered. It must be oriented toward serving others’ needs.

The moment people retire into a life where they serve no one and nothing—where they feel useless—they begin to deteriorate. They become, in effect, the “walking dead.”

Those who have a reason to get up in the morning remain alive—energetic, engaged, and purposeful.

Purpose prolongs life.

The I Function: Integration and Belonging

Fourth, the I (Integrator) function.

Longevity requires being part of a community—starting with strong family ties.

Human beings are not designed to live in isolation.

To feel connected, to belong, to love and be loved—this is not a luxury. It is a condition for health.

Dan Buettner, in his book, The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, discovered the (P) and (I) factor already. He studied regions of the world where people celebrated reaching one hundred years of life. Across these diverse cultures, the common denominators for long life were:

• Physical activity embedded in daily life (P)
• Strong social and family bonds (I)

I am adding two additional factors, based on my own observations:

•  (E) Purpose: A reason to live
• (A) Routine: A structured, low-stress daily life

I have observed that older individuals who maintain a routine are calmer, more stable, and less stressed than those living with constant uncertainty and disruption. Add to it that if one has a reason to get up in the morning, a reason that stimulates them, that enthuses them, they too will live longer because a reason to live gives the person energy, and life is energy in action. When there is no more energy, there is no more life.

I have observed that older individuals 
who maintain a routine are calmer, more stable, 
and less stressed than those living 
with constant uncertainty and disruption.

To live longer—and to live well:

• Eat healthy.
• Stay physically active.
• Sleep well.
• Minimize unnecessary stress.
• Maintain a stable, supportive routine.
• Have a purpose that serves others.
• Belong to a community that gives and receives love.
• Never feel alone.

The challenge is not knowing what to do. The challenge is having the willpower to do it.

¹ The PAEI framework—Producer, Administrator, Entrepreneur, Integrator—is the author’s. See Ichak Adizes, Managing Corporate Lifecycles (Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999).