December 2022 I answered a request for a personal trainer. The poster was looking for a trainer who could carry a good conversation, laugh and help her to keep dead lifting more than her body weight. I met Dolores Luber.

At 84 years of age Dolores is an editor of a magazine, speaks 4 languages, belongs to several book clubs, is an avid dog lover, relishes sharing her children and grandchildren's exploits and is committed to living a long life by exercising everyday. She also loves to subvert authority and gets a devilish look in her eye when she can step just ever so slightly out of the rule box.

The lessons I am learning from Dolores are priceless. To live not just a long life, but a life that is worth living means you must ....

1. Exercise daily. Not because you want too or to be a certain size but because you to need to be strong. You need strong bones so when you fall, you don't break. You need strong muscles to carry you all day. You need a strong heart. You need a strong mind. As Dolores would say, "You just do it! Of course I hurt some days. Of course I am tired, but I just do it!"

2. Be productive. Give your day purpose. "We are meant to work!" Sitting idle is probably the closest thing to a sin for Dolores. If she isn't working on her magazine that supports retirees in the Jewish community, she is taking Hebrew lessons or preparing for one of several book clubs she belongs to. She works daily and in a way that gives back to those around her.

3. Have a routine. Get up everyday at the same time, irrelevant if it is the weekend or a holiday. Structure your day around set activities. Start your day with movement. A body in motion stays in motion.

4. Don't wait to start living and don't wait for the perfect moment. Listening to Dolores' adventures (she needs to write her memoirs) I realize she is where she is because she never let fear hold her back. She used and uses fear to push her into action. Did she stumble at times ... of course, we all do but she used any setback as a set up for something even bigger.

Dolores is a daily reminder that mindset is everything and how we choose to live our life is important. In today's world where we constantly are rewarded with instant gratification we forget or struggle with delayed gratification. To live a long life and a life worth living we need to embrace the long game. We need to act today in order to live tomorrow. It means taking action even if we are afraid or experienced set backs before. It means doing it when we don't want to. We need to stop living life from the sidelines and jumping in with 2 feet. To quote Dolores, we need to "just do it!"