Steven Kotler: The Psychology of Aging Well and Why Your Best Years May Still Be Ahead of You | Health and Wellness | YAPClassic

**Hala Taha** (0:03)
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YAP fam, we've been sold this story that aging means decline, a slower brain, a weaker body, fewer big wins. But what if your later years could actually be your peak? Today, we're throwing it back to my conversation with human performance expert and bestselling author, Steven Kotler. He's the executive director of the Flow Research Collective, and at 53 years old, he decided to learn park skiing, one of the most intense high-risk sports out there, to prove that peak performance doesn't come with an expiration date. In this YAP Classic episode, Steven breaks down the science of training your brain and body for longevity, and why your 40s, 50s, and beyond can unlock more creativity, resilience, and wisdom than ever before. For my Young and Profiters who are getting a little older, this one is for you. I give you Steven Kotler. Steven, welcome back to Young and Profiting Podcast.

**Steven Kotler** (3:28)
It is so good to be with you again.

**Hala Taha** (3:30)
I am super happy. Young and Profiters, Steven Kotler has been on YAP three times, and I still feel like I could have 10 more conversations with him, given his breadth of work.
To kick it off, I figured we would start with how you got the inspiration to study peak performance. I learned that you were really shocked by the story of Antonio Stradivaris, and he's a famous violin maker, and he had amazing feat of creating two of his most famous violins when he was 92 years old, and this was in the 1700s, way before medical advancements. I'd love to understand why his story was so shocking to you. How did he dispel the typical thoughts around traditional aging, and how did he inspire you to study peak performance aging?

**Steven Kotler** (4:16)
So, I had been working researching, looking at the field of peak performance aging for a while, in a totally unrelated project, right? I was going to write a mystery novel, and I wanted a character, I wanted a cat burglar as a character who's going to steal musical instruments, who made the rarest musical instruments in history, I would stride of various, and then I figured out what you mentioned, which is he made two of the rarest and most expensive musical instruments in his 90s, and I went, well, wait a minute.