A Cat Has Nine Lives. You Should Have More Than One.

A cat has nine lives.

You should have more than one.

I'm Dr. Jennifer Daniels, and I want to share something with you that took me 64 years to understand — and that I wish somebody had told me at 40.

You are not finished. Not at 60. Not at 70. Not at 80.

In fact, you may be just getting started.

The idea that changed how I see aging

I came across a video of Mike Tyson not long ago.

In it, he mentioned that there's a whole generation that only knows him as an actor. They have no idea he was ever a boxer.

That stopped me.

This was a man who had lived at least two completely separate lives — different work, different world, different person — all in one lifetime.

So I sat down and counted my own. I came up with at least five.

And I came to a conclusion I now believe with my whole heart: the more lives, the better.

Why having "more than one life" matters

Here's the freeing part.

If you make a mess of this life, you can always begin another one. That single idea creates an enormous sense of optimism — because it means nothing is ever truly the end.

Now, I won't pretend the move from one life to the next is comfortable. Usually the old life blows up first. But if you're still breathing, you get to build a new one.

And you are still breathing.

My five lives, in case it helps you see your own

My first life, from about three to eighteen, was shaped by fear. I grew up in a hard neighborhood, and I decided that if I made myself valuable to the world, perhaps the world would let me stay in it. So I collected skills. I learned to sew, to cook, to type, to study hard. I left high school having worked myself to the bone.

My second life sent me to Harvard, then to medical school, then into practice — determined to do all the good I could, for my patients and my community.

My third life began when I set out to heal every person in my practice as fully as I could.

My fourth life came when I turned to exposing what I'd seen inside the medical industry, through radio and writing.

My fifth life — the one I'm living now — isn't built around a country or an industry. It's built around one thing: being a living example of good health and happiness, and inspiring other people to chase the same.

Five lives. One woman. And I'm not done counting.

What my fifth life actually looks like

People are often surprised when I tell them what I'm up to at my age.

I do Taekwondo. I earned my yellow belt with a green stripe, and the green belt is in sight. I can feel it.

I'm working on my splits — I've got my left and right front splits, and now I practice my center split every single day, even if it's only for fifteen minutes.

And my mother — at 90 years old — is walking again with her walker, a little more every day, after coming home from a nursing home a year ago in a condition no one expected her to recover from.

I tell you this not to brag. I tell you because if a 64-year-old can chase a green belt and a 90-year-old can learn to walk again, then whatever small project is tugging at your heart is well within your reach.

How to begin your next life — starting today

You don't have to blow up your current life to start the next one. You can build the new one quietly, while the old one is still running.

Here's how I'd begin.

Look honestly at the life you have now. Is it the one you want? Not "is it fine" — is it the one you'd choose?

Look 10 and 20 years ahead. Picture yourself there. Is this still the life you'll want then? If not, that's not a problem. That's a direction.

Pick one small project that's just for you. A belt to earn. A skill to learn. A flexibility goal. Something to entertain you and express your health — not a chore, a joy.

Stop trying to change the world, and change yourself instead. My generation was raised to believe the world was the problem and our job was to fix it. I've come full circle. I don't need to change the world. I can change myself. And that has made everything lighter.

Common Questions

Is it too late to reinvent yourself after 60? No. People reinvent themselves successfully at 60, 70, and beyond. A new chapter doesn't require youth — it requires picking one direction and beginning.

How do I start over later in life? Look honestly at whether your current life is the one you want, picture where you'll want to be in 10 to 20 years, and start building one small element of that new life now — while your current life is still running.

Can older adults take up something physical like martial arts? Many do. Dr. Daniels began Taekwondo and flexibility training in her 60s. Starting where you are and building gradually is what makes it sustainable.

A final word

Living gets richer the more lives you've lived.

Each one hands you a new perspective, and all those perspectives together breed empathy — for yourself, and for everyone around you.

So look at your life. See if you want another one. And really go for it.

You can start today.

As always — Think happens.

If you'd like to see how I keep myself healthy and happy enough to chase a green belt at my age, that's the whole heart of what I teach in my Total Health Accelerator Course.