Aging Backwards Tuesday Tips #13: Win Friends and Influence People

Family is the most important element for a happy, long life, right? Well, maybe not.

A study reported in the British Medical Journal found that friends may be a more important factor in helping seniors live longer. About 1,500 participants were asked about their social networks including how much personal and phone contact they had with their friends, children and other relatives. Then their survival rates were tracked for 10 years. Close ties with children and other family members apparently had no impact on longevity, but those who had a very strong personal network of close friends and confidants showed much higher survival rates.

The reason? Family ties can often be maintained out of a sense of obligation, while friendships are a matter of choice. The researchers also found that children often have little influence over habits such as smoking and drinking, but the opinions of friends and peers weigh much higher in importance.

How can you take a first step to making new friends? Here are some tips from Dale Carnegie. His books, including 1936's How to Win Friends and Influence People, have been translated into about 40 languages with an estimated 50 million copies sold.

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
6. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.

If you're looking to meet people, why not take up a new hobby or join a group that interests you? Those types of activities will put you in contact with other people who share the same interests and could become lifelong friends.

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming more interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you."

- Dale Carnegie