Ezekiel Emanuel: My father lived into his 90s. He understood something many successful men miss

Data drives the modern corporation. As the saying goes, you can’t manage what you can’t measure. This may be good advice for getting a handle on a supply chain or making accurate financial projections, but it’s terrible advice for how to live a long and healthy life. On this Father’s Day, let me share some advice from my own father who lived into his 90s. When it came to staying happy and healthy, he never followed a diet or embraced a strict supplement regimen or an exercise program. Instead, my father stayed socially engaged, physically active in ordinary ways, and intellectually curious. He understood that wellness was not about performance or perfection, but rather about long-term consistency and enjoyment while prioritizing family and community. The modern wellness industry, however, thrives on the idea that healthy aging requires constant, obsessive measurement and optimization through supplements, wearable devices, expensive scans, or influencers promising to unlock the secret to longevity. This is profitable for the industry but not for your wellness. The Fundamentals That Really Matter The fundamentals that truly matter for healthy aging are far simpler and less glamorous than our current wellness culture would have you believe. They are less demanding. They are the kind of practices my father lived. Here are some examples: Nutrition has become a competitive sport. Americans are often pushed toward obsessive dietary perfectionism. In reality, good nutrition depends on allowing occasional indulgences and practicing sustainable habits consistently over time. My father was a consumer of my mother’s legendary cheesecake, but he never ate highly processed foods or drank sugary drinks. Reducing sugary drinks and highly processed snacks matters. Drinking 1 to 2 sodas a day increases your risk of developing diabetes by 20%. Maintaining a healthy weight matters. Fermented foods such as yogurt and kimchi appear to provide meaningful health benefits. A recent Stanford