If you can still do these 7 things at age 70, you’re truly extraordinary.

Others seem to bend time and expectations without saying a word.

Aging is often framed as a long list of limits: things you “shouldn’t” do, dreams you “no longer” chase, roles you “ought” to accept. Yet a growing number of older adults are quietly rewriting that script. Researchers call it “active aging.” Friends and family call it “remarkable.” And if you can still check off these seven demanding habits at 70, you may be part of that rare group expanding what aging can look like.

Staying Sharp With Technology

Most people in their 30s already complain they can’t keep up with tech. So when someone in their 70s updates their phone, knows how to mute themselves on Zoom, and uses messaging apps better than their grandchildren, it stands out.

If you’re over 70 and still comfortable picking up a new device or app, you’re proving that curiosity ages better than hardware.

Studies from organizations such as the Pew Research Center show internet and smartphone use is rising steadily among older adults. Yet the real story sits behind the numbers: the grandparent who joins a family WhatsApp group, the 72-year-old who orders groceries online for the first time, the retired engineer who teaches himself video editing so he can cut family movies.

This isn’t about being an amateur coder at 75. It’s about refusing to freeze your skills at the moment you left work. It means:

• Learning how to spot online scams and protect your accounts
• Using video calls to see distant family more often
• Trying health apps to track sleep, mood, or medication
• Adjusting to online services from banks, doctors, and local governments

Each digital step helps you stay more independent, less isolated, and better informed. And every time you say “show me how that works” instead of “this is too complicated,” you send a quiet message: aging hasn’t shut off your willingness to learn.

Keeping Your Body Moving

There’s a visible difference between someone who simply exists at 70 and someone who still moves with purpose. You see it in their posture, in how quickly they stand up from a chair, in the way they talk about their day.

Exercise as Freedom, Not Punishment

For older adults, exercise is less about aesthetics and more about freedom. A brisk morning walk, a session of gardening, or a gentle swim helps preserve the ability to carry your own groceries, climb stairs, and get dressed without help.

Movement at 70 is not a vanity project. It’s a daily vote for independence, dignity, and small joys.

Health agencies consistently link regular activity with lower risks of heart disease, diabetes, depression, and falls in older adults. Still, the most striking benefits often feel smaller and more personal: sleeping better, having the stamina to visit friends, feeling proud after trimming an overgrown hedge.

Activity	Typical intensity	Key benefit at 70+
Brisk walking	Moderate	Cardio fitness, mood boost
Gardening	Light to moderate	Strength, balance, purpose
Tai chi or yoga	Gentle	Flexibility, fall prevention
Dancing	Moderate	Coordination, social connection

If you’re still choosing movement at 70-even when the couch looks tempting and your knees push back-that persistence sets you apart.

Staying Genuinely Informed About the News

Scrolling headlines is easy. Understanding them isn’t. That gap widens with age as news habits and technology shift quickly.

An exceptional 70-year-old does more than watch the same broadcast every night. They compare sources, ask skeptical questions, and try to understand how events connect to long-term trends in politics, climate, technology, and finance.

Continuing to think critically at 70 signals that your perspective is still forming, not just hardening.

Research on media habits shows older adults remain some of the most engaged news consumers, even as print circulation falls. Many add news apps or newsletters to television and radio, updating old routines for new formats.

There’s a public benefit here too. A 75-year-old voter who reads widely and talks about policy with younger generations brings decades of context to the table. Their lived memory of past crises and political cycles can calm panic, challenge oversimplified narratives, and enrich family debates.

Traveling Alone by Choice

Solo travel at 25 is seen as adventurous. Solo travel at 70 is often viewed as risky. And yet booking data from senior travel companies suggests more older people-including those in relationships-are deliberately choosing to go on their own.

Going alone means handling airports, train connections, unfamiliar public transportation, hotel check-ins, occasional language barriers, and the nagging voice that asks: “What if something goes wrong?”

When a 70-year-old still packs a bag and checks in alone, they are quietly stating that fear is not in charge.

Many older solo travelers say the appeal is setting their own pace. They can spend an hour with a museum painting-or leave after five minutes. They can talk to strangers, join group tours, or spend days reading in a café without compromise.

Travel insurance, medical checkups, and sensible planning matter more with age, of course. But the core skill is psychological: trusting you can handle unexpected delays, minor illnesses, or last-minute changes.

Accepting Change Rather Than Fighting It

Human brains like routine. With each passing decade, habits grow deeper roots. That’s why older adults who still take on big changes are so striking.

Examples are everywhere:

• Moving from a long-time family home to a smaller apartment near services
• Trying new hobbies instead of repeating the same weekly schedule
• Reassessing long-held beliefs in light of new evidence
• Forming new friendships after bereavement or divorce

Saying “I’ve changed my mind” at 70 takes more courage than saying it at 30.

Psychologists link flexible thinking later in life to better mental health and lower levels of chronic stress. Accepting change doesn’t mean liking every part of it. It means acknowledging difficult feelings, then adapting your behavior instead of staying stuck in resentment.

Continuing to Learn on Purpose

Lifelong learning used to sound like a slogan on an adult education flyer. Now it describes a clear trend. Universities of the third age, community colleges, online platforms, and local clubs report strong interest from people well beyond retirement age.

At 70, learning a new language, instrument, or digital skill isn’t “useful” in the career sense. That’s exactly why it matters: you’re doing it for growth, curiosity, or enjoyment-not to impress anyone.

Every new skill learned at 70 sends the same message to your brain: “You’re still building, not just maintaining.”

Researchers studying aging and cognition repeatedly find links between mentally stimulating activities and better performance in memory and problem-solving. The effect isn’t magic; it reflects a basic rule of biology: what you use, you tend to keep longer.

Learning can be structured or informal: a local history class, a choir, online coding courses, or teaching yourself photography through trial and error. The key is the mental stretch-that slight discomfort when something feels just beyond your current ability.

Holding On to a Genuinely Positive Outlook

By 70, most people have buried loved ones, faced health scares, watched plans fail, and seen dreams shrink. Optimism at that stage isn’t naive. It’s a deliberate stance.

A positive attitude later in life doesn’t deny pain. It weighs it alongside gratitude, humor, and hope. It sounds like: “This hurts, and I’m still glad to be here.” It looks like checking on neighbors, laughing at your own forgetfulness, planning next spring’s flowers even after a tough diagnosis.

When older adults stay warm, hopeful, and generous, they become emotional anchors for entire families and communities.

Long-term studies from universities including Harvard suggest that people who feel generally satisfied with the aging process tend to have lower risks of chronic disease and better cognitive function. That doesn’t mean mindset alone prevents illness, but it may shape how people manage symptoms, seek help, and stick with treatment.

How These Seven Habits Work Together

None of these abilities exist in isolation. A 72-year-old who walks daily (staying active) might feel confident enough to take a solo city break (traveling alone). That trip could require booking online (technology), reading local news (staying informed), and handling small mishaps (accepting change). Along the way, they might pick up a few phrases in another language (learning) and return home with a bigger sense of what’s still possible (positive outlook).

This chain reaction helps explain why some people seem to age “better” than others who start with similar health conditions. The habits reinforce each other, building resilience that’s both physical and psychological.

Practical Ways to Test Yourself at 70 and Beyond

For anyone approaching or already past 70, these questions can be a useful quiet check-in rather than a performance test:

• When was the last time you did something online you’d never tried before?
• Can you safely raise your heart rate a few times a week through walking or similar activities?
• Do you follow at least two different news sources and question them occasionally?
• Would you feel able to take a short, well-planned solo trip, even within your own country?
• Have you changed your mind about anything significant in the last few years?
• Are you learning something new this year, even informally?
• Do the people around you describe you as generally cheerful or hopeful?

There are no perfect scores here. Many people will answer “no” to several of these and “yes” to others. What stands out is the direction: are you still nudging yourself toward growth, or quietly shrinking your life to avoid discomfort?

Aging well isn’t about pretending time has no effect. It’s about noticing that, in some people, time seems to polish qualities that were always there: curiosity, courage, humor, kindness. If you can still practice these seven demanding habits at 70, you’re not just “doing well for your age.” You’re quietly expanding what that age can mean for everyone watching you.