Business Insider published a humbling illustration of the ages at which you peak at a number of things in your life. For example, muscle strength peaks at 25 years old (or later for those of us who were lazy in our 20s and finally started working out in our 40s).

Your vocabulary peaks at 69 (good news!). Your sense of psychological wellbeing peaks at 82 (I’m looking forward to that).

It would be nice to think that our cognitive ability, energy levels, and earning potential could continue to rise until our eventual death. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Or, could they at least reach a plateau and hold steady? I wouldn’t even be upset by a gradual decline.

But, alas, that simply isn’t true. It is good to remember that this data comes from studies that average across numerous individuals. There are certainly outliers who live longer than most, keep physically active longer, maintain a sharp mind until later in life, etc.

There are also things that you can do to slow the decline (e.g., exercise…