“The key to successful aging is the ability to adjust to its physiological constraints by remaining psychologically and emotionally healthy through such techniques as selection, optimization and compensation. Selection refers to the reduction of goals while optimization is the attempt to perfect remaining skills. Compensation is the use of alternative ways to retain mastery of one’s life despite the loss of previous skills.
Savoir vivre in old age: how to master the shifting balance between gains and losses
Baltes, Paul B., and Margret M. Baltes. “Savoir vivre in old age: how to master the shifting balance between gains and losses.” National Forum, vol. 78, no. 2, spring 1998,