--- description: Betty White will celebrate her 96th birthday on January 17. These are her tips to a long and happy life — vodka and hot dogs included title: Betty White Gives Up Her Secrets to Living a Long Life image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ec41c3cb4f826f5/6988f74b97cdff7fc96b3d69/betty-white-birthday-long-life-secrets.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Betty White Reveals Her Secrets for Living a Long Life — Vodka and Hot Dogs Included by [Lisa Marie Segarra](/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 6, 2018 4:57 PM CUT  Gabi and Ms. Wilson share a birthday that has them feeling sad, so they head out on a girls trip with Sofia, in a new episode of Young & Hungry. Gabi and Ms. Wilson share a birthday that has them feeling sad, so they head out on a girls trip with Sofia, in a new episode of Young & Hungry.Eric McCandless—Freeform/Getty Images by [Lisa Marie Segarra](/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 6, 2018 4:57 PM CUT As six-time Emmy award-winner Betty White, whose career spans more than seven decades, prepares to celebrate her 96th birthday on January 17, the _Golden Girls_ star is offering her tips to a long and happy life. White’s biggest piece of advice? Stay positive. “Enjoy life. Accentuate the positive, not the negative. It sounds so trite, but a lot of people will pick out something to complain about, rather than say, ‘Hey, that was great!’ It’s not hard to find great stuff if you look,” [White told _Parade Magazine._](https://parade.com/634316/samuelmurrian/betty-white-on-her-legacy-memories-and-her-recipe-for-living-a-long-happy-life/ "undefined") White also told _Parade_ that she loves vodka and hot dogs, “probably in that order.” She added that she used that same positive attitude in her career. White told _Parade_ that early in her career she would get turned down for parts for being “unphotogenic.” “You just keep plugging away. You don’t give up,” she told _Parade._ “I got an award for everything,” she told the magazine. “Inhaling, exhaling . . . I’ve been so spoiled rotten.” And White isn’t planning on giving up her sunny outlook anytime soon. “I know it sounds corny, but I try to see the funny side and the upside, not the downside. I get bored with people who complain about this or that. It’s such a waste of time.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5091069/betty-white-birthday-advice/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5091069/betty-white-birthday-advice/"},"headline":"Betty White Reveals Her Secrets for Living a Long Life — Vodka and Hot Dogs Included","datePublished":"2018-01-06T16:57:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:46:22.180Z","description":"\"Enjoy life.\"","url":"https://time.com/5091069/betty-white-birthday-advice/","keywords":["celebrities","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ec41c3cb4f826f5/6988f74b97cdff7fc96b3d69/betty-white-birthday-long-life-secrets.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ec41c3cb4f826f5/6988f74b97cdff7fc96b3d69/betty-white-birthday-long-life-secrets.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Freeform's \"Young & Hungry\" - Season Five","caption":"Freeform's \"Young & Hungry\" - Season Five","creditText":"Eric McCandless—Freeform/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5091069/betty-white-birthday-advice/","name":"Betty White Reveals Her Secrets for Living a Long Life — Vodka and Hot Dogs Included"}}]}] ```