The foods in your daily diet play a major role in how healthy you are and how long a life you live. In fact, one of the key practices of people living in blue zones is eating a diet of mostly plant-based foods of fruits, vegetables and nuts.

In past interviews with CNBC Make It and other publications, many centenarians credited their diet for living a long, healthy life.

Here’s what four people, ages 99 and older say they always eat and also what they never do.

Elizabeth Francis, the oldest living person in the U.S. who is 115 years old, told ABC 13, that she eats “everything.”

But Francis “always grew her vegetables in the backyard. I never saw her go to a fast food restaurant as much like Chick-fil-A and all the places I liked to go. She never did that,” her granddaughter, Ethel Harrison, told TODAY.com.

Francis has also never smoked and doesn’t drink alcohol, Harrison noted.

At 102 years old, Deborah Szekely still helps to run her fitness resort and spa three times a week. Szekely has followed a mainly plant-based diet since her childhood.

“I’m a pescatarian. And I actually have been fortunate of never eating meat because of my parents,” she told Make It.

Her typical breakfast, lunch and dinner looks like:

• Breakfast: Yogurt, a banana and whole grains.
• Lunch: Salad at home, she said, or lunch at restaurants.
• Dinner: A meal of fish, salad and a baked potato or she tries something new.

Her diet is very similar to the Mediterranean diet, and it includes fish, whole grains and fruits and vegetables.

Shirley Hodes, who was 106 years old when she spoke to Make It in March of last year, said she aims to limit the animal fat that she consumes and only drinks skim milk.

“I did like to eat a simple, balanced diet without too much sweets,” Hodes said. She was adhering to the guidelines she was taught in the Red Cross nutrition course she took during the Second World War.

When Forbes spoke to Daisy McFadden in 2010, she was 99 years old. She shared what she usually ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Her meals usually included:

• Breakfast: Oatmeal, cranberry juice and a banana.
• Lunch: Salad with beets, cucumbers, tomatoes and chicken or fish
• Dinner: Lean meat and steamed vegetables
• Dessert: Fresh fruit

“I don’t drink soda at all, and never have,” McFadden told Forbes. She drank water, juice, milk or iced tea instead.

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Jessica Jackson was afraid of heights when she first started her job as a wind turbine service technician — now, she spends most of her days working 300 feet in the air.

Jackson, 37, is a technician at Vestas, a wind turbine manufacturer, in Bee County, Texas, and earns $73,000 per year.

Climbing the turbine tower “isn’t as scary as you’d think,” she tells CNBC Make It. The tallest turbine on the wind farm Jackson works on is about 350 feet above the ground. It takes her less than 10 minutes to get to the top.

“Once you’re up there, you get to see the best views: You’re watching birds fly, eagles, hawks,” she says. “You get to see planes fly by. You get to see as far as you can see. It’s beautiful.”

Jackson has one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. The Labor Department reports that wind turbine service technicians have one of the highest rates of injury and illness of all occupations.

It’s also the fastest-growing job in the U.S., with employment in the sector expected to almost double over the next decade.

“Working in this field is hard, but it’s rewarding,” says Jackson. “I love what I’m doing, so it makes the job not seem like a job as much.”

Here’s how Jackson earns $73,000 a year as a wind turbine service technician in Texas.

Before she became a wind tech, Jackson was a stay-at-home mom for 10 years.

After she and her husband separated in 2019, when her youngest child started school full time the following year, Jackson decided to return to the workforce. But she was worried her opportunities — and earning potential — would be limited without a bachelor’s degree.

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She enrolled in college online part-time in 2017 but didn’t finish her bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the University of Arizona until 2022.

“Not having a college degree [yet] and being a single mom was hard,” says Jackson, who has four children between the ages of 10 and 21. “I was getting passed up for jobs that I had the experience and skills for only because I didn’t have that degree.”

Jackson’s ex-husband was working as a wind tech and recommended her for a job at Blattner Energy, a renewable energy contractor in northern Texas, installing tower wiring.

While you don’t need a bachelor’s degree to become a wind turbine service technician, some jobs might require you to complete a 2-year technical program or apprenticeship. Others, like Blattner Energy and Vestas, will provide on-the-job training for new hires.

Vestas’ training covers best practices for the turbine’s electrical equipment, technical procedures like bolt torque and tensioning as well as first aid and safety protocols.

Jackson quickly fell in love with the hands-on aspects of servicing the turbines, the quiet peace of working in the wind.

“It felt good knowing that when a turbine was fixed or ran more smoothly, you did that, just seeing the immediate results of your efforts,” she says.

Working in a field that aims to help the environment was another perk that attracted her to the job.

“Wind turbines produce clean energy that goes to a grid, which then powers your homes, businesses, cell phones, TVs .. it’s awesome,” says Jackson. “I tell my kids all the time: Do something you love, but also do something that helps others and helps the environment.”

That job introduced Jackson to Vestas, where she started working in February 2020.

Jackson gets to work at 7 a.m. and ends her shift by 5:30 p.m. She works five days a week.

Every day on the job is different but starts with a problem.

“What I’m working on changes every day depending on what error code, or problem with the turbine, you’re coming in to,” Jackson explains. “The wind turbines are smart, they’re basically computers and constantly communicating to us what is going on with them.”

Comparable to cars, wind turbines have sensitive electronic systems, generators, pumps and other critical components that are susceptible to freezing or breaking down. Jackson’s job is to inspect, maintain and repair such parts as needed to keep the turbines running and producing power.

Vestas has 66 turbines on the farm where Jackson works. She’s typically responsible for one turbine per shift, but some days, it could be several.

The hardest part of her job is the climb. Jackson has to scale a narrow, metal ladder inside the turbine and pull herself through a hatch at the top to access the turbine’s nacelle, which sits atop the tower and contains the machine’s main parts. It’s a vertical climb nearly 30 stories tall.

“Cutting any corners with safety could be the reason why I don’t go home that day,” says Jackson, who wears gloves, glasses, a helmet, harness and other protective equipment on the job. “Once you’re up there, you’re in your office and ready to work. Everything else is easier.“

She might have been scared of heights when she first started, but after practicing the same climb nearly every day, sometimes multiple times in the same afternoon, Jackson says she started to trust her equipment and “got a lot more comfortable climbing such high heights.”

Jackson plans to work as a wind turbine service technician until she retires in her 70s, if not sooner.

The job might be physically demanding, but Jackson says spending so much time outside on the farm — and climbing the towers — has helped her feel “stronger and healthier.”

She’s working toward getting promoted to a level-three technician at Vestas, a role that pays about $80,000 a year, then will train to become a lead technician after that, a role that pays about $100,000 a year.

“Having this job has given me financial stability and freedom, enabling me to afford activities that will make my children happy, like signing up for a basketball league, while still saving money every month,” she says.

As Jackson continues to climb the ranks in her career — both literally and figuratively — she hopes more women and non-degree holders will join her field.

“I’m extremely grateful for my job, I love what I do,” she adds. “If I was doing something else, I probably would not be as happy.”

Do you have a creative or nontraditional career path? We’d love to hear from you! Fill out this form to be considered for a future episode of “On the Job.”

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Ambitious workers get a lot of advice early in their career about how to get ahead. One common tip is: Be among the first to arrive at the office and the last to leave to show your boss you’re committed to the job.

Brianna Doe used to feel that way. When the marketing professional began her career about a decade ago, she’d often clock into the office early and work long hours “to show that I have the drive and the motivation, and that I want to grow within the company.”

Doe was eager to show her manager and people outside her department that she could “go above and beyond,” and she felt “a great way to do that is by being the first one to show up and the last one to leave,” Doe tells CNBC Make It.

That being said, “I also experienced such intense cycles of burnout by doing that.”

Looking back, Doe recognizes that the well-intentioned advice often comes with the caveat that working long hours shows your dedication to your work at the expense of your personal time and life.

“I didn’t have any sort of work-life harmony in my life,” says Doe, who now runs her own marketing agency, Verbatim. These days, she says, “I do believe that’s an outdated take, especially now that we’ve ushered in this new era of setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health.”

Stacie Haller, chief career advisor at ResumeBuilder with over 30 years of recruiting experience, agrees.

“I think people are savvy these days enough to know that just because you sit in the office eight hours a day doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a productive employee,” she says.

Instead, there are plenty of other ways to use your time to show you’re excited about your job and want to grow.

“Establish relationships, find a mentor, get to know a team,” Haller says. “Observe the successful people, see how they work and operate, and ask for advice.”

Gen Z workers, in particular, are in a good position to prioritize building work relationships that can help them years down the line, Haller says: “That’s what you should be doing in the office. Don’t focus on getting there early and staying late just to make believe you’re a hard worker. That is not going to cut it.”

That message also has to come from the top. Doe believes bosses should re-assess their expectations if they’re focused on an employee’s time spent at their desk rather than what they’re completing or how they’re expressing their ambition.

“If your new employee is doing great work, and they ask you for more opportunities and want to be on different projects, that should speak more volumes than somebody who just stays later than you,” she says.

All of this being said, Haller adds that it’s important to follow your team’s lead in terms of when to show up and when to leave the workplace.

Adhere to the culture: Be on time, don’t be late, don’t miss meetings and “don’t have lame excuses,” Haller says.

Ultimately, she says, “If everybody’s there 8:30 to 6, be there 8:30 to 6. But if you’re showing up at 7 just to make some point to nobody but yourself, that’s a little crazy.”

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More high-income households have left California and New York than moved in, but some states saw the opposite.

Florida had the biggest net gain of high-earning households, according to a recent SmartAsset study. SmartAsset analyzed the latest available IRS data from the 2021-2022 tax year. Using $200,000 of adjusted gross income as a threshold, the study examined the number of high-income households moving into and out of each state to determine the net inflow.

Texas came in second in terms of net inflow, followed by North and South Carolina and Arizona.

Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Nevada and New Hampshire — all in the top 10 — don’t impose income taxes, which could be a big driver for migration to these places, says Jaclyn DeJohn, SmartAsset’s managing editor of economic analysis. But states without those tax breaks still attracted new residents, as did those with smaller populations.

“I would say that’s a little unique, that these smaller-population states are really pulling their weight in attracting or pulling above their weight in attracting high-earning households,” DeJohn says.

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The term “household” doesn’t necessarily mean a huge family, according to DeJohn. It also includes single people. High-earning single people might have the mobility to relocate, says David Tinsley, the senior economist at the Bank of America Institute.

Affordability, especially when it comes to housing, could be a factor, according to economists. Even though high-income households moving into Southern states might drive up prices, housing will still be cheaper there than in other markets, says Charlie Dougherty, a director and senior economist with The Wells Fargo Economics Group.

“If you look at Texas, you look at Florida, the relative affordability advantage there, especially in terms of housing, remains true,” Dougherty says. “Especially compared to the high-priced, coastal Western markets: Bay Area, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, etc.”

There’s also the labor market to consider. Despite tech industry layoffs in the Austin area, Texas remains one of the better places to find a job in the United States, along with Florida.

Though many employees have been able to work remote in since the Covid-19 pandemic began, folks do find themselves moving where they can find work, according to Tinsley. People have “been pulled to move by where the demand for labor is,” he says.

Here are the states that saw the biggest net inflow of high-earning households:

Net inflow of high-earning households: 29,771

Average adjusted gross income for high-earning households moving in: $907,013

Net inflow of high-earning households: 8,260

Average adjusted gross income for high-earning households moving in:  $579,207

Net inflow of high-earning households: 5,792

Average adjusted gross income for high-earning households moving in: $456,384

Net inflow of high-earning households: 5,270

Average adjusted gross income for high-earning households moving in: $501,205

Net inflow of high-earning households: 4,365

Average adjusted gross income for high-earning households moving in: $561,112

Net inflow of high-earning households: 4,320

Average adjusted gross income for high-earning households moving in: $586,256

Net inflow of high-earning households: 2,589

Average adjusted gross income for high-earning households moving in: $845,035

Net inflow of high-earning households:  2,113

Average adjusted gross income for high-earning households moving in: $494,497

Net inflow of high-earning households: 1,403

Average adjusted gross income for high-earning households moving in: $590,626

Net inflow of high-earning households: 1,104

Average adjusted gross income for high-earning households moving in: $619,679

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Chris Pyle spends the entirety of his workdays wearing a white tank top and boxer shorts, sitting in a recliner.

It’s an unusual setting for a mechanic, but a profitable one. Pyle started answering strangers’ questions about their gas and diesel engines on JustAnswer as a side hustle in October 2006.

It was quickly lucrative: He made $500 in his first month, then doubled it in November, then doubled it again. He quit his full-time $75,000-per-year job at Ford Motors when JustAnswer outpaced his salary in 2012, Pyle says.

Pyle made $170,500 in 2023, an average of $14,200 per month, on JustAnswer, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. His monthly income is more than three times as much as the national median monthly side hustle earnings and mechanic’s salary combined.

The job has also shaped his life: He and his wife bought a 34-acre plot of land for $130,000 in Dickson County, Tennessee, where he lives with his family. Pyle also bought an RV and is building a second home, largely by himself, on the property — all funded by his JustAnswer work.

While he works eight to 10 hours per day, seven days per week, he sets his own schedule, allowing him to be present for his family, he says.

“I was a Cub Scout master for eight years … I was a soccer coach,” Pyle, 45, tells Make It. “I could log off right now and go play a video game with my son, or go swim in the pool.”

Here’s how Pyle built his clientele and stays successful on JustAnswer.

Pyle discovered the side hustle organically: Ford hired and trained him as a transmission tech, and funded his certifications. He was virtually researching how to fix a transmission and found an answer supplied by another mechanic on Just Answer, he says.

He signed up and started answering a handful of questions in the afternoon after work, he says. He liked the challenge of diagnosing a motor he “couldn’t see, touch or smell,” and realized he had a knack for virtually helping people solve their mechanical problems, he says.

After he made $1,000 in his second month on JustAnswer, he took his wife to the mall, gave her half of the earnings and said, “Do not come back with any cash in your hand,” Pyle recalls.

He spent his half in 15 minutes at Bass Pro Shop, he adds.

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As Pyle’s earnings became more consistent, he realized he could use the side hustle to fund more than just mall runs, he says. He started spending more time on the platform. By 2012, he was spending three hours answering close to 40 questions per day, he says.

“For six years, my paycheck was very consistent working here,” Pyle says. “I was like, ‘Well, if I throw in some more hours, that [check] will increase.’”

Pyle’s JustAnswer paycheck remains consistent and has increased every year. He has the most work in the summers, he says, when people are mowing their lawns and traveling.

His schedule remains flexible in that he can log on and off whenever he wants — but because he is paid by the answer, he still has to work at least 40 to 60 hours a week to maintain his income, he says. He works every single day, including Christmas and birthdays.

Pyle doesn’t mind the tradeoffs. His working hours on JustAnswer have helped him build a career, home and life without a boss, he says.

His earnings also support his wife, who quit her nursing job, and their two sons, who she homeschools, Pyle says. While he has to file his own taxes and pay for his family’s medical insurance, he also can write off things like his phone, internet, his HP laptop and 10% of his utilities bill, he says.

There are some cons, though. Despite his 12 years working on the site, Pyle is not an actual JustAnswer employee. The platform reviews its “experts” on a weekly basis, and their grade affects how much they make per answer. The company does not openly share the criteria, but Pyle says his answers and customer service skills usually receive a high rating.

Still, he has no plans to drastically change his day-to-day work, he says. Once Pyle’s house is finished, he wants to cut back on his JustAnswer work, but he’ll likely still be online at least 30 hours per week, he says.

“I have zero plans to go back for a real job, unless I’m the boss,” Pyle says. “Between my work attire and the environment that I work in, [life] is pretty good.”

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