by Zachary Gorsuch
January 23, 2025
So the goal is to get healthy and because we want to get healthy we turn to all of the latest trending practices in the technological era of progressive self-help. Navigating dozens of Youtube channels and other social media gurus, we finally ask a friend who seems to have it together in that area in which we are looking to address: they either hit us with their favorite Youtubers or social media gurus or they tell us from their experience. Or both. Either way, it’s still not your story until you experience it.
Meditating, journaling, ice-bathing, walking, dry January-ing, planking, intermittent fasting, de-scrolling, minimizing, stoicizing, veganizing, quitting this, taking up that,.. To name just a few and some of them aren’t even words. Are they useful? You betcha. And there are a lot more just like them that are tactfully presented to us through our handy devices.
There is nothing wrong with this at face value and many of the people who are basically selling these sets of ideas to us mean well (that is, the content creators, not the suits). They often appear to be somewhat experienced, enthusiastic and truly eager to help people like us, who are open to being helped. But how, by which bot and, so help me, with what time?
Distracted, By Everything
Our personal time is sensitive and often hard to come by, so we look for ways to make it more, let’s say efficient, in our approach to self-improvement. First step, let’s jump on the old internet here, and…boom! you’re lost. For if you don’t get distracted by weather updates, headlines, boxscores or personal wellness site notifications (wink), then you’re sure to get carried away with the planning of the new you.
Take this scenario, for instance: we know that walking is good for us, but we want to know what the weather is like first. We want to know where to walk, how to walk, in which clothes do we walk, can we talk while we walk, will there be sidewalk chalk on the walk? Can I walk when I hike, do I need to take a bike? Sure, but we really should grab lunch first.
This leaves us paralyzed with exhaustion and possibly ready to break out into a psychotic musical number – If only we weren’t so tired from rhyming and looking up restaurants. We really can just walk, but we stall before even beginning the activity that was planned out so perfectly after viewing that Reel that got posted at 11:49pm the other night about heart disease (hold on…let me find it…). Our personal time is spent doing personal research, which seemingly equates to whatever our current mindset might be and whatever the web has to say about it; which is a lot.
Imagine that you finally made it on your walk and you stumble across your local library branch, except it’s 1,000,00,000 times larger. And you go in: “Uh, little help here?” You wouldn’t know what to do or where to go unless there were some buttons you could push that may steer you on the true path to enlightenment. “Nevermind, I’ll just look around” you would murmur to yourself. Perhaps you might search for an information desk or catalogue system or perhaps you might throw in the towel and head for the toilet to look up just where in the hell you are…and directions to the nearest Jimmy John’s location.
The excess of information that exists within our technologies may have some people asking: Should I just go to the actual library? A regular sized one, but yes! If the above scenario sums up your experience with a regular-sized library, then get in there and look around. Go to the place with all the books, engage with a librarian, browse and read material for an hour or two.
It’s actually quite healthy to be in the physical, natural presence of so much collective knowledge. And to bring a book home and read it, well that’s even better. But who has time for that in this day and age when we can just look it up? Google/AI seems to have all the answers and therein lies the problem for a lot of us. There are simply too many answers.
If the algorithm in your Facebook or Youtube feed is constantly sending you material that fits within some of the aforementioned areas listed above, you’re doing great. But most of our algorithms feed us from other sources full of so much extra bullshit because, well, we’re curious humans by nature and clickbait exists for and because of this fact. But it’s a dehumanizing process when you think about it, as we’re being conditioned to click, we are very slowly and casually giving up choice in the, albeit small, matters of our life.
Hell, at this point we’re all sort of like our old parents, fumbling through the vast expanse of information, following all of the contrived rabbit holes that pop out at us and other vortexes akin to it. When we slip into old age our children are most definitely going to snicker, “teehee hee”, about how we use technology in the future. Ehem, anyways,
Identifying Purpose
For now, forget about the trending self-help methods and dial it back to your intention. If you’re seeking these out then you’ve given some degree of thought and attention to aspects of your life that you want to change or improve. But these thoughts and this acknowledgement are just the tip of the iceberg. There’s always much more lingering beneath the surface and through this metaphor we may begin to understand that positive change, while simple, is not easy.
From cosmetic products and superficial plastic surgery to clothes, cars, and other social status symbols, we can decorate the thinnest layers of self-representation, while suppressing the deepest parts of our being that define who we are. Today, sadly, that’s so much easier than reaching down and finding out more about yourself.
No matter where we are in this process, clarifying our intentions and the inward meaning behind them is paramount. Underneath meditation, ice-baths, walking, sobriety, eating vegetables, doing yoga, et cetera, there are too many layers of meaning to count. So we might as well start by peeling off the very basic layer: health. As vague as that may sound, let us explore a few approaches that may offer some guidance or insight as to where and how do I start?
–Ask yourself, “why am I doing this? “
Which algorithm did I land on first that led me to this point and for what reason? Write down the actual answer (seriously), followed by a short list of specific, reachable goals. Don’t waste your own time on ideas, rather what can you realistically achieve with a concerted effort over the next few weeks/months. Keep it simple. You can post this one thing on your fridge or better yet, on your smartphone’s lockscreen: this way, if you have to open the device, you have to face what you started.
If you delete this reminder or trash it, make sure it’s because you’ve already developed a healthy routine and are advancing toward the next goal. If it’s gone because you didn’t want to look at it anymore, then circle back around to the first question: Why am I doing this?, followed by: Do I want this?, or better yet, Do I need it? Find your own motivation, because that is not something that anyone can provide you with, except yourself.
When it comes to basic exercise, do what you used to be good at, whether that’s swimming or racquetball or basketball.
If you never participated in sports, lucky you, for there is no better time to learn! If sports or basic activities are not your thing, then you’re even luckier enough to be able to tell everyone, “it’s okay, I’m starting from scratch” and don’t have to compare yourself to the former you: “I swear I used to be able to dunk!” The long answer lies within the effort.
–Try something new and actually do it for 10 days
Do this deliberately and with focus. Note the changes, good and bad; no, again, seriously write it down. 10 days is, of course, a jumping off point and one must take into consideration what level of significance this has on their wellbeing. For instance, if you’re trying to quit smoking or eating fast food, saying, “it’s not for me” and jumping right back in on the 11th day diverts the entire purpose of this idea. But subtracting can be just as complicated as adding.
If you want to eat more fruits and vegetables for a week and a half, then you have to purchase them and figure out ways to make them interesting enough for consumption and then try to get your family on board with eating it. I love cooking, but not everyone does and to learn it requires so much time and effort. Preparing healthy dinners for 10 days seems daunting, but what about for every meal of the day, every single day? At least try it.
–Minimize
Especially distractions. Give yourself the gift of time by cancelling the noise, particularly excuses (and streaming subscriptions) This is one of the only ways to open yourself up to whatever you’re looking to accomplish. Minimalism shows us how to do more with less and highlights the importance of …walking. By eliminating clutter in our lives, such as material items stacking up in your home or car, scrolling and headlining, or indulging in toxic habits or relationships, we slowly unravel the rat’s nest and in turn, find a lot more personal clarity and purpose. This can be difficult in a lot of unexpected ways, but is ultimately cathartic and provides us with a lot more space for things and people that actually bring value into our lives.
–Do it!
Discomfort is king here and is the biggest reason why every dietary program ever conjured up fails: the fear of being uncomfortable. Every corporate entity and system of power is betting on our habits continuing in the interest of sustaining our personal comfort, so that their profits increase; my goal is to give them as little as possible to profit from, or as my partner more eloquently states, “I aim to do the least amount of harm”.
It is extremely challenging to break ourselves of certain habits (noticed or unnoticed, embraced or dismissed) and one really simple way to do this is to act. Without action, ideas and aspirations are as valuable as a pile of dusty puzzle pieces; the only way in which they can matter is if you apply them, connect them or even discard them.
Without question, the most difficult part is actually hitting the play button. If you’re considering walking or running regularly, by just getting up and walking or running, you’ve instantly taken your ass further than you were just sitting and pondering the idea minutes earlier. You can’t go wrong by doing it, unless you use discomfort or a “slow start” as an excuse to cease operations.
The further you dive into something, the more clarity you may often experience in answering a lot of the questions you might have had before taking this plunge. Continue answering this question every day and document the results until it becomes a part of your regular routine.
Life is Not a Bucket List/Carpe Diem
Soon enough you’ll uncover the fact that this is a total commitment, not just of your time but of your concentration and of your fortitude. Keep doing it. They say that in golf, the better you become, the harder the game gets. This makes sense, for if you are playing the game correctly then you are consistently challenging and developing skills and in the process, you are constantly learning. If we apply this theory to our jobs, our families, our social circles, our personal interests, hobbies or various commitments, what can we gather?
Does it mean that once something becomes “easy” to us we should move on and start anew? Not necessarily (see the Seven Year Theory). It can mean that “easy” is simply a stepping stone that naturally leads you onward down that path, if you’re willing to take it (and not confuse it with boredom or lethargy). Walk further or run faster than you did the last time, make it harder and more interesting. If you’re not willing to challenge yourself, however, then “easy” might be your ticket to your next greatest fleeting obsession.
The only games that really get easier are all the ones we stop playing. When our flight response kicks in because we’re certain that impending doom lurks around the next dogleg, we’ve mastered the game in twisted fashion, by simply proclaiming, “I don’t need this shit.” Same goes for those pesky diets and all other forms of self-restricting hell that can be so damned inconvenient. Have you tried advanced aging lately?
Life is not easier the less we try, but we only find that out until we’re way past the point of caring. It’s a huge step to be poking your head around now and not 20 years down the road when, medically speaking, you’re given no other option. Simply put, life should not be a bucket list.
Still on your walk? Okay, good. Follow me, let’s circle back over to information: we want it new, we want it now and there is no question that our automatic thirst for this only increases with time. Whether or not we are aware of the influence that powerful forces hold over us, the reality is that we are in total control of every single thing we do and being in control 100% of the time, every single day is exhausting! (see the children’s movie Inside Out).
Resisting is far more difficult than accepting and this is perpetuated by the very systems in which we interact and exist. Seize control and more importantly, maintain it, because you are the only one with the power to do so.