No Change, Many Problems

Most people don’t like to change.

Change doesn’t always seem like a great idea when you’re comfortable with your situation and daily routine. Isn’t that the point of life? To find what you love and do it every day.

The unfortunate reality is that many people who resist change have long lost the comfort they once found in their situation, along with the joy that came with it.

Their once well-paying job no longer keeps up with the rising cost of living. A sedentary lifestyle filled with Netflix and internet scrolling has led to physical ailments and low energy. The food they once enjoyed has degraded in quality, making them sick and depressed.

Living in the Past

Things aren’t meant to stay the same. Think about the last time something you experienced repeatedly over a long period still held the same appeal as it once did.

The first time you try something is often the most exciting. Maybe the first time you try a new food, it’s amazing. So you go back for more, again and again, until that meal that initially sparked such delicious excitement loses its magic.

You can experience this with all sorts of things. Think about your favorite songs and the first time you heard them. Think about your favorite foods, people, and activities. Do they still have the same appeal?

Maybe you can answer with a definitive ‘yes’ in some cases. Some situations can stay exciting, but for most, unless you find new ways to experience these things, you will quickly become numb to their appeal. Our minds are attracted to novelty, and once it has run its course, we start looking for new things to keep us preoccupied.

Resisting natural change can lead to mental and physical health issues.

Slow and Steady Decline

Our minds crave novelty, but change takes time to manifest.

For example, young people can often eat anything and maintain their weight, but this doesn’t last forever. Similarly, the ability to effortlessly maintain strength and physical capability diminishes as life slows down due to work and family responsibilities.

It’s easier to maintain old habits because the consequences are often delayed.

Humans are momentum-based creatures. We continue on our current path until there is an overwhelming reason to change because it’s easier to maintain momentum than to alter it. If the path involves eating unhealthy foods, we continue until it inevitably catches up with us years later. Health issues start to appear, and we either change or become lifelong patients.

The point is, that the negative (and positive) consequences of our actions take a long time to manifest. This makes it easy to push off change until tomorrow, believing that one more day won’t make a difference.

One day turns into a week, which turns into a month, which turns into a year.

Pseudo-Change

There are many situations where you can trick yourself into thinking you’re making constructive changes when you’re not. We can call this pseudo-change.

Here are some examples:

1. Preparing to change but never actually starting.

Fitness and nutrition are major culprits here. It’s common to buy healthy groceries with the plan to start a new diet, then grab fast food on the way home. The healthy groceries rot in the fridge because your week becomes busy and stressful, leaving you without the energy to cook after work. This fills you with a false sense of success without real change—quite the dangerous cocktail.

2. Changing in non-positive ways.

Non-positive change can be either negative or neutral. A neutral change might be moving from a gym you rarely go to, to a home gym you rarely use. You’re changing the environment without changing the behavior. Like number one, this makes you feel like you’re doing something constructive when you’re not.

Negative change involves making your situation worse. This could be leaving a well-paying job for a more enjoyable one that barely pays the bills. You may enjoy the work more, but you have increased stress due to financial worries. While you’re technically changing your situation, you’re moving backward.

3. Stopping positive change before reaping the rewards.

We’ve mentioned the value of positive feedback loops in previous newsletters, but this pseudo-change is often the most insidious. This is common in people with a lot of potential who don’t keep driving toward their goals because it’s hard. Positive change is difficult to implement, especially when you’re used to staying the same. When times get tough, it’s easy to fall back into old, complacent ways.

This is a primary concern with fitness and nutrition. Since health is a lifelong concern, fitness and nutrition must be lifelong commitments. Many give up when they realize they won’t become healthy overnight or look like a fitness model in eight weeks.

The situation that made you overweight, unhealthy, and low on energy must be countered with an equivalent amount of work and time to achieve a healthy and thriving state.

Making Positive Change

You are never too old to change.

Most people don’t change after a certain age, but it’s never too late to start. No matter how unhealthy you are, you can always get healthier by changing your habits. No matter how sad you are, you can always get happier by changing your lifestyle.

The ability to change is one of your most powerful tools. If you don’t like your circumstances, you can change for the better.

Here are some techniques to implement lasting, positive change in your life:

1. Remove the negative.

Most people know what negatively impacts their lives but choose to maintain it because it’s familiar. Examine the people, habits, hobbies, foods, and events in your life and eliminate any that don’t help you build a better you.

2. Apply slight positive changes each day.

Find minor, easy-to-implement changes and do them consistently. Think small, like brushing your teeth twice a day instead of once. Even this minor change can have a drastic impact on your health and long-term finances, for a small investment of two minutes a day. These small changes compound into increased health and energy that can be channeled into greater forms of positive change.

3. Choose constructive hobbies instead of time-wasting ones.

This is difficult for many people because the world is full of time-wasting activities such as watching television and scrolling through social media. These can be used constructively, but the vast majority (almost everyone) use them in ways that offer no real positive impact. They often hurt you.

You should find enjoyment and satisfaction in your hobbies, not feel drained and dissatisfied after losing another forgettable four hours to the void. The time saved from doom-scrolling can be easily transferred into fitness and nutrition, with plenty of time to spare. This leads to the next point…

4. Make fitness and nutrition a cornerstone of your life.

This is the most demanding step, but if implemented properly and with a long-term horizon, the most impactful. These two things require a small amount of daily time to have a massive long-term benefit in every area of your life.

If you are serious about changing your life for the better, you must become serious about health.

Summary

• Resistance to Change: Most people are resistant to change, even when their current situation no longer brings them joy or comfort.

• Mental and Physical Decline: Avoiding change can lead to mental and physical health issues, as our minds crave novelty and our bodies require ongoing care.

• Pseudo-Change Pitfalls: Many fall into the trap of pseudo-change, where they only prepare to change, make non-positive changes, or stop positive changes before reaping the benefits.

• Positive Change Techniques: Implementing small, consistent positive changes, removing negative influences, and choosing constructive hobbies can lead to lasting improvement.

• Health as a Cornerstone: Making fitness and nutrition central to your life is crucial for achieving long-term positive change and overall well-being.