Here's an unfortunate Instagram post I had the displeasure of clapping eyes on recently:

(from a doctor, no less!)

My thoughts?

Why not throw yoga, breathwork and sound baths into the mix too?  And collect £200 as you’re scurrying round the board on the way to your next wellness activity, trying to complete your set?

Here’s the problem I have with “advice” like this (and I use the word advice in the loosest possible sense):

The way to get “big dividends” in your life is NOT by constructing a never-ending daily checklist of so-called wellness activities.  A to-do list which means you ignore what your own body knows it needs in the moment, and instead presumes that the answer to “a vastly improved life” is by following the same checklist that everyone else is following.

A checklist which swamps your diary and even ADDS to your woes when inevitably you skip a day because life gets in the way, and then you start to tear into yourself for how you’re not sticking to your routine and being all disciplined and Zen.

So a vastly improved life?

Hardly.

I mean, you might find that some of these activities have some sort of impact for some period of time.

And anyone who reads this and thinks I’m bad-mouthing exercise or telling you not to go for a walk is missing the point. 

To be clear:

Yes, some of this helps some people.

Yes, some people who share this stuff are trying to be helpful. 

And if a cocktail of walking, running, sauna and food prep helps you improve your life then I understand why you’d want to stick with it.

But the dimfluencers who churn out these posts have missed the fact that there’s no such thing as a “one-size-fits-all”.  As have the Instagram superfans hypnotised by their iPhones into liking, sharing and gushing over this fluff until soon enough an entire generation of zombies will have been brainwashed into thinking that the answer to more peace and calm is a daily to-do list of sauna, ashtanga yoga, time in nature, cold plunges, sound baths, meditation apps, breathwork, 10 minutes of sunlight, I.V. drips, daily walks, working out, gratitude journals, kale & spinach smoothies, speaking to trees and chanting kumbaya round a campfire.

It's using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut.  And it's absolutely bonkers.

Maybe you dabble in this stuff.

No judgement from me if so.  I’ve dabbled in this stuff too.

(more than dabble, in fact)

But this is exactly why I can write about all this.

And if you feel like your wellbeing “progress” is the equivalent of wading through treacle (like I did), and wonder if you’ll need to keep all this up for the next 50 years – or even suspect that this stuff isn’t working and might even be getting in the way of your uncluttered mind and generally living a happy & fulfilled life – then know this:

There is another way. 

It took me 20 or so years of digging, research and experimenting (and hightailing down many dead ends, cul-de-sacs and blind alleys), but I found it.

The way to an “improved life” isn’t by following what’s right for someone else or whatever latest trend your favourite dimfluencer has decided to add to his or her manifesto.

Instead, it’s discovering what’s right, in each moment, for you.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say you already know what’s right for you.  And all you need to do is start listening.

That might be too woo-woo for some.

So be it.

If you’re interested, curious or merely intrigued about how coaching could help, hit reply.

And we’ll take it from there.

That’s all for today.

- Tom