Simple Health

To improve your health, do the simplest thing that could possibly work. Don’t start an intricate supplement regimen or try to follow a complex set of dietary guidelines. The traveling snake oil salesman has moved online and is now a health influencer, but that doesn’t remove the quackery.

Decide on one parameter you want to track (weight, sleep, whatever) and make one simple change to your life. For weight loss, it could be preparing more meals from scratch. For sleep, it could be putting down your phone one hour before bedtime. Track your adherence to your chosen change and the tracked parameter for two weeks.

If you got results, good.

If you didn’t, either your adherence wasn’t strong because you couldn’t implement the change consistently, or the change didn’t affect the tracked parameter. Never mind. Choose another change and try again.

Take Action

To make a difference, you must act in the real world. It’s election day in Denmark, and I’ve done my civic duty. My single vote probably doesn’t change the outcome, but it has more impact than a hundred online posts.

One of the insidious problems of social media is that it creates the illusion of action. I have liked, commented, and subscribed, and now the world will definitely change. Not.

The only way to change the world is IRL: vote in elections, volunteer for causes you support, and buy products that harm the planet as little as possible. Take action today—online doesn’t count.