Willpower gets praised far more than I think it should. Why? Because it requires us to work against ourselves. Living a healthy lifestyle does not require you to be miserable. It does, however, require you to do a bit of investigative work and to persist through some trial and error in order to find what ultimately works well for you.

Your health must become a lifestyle. A lifestyle is not a fad diet. It’s not a 21 day detox. It’s not the latest and greatest exercise trend. It’s not found within a supplement company. All those things can be useful tools, yes, but they are just that—tools. You have to think of a healthy lifestyle more like it’s a living, evolving creature. What works for you and one phase of life may not look the same and another phase of life.

It is about consistency and sustainably for the long term. If it’s not enjoyable, it’s not sustainable. So instead of trying to routinely manufacture willpower, why not create a lifestyle that makes you feel empowered? That is something which will automatically lend to consistency, simply because something that is empowering is something that we will inherently be excited about pursuing.

Get your mindset right, and the rest will follow.

Also, go listen to the Impact Theory episode with Cynthia Pasquella-Garcia here.