Whatever your days look like right now, you made it that way. If you feel you have no time for yourself, it’s because you’ve chosen or let somebody else make that choice for you. If you ask anybody that lives a healthy and balanced lifestyle, they have made a conscious effort to make it that way. They have had to make sacrifices like stopping drinking, limiting time on their phones, establishing limits at work, eliminating distractions, etc.
Your lifestyle reflects your priorities. Unfortunately, most people are unhappy with their current lifestyle. Most people get lost in the consumption cycle, spending their money and energy on whatever they’ve been told they should buy or do. Therefore, many people are trapped in debt for things they don’t really want or need.
Our lifestyles are something we build with every decision we make, every habit we integrate, the people we relate to, our jobs, and our communities. Howard Roarke, the main character of The Fountainhead, was an architect that needed to express his views through his work:
“Most people build as they live — as a matter of routine and senseless accident. But a few understand that building is a great symbol. We live in our minds, and existence is the attempt to bring that life into physical reality, to state it in gesture and form. For the man who understands this, a house he owns is a statement of his life. If he doesn’t build, when he has the means, it’s because his life has not been what he wanted.”
—Howard Roarke, Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead
The lifestyle first approach is not about drinking cocktails on the beach indefinitely, it’s not a hedonistic pursuit, it’s about purpose. The lifestyle first approach is about putting your needs and most sincere wants before anything else. Each person has a unique gift to share with the world, but how can they share it if they are not healthy? How can they share it if they are tormented by stress and anxiety? How can they share it if they feel alone and disconnected?
Every person is unique and still the same as everyone else. We all need food, relationships, sunlight, meaningful work, fresh air, silence, and exercise—having a lifestyle-first approach helps you get everything you need in a way that helps you be the best version of yourself.
