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For most people, the journey towards personal development begins with prioritizing health. For some, health is an outright barrier to living a full life, so it’s an obvious road block. For others, this is perhaps not the case: but make no mistake, your health is your life, and if you want to improve your life, health must be prioritized. There are many different aspects of health, and each is important. While it may make sense for certain aspects to be sacrificed for others in times of great need, great care should be taken to avoid this in the long run. To live a full life, you must live a healthy life.

The most intuitive aspect of health is that of the body. The body must be in motion often – intense exercise might be a useful tool to relieve stress or emotional pain, but the body just needs to be used. You should engage in light exercise each day: even yoga or stretching is infinitely better than nothing at all. Perhaps you don’t think you have time to exercise, and maybe you are truly that busy. The irony though, is exercising your body gives you more time: more longevity of life, less time sick, and a far better quality of life. Ideal exercise should consist of resistance training (weights are excellent), cardio (biking, running, jumping, sports), and mindful stretching. Consider taking yoga seriously; it will help along multiple axis of health. Do yourself a favor, and make time for it.

Caring for the body necessarily involves body what you do with your body, but also what you put in your body. When young, it’s possible to feel great with moderate exercise and little care given to what we put in our bodies. If you are serious about walking the Path, you will find it much harder if you are putting toxic substances into your body. Each person must decide what this means for themselves… but extreme action is not necessary. The Path is one of continued improvement, so consider applying those principles to your lifestyle and to what you put in your body. Does this take me higher? Perhaps in some circumstances, taking wine could be walking your Path. Proceed with care: addictive substances should only be used with extreme caution and strict moderation.

When framing health as a priority, Social Health is an aspect that perhaps gets forgotten too easily. For social health to be prioritized, bring awareness to how social needs are met. When analyzing your social patterns, attempt to review your social habits from a dispassionate, objective perspective as much as possible. Do you think you’re alone too much, or not enough? Do you spend your time primarily with people who challenge you to be better, or do they help justify not improving yourself? Naturally, you will with practice answer your own questions. Beware anyone skeptical or negative towards your desire to seek self improvement. People will try to hold you where you are, and it’s ultimately up to you if they will succeed or not.

Somewhere between physical and social health lies hygiene- but I’d broaden it to one’s practices towards self care. Keeping yourself clean is a priority for both social and physical health – we ourselves prefer the company of clean people, so we ought be clean ourselves. Now, should you be roughing ot in the woods, perhaps this wouldn’t be a priority… the social standards you want to live in will dictate how important this is. Your needs matter: if you feel frustrated or dissatisfied, see if you can identify root needs that aren’t being met.

Sexual health or intimacy is going to be a challenge for many in our modern era. Our culture has made intimacy into something unnatural… and if this is an identified need, seek guidance and feedback from tmthise you trust. Intimacy is about trust – seek trusted companions, and commit to being trustworthy yourself. This is the sole of intimacy: if you cannot understand yourself, then intimacy will be difficult to navigate. When we don’t understand ourselves, we are not prepared for true intimacy. For now, seek to understand who you truly are, who you want to be, and commit to being someone worthy of trust. Don’t compromise on those close to you, for our closest companions are a mirror reflecting who we are. Ensure you love the reflection.

Mental health is certainly a topic that gets a lot of attention,  and rightfully so. If your mind feels confused or chaotic, seek out unbiased feedback from others you trust. Should you have any reason to suspect your own mental health, seek professional guidance. Do your best to speak your truth to them, and then to really listen to them as they give you their perspective. Always consult a professional if you feel something could be wrong, but don’t wait to find a trusted person should you be afraid to be alone. Remember this: you are not what others do or say to you. The words and actions of others have more to do with them than you – find who you are.

Spiritual health is trickier in our modern era, as many people are breaking from traditional religion and the idea of a higher power altogether. Individual opinions of God aside, everyone needs a driving purpose in their lives. If your life lacks purpose, the pursuit of personal development will be hollow at best. Life gets hard… that’s an unavoidable fact. You must find your why. For the lost, please get off your screen and out into the real world. If you stare at a screen most of your day, and feel lost without purpose, you can be sure that is no coincidence. Explore your community (where it’s safe to do so) and interact with your people. Help someone, volunteer. Go be with your parents, or other family, or even friends. People will always be the truest source of purpose one can find. Connect with your world.

Remember that self improvement is a life long journey, not a quick fix or a life hack. The more intention you bring into your practice, the more your life will improve as a result. You may to dig deep to find the motivation to push yourself everyday, so know this: it’s not how many times you fall that will define you. No one cares about your failures. It’s your willingness to get up and try again, to keep striving and not surrender, that makes all the difference. You will live in darkness, so endure so that you can bring others light.