Letter to the Busy Professional
Living a healthier life
Dear Stepwise,
I’ve been meaning to write, but — like so much lately — it kept slipping down the list.
Work is full, life is fast, and most days blur into meetings, deadlines, and small obligations that quietly pile up. I’m not falling apart, but I’m not thriving either.
I don’t sleep well. I skip meals or rush through them. Exercise happens sporadically. I catch glimpses of the person I want to be — more present, more energized, more in control — but they feel out of reach.
I’ve tried to fix it before: new routines, productivity hacks, bursts of willpower. Nothing sticks. And honestly, I don’t want another rigid system. I want something real — something that fits into a life with late nights, back-to-back calls, and the need to just be.
I’m not asking for a shortcut. I’m asking for a strategy. Not perfection, but perspective. A way of living that respects both my career ambitions and my health.
Any thoughts?
Sincerely,
Someone trying to do well — and be well
Dear busy professional,
You’re not alone.
Many of us want to be healthy but feel stuck — unsure where to start, how to keep going, or what “good health” even looks like. And in the background, there’s a work culture telling us we can’t be happy, healthy and successful.
I get it. I’ve felt the same frustration — pulled between ambition and well-being, unsure how to balance both. That’s why I’m trying to teach what I most need to learn.
Getting started…
I recently read the introduction of Mel Robbins’ new book The Let Them Theory where she wrote about her 5-second rule of getting things done. It’s a simple trick to overcome the inertia we all feel before doing hard things. Given I read the introduction but nothing else, starting something isn’t a particular problem of mine. Nonetheless, I find the 5-count method (literally counting backwards from 5 and then starting) an intriguing one to break down immediate barriers to activities like going to the gym, making a healthy dinner, or choosing the stairs over the elevator.
I believe the broader theme to take from Robbins’ method and many others is to start now. Not in 30 minutes once you finish watching this TV show and not next week once the logical starting point of Monday rolls around. My prevailing piece of advice for when to start living the healthy life you want to live is to do it right now. As a Chinese proverb says, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, but the second best time is now.
Keeping it going…
Once started, you’ll have to face an unfortunately hard truth - you’re going to have to restart. You’ll need to restart every set, every day, and every week. American artist, Chuck Close, is credited with saying “inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up and work.” Close, as the creator of massive hyper-realistic paintings, was someone who understood the power of small steps within the scale of a much larger picture. The simple truth is that you’re not always going to feel motivated and inspired to continue your health journey, but the most important thing is to keep showing up. Show up when it’s hard. Show up when it’s inconvenient. And most importantly, show up even when you don’t want to.
The finance world, a primary perpetrator of the narrative that one cannot be happy, healthy, and high-performing at work, is very familiar with another concept worth mentioning here: compound interest. The concept underlies the importance of showing up day after day, something James Clear illustrates in Atomic Habits with this simple calculation: 1% better every day (1.01^365=37.78) vs. 1% worse (0.99^365=0.03). Seems like it’s time to put our mouth where our money is, not the other way around.
Am I there yet..?
The road to a healthy life is often referred to as a journey, and most journeys, especially successful ones, have destinations. So, how do you know if you have arrived at your goal of a healthy life? Is there a certain body fat percentage or a set of biomarkers? There are many frameworks and markers for assessing health, whether it be physical, mental, cognitive, emotional, spiritual and so on. However, I don’t believe that our health can be neatly confined to some healthy or unhealthy definition, or rather destination. What we’re seeking is to be healthier. In Arthur C Brooks’ latest book, the Harvard happiness researcher goes into detail about how happiness isn’t a static destination but direction—a pursuit of what he and co-author Oprah Winfrey call happierness. In his view, the goal isn’t perfect contentment in each moment, but steady progress. The same applies to health. We’re not chasing some flawless version of wellness uninterrupted by daily life—we’re moving toward healthierness: a continual, intentional effort to feel a little stronger, think a little clearer, and live a little better each day. That’s what a stepwise approach to a healthier life is all about. Living healthier than you did yesterday, then getting back up tomorrow and starting again, one step at a time.
The challenges you are facing are real and they plague practically all of us in some way. Yet, there’s something inherently valuable in the fact that living a healthier life is such a challenge and an entirely personal one. Through all of the trials and tribulations that life throws at you, health is the one prevailing thing that will stick with you, and the responsibility to create a life where you’re able to live better for longer is only your own… so why not start now?
Sincerely,
Someone (also) trying to do well — and be well
Next Newsletter
We’ll discuss the US healthcare system
I enjoyed the format of this one and the simple but practical tips that were included.