I'm a junkie for knowledge. I live for that moment when I read/ watch something that makes me feel like ohmygah this was the giblet of info that I needed for everything to just fit together. It gives me this rush of excitement to share it, to ponder upon it, to practice it. I've received this joy from conversations, research papers, as well as YouTube content about health, personal development, or just people voicing their opinions.

In the past, though, there'd been times when I didn't treat knowledge as this fun, emotional thing. I didn't see it as something I could just appreciate.

Instead, I thought that if someone sounds more authoritative than me, like they've figured it out and I haven't yet, then…I should follow their content. They're right, I'm wrong. But I'll be right soon, too, if I do what they say!

Like a famous finance guy. Or a medical practitioner giving top 10 secrets for this. And that. Knowledge meant dictation, for my actions. For my life.

Sound weird? I'm sure you do it too, though.

Have you ever heard a super science-y person say something about anti-ageing, staying healthier for longer, or fixing aches and pains you've been having for too long? Have you ever heard a super put-together person talk about how building atomic habits, or listening to people "in a certain way", or using a journaling template they created will fix up all the problems you're having with your career, or family, or, more importantly, yourself?

They're pretty damn convincing, aren't they? It seems like adopting their advice would just make you unstoppable. You could never go wrong if you follow their footsteps.

I did this. Ages 16–19, I obsessively consumed content telling me how to better my life. I reformed my diet, pertaining it to pure, balanced veganism and minimal gluten. I tried figuring out stocks, bonds, investments. I tried watching all the TED talks I could so that I'd know all the secrets to becoming a young, rich, independent woman.

And it didn't really do all that for me.

(Don't get me wrong, this stuff is REALLY cool and can get us out of ruts and improve our standard of living. Of course it can. We should be healthy. We should be financially informed. But treating it as a holy grail? And more importantly, trying to micro-manage our way to a satisfactory life, one checkbox at a time? Ehhhh. Something was definitely off. Like, dystopian-level off.)

It was like a headless chicken. You introduce a 4-meter-long (and high, for illustration purposes) wall, erected at a 320 northwest angle, the chicken will bump into it, follow it and start running in that direction.

Another wall at 85 degrees northeast, and it pivots to run that way.

But ultimately, it's still a headless chicken running.

Where to stop? How many health-enhancing, leadership-polishing changes do I make to finally succeed? Do I have to keep doing this for the rest of my life? To finally have gotten there?

At some point we've got to stop. And we've got to ask ourselves, are we just lying to ourselves because we don't know better?

And once you finally halt, and you have a think or two (or in my case a month-long think), you realize that the only sustainable thing that you can do for self improvement — health wise, ambition wise, everything wise — is to watch out for those gut feelings.

Yep, you bet I'm circling back to the gut.

In everything we do, we feel some type of way. Sometimes watering our plant in the garden makes our feet tap, our mouth corner into a content smile, our brain clear up.

The gut feels full.

Sometimes a talk with someone you just met makes us feel energetic and full of ideas.

The gut feels excited, charged.

Don't overlook those moments. They're telling you something about how you should live your life. About what you actually care about.

And the things you care about, are the things that'll sustainably stay in your life. They'll get you to where you want to be. So have them stick around.

You're an emotional being. Think of a time when you felt on top of the world. Like the sky was the limit. What were you doing to feel that way?

Why don't you do that thing again then?

Some things stuck with me. I avoid dairy, I look out for dehydration signals my body is sending me so I can water up. It feels good to do this, so it stuck around.

As for the little things?

See Paragraph 1.

But also, some things didn't stick around. I don't read ten pages of something a day. I don't do HIIT at least 3x a week. I wash my face once in 2 weeks, I don't have skincare products nor a skincare routine. I don't eat perfectly fibrous and macro-perfect food every day.

And I feel at my best. Because I just ignore whatever doesn't guttily feel right. And I cherish the little things as much as I can.

So, what are your little things?