The single most important thing one can do to take care of themselves is to take responsibility for their actions.

That means both the good ones, but more importantly, the less beneficial ones. You can’t look after your fitness if you don’t take ownership of your own decisions.

• Physical health

  We know that exercising is one of the best ways to maintain or regain our fitness.
  
  BOTH resistance training like weightlifting or doing body-weighted movements for instance AND cardiovascular training like walking, jogging, and swimming, for example, contribute greatly to our vigor.
  
  Physically exerting ourselves has multiple health benefits such as injury prevention and an improved attitude due to the dopamine that’s being released when we exercise. This ends up making us feel better while simultaneously losing weight as an added benefit. 
  Working out can even cure, or at least improve your depression, whereas cardiovascular conditioning is vital for a multitude of reasons.

  

  Firstly, it helps our mindset by clearing/distracting the mind, which aids in reducing the amount of stress we experience. That’s especially true when these activities are performed in a serene environment such as in nature.
  
  It is good for your organs like your heart and lungs. But it also reduces the chance of other physical issues and illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension. In short, everyone should work out for their own sake!
  
  Research has shown that resistance training such as weightlifting has a variety of health benefits. 
  
  It makes your muscles, tendons, and even your bones grow stronger, making injuries less likely to happen. It also allows you to lift heavy objects during your everyday life without hurting your back in the process. In short, it aids our physical and mental well-being.
  
  The quote: “A healthy mind in a healthy body” is appropriate here. And I couldn’t agree more.
  
  To me, fitness and a positive mental state are interconnected, as health is multifaceted. Thus, logically, it requires a varied approach to hit all targets.

• Mental health

  

  So, how do you take care of your psyche? Well, we must first realize that a lot of dimensions contribute to our psychological state.
  
  Human beings need meaningful interactions with friends and family members to feel fulfilled. Fun fact: Both introverts and extroverts need social interaction, they just differ in how much social stimulation they desire.
  
  These purposeful relationships with our peers give us a sense of belonging to people, and to the world itself, if you will. If we don’t get the required amount of interaction with one another, then our mood and mindset will start to deteriorate.
  
  Being socially deprived causes tension. If this mental strain keeps going for a prolonged period, then your mind might very well dwell in dark places, thus leading to a general worsening of your psychological attitude.
  
  This can cause depression among a plethora of other illnesses and mood disorders in addition to hurting our prosperity. If you are, or happen to get depressed in the future, then do not despair. As terrible as it is and sounds to go through, it is still treatable, and even entirely curable in most cases!

  

  Try to reduce pressure and anxiety to a minimum by doing relaxing activities like gardening, exercising, and even practicing mindfulness. Everything that calms, eases, and/or distracts the mind from the more stressful parts of our existence is a viable option.
  
  Remember that we all need to blow off steam from time to time. We’re only humans, and not machines, after all.
  
  Voluntarily challenging and facing the things that cause worry and uneasy sensations are the key to reducing those associated negative feelings.
  
  That’s because you get braver as you oppose those emotions, and not because those antagonistic feelings will magically disappear, contrary to popular belief.
  
  You will start to notice that you are indeed capable of controlling your fears. Consequently, you’ll start feeling more in control of your life. This will already go a long way to reduce nervousness and concern.
  
  You can attempt to avoid negative feelings entirely for a while. But eventually, you will have to face them, or they will become, and remain an obstacle for the rest of your life.
  
  Even avoiding adverse emotions and events that make you feel uneasy won’t make you feel good about it in the moment. It’ll likely stress you out because you know that you are dodging the very things you need to contest and fix to overcome them!

• Spirituality

  

  Take note that spirituality is not necessarily related to religion. Although belief can most certainly be a part of a person’s spirituality.
  
  Spirituality is basically what makes you, well, you. Your identity, or personality, let’s say. That means that it’s not the same as faith in this context.
  
  It is one of the most important facets to develop in life. It includes your value system and personal beliefs, in addition to your principles.
  
  These values start developing from the moment you are self-conscious as a child and will continue to do so throughout your whole life.
  
  Those principles will be influenced by the people you hold dear, and who are significant to you. This is why it’s critical to have good role models from a young age. 

  

  But no matter how much we would want to at times, other people can’t do all the work for us. You will have to evolve and integrate the values you find substantial on your own.
  
  Having a goal is the most vital thing in existence. Without a purpose in life, nothing matters.
  
  The advantage of not having an aim is that nothing matters (nihilism). The disadvantage of not having an objective, and it’s a big one, is that you are suffering meaninglessly. That’s because nothing matters from that point of view.
  
  That’s why I recommend people to search for an objective and to create smaller goals in the process that are important to them.
  
  It can be something as trivial as cleaning your room every day, so there’s less chaos and more structure in your life. But it can go much further and become more complicated, like getting a degree for a job you would like to do in the future. Or getting your family life in order, for instance.
  
  Remember to think your ends through well. The goal must be influential and of worth to you. This way, you’ll get to create the best possible version of yourself, while living your life to the fullest as well.

• Healthy diet

  

  And lastly, a healthy diet is essential as well.
  
  There’s an ancient quote that says: “You are what you eat.” There’s a lot of truth and wisdom to be found in that sentence.
  
  It ranges from eating solid, unprocessed foods and drinking water, to drugs we put into our bodies. As we all know, consuming drugs, which includes alcohol, is addictive in addition to destructive.
  
  In the short term, they might not show their immediate detrimental effects except making you addicted, which we often don’t realize until it’s already too late.
  But in the long term, they WILL undoubtedly be damaging to your overall health. What’s more, is that your social and work life will deteriorate over time.
  
  In the food and drinks department, it’s quite simple. Try to eat organic foods and drink liquids that are naturally occurring in the world. Preferably, meat that’s free from hormones and vegetables that are not sprayed with pesticides.
  
  This means untreated foods, and water instead of sugary drinks such as soda.
  
  Oh, and no smoking either! However, society has already made huge strides regarding smoking, and the negative health effects are generally well-known and documented.