I have a weird list. I’ve experimented with many self-improvement hacks and there’s one I’ve found useful for managing chronic illness.

I have a list of half a dozen or so things that I need to do or my health will suffer. They vary in difficulty, but the secret sauce is having one or two tasks on the list that I can do on a bad day. No matter how bad I feel, I can probably brush my teeth twice, or floss.

That “win every day” keeps me going, and the stretch goal of doing one of the hard things on the list is why my sink’s clean and I’m going to take a shower after writing this.

It feels like an accomplishment for a bad health day. Maybe all I’ll get done is going to a friend’s house and taking a shower, but at least I didn’t regress.
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And that’s the point. When you’re having a bad day, the objective is not to change the world, it’s to maintain the gains you’ve already made. When tomorrow comes, you’re not any worse off than before.

Josh