Why You'll Never Be Happy With the Way You Look

I’m going to tell you something that probably goes a bit against the grain of what a lot of health and fitness professionals say;

And that’s you’re NEVER going to be fully happy and fully satisfied with how you look.

In Mark Manson's Book - Everything is Fucked, he sums this up perfectly which not only applies to aesthetics but to all aspects of life;

"The ‘pursuit of happiness’ is a hole that can never be filled, a thirst that can never be quenched. There’s always something more which makes it a flawed concept.”

What this doesn’t mean however, is that we shouldn’t engage in this pursuit at all. Quite the opposite.

I guess what I’m trying to say is take comfort in the fact you’ll never be truly happy. Take comfort in the fact that you’ll never be satisfied. It’s what makes us keep playing the game and is what makes us keep continually wanting to improve.

The best bodybuilders in the world will step up on stage as the leanest individuals on the planet and still pick a million different flaws that they thing they could improve upon.

The worlds best athletes will still always be looking to improve their game and performance no matter how good they already are.

What I’m trying to do here is remove the pressure that you’re unnecessarily putting on yourself to reach this perfect and idealistic place in your life - because it doesn’t exist.

When we have such high expectations we, at some stage realise, that we’re never going to get there. This makes us feel hopeless and deems everything we’re doing pointless which is why we will inevitably at some point throw in the towel.

As cliche as it is - it really is all about the journey and not the destination.

The more you learn to enjoy everything about the journey, and focus less on the destination, is the moment you’ll start seeing results start without you even realising it.

Learn to embrace both the highs and the lows, the pain and the pleasure that comes with any meaningful pursuit.

As Mark Manson says once again;

When we pursue pain, we are able to choose what pain we bring into our lives. That’s what makes that pain meaningful and therefore life meaningful.

Pain is the source of all value, to numb ourselves of pain is to numb ourselves of anything that matters in this world.

When we deny ourselves the ability to feel pain for purpose, we deny ourselves the ability to feel any purpose in our life at all.

So in short, learn to embrace the pain that comes with the discipline of pursuing your goals as it’s an essential part of your journey.

I’m hoping this flips a switch in your brain and makes you feel differently about how you approach your health and fitness journey.

Anything in this post that resonated with you? Comment below! Would love to hear you thoughts.