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I think we've overcomplicated wellbeing. Somewhere along the way, looking after ourselves became another thing to optimise. Another system to master, another area of life where we could fail if we didn't do it properly and in trying to do it properly, we've buried the basics under so much noise that we've stopped trusting them.
So here's an idea: what if the way back isn't forward, into some new protocol? What if it's back to the handful of things that were never actually complicated; we just stopped paying attention to them?
Nutrition
Not a diet, not a set of rules. Just what are you actually putting in your body most days?
Food got tangled up with morality somewhere. Good foods, bad foods, guilt, restriction, reward but underneath all that noise is a much simpler question: does what you're eating support you and give you energy, or does it take it away? You need to start listening to what you already know, particularly in midlife. Key principles include prioritising lean proteins (like fish, eggs, or legumes), boosting daily fibre through vegetables and whole grains, and limiting highly processed foods, excess salt, and trans fats.
Water
It sounds almost embarrassing to write down. Drink water, but when did you last check in with whether you actually do - properly, consistently, before the 3pm slump reminds you?
Dehydration doesn't announce itself. It shows up as fog, as irritability, as a headache you blame on your screen. It's one of the few things in life where the fix really is that simple, and yet it's usually the first thing to go when we get busy.
Movement and strength
Movement isn't just cardio, and it isn't punishment for what you ate. It's one of the most direct ways we have of telling our body it's safe, capable, still strong.
Strength training in particular gets overlooked, especially by women, especially in midlife - as if it's for other people, younger people, gym people. It isn't; building strength isn't about aesthetics. It's about being able to trust your body to carry you through your life, to get up off the floor, to carry your own shopping, to still feel capable at seventy. It's one of the quiet foundations of feeling like yourself.
Purpose
This one's harder to put into words, but you feel its absence. Purpose doesn't have to mean a grand mission; sometimes it's as small as knowing why you got out of bed. A reason, a thread that connects today to something that matters to you.
So many of us spend our days reacting to the world instead of shaping our lives around what actually drives us - our purpose, our needs, our values, and even then, what we call "purpose" is often just a short-term goal in disguise. Buying a house, launching a business.
These bring real satisfaction, and they might well be part of the life you want but purpose is bigger than any single goal. It's the meaning that sits underneath, the reason the goal was worth chasing at all.
Non-negotiables
Non-negotiables are important. The one or two things you protect no matter what. For me, it's waking early and a morning swim – time I spend that is focused on my needs. It's the thing that happens before the day gets its hands on me.
Everyone needs one of these. Something that doesn't get negotiated away when life gets loud. Something that simply brings you pleasure. A non-negotiable.
The room to breathe
When we strip things back to just these basics - eat well, drink water, move, get strong, know your why, protect your non-negotiable - something changes. There's less to manage, less to think about and less noise, and in that space, something surprising happens. We don't just cope better – we start to thrive.
Maybe the answer was never about adding more; maybe it was about clearing enough space to notice what was already there, waiting to be looked after properly.
What would you have to strip away to get back to the basics that actually matter to you?