1. Update on Market Timers
2. Election Day Stock History
3. Europe-Two Decades Sideways
MarketEar Blog
4. Why? Americans Work Harder.
5. Gold Not Trading As Inflation Hedge
6. 5 Years U.S. National Debt +56%…Gold Trading as Debt Hedge.
7. NVDA Added to Dow Jones…History of Stock Performance After Being Added.
8. China Demographics -Not Good.
9. Electoral Colleges Votes by State
Visual Capitalist
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-electoral-college-votes-by-state-for-2024-election
10. Why Grit and Willpower Fail and What to Do Instead -Psychology Today
Exploring the merits of healthy hedonism when it comes to wellness-Mike Rucker Ph.D.
Key points
- Treat exercise as a fun activity rather than a chore to foster consistency and enjoyment in wellness routines.
- Shifting from restrictive diets to a positive relationship with food supports lasting health and satisfaction.
- Over-quantifying wellness can harm enjoyment; too much tracking risks turning joy into obligation.
- Enjoying wellness activities, aka “healthy hedonism,” is crucial for sustaining positive health behaviors.
Too often, aspirations in the pursuit of wellness are misguided. The advice takes on a perfectionistic angle, pushing individuals to believe that rigid standards are what is required to move the needle when it comes to improving health.
Recently, my medical provider just pushed out a newsletter advocating the 75 Hard program, an ultra-rigid self-improvement protocol with such a high bar that a quick Google search makes it clear it sets most participants up for failure. In my provider’s defense, their newsletters are put together well and generally well-researched. However, this particular one (I presume) was meant to be more inspirational in nature.
Still, I felt compelled as a behavioral scientist to let them know that research indicates that wellness regimens that require this unforgiving level of adherence have a poor track record of long-term success. On the contrary, these types of programs come with the risk of actually harming both physiological and psychological well-being. Instead, what is emerging as one of the most useful components of any health intervention is enjoying the journey. Engaging in something you at least derive some pleasure from—sometimes referred to as healthy hedonism—appears to be a stronger predictor of sustained wellness behavior when compared to most other factors.
It Starts With Finding What Works for You
When it comes to exercise, one size does not fit all. The good news is that the wellness landscape has significantly evolved over the past few decades to offer a diverse selection of approaches to fitness and movement, which means there is a high likelihood that there is a type of exercise or wellness practice that fits your preferences and lifestyle.
As someone whose livelihood depends on helping health club operators design the optimal customer experience, it is not surprising I caught some flack when I wrote in my book The Fun Habit, “If you hate the gym, don’t go! It’s not for everybody. Instead, pick a physical activity with no commute, like bodyweight exercises in your own home or a nature hike in a nearby park.” But the assertion wasn’t meant to cause controversy. On the contrary, it was to highlight the fact that when people don’t find fun in what they’re doing, they tend to fail.
When we start our health journey by honoring our unique preferences, we are able to redefine wellness as a source of joy. When we stack the deck in our favor by scheduling activities we are drawn to that are also helpful in supporting a healthy lifestyle, we don’t need to rely on willpower to push through and keep going when it comes to fitness. Instead, we turn exercise into something “we get to do” rather than something “we have to do.”
The Joy of Cooking
Healthy hedonism isn’t just about fitness; it is also about embracing the enjoyment of food without the guilt often attached to indulgence. Weight loss programs that are restrictive are well-known to have a low success rate, yet this fact has done little to slow down the popularity of fad dieting. When we are able to move away from the idea of a “diet” and instead cultivate a healthier relationship with eating—free from restrictive diets and shame cycles—we generally have better long-term results. Learning to cook with nutrition-dense whole foods, appreciating the flavors and colors of nutritious meals, as well as the experience of eating well-crafted dishes, mitigates the hazards of processed foods and mindless eating.
Prioritizing Experience Over Metrics
With so many health apps at our fingertips, it’s easy to reduce our wellness to numbers. I am a strong advocate of digital health, and when designed well, the right contextually relevant piece of consumer health technology can have a substantial positive impact on one’s health. However, I am also an opponent of overly quantifying health because of its negative impact on healthy hedonism.
Dr. Jordan Etkin, a researcher from Duke University, has looked into this extensively. Her research highlights some of the unintended negative consequences of overfocusing on health metrics served up by technology, which can erode the inherent fun from an activity we once found enjoyable. For instance, while activity trackers might initially increase the frequency we partake in an activity because they focus our attention on the amount we are doing (such as walking or reading), this redirection of attention runs the risk of simultaneously reducing how much we intrinsically enjoy those activities. Over time, the result is that we are no longer drawn to the activity we once enjoyed, so we abandon it.
Unfortunately, this phenomenon transcends physical activity into other areas of wellness. For instance, the popular meditation app Waking Up, created by Sam Harris, removed the prominence of its quantitative features when Sam recognized they were creating what he referred to as “spiritual materialism”—bringing the user’s focus outward instead of inward (where an inward focus is the app’s goal).
Healthy Hedonism at Its Best
Across all domains, prioritizing presence allows us to savor our experience and connect with what we enjoy, whether it’s a workout, meal, or mindfulness session. In doing so, healthy hedonism steers our focus away from outcomes that are often ephemeral if they are too goal-oriented and instead keeps our focus on finding the joy in what we do and what we experience, nurturing a rewarding relationship with wellness—a basket of fun habits where the result is a long-term sustainable strategy toward maintaining our well-being.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-science-of-fun/202411/why-grit-and-willpower-fail-and-what-to-do-instead
