Modern society seems determined to ruin our health. We’re surrounded by addictive and convenient junk food, our car-centered cities discourage natural movement, stress from overwhelm and complexity often makes us self-destruct, and artificial light and late-night entertainment disrupt our sleep.

Carving out a lasting healthy lifestyle in this environment is no easy task. But the good news is that, once your healthy lifestyle is established, it becomes self-sustaining. It’s the transition phase that presents the real challenge.

Making the transition to a holistic healthy lifestyle requires a deep desire. And there’s no better way to cultivate that desire than to understand the big picture of healthy living — how it improves every aspect of life and makes the world a better place.

In this article, I’ll paint this big-picture view around the four pillars so health: diet, exercise, stress, and sleep.

Diet

Eat less …

For you: What if you could enjoy 50 years of accumulated skills, wealth, and wisdom from a biologically 30-year-old body? With everything we’re learning about longevity, this is becoming possible. And there’s still no better-known method to stay healthier for longer than a mildly reduced calorie intake.

For the world: Gross food inequality is one of the most embarrassing failures of our global society. In fact, the rich world spends as much trying to lose weight as would be needed to eradicate world hunger. Every rich-world citizen who chooses to consume less food helps right this grave wrong.

… mostly plants …

For you: Healthy plant-based foods work hand-in-hand with reduced calorie intake to maximize healthy lifespan, all while saving you money. And don’t worry, when you use meat as a seasoning instead of a staple, you can get all the enjoyment with none of the drawbacks.

For the planet: Animal products stand for 18% of global calories but take up 77% of global agricultural land and emit 60% of agricultural greenhouse gases. Animal cruelty is also a major concern. Indeed, eating mostly plants is one of the best things you can do for your planet.

… with no added sugar

For you: Sugar screws up our brains’ pleasure sensors, making sweet things taste mediocre and anything without tons of sugar taste bland. Quitting sugar fixes this miscalibration, making natural sweet things like fruit much tastier and the occasional sugary treat a truly magical experience.

For the planet: Sugar is one of the chief agents of the Instant Pleasure Industry responsible for millions of premature deaths worldwide (see Problem 2 here). Everyone who manages to quit sugar takes away a little power from the Instant Pleasure Industry, limiting its ability to harm others.

Exercise

Move intelligently …

For you: Walking or cycling everywhere you need to go is a shortcut to financial freedom and a treasure trove of creativity. All those daily steps will add many healthy and energetic years to your life to enjoy your growing wealth and blossoming creativity.

For the planet: Cities built for cars instead of people are among the greatest inefficiencies in our world (see Problem 8 here). Everyone who chooses self-propulsion (or at least public transport) helps shift us towards human-centered cities.

… and stretch/lift with purpose

For you: Yoga is one of the most powerful anchors for morning and evening routines and all their well-known benefits. Four minutes of daily strength training can make you proud every time you look in the mirror. Both will boost your mental health.

For the planet: In a world of overwhelm and depression, a few simple movements anyone can do in their living room can provide precious stability. Every grounded and confident individual brings some much-needed calm to our anxiety-generating world.

Stress

Get hot, get cold …

For you: Moderate heat or cold stress offers a natural way to activate the body’s defenses for securing a long and healthy life. And as an added bonus, this miracle anti-aging treatment saves big on heating and cooling bills.

For the planet: Our perfectly climate-controlled indoor environments not only shorten our lives, they also harm our economies and our planet. Everyone who turns down the thermostat or takes a cold shower helps with the immensely important megaproject that is the global energy transition.

… and push your boundaries

For you: Stress can be terrible if it is imposed upon you, but it becomes healthy and exciting when you’re striving toward something great. Hence, a proper understanding of eustress and distress offers an invaluable compass to discover your best life.

For the planet: If we’re reactive, our long list of global problems can stress us out to no end. But if we’re proactive, initiatives to solve these challenges offer some of the purest forms of meaning we can ever experience in life.

Sleep

Get sufficient shut-eye …

For you: Sleep is one of the healthiest forms of relaxation out there. Make it into art by designing the perfect sleeping environment with soothing materials, sounds, and smells. Then, indulge to your heart’s content.

For the planet: A tired mind makes bad decisions. Billions of tired minds make a bad world. Everyone who escapes all the hazards of the global sleep deprivation epidemic makes our world a little bit better.

… perhaps twice a day

For you: Do you often fall into an afternoon slump, suffering through the last few working hours without getting anything meaningful done? Try a siesta. It takes all that pointless suffering and molds it into a revitalized evening that feels like a brand new day.

For the planet: Most knowledge workers today can do more in 5 hours of deep work than 8 hours of increasingly unfocused work. Adding another deep work session after a revitalizing siesta can really move the needle. Every brave siesta pioneer can help nudge society toward this far more efficient model.

The Big Picture

Much like John ‘Hannibal’ Smith from the A-Team, I love it when a plan comes together. And a carefully designed healthy lifestyle surely ranks among the most satisfying of plans. Once you reach this point where all aspects of your healthy lifestyle come together seamlessly, you’re set for life.

A smart, healthy lifestyle brings together a set of compounding and mutually reinforcing co-benefits extending far beyond weight loss. You’ll gain energy, creativity, and motivation to get big things done, save money and increase your earning capacity to build more wealth, and add many healthy years to your life to enjoy the resulting growth.

And never lose sight of the long list of large societal benefits. We’re at our best when we work toward something bigger than ourselves. Tap into that source of motivation and you’ll be rightfully rewarded.