Somebody once told me that your health is your personal responsibility.
What you do to your body, and what you do for your body, are your own decisions. Nobody else will make them for you, and nobody else will carry the consequences.
So in this article I am sharing 10 personal health tips that I actually follow. Some apply more to men, some more to women, and most apply to everybody. Start wherever makes sense for you.
Before you use these personal health tips: I am not a doctor
Let me be very clear. I am not a doctor. I am not a therapist. I have never taken a medical class or a course on medicine.
These personal health tips are things I have tried in my own life and found helpful. That is all. If you have a health condition, take medication, are pregnant, or are unsure about anything here, talk to your doctor before you change how you eat, fast or exercise.
Watch the full video
1. Try fasting
When I recorded the video for this article, I had been fasting for about 18 hours and had just broken my fast.
Fasting simply means going without food for a period of time. Many people only think of it as something you do when praying. But fasting can also be something you do to take care of your body and your mind.
Why I started fasting
When I was around 24, I was big. I weighed about 78 kilos. I am tall, but being tall does not hide a big belly.
I also struggled with brain fog. I could not sit down and focus on anything, because it felt like my stomach was always busy digesting food.
Then I came across intermittent fasting online. Some people were going for very long fasts. I decided to start small and try 16 hours with no food.
I am telling you, I have never felt better.
What fasting does for my focus
For me, the biggest change is concentration. When I am fasting, my body is not busy digesting, and my head feels clearer.
Compare that to waking up and eating bread first thing in the morning. If you are a creative, or you work a job where you sit for long hours, a heavy breakfast can leave you sluggish when you should be doing your best work.
Be careful with fasting
Start small. 12 to 16 hours is plenty to begin with. Long fasts of several days are not where a beginner should start.
And if you have a lifestyle condition such as diabetes or high blood pressure, or you take medication, do not fast without your doctor’s guidance. Fasting can affect blood sugar and medication in ways you need a professional to manage.
2. Eat real food
Somebody told me this once, and it stuck with me.
If your grandmother has never heard of the food you are eating, avoid it.
We live in a world full of processed food. Some time back I went to a hotel and spent about 10,000 shillings on a meal. When I left, I could not tell you a single nutritional benefit of what I had just eaten.
That is a big part of why so many of us are struggling with our weight. We are used to processed food, and we are used to not cooking.
So cook more. Eat food you recognise. Do not fall for the “you only live once” mantra when it comes to what you put in your body. You only have one body too.
3. Exercise, or start by walking
Make exercise a habit.
For me, I would recommend the gym. Start lifting weights. And the reason you go to the gym should not just be to lose weight. It should become part of how you live.
Honestly, I do not understand how most people survive without any exercise at all.
Exercise is for your mind too
Exercise is very good for your mental health.
You sleep better. You think more clearly. You become calmer. Your body releases feel good chemicals like endorphins and serotonin, and you start feeling good about your body.
If the gym is not for you, walk
You do not have to do leg day, chest day, push day and pull day. You can start by walking.
I have noticed many more people doing morning walks, evening walks and runs. Walking is one of the simplest ways to move your whole body.
But I am not telling you to wake up and walk 50 kilometres. Then how will you be productive for the rest of the day? Start with something you can repeat tomorrow.
4. Read books and exercise your brain
Your brain is a muscle too.
Many people last read a book when they were doing set books in high school. They have never read another one since.
Reading is part of your personal health, especially your mental health. Your ideas become clearer. You grasp things faster. You think better.
Get personal development books. Get books on finance.
And when you read, read for yourself. Do not read so you can quote the book at every opportunity. “In the book Atomic Habits, James Clear says…” Good. But what has changed in your life?
Read to improve yourself, not to impress people.
5. Avoid stressful environments
Stress is one of the biggest threats to your health. It is linked to heart disease and many lifestyle conditions, and many of us are living in environments that stress us every single day.
Why I turned down a 400,000 shilling job
If there is one thing I value, it is peace of mind. You cannot buy it from me.
I have had a client offer me a job worth 400,000 shillings. Within the first minute of the conversation, I could tell we were not going to get along. They were rude. The people I would be working with were rude too.
Yes, I would earn 400,000. But I would also have 6 months of stress.
I could make that same 400,000 in about 3 months working with a few good clients. So I would rather take the smaller jobs, 20,000, 50,000, 60,000 shillings, that do not bother me.
A stressful project affects your productivity, and when your productivity drops, your finances follow. Peace of mind is not something you trade.
Leave toxic relationships
We have normalised staying. When a relationship is not working, we are told to try harder, stick it out, bring in the relatives to help save it.
Meanwhile you are living in a constantly stressful environment and calling it commitment.
And be honest with yourself. Sometimes you are the toxic one. If you are always clashing, always rubbing each other the wrong way, it may be time to pack up and leave.
This applies to friendships too. If a friendship only drains you, walk away.
Quit jobs that break you
You work somewhere your boss insults you every day. Correction comes with insults and a whole package of bad words.
That is not a good place to be, however much you are paid.
I know many people would rather keep a job like that than be unemployed. But if you need a drink before you can face work every morning, your body is paying for that job. The bill will come, and it will come to your health.
Sometimes it takes guts to just walk out and leave.
Why Gen Z are choosing peace over pay
I recently had a conversation about this. Many Gen Z are willing to accept less pay in exchange for more freedom and better mental health.
I think part of the reason is that many of them watched their parents work in stressful environments. And the stress trickled down to the children. They grew up watching their parents react to everything because of the pressure they were under.
So why continue that cycle?
I would rather take a 15,000 shilling job that pays less, lets me keep my mental health, and lets me be productive, than a 150,000 shilling job that even gives me a car, but comes with constant stress.
Why would I do that to my body?
6. Cut out smoking, alcohol and drugs
Most people only see the short term. You look cool now.
Wait until you start coughing your lungs out, and people are being asked to contribute money for your treatment.
Look at the warnings on cigarette packets. The Ministry of Health is very clear about what tobacco does. Smoking is a leading cause of lung cancer, and many of us have lost relatives to it. If that has happened in your family and you still smoke, learn the lesson.
Bangi, shisha and alcohol
Many people think bangi is just a harmless recreational drug. Look at the effects. It affects your productivity, and many heavy users live with constant anxiety.
Shisha is not the safe option it is marketed as either. And alcohol, over the years, damages your liver.
These things affect you slowly. You do not notice until you do.
If you cannot stop on your own
If you feel you cannot stop drinking or using drugs, you are not the only one, and you do not have to do it alone. In Kenya, NACADA runs a free helpline on 1192. You can also talk to your doctor or a counsellor.
7. Drink water and consider supplements
Hydration is important. Your body needs water.
You have probably been told to drink 8 glasses a day. It is not a silly rule. How much you need depends on your body, the weather and how active you are, but most of us do not drink nearly enough.
My coffee lesson
I take about 2 cups of coffee a day. I noticed that on days I drank coffee and not much else, I ended up with a dry throat. Once I started drinking water alongside the coffee, I could feel the difference.
The supplements I take
Supplements are for nourishing your body where your food falls short. I personally take:
- Magnesium
- Zinc
- Omega 3
You can get most of these from food, and some things, like vitamin D, from natural sunlight.
But remember, as I said at the start, this is not medical advice. Supplements can interact with medication and are not right for everyone. If you have a pre-existing condition, consult your doctor before you take anything.
8. Write things down
People are walking around with 10 tonnes of information in their heads.
A business idea you wanted to start. A social media post you meant to write. An apology you wanted to send. Someone you keep thinking about. An ex you never healed from.
All of that sits in your head, and you carry it everywhere.
Write it down. Even when I am reading, I take notes in a notebook.
Journaling is part of personal development. The moment you get what is in your head onto paper, it becomes much easier to sit down and focus on the right things.
9. Find your purpose
Why are you alive today?
I believe many people are struggling because they lack purpose. They lack something meaningful in their lives, and I see this with many young people.
I have met people who make 10 million shillings a month. I do not make 10 million a month, by the way. These people are very wealthy, and yet they feel terrible.
You can have the financial muscle. Without a sense of purpose, it is not enough.
How I define purpose
I define purpose as your God given gift, used to benefit other people.
For me, creating content is part of my purpose. YouTube is not paying me for every video I make. You are not paying me to watch this one.
But I get messages like these.
“Elvis, I stopped watching pornography because of your video.”
“Elvis, I went to CRB and started paying my loans.”
“Elvis, I started learning digital marketing because of a video I saw from you.”
That gives me purpose, and that is why I keep making videos.
And when you live with purpose, money tends to follow. You already have a gift. People will see it, and people will pay for it.
So seek your purpose. There is something you know how to do that can make a difference for other people, not just for you.
Do something for someone else
We live in a selfish world. You want to make money. After you make the money, what next?
So ask yourself this. What is one thing you could do for somebody that brings you no benefit, but helps them?
Be kind to people. You see somebody struggling, and you help without expecting anything back. I promise you, when you go to bed that night, you will sleep happy because of something good you did that day.
Do one good thing. Then do it again. You will be happier.
10. Reduce your screen time
The last of my personal health tips: reduce your screen time.
You wake up with all your energy for the day, and the first thing you do is start scrolling. Then you spend the whole day on Instagram and TikTok.
Much of it has no real benefit to you. And it affects how you think. You find it harder to concentrate and harder to think deeply.
Take drastic measures
The solution is simple, even if it is not easy.
Delete the apps from your phone for a period of time. Focus on something important in your life. After 3 days of being productive, you can reinstall them if you want, and you will notice how much time they used to take from you.
Your choices have consequences
So remember, your personal health is your personal responsibility.
I am not here to force you to do anything. If you want to scroll all day, drink as much as you want, eat fried chicken for the rest of your life, or smoke a packet a day, that is your decision.
But the consequences are yours too. When you are in bed coughing like an old car, it will be because of decisions you made. Nobody else can make those decisions for you, and nobody else can carry the result.
You are an adult. You have a brain. Use it.
This article is not here to motivate you. It is here to make you think, because the choices you make every day have direct consequences for your body and your mind.
Pick one of these 10 personal health tips and start today.
And if one of those choices is to build a skill that gives you more control over your work, and your peace of mind, I can help with that.
Start your digital skills journey on Click2Skill
— Elvis W.
