Oh, that sounds a bit harsh. However, there is certainly an element of truth in this. I was reading the page I wrote on here about keeping well when I realised that I am not that good at following my own advice. Last night I was watching the start of the third series of Squid Game on Netflix while enjoying a glass of wine – red, of course, to go with the theme of the show.

Neither activity was conducive to a good night’s sleep. Alcohol may help you drop off to sleep easily, but it disrupts the quality of sleep, so you tend to be more restless and wake up earlier than is good for your mind and body. The effects of course are dose-dependent.

As for Squid Game, well it is psychologically tense and rather graphic in its depiction of violence. Let’s just say that Episode 2 had a lot of ‘red wine”. The over-stimulation of the TV show battles with the sedating effects of the alcohol as you try to drift off to sleep. This combination of stimulant and sedative is well-known in the field of drug addiction – note, for example, the craze for Purple Hearts in the 1960s and Speedballing (mixing heroin and cocaine) more recently. It seems that sending our brains mixed messages can be very rewarding – BUT mixing heroin and cocaine significantly increases the risk of fatality, so this is not an endorsement!

The reference to mixed messages is a nice segue to looking at some of the reasons we may not always act in our own best interests when it comes to well-being. The first point to consider is our friend cognitive dissonance – how we cope with the mis-match between our beliefs and our behaviour. We all eat the wrong things, drink too much, don’t take enough exercise and so forth, in the knowledge that we are not doing what is best for ourselves. Except, at the time, this is what we are exactly choosing to do, so it must be the best thing to do right now! We employ all sorts of mental tricks to reduce this dissonance/discomfort. We are mostly driven/motivated by the availability of immediate rewards – all that weight-loss, muscle-building, heart health stuff takes too long to bring the undoubted, but delayed, rewards. This is who we are. Just try to be aware of your own thinking processes – those that give you permission to have the chocolate fudge cake, and those that weigh-up the value of those longer-term goals.

A second consideration relates to our self-esteem. We have to believe that we are worthy of well-being, that we have the right to be happy and healthy. So many people I have worked with over the years have really struggled with these issues. Often, the source of negative beliefs about yourself lies in early childhood experiences, which are sometimes triggered by traumatic events later in life. To make good choices for yourself can sometimes mean putting your needs above those of others. Again, many people struggle with this, not wanting to offend or upset others, or being afraid of looking selfish. We are talking here about assertiveness.

To conclude, I am indeed a well-being hypocrite. I feel no shame in this. It puts me with humans, not with the robots. I provide information and suggestions about how one can improve and maintain well-being. There are no moral imperatives. No one has to eat purple broccoli (a tongue-in-cheek look at dietary advice for runners). And defo no purple hearts.

Keep well in the ways that work for you!