Trying to "Fix" Something? Work Backward. Stop Patching Holes.
a short argument for root cause medicine inspired by my daily "do you have a peptide for this or that" questions.
Lost something?
“Retrace your steps.”
Car leaking coolant?
“Follow the leak up to the source.”
Dreaming of your five-year plan?
“Start building for it now.”
You get the idea.
We are good at immediately trying to get to the bottom of the issue when things aren’t working as they should.
Unless...
It pertains to our own body and mind. Or to those of others.
When it comes to our health (mental and physical) we rarely take that necessary step back to assess and really diagnose the situation.
I could give literally dozens of examples. But let’s take the concept of “energy.”
I put energy in quotations because “energy” is subjective and means different things to different people in different situations.
When someone says “I have low energy.” Does that mean they can’t get up out of bed each day?
Does it mean they get sleepy after their (carb-laden, low nutrient) big lunch?
Does it mean they arrive to the gym with little motivation after a 10-hour work-day?
Does it mean they clock-in to their second job exhausted?
Does it mean they ran their slowest half marathon ever this weekend and they are wondering what the heck happened?
And on and on and on...
Whatever energy may mean for you, the route to the “solution” tends to go like this...
Something changed. Maybe only once. Maybe it’s been a pattern.
That something is highly disagreeable and inconvenient.
In comes the urge to fix it immediately, essentially by patching up the holes (peptides are the latest trending hole-patchers) and moving on.
E voilà.
But that’s not how we work.
For one, we aren’t machines. Our “energy,” mood, and performance across many aspects of our life are going to wax and wane with the vicissitudes of life. The more we fight being HUMAN, the more anxious and stressed we get, which leads to even more energy, mood, and performance dips, and the cycle goes on and on.
Secondly, just like a leaky roof or pipe, we need to see WHERE that problem starts. Fixing anything else is band-aiding the problem while it still festers and increases in intensity under the surface.
The biggest driver to your daily energy is SLEEP.
If you don’t sleep well, truly well, then you’re missing out on the best “bio-hack/peptide” there is.
Period.
So work backwards.
Your energy during the day is not what you’d like.
How well do you sleep?
Not well?
Do you need a sleep-aid?
Maybe. But that’s just patching up a hole a little farther back on the line.
Why is your sleep shit?
Sometimes that answer is easy: You stay up late doom scrolling on social media, drink tons of caffeine, or you watch TV way too late, etc.
Easy fix: Stop doing that. Lower the lights. Read a book.
Sometimes the answer is hard to sit with: You ruminate over work stress, trauma, and unresolved relational issues.
That fix isn’t so easy. But that’s where the crack in the pipe is. And that’s where you need to start.
To living long, strong, and present,
-PZ