Finding Your True Form: Lessons That Changed How I Live

The biggest takeaways from a year of episodes, turned into simple habits you can use today.

TL;DR

• You hold more of the solution than you think (often 60–80%) if you ask better questions and track your patterns.

• Stress can wreck you quietly because we don’t “sense” it the way we sense pain, so you need tools and pillars to spot it early.

• Real resilience isn’t being a brick wall; it’s adaptability, awareness, and smart decision-making.

• Your health foundation is physical too: strong feet and good mechanics change how you move, feel, and show up.

• Purpose and progress get easier when you quiet the noise and stop trying to be everything at once.

🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts.  

Watch me on YouTube

https://youtu.be/n_glVbS-OAo

Listen to the True From Podcast
Apple Podcast -

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-true-form-podcast/id1593804496

Spotify - 

https://open.spotify.com/show/6RVH2O6MbLOCohBKPhXO0L?si=ZI8D3MnhSfSjnohSXYN_MQ

Everywhere els - 

https://trueform.buzzsprout.com 

Introduction

This episode is a reset button.

It’s the first solo episode of 2026, and I’m looking back at last year’s conversations, not to “recap” them, but to pull out the lessons I’ve actually been using in real life. As I say in the episode, this podcast is me trying to navigate the world and “live a life that is true and authentic to me.”

The through-line is simple: information doesn’t change you. Implementation does.

Across episodes with podiatrists, doctors, therapists and everyday people with powerful stories, the same themes kept popping up: responsibility, awareness, stress, resilience, purpose, and the fundamentals that keep your body moving well for the long haul.

So this blog is the written version of that: the lessons that actually stuck and the steps you can use to apply them, starting today.

Lesson 1: Take ownership of your health (and ask better questions)

What It Is: The idea that you carry more of the “missing data” than any expert you hire, because you live in your body every day.
Why It Matters: If you walk into any appointment (doctor, podiatrist, coach) with “Fix me,” you’ll often get generic answers. If you walk in with patterns, context, and clear goals, you’ll get precision and better results.

How To Apply It:

1. Track one week of “inputs.” Food, drinks, sleep, steps, training, screen time, stress moments. Keep it simple.

2. Write your goal in plain language. “Less foot pain when I walk,” “more energy at 3pm,” “lose 5kg without feeling wrecked.”

3. List your top 3 triggers. When does it get worse: mornings, after work, after certain shoes/foods, after late nights?

4. Prepare 3 better questions. Examples: “What’s the first change you’d test for two weeks?” “What would tell us this plan is working?” “What should I stop doing while we trial this?”

5. Leave with one measurable action. Not “do better,” but “10-minute walk after lunch” or “swap liquid calories 5 days/week.”

Pro Tip: The best practitioners don’t just give answers, they help you think. Bring them something to work with.

Try This Today: Write down one health issue you want to solve, and underneath it: “When is it better? When is it worse?”

Pull quote: “You need to be curious about your health and wellness.” - Jack

Lesson 2: Stress is invisible, so build a way to notice it earlier

What It Is: Stress is often a slow leak, not a dramatic explosion. You can be “doing everything right” and still get crushed if stress is high and hidden.
Why It Matters: In the episode, I talk about how both Dr Nupur Nag and I had versions of the same story: healthy habits on paper, but stress “demolished” us anyway.

One line that hit me hard (from the HRV conversation) is this: we have senses for taste, smell, touch, but “we do not have a sense for stress.” That means you need a system.

How To Apply It:

1. Name your early warning signs. Short fuse, poor sleep, tight chest, cravings, scrolling, headaches, withdrawing (Note: your personal signs may differ).

2. Do a weekly “pillars check.” Sleep, movement, nutrition, relationships, connection, mental health, stress often shows up when one pillar dips.

3. Pick one objective signal. HRV, resting heart rate, sleep duration, steps, something you can track consistently (Note: specific targets weren’t provided in the episode).

4. Create a stress circuit-breaker. A 10-minute walk, breathwork, phone off in the morning, or a hard stop time at night.

5. Treat “good habits” as a baseline, not a shield. You can train hard and eat well and still need to change workload, relationships, or expectations.

Pro Tip: If you only look for stress when you’re already burnt out, you’ll always be late.

Try This Today: Take 60 seconds and rate your stress from 1-10. Then write one reason for the number.

Lesson 3: Redefine resilience as adaptability (not toughness)

What It Is: Resilience isn’t “be unbreakable.” It’s being flexible, scanning what’s happening, and adapting smartly.
Why It Matters: Most people have been sold the social-media version of resilience: be a brick wall, don’t move, repel everything. In the episode, I call that out as closer to resistance than resilience.

Kosmas Smyrnios’ framing is way more useful in real life: resilience involves the ability to change, to scan your environment, to identify consequences, opportunities, and risks and to put those capabilities together dynamically.

How To Apply It:

1. Scan before you push. Ask: “What’s actually happening right now?” not “How do I power through?”

2. Name the opportunity. What could this situation teach you, reveal, or help you change?

3. Name the risk. What happens if you keep doing the same thing for 3 months?

4. Choose the smallest useful adjustment. One boundary, one conversation, one training tweak, one recovery day.

5. Review weekly. “What worked? What didn’t? What’s the next adjustment?”

Pro Tip: Resilience grows when you practise adapting not when you pretend nothing affects you.

Try This Today: Write one current stressor. Under it, list: consequence, opportunity, risk.

Pull quote: “Resilience involves the ability to change… to be flexible, to be adaptable.” - Kosmas Smyrnios

Lesson 4: Your foundation matters - strong feet change everything upstream

What It Is: In the gym (and in life), a strong base reduces injury risk and improves performance. For your body, that base starts with your feet.
Why It Matters: We take walking for granted until it’s taken from us. And when your feet weaken, it doesn’t just stay in your feet- your gait changes, then hips, then back, then posture.

In the episode, I talk about this from personal experience: once the base goes, everything becomes harder.

How To Apply It:

1. Audit your daily footwear. Do you have toe space? Are you in supportive shoes all day without ever using your feet? (Note: specific footwear recommendations weren’t detailed in this episode.)

2. Start with tolerance, not ego. If you’re exploring barefoot work, earn it slowly.

3. Train your feet like any other body part. Short, frequent work beats big sessions once a week.

4. Watch your gait. Do you shuffle? Do you collapse inward? Do you avoid pressure on one side?

5. Respect pain as information. Don’t ignore it for months and hope it disappears.

Pro Tip: “Fix my feet” isn’t a plan. A plan includes context: when it hurts, what shoes you wear, what training you’re doing, and what you’ve already tried.

Try This Today: Spend 2 minutes barefoot at home and notice: where do you load pressure - heels, outer edge, big toe?

Lesson 5: Quiet the noise and stop trying to be everything at once

What It Is: A practical approach to purpose and presence: reduce outside influence, figure out what’s authentic for you, and focus fully on what you’re doing.
Why It Matters: The world has never been noisier; social media, news, Netflix, YouTube, other people’s opinions. If you don’t quiet it, you can end up living someone else’s life.

And when it comes to day-to-day behaviour, the same principle applies: you can’t be present and distracted at the same time. In the episode, the message is blunt: “you can’t be everything all at once.”

How To Apply It:

1. Pick one “noise source” to reduce. One app, one account type, one binge habit.

2. Create one quiet pocket in your day. Morning walk, journaling, prayer, stillness, whatever fits you.

3. Do one thing at 100%. If you’re with a friend, be with a friend.

4. Build momentum through action. Don’t wait for the perfect time, start, learn, adjust.

5. Use “evidence journaling” when doubt hits. If you question who you are, go find proof from your own life.

Pro Tip: Purpose isn’t usually found by thinking harder. It’s found by doing, noticing, and refining.

Try This Today: Put your phone in another room for 10 minutes and write: “What do I actually want this year?”

Pull quote: “We do not have a sense for stress.” - Jack
Pull quote: “You can’t be everything all at once.” - Jack (reflecting on Vahid’s message)

Mini Case/Example (optional)

One moment that sums up the whole episode is how I talk about stress: doing the basics “right” wasn’t enough, because stress was coming in a way I couldn’t see, until it hit hard.

That’s the pattern I’m trying to help you avoid: don’t wait for the crash to take your health seriously. Build the awareness early.

Quick Wins Checklist (Do These Today)

• Track one day of inputs: sleep, steps, training, food, drinks, and stress moments.

• Write 3 better questions before your next appointment or coaching session.

• Do a 60-second stress rating and note one reason for the number.

• Spend 2 minutes barefoot and notice how you load your feet.

• Turn off one “noise” source for 24 hours and see what changes.

Closing Insight

This episode isn’t about having perfect habits. It’s about building a life that’s more honest, more aware, and more yours.

The biggest shift is responsibility: you can’t outsource your health, your purpose, or your growth. Experts can guide you, but you still need to bring curiosity, context, and commitment.

Then it becomes a process: notice stress earlier, redefine resilience as adaptability, strengthen your physical foundation, and quiet the noise long enough to hear yourself again.

That’s what “finding your true form” looks like in practice: small actions, repeated, with real attention.

🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts. 

Watch me on YouTube

https://youtu.be/n_glVbS-OAo

Listen to the True From Podcast
Apple Podcast -

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-true-form-podcast/id1593804496

Spotify - 

https://open.spotify.com/show/6RVH2O6MbLOCohBKPhXO0L?si=ZI8D3MnhSfSjnohSXYN_MQ

Everywhere els - 

https://trueform.buzzsprout.com