I had a theory that the Hedonic Treadmill could be worked in reverse. We become acclimated to our status quo and any stress we feel is real at a biochemical level, even though we lack perspective on people who “really suffer”.

So I found the gentlest exercise program (if your joints are good, try yoga. If not try Tai chi. If not try qigong). It’s still a lot of work and sometimes you want to quit.

After six months I got into a volunteer group that involved manual labor outdoors. I got a little nature and to hang out with generous people.

Now I’ve added a hobby where I make things.

All of these have adversity in them. My thesis is that being able to deal with one type of adversity gives you callouses against the rest be they mental or physical. So far it seems to be true.

I also did very simple things like make myself take a real lunch. Even read. And when I sat down to do pass times like play a video game or watch a movie, my internal narrative was “I’m doing this to decompress or recharge”. Which also meant it was easier to time box and I would pick something I knew I would enjoy instead of feeling obligated to choose one over another.