Vote For Yourself

By Dustin Strong, CHN, ACN

I learned one of the most important lessons of my life in middle school.

I was running for class president.

Like many young people, I wanted to be liked. I wanted to do the right thing. I wanted to be humble.

And somewhere along the way, I came to believe that voting for myself would be selfish.

It felt egotistical.

It felt arrogant.

So when election day arrived, I did what I thought was the noble thing.

I voted for my opponent.

A few days later, the results came in.

I lost.

By one vote.

My vote.

At the time, I was embarrassed.

Today, I am grateful.

Because that experience taught me something that took years to fully understand:

There is a difference between believing in yourself and being self-centered.

There is a difference between supporting yourself and being selfish.

There is a difference between voting for yourself and thinking you're better than everyone else.

For many people, especially those who spend their lives caring for others, voting for themselves feels uncomfortable.

They will show up for their spouse.

They will show up for their children.

They will show up for their coworkers.

They will show up for their friends.

But when it comes time to show up for themselves, they hesitate.

They delay.

They minimize their needs.

They convince themselves that everyone else should come first.

I see this every day in my nutrition practice.

People know they need more sleep.

They know they should eat better.

They know they should take the walk.

Drink the water.

Schedule the appointment.

Ask the question.

Take the first step.

But they keep postponing the vote.

They keep voting for everything except themselves.

What I've learned over the years is that health is built through daily votes.

Every glass of water is a vote.

Every serving of fruit is a vote.

Every workout is a vote.

Every purification program is a vote.

Every difficult conversation is a vote.

Every boundary is a vote.

Every act of self-respect is a vote.

And every one of those votes contributes to the person you are becoming.

The beautiful thing is that you don't have to win every vote.

You don't have to be perfect.

You don't have to get it right every day.

You simply have to keep casting ballots in the direction of the life you want to create.

When I look back at that young boy sitting in a classroom, trying so hard to be humble that he couldn't bring himself to vote for his own future, I wish I could tell him something.

I would tell him that believing in yourself is not arrogance.

I would tell him that supporting yourself is not selfishness.

I would tell him that sometimes the kindest thing you can do for the world is become the healthiest, strongest, most fully expressed version of yourself.

And I would tell him to cast that vote.

Today, I want to tell you the same thing.

I am voting for you.

I believe in your ability to heal.

I believe in your ability to grow.

I believe in your ability to become stronger than you are today.

The question is:

Are you voting for yourself?

Because every positive choice is another vote for the person you want to become.

And the election is happening every single day.