Why do I always emphasize PROPER nutrition and PROPER exercise? What does that mean?
Just like in music, how do we know if certain notes are correct or not? Correct notes provide harmony to the sound.
In life, harmony has many forms. Countless, in fact.
When you know you should do something, but you feel fatigue or you don’t feel like doing it, that is the opposite of harmony.
When you need to work, but your head hurts, that is not harmony with the body.
When you should be sleeping, but cannot fall asleep, that is not harmony.
When you want to talk, but cannot listen, that is not harmony, neither with yourself with the person you are talking to.
All instances of disharmony stem from one or more factors that have disrupted the harmony.
Therefore, PROPER is not what someone says it is; proper is when it results in increased harmony in real life. Proper nutrition and proper exercise increase harmony in life. Yes, they are that powerful.
What harmony “looks like”
We fall asleep when it is time for us to do so. When we work, we work freely, with less effort, without physical difficulties. We don’t have the feeling that we are struggling; we don’t feel exhausted. We don’t look for “escape valves” because we aren’t bottling things up like before. With growing élan in life and work, we generate more ideas, turn them into reality, and expand the scope of our successes. We positively influence our environment and those around us.
We can much more easily refrain from harmful habits, even to the point where we don’t have to refrain at all – the habits have disappeared.
When we set a goal for ourselves, we carry it out. If we don’t succeed, we don’t give up and we don’t belittle ourselves. Nor do we get angry at others for it. Our aspiration remains strong and persistent, with a clear direction and focus.
When we want to finish a task, we complete it efficiently and feel good afterward. We didn’t procrastinate, we didn’t wander into other things, we didn’t give up, but we have succeeded.
When we communicate, we can much more easily listen to the other person without the impulse to “fire back,” to defend ourselves, or to attack; instead, we control the conversation rather easily. This in itself does not create additional resistance in the other person, which reduces the chances of negative outcomes from the conversation. The level of disturbances and disagreements is effectively reduced. We experience situations much more calmly. Even when things remain unchanged – we are ready to face them without resistance. And that opens the doors to true change.
The old wisdom is “start with yourself,” but the way how is new, especially in the context of today’s lifestyle.
Dino Nikolic
Creator and author of Muskultura
January 6th, 2026