How to Never Be Your Worst Self Again

They say true hell is when the person you are meets the person you could have been. I’ve been painfully reminded of this truth more than once. And after a while what you realize is that failing to meet your standards doesn't only hurt in the short term, but it actually slowly breaks you from the inside.

So I asked myself: How do I make sure that version of me stays where he belongs? Locked away, never to take the wheel again.

Here is my best guess on how to do it:

Understanding Your Worst Self

Your worst self isn’t some mysterious force. It’s simply your brain defaulting to survival mode. Modern life nudges you into it constantly. You get stressed when juggling projects. You get defensive when someone criticizes you online. You feel desperate when money is tight. And you fall back on old habits for comfort —doomscrolling your feed— while quietly giving up on yourself.

The opposite of that is when you stop reacting and start choosing. You make decisions with awareness, respond deliberately instead of instinctively, and create the conditions that let you perform at your best.

Where Your Best Self Lives

Your best self shows up when the odds are stacked in your favor. Focus on improving the following:

• Strengthen your body – via sleep, movement, and nutrition to prevent stress from hijacking you.
  

• Clear your mind – train your attention to respond rather than react to a threat.
  

• Build your business – create abundance in work, finances, and systems to overcome scarcity.
  

• Break destructive patterns – replace old habits and shape routines that make the right choices easier.
  

Start with what feels most urgent or manageable, and let momentum carry you forward. Each improvement compounds, making it easier to strengthen the next area. Over time, staying in this space becomes natural, and slipping back into your worst self becomes far harder 

and eventually impossible.