Welcome to Living Well Daily, the newsletter serving up a daily dose of care designed to support you, cheer you on and remind you, always, just how wonderful you already are.

In Today’s Edition:

🥰Well-Being & Self-Care: Comparison Trap: Escaping Thought Traps for Better Mental Health
💖Longevity & Wellness: Fitness Friday: Strengthen Your Grip
✨Daily Affirmation & Daily Prompt

We hope today is as magnificent as you, and you are mega super magnificent!

Comparison is something our brains naturally do. But when comparison becomes constant, it can quietly drain joy, confidence, and self-worth.

The comparison trap happens when we measure our life, appearance, success, healing, relationships, or progress against someone else’s, often without seeing the full picture of their reality.

Comparison tends to magnify what others have while minimizing our own growth, humanity, and uniqueness.

Common ways the comparison trap shows up:
• 📱 Comparing your life to curated versions online
• ⏳ Feeling “behind” based on someone else’s timeline
• 🪞 Measuring your worth against another person’s success or appearance
• 📉 Dismissing your progress because someone else seems further ahead
• 🔄 Constantly moving the goalpost for what feels “good enough”

Ways to gently loosen comparison:
• 🥠 Remember: you’re comparing your full reality to someone else’s highlight reel
• 🌱 Focus on your values, needs, and path instead of someone else’s
• 🔄 Compare yourself to past versions of you, not other people
• 💬 Celebrate others without turning it into evidence against yourself
• 💙 Practice noticing what’s already meaningful or growing in your own life

Someone else shining does not take away your light. There is room for many different timelines, strengths, and ways of being.

✅ Action step: Notice one comparison thought today and gently redirect your attention back to your own growth, needs, or values.

^{Love, Lola Graham}

There is a strong correlation between grip strength and longevity. The stronger your grip, the lower your risk of death.

For these studies, they use a device that you grip really hard for a short period of time, which means they are really testing your maximum grip strength, not how long you can carry a heavy grocery bag.

So how do you improve your maximum grip strength?

There are methods to do this, indirect and direct.

Indirect means training other things that challenge your grip strength, like deadlifts, pull-ups or rows. These movements will help to improve your grip strength without having to spend extra time on it.

Because if we look at the correlation between grip strength and lower all-cause mortality, it isn’t because your grip is strong; it is because a strong grip means you are probably more physically fit or active. So, indirect grip training can be very effective and useful for building a stronger grip. On the other hand (pun intended), you can do direct grip training.

This could be heavy farmers' carries, which is walking holding heavy weights in each hand. Hanging from a pull-up bar for a short time period with body weight or added weight, or pinching a plate between your fingers to work your grip differently.

Either way can be effective at improving your grip strength, remember the goal isn’t just a strong grip; it is to be physically strong and active, which is what will help you live longer, and resistance training will help you accomplish that.

✅ Action Step: Add in some movements that challenge your grip directly or indirectly a couple of times a week.

^{By: Joshua Graham}

^{A gentle invitation to integrate lived experience with kindness, perspective, and care.}

How did you honour your values recently, even in a subtle way?

Before you go, let us know what you thought of today’s edition and if there are any subjects you would like us to cover in the future reply to this email and let us know!

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With love and care,

Lola & Joshua | The Living Well Team

^{Living Well Daily is for educational purposes only and is in no way a substitute for professional medical and mental health advice and diagnosis. Please consult a qualified professional for care unique to your needs.}

^{Remember: It’s okay to ask for help. Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 (Canada & US).}