We live in an age where health advice is everywhere. ⌚️ It’s on our wrists, in our news feeds, popping up as QR codes on menus. Longevity is mainstream. But the urgency to optimize, consume more information, and the speed of innovation are contributing to something new: innovation anxiety 😵💫. The pressure to keep up with artificial intelligence, technological change, trends, and advice.
How do you handle the pressure? In this issue: Why wellness culture makes you so anxious, innovation anxiety, what smart technology gets right, and six strategies to develop a healthy relationship with innovation in wellness.
Poll
Despite my best attempts at being a good steward of the longevity movement, I struggle.
The weight and speed of innovation, plus the constant overload of wellness advice, has turned my desire for a fulfilling life into a stress-induced obsession. I’m not alone. For many, wanting to feel good (or just relevant) comes with an emotional price tag. But it’s not black or white: Optimize or settle. Be healthy or unhealthy. Innovate or fall behind. It’s about reclaiming agency over your own wellness journey.
Why we’re anxious: spiraling from health culture
Fitness trackers, ChatGPT, supplements, and longevity podcasts form the basis for “optimized” living. But our reliance on these tools can fuel a cycle of over-monitoring, data obsession, and blind trust in the numbers.
They also leave us more vulnerable to fear-mongering. (Remember the black plastic scare? 🍳) The science might have been exaggerated, but we still feel panic today.
🚀 And then there’s the speed of health innovation, with new artificial intelligence tools creating “dizzying excitement about infinite possibilities,” says performance coach and mindfulness expert Chibs Okereke.
That high comes with a crash.
Health tech can encourage compulsive behaviors and co-dependency; companies can also capitalize on the fear of falling behind. 🧍♀️➡️🏃♀️ As Dazed Digital noted: health is no longer just “not being sick” — it’s something that must be constantly optimized.
💰 Wellness is now a $7 trillion industry. Longevity spas and clinics are booming and influencers promote products that promise transformation, but Even well-meaning voices can trigger fear, comparison, and disordered behavior.
In a 2023 survey, 44% of Gen Z said social media made them feel pressure to compare their bodies. And with every headline screaming “This increases death by 170.8%!” — it’s no wonder we’re overwhelmed.
What is innovation anxiety?
Mindfullness expert Chibs Okereke defines innovation anxiety as fear and stress caused by rapid technological change and advancements. He defines it in the context of the workplace, but it deserves serious consideration in health, and it works closely with information overload.
This new anxiety creates “pressure to adapt and up-skill continually”—in other words, pressure to optimize.
🌀 In wellness, it could manifest as:
Feeling like you’re falling behind
Obsessively comparing habits or data
Becoming paralyzed by conflicting health advice
Burnout and purposeless
Losing your sense of agency
Feeling anxious about feeling anxious
Desire to be healthy + rapid innovation + information overload + smart marketing = anxiety
But there’s a silver lining.
Wellness culture drives the democratization of health data. That means more control is in your hands. ✊
One in three Americans use Oura, WHOOP, or another wearable device. These tools provide real-time insight into sleep, recovery, blood sugar, and stress. By tracking these metrics, we can adopt—or upgrade—lifestyle habits to lower the risk of chronic disease, or better manage existing conditions. Emerging research even suggests that wearables can detect early signs of illness (before symptoms appear), allowing for early intervention and potentially making it less serious.
In a sense, we are becoming more attuned to our bodies needs. Plus, the popularity of wellness content has contributed to healthy cultural shifts, with quality of life becoming as important as lifespan:
Greater microplastic and nutrient testing in food
Strength training as a pillar of women’s health
More products and books around menopause
Cultural awareness of healthspan and joyspan, not just lifespan
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How to be well. Not overwhelmed
Practical ways to engage with health information without spiraling.
True wellness requires intention. It might require boundaries. Use health innovation, and consume health information, on your own terms. Don’t become ruled by it.
1. 🧘 Practice mindful monitoring
How does monitoring health habits make you feel emotionally? Do you feel shame when you miss a workout or don’t close your fitness ring? Are you tracking because it improves your health, or because you’re afraid not to?
2. 🛠️ Create strategies, not anxieties
Okereke recommends planning strategies around your personal growth in the face of innovation. How could this apply to health?
For example: “I want a better relationship to sleep. My strategy is to get a wearable that tracks sleep. I know that I get anxious about sleep, so if tracking it starts making me too anxious, I’ll track it every other day and supplement with other relaxation techniques.”
3. 🧾 Audit regularly
Ask yourself Is tracking this metric making me feel healthier or more anxious? Does this podcaster make me excited about health, or stressed? If your tools create stress, it’s okay to take a break or modify your relationship to it.
4. 🕊️ Let go of what you can’t control
Sometimes health is unpredictable. You don’t have to try to ‘fix’ everything or chase perfection, as it can be more harmful.
5. 🎯 Know your why
Where do you want your health to be in a year? Take small steps each week aligned with your why. Don’t change everything overnight. Don’t chase what everyone else is doing.
6. 🤝 Keep it supportive, not stressful
Tech should feel like a support system, not a surveillance state. Practice curiosity, not control.
Innovation isn’t slowing down, yet health isn’t living at the mercy of it. Maybe the goal should be to reconnect with what you need and learn to develop agency over your own wellness.
Last chance! Sign up for today’s free event
Track the metrics experts trust to move the needle.
Don’t leave aging well up to guesswork.
Dr. Erin Faules from Wild Health will break down the best longevity markers to track on your Apple Watch, WHOOP device, Oura ring, and blood panels to promote longevity. Plus, we‘ll explore how to take action before problems even arise. Everyone is invited!
Bring your questions! 👈 We’ll answer them live during the session. Submit yours in advance here.
Until next time,
The information provided about wellness and health is for general informational and educational purposes only. We are not licensed medical professionals, and the content here should not be considered medical advice. Talk to a doctor before trying any of these suggestions.
Longevity Media LLC
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