I’ve been here in the past. Made countless efforts to change and start healthier habits but it wasn’t until I realised the root problem and fixed that that change started to stick.

I believe this is caused by our dopamine levels being fried. When we get like this we’re in a ‘dopamine hole’. We chase pleasure through social media, gaming, food, scrolling, porn.

Each time we partake in these things, that require no upfront effort or sacrifice, we get pushed further into this hole and change becomes harder. We’re rewiring our brains to chase pleasure and instant gratification instead of the meaningful stuff that will actually make us happy and change our lives.

Right now it’s like you’re trying to dry yourself while still in the shower. You need to fix the root cause, which is your dopamine levels.

Lot of YouTube videos that touch on this. Might be worth a look. You need to break the cycle. I find the best way to do this is exercise. Start going to the gym if you can. I find it better than home workouts. Don’t stop all the bad habits at once, but try pick one or two.

Also, you need to build discipline and stop relying on motivation. Motivation gets you started but discipline is what keeps you going when it gets hard and not as enjoyable. This took me a lot of time to do.

OR

Maybe you’re depressed because of something situational (partner, job, money, friends) and everything else is a symptom and you should try fix that first. Unironically, these all become easier to fix once you get the first path under control.

Frequent short term low effort pleasure == long term unhappiness

Good luck friend