Inspiration

Siloed Thinking Can Keep You Stuck

Holism is a better paradigm.

Sherri Reed

04 Jul 2025 — 4 min read

One of the easiest traps to fall into when trying to improve your health is thinking of everything in isolation. You want more energy, so you reach for more caffeine. To support your liver, you drink a specific tea. You want to sleep better, so you cut off screens before bed—all reasonable goals. But when we think of each system—energy, liver, sleep—as separate from the rest, we can end up chasing our tails.

This compartmentalized mindset—what I call siloed thinking—often comes from the way we’re taught to evaluate health: blood pressure in one bucket, gut health in another, hormones over here, sleep over there. But in reality? These systems communicate with each other constantly.

A Personal Example: My Tea Habit vs. My Sleep

For years, I drank 5 to 8 cups of green tea a day. And I’ll be honest—it did a lot for me. I loved the ritual, the flavor, the feeling. But it didn’t love me back when it came to falling asleep. Even though green tea is gentler than coffee, all that caffeine floating around my bloodstream made it harder to wind down at night. Eventually, I reduced my intake to 2 or 3 cups, and I only consumed them in the morning.

That change meant giving up a habit that had some real upsides—antioxidants, alertness, even oral health support. However, the benefits of better sleep rippled out into everything else: more energy, reduced inflammation, early morning starts, and a more stable mood. The net effect was way better than what I gave up.

When One "Good" Habit Blocks Another

This kind of tradeoff isn’t rare—it’s everywhere.

Pushing intense workouts when you’re already sleep-deprived? Might spike cortisol, not fitness.
Chasing superfoods while ignoring basic hydration? You’re feeding plants in dry soil.
Trying to meditate with a racing, over-caffeinated brain? Probably just more frustrating than helpful.

The issue isn’t effort—it’s focus. We focus on a single benefit, forgetting that our bodies function as a system. What we need more often is to zoom out and ask: How is this habit playing with the others?

Health as a Web, Not a Ladder

Think of your health like a spiderweb. Tug one string and the others shift. This is good news—it means you don’t have to “perfect” every area. Often, a single change in the right place has both upstream and downstream effects.

Improve sleep → regulate appetite hormones → eat more intuitively → stabilize energy.
Reduce stress → improve digestion → better nutrient absorption → stronger immunity.
Support gut health → boost neurotransmitter production → improve mood → better motivation to care for yourself.

That’s holistic thinking. It doesn’t mean throwing everything at the wall. It means recognizing that your body is one organism, not a filing cabinet of problems to solve one drawer at a time.

A Quick Nudge

If you're working on a habit right now, especially if it feels frustrating or stuck, take a minute to scan the landscape:

What else might be pulling in the other direction?
What habit are you trying to “add” that might work better if you adjusted something else first?
Are you chasing “perfect” in one area while ignoring something foundational elsewhere?

A holistic approach doesn’t ask for more effort—it asks for better alignment. And honestly, that’s often easier.

Thanks for being here and taking the time to think bigger about your health. You’re not a list of lab results. You’re a whole, connected human system—and treating yourself that way is one of the kindest things you can do.