There is an awful lot of self-help apps, TV shows, podcasts and books vying for our eyeballs that are about mindfulness, wellbeing and health. It seems it is all the rage; telling us how to eat better, how to breathe, how to keep young, how to have a good night’s sleep, how to exercise each day and even how to have clear thoughts. You can’t get away from the pervasive bombardment of advice. Only today, an ad caught my eye on the train to work with the heading, “Train your mind to be better” next to a picture of a serious looking Bear Grylls looking out into the distance. Clever play on the word ‘train’ I thought so I checked it out.

The site that was being advertised was for a company called Mettle (Bear is a co-founder) which purports “to help every man be the best version of himself.” Followed by an even more audacious claim “We believe if men are better, the world is better”. My goodness. If only that was true.

The training offered on the website has “personalised content and is naturally AI supported” with even more bold claims, including, “Fundamentally, we all just want to be happy. Mettle will give you tools to lead a more fulfilled life; from overcoming anxiety to having better sex and building stronger relationships.” Who wouldn’t sign up?

Testosterone is oozing everywhere. Physical fitness has morphed into mental fitness. Alongside Bear, are a group of fanned out men (not a woman in sight) who help with the training. They describe themselves as ‘coaches’. One even calls himself a ‘mindhack’ coach. Would I want my mind to be hacked by one of those guys? No way. But then I am not a man.

Meanwhile, plans have just been announced to transform the NHS in the UK, in the next 10 years, to become more digital, and to employ wearable tech to help people become more aware of their vitals. One plan is to give out rings, such as the Oura, that will enable people to track aspects of their health, such as steps, sleep, heart rate, activity levels, training frequency – and even measure aspects of women’s health by helping them listen to their bodies like never before! The ring apparently can accurately predict the phases of the menstrual cycle and hormone levels. Whatever next?

So it seems, men’s health is about mind hacking now while women’s health is about menstrual measuring? The mind boggles…

I think I will stick to my repertoire of hobbies I enjoy for their joy; swimming, walking, crosswords, resting, drinking fine wine, reading, laughing, and so on.