Our Story
My name is Ben & I am the founder of How To Be Better. Throughout my teenage years I struggled a lot, forever feeling lost and not knowing what to do or who I was, as I'm sure most people do at that age. At 15 I found myself in & out of psychiatric hospitals following a traumatic incident in which I found a family member after an attempted suicide attempt. I was put on medication at the early age of 15 & when I look back now I don’t think the government really knows what else to do, or how to help young people, or people in general for that matter. It seems the only answer they have is to shove medication down your throat & give you a number to call if things get too much, which if you’re already at that point you’re not likely to do. Things continued to escalate to the point I was constantly being excluded from school, I was removed from my rugby team over an argument with the coach & I was constantly being kicked out of home for my bad habits & behaviour.
It was during a trip to see my uncle where I had recently been in trouble with the police for running away from home where he turned to me, usually calm and supportive, and said “what the fuck are you doing”. He told me as firm as he had ever been before that I need to sort my life out, and he suggested I join the army to learn the art of discipline. After looking into it I decided if I was going to do it I wanted to really test myself, and so I set my sights on joining the elite Royal Marine Commandos unit. During that 8 week period from leaving school I changed the course of my life forever. I isolated myself & dedicated my life to ensuring I was going to pass the PRMC (basic fitness requirements required to join the commandos). It was during that 8 week period I discovered a lot about myself which would help in the years to come…
At the end of the 8 week holidays I was ready, I could run a sub 20 minute 5k, do 18 strict wide grip pull ups, bang out press ups for fun & I was in shape I never thought my previously skinny and depleted frame could get into. At the end of the 8 week holiday I went for a careers meeting at the local army office to find out what I had to do next. Here, they explained everything I would have to do to gain entry, including a basic eye test as part of the medical examination. As soon as they said this I knew it was the end of the road at that time as I regularly had to wear glasses for my short sightedness & couldn’t see at night without glasses. For now, although extremely disappointed, I went back to the drawing board.
That was until later that same week, a few days before exam results day, my life was flipped upside down forever. I found out that one of my best friends had committed suicide. This absolutely broke me and within weeks I was back to old ways, even worse than before.
At 17 I was homeless, after exerting all my previous options with extended family members during my later school years. Then, a few months after turning 17, I was arrested again. I truly had hit rock bottom again & I didn’t know what to do at this point or where to go from here. But, as I was sitting in the station waiting for my Mum to walk in & scream at me & remind me of what I was doing to those around me, she never did. She walked in & I could see the tears in her eyes but she kept it together, put her arm round me & said I can either keep doing what I was doing & I'm on my own or I can change my ways & go home. Over the next few years I learnt many more lessons, made even more mistakes and endured many more trials & tribulations. But, by 21 I had turned things round, gotten myself back in good shape, held down a legitimate job (which I hated) & bought myself a house on my own. On paper I was doing well, and my mum could finally say she was proud of me, however I still felt something was missing. I found myself in a constant cycle of feeling happy for 2 weeks, then down for 4. Training for 3 months, then not going for 1, eating good for 6 weeks, then eating shit for the following 3. My life felt like it was going round in never ending circles & I couldn’t figure out how to break the pattern.
It was at this time I really started to dive deep into learning more about myself & the way the human brain works. I read countless books & watched endless hours of podcasts & documentaries on the limits of human potential, on discipline, self growth, habit cycles & dedicated my life to teaching myself how to be better. I developed habits & strategies which helped me stay consistent even on the bad days & continue to do so to this day.
The human brain was designed to avoid change & discomfort, that’s why it feels so hard to eliminate old habits & pull yourself out of a bad place, particularly in a world where we are surrounded by distractions and material temptations. I understand how hard it is to know what to do or where to start, and that’s where the idea for How To Be Better was born. My plan is to create a central hub for anyone wanting to improve their life, whether you’re at rock bottom, or you’re in a better place as I was when I was 21 & need to fine tune the 16 waking hours we each get every day. My goal is to dedicate my life to making this the number 1 store on the planet for all things self improvement. A place where you can choose a product depending on your specific need, or use our experience & expertise to recommend you products depending on which areas you most need help with in your life. Each product has a description on the product page of the purpose behind each product & why it was added to the store & the benefits of each one. Each product will also come with a step by step tutorial on how to use it to maximise its benefits & if you have any further questions or need any more support feel free to contact us at help@howtobebetter.co.uk.