So the most important thing to realize is this: Your life has an inner purpose and an outer purpose. Inner purpose concerns Being and is primary. Outer purpose concerns doing and is secondary.

From A New Earth by Eckart Tolle

This particular truth was something I learned when I came to terms with eating and my weight. It took me a long time to realize that what I do, even immediate stuff like eating, is an “outer” thing. The outer things never seem to look good until the inner things are in good shape which is another important truth for me. Fix the stuff on the inside, and the need to fix anything on the outside diminishes or goes away.