GUEST BLOG POST – One habit at a time
Author: Krista Cook
It’s tempting to want to overhaul things when we’re feeling motivated. Perhaps you’ve had a wake-up call of sorts and you’ve made the decision to adopt a healthier lifestyle! That’s great and making that decision is a big step in the right direction!
Often though, people will want to make a few big changes at once. Why not become healthy right away – no time to waste! Quit drinking, take up clean eating, and start exercising three times a week before work. On their own, each of these changes requires a strong dose of self-discipline. All of them together would be daunting even for a professional athlete. To successfully change your lifestyle, you have to adopt these changes one by one. Even if it means it might take you a year or more to get there.
Hint: forget about how long it takes you to get “there” because there is no “there”. Lifestyle changes are an ongoing process, you will never “finish” making the change. Rather, you will just become the change and no longer think of it as a change.
Say you want to start exercising, cut back on coffee, eat healthy and keep a better sleep schedule. Pick one. If that’s starting to exercise, then don’t worry about the other ones for now. That might mean you don’t lose the weight you wanted because you still indulge in the afternoon when you hit the 4:00 wall, but it’s not a race. Once you’re exercising regularly, then it’s time to focus on the next habit. One baby step at a time.
Take all of your self-discipline and pour it wholeheartedly into the change you want to make. If you try and allot a little bit to each new habit, none of them will stick. Instead, go all in on the exercise. Then, go all in on improving your sleep schedule. It might take months before you’re able to even think about working on the next habit. That’s ok though because you’re in this for life.
