How To Get Healthier in 2 Steps
BY EMILY FARAONE
The idea of getting healthy is daunting. Have you ever told yourself, “starting tomorrow, I’m going to be healthier,” but then nothing actually changes? To implement change, you need to define it. How are you going to be healthier? Is it by drinking more water? Having a consistent sleep schedule? Being healthy is overwhelming because health is holistic, and there are so many different ways we can become healthier. Let’s break it down to see what changes you can quickly implement!
Pinpoint Area of Change
Since I find health holistic, we need to check in with all the different areas of life that affect our health. In our blog post, An Intro to Holistic Living, I go more in-depth about the different areas of life. The 7 areas of life are the mind, purpose, health, habits, self-work, environment, and community. Pinpoint which areas you want to focus on becoming healthier– or pick a couple! That helps narrow the scope, but then you should break it down even farther. For example, I describe health as movement, energy, relationship with food, rest, hygiene, nutrition, sleep quality, and breath. Our overall connection to our body. How does your body feel? I’m personally working on a few of these areas. My energy has been low lately, so I’m concentrating on my sleep quality and nutrition. If you are also focusing on sleep, check out our blog post about sleep hygiene.
Create Sustainable Habits
With my health coaching clients, I see the most change when we start with a big picture view and then narrow in on what daily habits we can change. For example, I want to have more energy, so I’m focusing on better sleep and nutrition that will help increase my energy. One of the sleep habits I’ve implemented is going to sleep at the same time every night. We set an alarm and wake up at the same time, so why not do the same thing in the evening? I set an alarm on my phone to cue me when it’s time to start my nighttime routine. This little change is something that I find sustainable for me. It’s simple and can be easily added to my routine. These are the type of changes with the potential to be long-lasting.
If you feel overwhelmed to become healthier, focus on pinpointing one area and keep narrowing in until you can assign a habit change. The repetition of this habit may seem small, but progress is a great thing! As cheesy as it is, if you are getting 1% better each day, that’s progress, and over time that is some pretty impressive growth! The more you practice this process of zooming in and pinpointing, the easier it will be to do it in the future. It takes some practice! Let’s make getting healthy not so daunting– it truly is a journey, not a destination. Below are some journal prompts to help your reflection.
If you liked this blog post, check out Beginning Your Health & Wellness Journey – Progress, Not Perfection
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