It’s time to sweat the small stuff

Some days does it seem that everyone you know is running a marathon, committed to clean eating, and has initiated a daily meditation practice? Does it make you feel inspired, or just tired?

We are constantly bombarded with images and messaging promoting the ways we should be changing ourselves, and while it is great to be proactive about improving our health, wellness shouldn’t be about making us feel worse about how we are doing right now.

Big, life-changing goals are helpful when they motivate us to take all the steps necessary to achieve them, but they can also seem so out of reach, and so drastically different from our daily life that we can become discouraged, losing our dedication and self-belief. If you are someone who can commit and train from couch to marathon, fantastic and have a great run! However, if an all-or nothing, “go big or go home” mentality isn’t working for you, we have a solution: it’s time to sweat the small stuff!

10 reasons why starting small can be huge

1. Time and cost commitments can be stumbling blocks for starting health initiatives. Don’t give up before you have even begun. Instead, remove the barriers by beginning with a small goal that can be grown over time.

2. Another bonus of finding activities that aren’t time-commitment heavy; we are more willing to try something new.

3. Plus we will have the time for variety!

4. Variety keeps it interesting, thereby fuelling motivation.

5. Small changes can also fit into the workday when we often need these healthy habits the most.

6. Furthermore, we are more likely to stay committed to our goal if we share it with a friend, and it’s easier to recruit a co-worker when the goal is manageable for their workday too.

7. And by being able to practice health-conscious choices regularly throughout the day we grow our mindset that wellbeing encompasses more than one hour at the gym at the end of the day.

8. Small changes therefore promote a holistic approach to our health, as it is more manageable to address our exercise, diet and emotional habits simultaneously.

9. Importantly, achieving smaller objectives helps shape our belief that we can be healthy and reach the goals we set out for ourselves, thereby increasing our future successes.

10. Finally, small health changes do have a big impact. Increasing daily steps has been linked to lower mortality rates; reducing our sugar consumption to the recommended guideline has important heart health advantages; and a mere 10 minutes of daily deep breathing can help improve our stress response.

Are you ready for big, long-lasting change? Then it’s time to start thinking small.