“A Journey of 1,000 miles begins with just one step” – Chinese Proverb
When it comes to adapting a healthy lifestyle, the necessary changes to make can be overwhelming. New tips are thrown at us now second by second thanks to social media, and it’s easy to understand why the road to change gets cluttered with ‘all the things you HAVE to do.’
I had a conversation recently with one of my online coaching clients, ‘Sue’. Sue was struggling to find just 30 minutes a week to fit in exercise in her life. Between ushering her kids around and starting a new business, she seemed just so overwhelmed with making healthy lifestyle changes. Sue knew that in order to get the long-term results that she wanted, she was going to have to follow my online program 3 times a week, adjust her eating habits, readjust her priorities so that SHE became one, rest, relax, and distress more often, and in addition to that, she also wanted to make it to her local gym twice a week for additional exercise. PHEW!
In talking to Sue for just a few minutes, I could feel how overwhelmed she was with what she thought she needed to add or change to her current lifestyle. I had to cut her off mid-rant.
“Sue…let’s rewind a little bit. Remember, we are focusing on just 30 minutes a week right now! Let’s not bombard ourselves with EVERYTHING we have to do, let’s just focus on one thing.”
One thing…
When we take our BIG goal and break it down into multiple mini-goals, the road to success becomes much more palatable and adaptable.
Sue, excited to begin my Online Coaching Program, allowed her mind to get so cluttered with all the changes that she felt she had to make. In doing so, she didn’t allow herself the time or the room in her life to make any change!
People, by nature, like to make tasks and goals much more complicated than need be. We’ve been told to Dream Big, focus on the big picture, and reach for the stars! While I agree with all of those statements, what many fail to realize is that in order to achieve the ‘big picture’ you have to get there, just one step at a time.
I asked Sue to try to focus on only 30 minutes a week, as a start. And every week I call Sue to see if she was able to complete her 30 minutes a week. I’ve promised Sue that once she masters 30 minutes a week, we will move forward and begin to focus on additional goals.
Since then, Sue has struggled with committing to 30 minutes a week. As we focus on creating the space in her life for 30 minutes, it is a constant reminder of taking it one step a time.
Could you imagine if Sue really tried to adapt all the changes she felt necessary at once? She would have crashed, burned, and lost her identity and control of her life in the process.
My message to you is this: Aim high! but get there one step at a time. If you’re having a difficult time adapting to one change, work on that change until you perfect it. It may take one week; it may take 3 or 4 weeks. Don’t give up on it! Once you perfect your first change, go onto the next. Mastering theses steps one at a time will help you to create the permanent change you wish to see. Underwhelm yourself with just this one thing. Master that and then move on to the next. You’ll never be able climb to the top of a mountain if you don’t allow yourself to get there, one step at a time.
