The Busy Person's Guide to Starting a Health Journey Part 2
Last week, I laid out the first two steps to starting a health journey (mindset and sustainability). Today, I am writing about the next three steps which are all about keeping the new habits going.
(Disclaimer: I am not a medical or mental-health professional. Please consider consulting a therapist for assistance in any of these areas.)
Step 3: Strive for consistency
Even if we identify sustainable changes to make, if they aren’t done consistently, they will not make a difference. Gretchen Rubin often says, “what you do every day matters much more than what you do once in a while.” If you work out intensely for an hour one day a week but then sit and watch Netflix for hours to “recover” on all other days of the week, you’re not going to see much progress. Instead, if you dedicate yourself to walking for at least 30 minutes over the course of the day every day, you will have much more success and will actually reap the benefits of activity.
This step is especially important to busy people. Our time is valuable (even the time we spend scrolling through social media) and wasting it with something that’s not worthwhile will eventually backfire. Busy people should aim to develop consistency so that they can achieve the most results with the least amount of time and effort.
The odds are that you are so exhausted at the end of the day that you would much rather curl up in front of the TV with a pint of ice cream than complete a half-hour workout. At this point, something is better than nothing as it would maintain your consistency. Take a 5-minute walk and see if you feel more energized at the end of it. Another solution is to multitask while exercising. Listen to your podcast while walking, pull up your treadmill or rebounder in front of the TV so you can watch while you move, scroll social media while pacing around your house, or maybe invest in a standing or treadmill desk. For me, cycling while watching Netflix was the only way I could start incorporating exercise into my day!
With consistency, the opposite is also true. One bad day will not mess up your good month. Everyone slips up at some point, and that’s ok! Being consistent allows you the ability to bounce back after a misstep. It’s taken me a while to accept this point given I’m still working on my perfectionism, but here I am writing a health and wellness blog despite eating a whole tray of sugar cookies I baked “for the holidays.” You will not lose your months of progress overnight. At the same time, try to avoid falling down a rabbit hole by justifying even more poor choices after one mess up.
Step 4: Find some accountability
Everyone needs some form of accountability. Some people are great at holding themselves accountable while others need to have some form of outer accountability. For me, that accountability was through scheduling. I had to schedule my activity because personally, I never want to be off schedule.
Figure out what type of accountability you need and determine how to get it. Do you need to find a group? Make a public post stating your goal? Just put your mind to it? Research the benefits? Hire a personal trainer or life coach? Whatever you need to do to feel a sense of obligation, do it! This is key for most people to continue their habits when things get tough.
(Here’s another Gretchen Rubin reference! I just finished her book on the Four Tendencies framework that categorizes people into upholders, questioners, rebels, and obligers based on how they respond to inner and outer expectations. Knowing your tendency will allow you to decide what form of accountability you may need to reach your goals. I’m an upholder which means I respond to both outer and inner expectations. You can take her short quiz here!)
Step 5: Focus on the process
The final step to start your health journey and be successful is to develop a growth mindset by focusing on the journey, not the destination. It is so easy to power through things to reach a goal and then drop everything you learned since you “finished.” To avoid this mentality, you should be aware of the overall reason you are starting to care about your health. Most likely, you want to feel better, live longer, and enjoy life more. That’s why this guide isn’t about how to lose weight or become healthy. You are embarking on a lifelong journey for your health. While you may be motivated by hitting concrete goals along the way, you should enjoy the habits you develop and health benefits that come with the process for what they are.
Once you embark on this journey, you should love it and keep going for the rest of your life.
I hope these two posts were helpful to you wherever you are on your health journey. If you are beginning, I hope these steps are clear enough to make the process easier. Please let me know if anything resonated with you (I always appreciate knowing whether or not what I’m doing is working) or if you could use my help for accountability.
Next Thursday, I’m going to post my thoughts on how all three of my passions (music, health, and activism) intersect, and two weeks from now, I will be presenting why health, fitness, and wellness should be incorporated into the lives of musicians and other extremely busy people.