As a nutrition and wellness coach, I sometimes put a lot of pressure on myself to be “perfect” in my behaviours and my lifestyle. In my mind, if I don’t walk the walk in everything I do, people may not take me seriously. But you know what? None of us is perfect - because there is no such thing. Health and wellness is a lifelong journey for all of us. We all have days when we make less healthy choices, we have stress, family, vacations, travel, illness, and all of the other things that life throws at us; all things that may interfere with our ability to do the things that will develop - and sustain - our optimal health and well-being.

So here’s the thing. In every moment of every day, we are faced with choices. A myriad of choices about what to do, what to wear, what to eat, whether to exercise, how to exercise, what to do with our spare time, how to manage all the commitments we make, paper or plastic, etc. We get into a mode where we start making some of these decisions mindlessly in order to cope, because if we didn’t we would feel completely overwhelmed all the time.

If there is some area of your life where you would like to make different choices, the power to do that is completely in your hands. You don’t need a special diet, or to wait for the time to be right, or to read yet another self-improvement book (although these do have their place in personal growth). What you need to do is take a step back, examine what you are currently doing, and then visualise how you would like it to be different. If it was different, what would it be like? What choices would you make instead? How would you feel as a result? Now, take those feelings and focus on them. Let them fill you up. And now comes the challenging part - take the very next step in order to make it happen. And don’t feel bad if you get stuck here. Many people do. That’s why nutrition and wellness coaches like me exist. We can help guide people, whether it’s just getting started down the right path, acting as a partner over the course of the journey, or something in-between.

You don’t need to completely overhaul your life in one fell swoop. If that worked we all would already have the life we want. The best thing to do is break things down into tiny, bite-sized pieces. Break them down into pieces so small that it almost feels ridiculous because there’s no way you couldn’t take the next step, and you don’t see how that one tiny step is going to make a difference. Then you’ll know you’re doing the right thing. Because one tiny step is still a step, and much better than doing NOTHING. Even just 1% is more than 0, and if you improve your choices just 1% at a time, the results will compound over time.

Pretty soon you’ll be making the best choices for yourself and the process won’t feel overwhelming. It will happen because you took action. We can read about self improvement, attend seminars, surf the web, do research, and make plans - over and over and over again, but it won’t change anything. It’s only by taking action that we can change things. It’s only by taking action that we can reach our goals. Don’t wait until you feel like doing something. Take the next tiny step - take ACTION. By taking action you develop the momentum, the habits, and the feelings of making your goals a reality. The time is going to go by anyway, right? So stop waiting for whatever it is you want and stop hoping it just happens. Take that next step - take ACTION - and set yourself up for success!

And stay tuned, because at the end of this month I’m going to be making a big announcement - you won’t want to miss it!

Have a health of a day,

Juli