Making Wellness a Part of Your Everyday Routine

With a fresh new year upon us (and decade!), it’s a great time to evaluate our total body wellness and make. Chances are that we’ve either slipped in an area or two or  have a few exciting New Year's Resolutions, so our motivation is at an all-time high right now.

Health and weight-related New Year's Resolutions often top our lists. Everyone wants to feel great and love the body they're in. Yet a lot of our resolutions are focused on starting that process rather than maintaining it. So, in this blog, I'm going to go over a few ways that you can make wellness a part of your everyday routine.

In the end, maintaining a healthy and wellness-oriented lifestyle is going to change everything. Your focus and energy at work will improve. You'll be more likely to put in extra effort to succeed. You'll be able to spend more time playing with the kids rather than stressing about work. If you're a student, you'll be able to manage stress better, study effectively, and succeed in your courses when your wellness remains a priority.

Let me challenge you this decade to have a different mindset in your wellness approach. Wellness is all-encompassing: what we put in our bodies through nutrition, products and environmental toxins, the thoughts that we linger on, and the actions we do or do not take. 

To make your goals and dreams a reality, you not only need to strengthen your body, but also fortify your mind and feed your spirit. All of this is possible (with me as your guide!). So, instead of waiting for a magical opportunity to come by or for someone to “discover” you, start taking action so those things happen!

Start With Adjusting Your Habits 

First off, I want to start with a book recommendation: I've been reading Atomic Habits by James Clear, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

We often view our habits as "givens" instead of "choices" in our life. This book, and the wisdom I'm about to drop, will help you transition your thinking into being more proactive about the choices you make

If you want to make wellness a more significant part of your life, YOU HAVE to make a few adjustments. Much like dieting and exercise, if you're going to be successful, you need to make this a lifestyle rather than a phase. A healthy body will not fall in your lap. Neither will a healthy lifestyle. 

But, you don’t have to go through a full-body detox to have an effect. The book and research shows that a very small change that you practice consistently every day can be much more effective than a big overhaul once in awhile. This applies to exercise, eating habits, work performance, project management, coaching and sports, writing, etc… really anything! What are one or two habits that you think may be holding you back? 

I’m starting January with not only a no sugar + no processed food (wish me luck!) + no dairy + no alcohol meal plan, but also a 100 day exercise challenge. The best part about the exercise challenge is not the intensity of the exercise - it’s basically you showing up for yourself every day = forming a habit (and getting in great shape in the process!). 

What about time? Do you spend a lot of time worrying about whether a project was perfect before you submitted it? Do you scroll through your social media for longer than you'd like to admit? Jot all that down! 

Basically, you need to make the habit the obvious and easy choice. Have a non-negotiable time that you sit down and write. Get an exercise partner. Stock healthy food in your house and put it on display. Right now, fast food is the easy choice. Build habits to change that. 

Now, try and prioritize some of the habits that you'd like to adjust to maximize your success. If you're stressed about an upcoming project, for example, you may want to look at how much time – on average – you spend on social media. Shave an hour off of that average and relocate that time to working on your project.

Making gradual concessions (like spending less time on social to work on your project) is what's going to keep you going. That way, you aren't suddenly barred from doing something you're used to. Instead, you can dedicate a little more energy to something that needs it while winding down your dependency on something less beneficial to you.

Step into the NOW 

Wellness is a lifestyle – and you're actively living it! So start talking to yourself in the NOW because you're already there. 

Think about it... How many times have you thought, "I want to be healthy" while you regarding your current self?

What if you told yourself, "I am a healthy person!" instead?

Stepping into the present moment allows you to make choices that align with your wellness goals. Instead of talking down to yourself and visualizing your goals as things way out in the distance, step into the NOW!

If you are changing your habits gradually and sticking with your new goals, you are in action! Even if you haven't hit a definitive goal yet, working on it is part of your success and progress. So, take ownership of your hard work and use your mindset to reinforce all of the energy you're putting in right now.

One recommendation that I have for shifting your mindset into the now is actually to take a digital detox. I KNOW it sounds impossible, primarily if you work with the internet as a part of your job. But what I mean is that you should experiment with taking a step back from social media, your phone, your computer, and anything else digital that takes up a lot of your time. 

Try leaving your phone in a different room once you get home from work. Try setting a daily limit that will remind you when you spend more than an hour on Facebook each day. Then, try going a whole day without checking social media. The more you step away from the scrolling, the more you will be able to focus on what's happening to you in the now. 

Take Small Steps to Get Big Rewards 

One essential factor to success is your pace. Everyone is different, so it's useless to try and compare your journey with someone else's. That's why you should focus on your unique version of wellness and what small steps you should be taking to reach the big rewards you want.

Small consistent efforts are WAY MORE effective than If you want to set boundaries with your working hours, you could start taking small steps now to make sure that you will achieve this goal. Start by setting an auto-responder on your email that states you will respond to their request the following morning. Try leaving ten minutes earlier every week so that you can eventually cut back to working your scheduled hours.

For those who want to reach specific physical goals, don't just jump into it head-on with no prep. Instead, start planning how you're going to achieve those goals every week. Perhaps you'll start with running for 20 minutes each day for the first week. Maybe you'll start swapping ice cream out for a sweet fruit during the weekdays. '

And for me, I’m actually doing less. As Greg McKeown says in Essentialism, the goal is to have a lifestyle that is less but better. My small step towards this so far has been not tackling every work project that was non-essential, canceling many subscriptions that felt more like obligations, and making  my exercise routine less complicated. 

Whatever your goal may be, you should be giving yourself the chance to succeed by tapering up the intensity. After all, these small steps are what will get you the big rewards in the end!