Sometimes a goal seems so far away, it’s hard to even know where to start. 

There’s so much you could do. There are so many challenges and barriers to overcome.

It feels overwhelming and stressful. 

And maybe in a moment of inspiration or desperation, you try to make all the changes all at once. But it’s simply too much, and when ‘life happens’ you find yourself going back to old habits. 

It might be different if you lived in a vacuum where all you had to focus on was your self-care – nutrition, workouts, and stress management (but in this fantasy land, you probably wouldn’t be stressed anyway!).

Chances are, you have priorities in your life competing for your attention. Most people do. Jobs, family, other time and energy commitments. 

When you try to change many things all at once, it’s simply too much. Your energy and focus are spread thin and you simply cannot sustain the change.

I get how tempting it is to want to overhaul your entire life. Sometimes we want change so badly that we think that our desire is enough to make these changes sustainable. 

Because if you organized your house, cleaned up your diet, started working out, and stopped ordering takeout, you’d get results SO much faster. This is what makes complex diet plans and challenges so appealing. They encourage massive change, where people are basically overhauling their entire lives. The problem with these plans is that people might be able to stick to all ten things on that plan for a twenty-one-day period, but then they go back to their old habits because they didn’t learn how to build these new actions into their everyday lives.

If that method worked, you wouldn’t be reading this right now. 

You’ve done that. You’ve tried that. And it didn’t work. 

So many people have tried everything to lose weight and improve their health… except consistency.

If lasting change has eluded you to this point, it’s time to simplify. Let go of the complex, intense plans. Focus on one or maybe two things at most. Keep things simple.

Keep in mind – just because you’re focusing on only one or two things doesn’t mean you won’t also be taking care of your health in other ways.

For example, say you eat healthy for most of your day, but you have a specific challenge with the evening or those few hours before dinner. In this case, your one goal would be focusing on that key time and making healthy choices. That doesn’t mean you’re going to start eating McDonald’s for breakfast. You’re going to continue to maintain the healthy habits you’ve already built during those other times of the day, it just won’t be your main focus. 

Simplicity and consistency are the way forward. Let go of the thought that you always need to be doing more. Start with small steps and work your way up. This is how you will create lasting change.