4. Make it easy.
To do something every day, you have to make that “something” easy enough that you’re 100% confident you could do it every day for 30 days. That often means scaling your ambitious plans way back.
Unfortunately, most people bite off way more than they can chew. They commit to working out an hour a day, eating four healthy meals, cutting out chocolate, running a marathon, cooking more, waking up earlier — nothing less than a complete overhaul of their lives. Maybe they’re able to do it all for 3 days, a week, some people even a little longer perhaps. But inevitably, they miss a day, then two . . . then it all falls apart. They lose confidence, feel guilty, beat themselves up, and go back to doing exactly what they were doing before: nothing. All or nothing.
Instead, make it easy on yourself, way easier than you think at first. Instead of eating 4 healthy meals a day, eat 1 healthy meal a day and give yourself permission to leave everything else the same. Can’t commit to that for 30 days? Hell, eat an apple a day. Or take fish oil each day. Or switch from your morning latte to a green tea, or water. Instead of working out an hour a day, how about a 10-minute walk? Is that too much? What about a 5-minute walk?
“Alissa, don’t be ridiculous, that’s not going to do anything,” you might think. But that’s just your ego talking: you don’t walk to look foolish or admit that something so easy might be all you can muster right now. All I can say is: stop that. That kind of thinking will keep you stuck exactly where you are. Let go of your ego, accept where you are, and commit only to something so easy that you could do it without thinking for at least 30 days straight.
[Note: the principle is valid no matter how advanced you are, too. I have individuals training 1 hour a day wanting to jump immediately to 3 hours. Why not start with another 15-20 minutes at first? Again, put your ego aside.]
With Lifestyle Nutrition, you learn how to cast the “all or nothing” thinking aside. Instead, we commit to “always something” — no matter how small at first.
To do something every day, you have to make that “something” easy enough that you’re 100% confident you could do it every day for 30 days. That often means scaling your ambitious plans way back.
Unfortunately, most people bite off way more than they can chew. They commit to working out an hour a day, eating four healthy meals, cutting out chocolate, running a marathon, cooking more, waking up earlier — nothing less than a complete overhaul of their lives. Maybe they’re able to do it all for 3 days, a week, some people even a little longer perhaps. But inevitably, they miss a day, then two . . . then it all falls apart. They lose confidence, feel guilty, beat themselves up, and go back to doing exactly what they were doing before: nothing. All or nothing.
Instead, make it easy on yourself, way easier than you think at first. Instead of eating 4 healthy meals a day, eat 1 healthy meal a day and give yourself permission to leave everything else the same. Can’t commit to that for 30 days? Hell, eat an apple a day. Or take fish oil each day. Or switch from your morning latte to a green tea, or water. Instead of working out an hour a day, how about a 10-minute walk? Is that too much? What about a 5-minute walk?
“Alissa, don’t be ridiculous, that’s not going to do anything,” you might think. But that’s just your ego talking: you don’t walk to look foolish or admit that something so easy might be all you can muster right now. All I can say is: stop that. That kind of thinking will keep you stuck exactly where you are. Let go of your ego, accept where you are, and commit only to something so easy that you could do it without thinking for at least 30 days straight.
[Note: the principle is valid no matter how advanced you are, too. I have individuals training 1 hour a day wanting to jump immediately to 3 hours. Why not start with another 15-20 minutes at first? Again, put your ego aside.]
With Lifestyle Nutrition, you learn how to cast the “all or nothing” thinking aside. Instead, we commit to “always something” — no matter how small at first.
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