“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”
~ Helen Keller
In ten days we’ll be looking at the end of January – the end of the first month of this new year.
I know. You said things would be different this year.
And I also know that some of you are already flagging. (Are you using my Planner? I promise that will make things easier!)
Sometimes, in order to affect change, we need to make new habits. We need to do things differently than we did before. You know this already, on a head level. You may have even tried to make changes in the past. But many of us have not been good at keeping promises to ourselves. Our commitment muscles have become weak. We don’t trust ourselves anymore. It becomes easier and easier to quit on ourselves and our own goals, even as we are holding up the rest of the world with one hand, encouraging and supporting everyone else.
So I propose a Challenge.
Ten days of completing a simple task each day. Every day.
Ten days are enough to start getting into the groove of a new habit. Ten days are enough to see and feel a change. Ten days are enough to find out that we CAN keep our promises to ourselves. We can finish January strong. We can build belief that will help move us through the rest of our year with more confidence and tenacity.
The skills we learn by sticking to one small commitment can then be applied to the bigger things we hope to achieve for ourselves.
No matter what your plans this year, or your One Big Thing, I’m encouraging you to choose a simple health focus for the next ten days. Why? Because you live in your body! Because nothing works well when we don’t have our health. Good health choices are a kindness to ourselves. They are self-care in action. And these choices help us to feel better about ourselves on every level.
Make your choice a small one. You’ve got lots of other stuff going on. Don’t overwhelm yourselves. Not sure what to choose? Here are a few suggestions:
- Drink two litres of water each day
- Eat breakfast
- Walk every day
- Yoga stretches each day
- Make my own healthy lunch instead of take-out
- Eat more fruit and vegetables
- Green juice every day
- Eat a particular way (doctor or health specialist recommended, paleo, weight watchers, gluten-free, coffee-free, whatever-way-of-eating-you’ve-been-half-assed-about-in-the-past)
- Daily exercise of my choice
- No screens (phones, computers, TV, tablets) for an hour before bed, and none in the bedroom
- Daily power nap
- Eat mindfully, at the table
- Daily fresh juice or smoothie
- Daily short meditation (I have lots of free ones here on my site – just put ‘meditation’ in the search bar)
- Take my vitamins, supplements, magical potions every day
- Ditch junk food and sugar
- Stop eating/drinking that thing you know you need to!
- Connect with someone you love and who loves you – by phone, skype or face-to-face. We all need connection.
- Healthy snacks instead of chocolate and donuts
- Cut down or cut out alcohol
- Daily grounding with bare feet on the earth
- Use essential oils daily, on yourself or in your diffuser
- Time in nature
- Sunshine
- Enough sleep
- Short breaks and mini-holidays or adventures each day
- Move my body, every day, for ten minutes – my choice of movement!
Are you with me? Feel free to write your name below in the comments, along with your ten-day focus. And join us over on facebook, where I will be posting daily updates and encouragement, and where you can share your own progress.
