We all like to imagine a future where we’re healthier, happier, and more open to what life has to offer. However, sometimes that future can feel a little out of reach. Many people think that the only way to change their life is to make massive, sweeping changes. When they try to do that, however, those sweeping changes come crashing down around them.

If you’ve been stuck in this cycle before, you already know how frustrating it can be. The good news is there are far better ways to approach your health goals. Social support, a solid plan, and gradual changes are the ingredients for success.

You can apply this approach to any healthy habit, so we’ve broken down a few common health goals and given you tips on how to reach them. Pick one healthy habit at a time and give yourself time to actually build the habit before you move onto another. Here are some ideas from KaziFitForce to get you started:

Fostering an Inspiring Environment

So much of how we live is dependent on our environments. If you’re surrounded by things you associate with stress, you’re going to be stressed out. This is relatively easy to see right now, since so many of us have been stuck mostly at home for the better part of a year now. Odds are good you associate that space with the challenging feelings you’ve gone through since the start of the pandemic.

So foster an environment that inspires you by doing something to clear out the bad energy in your home. For example, redecorating or giving your home a deep clean can be a great way to clear your slate, psychologically speaking. Create an environment that inspires you to be your best self, and change will come far more naturally.

Learning to Love Exercise

 There’s this cultural idea that we should naturally have an adversarial relationship with exercise. It’s a chore or an obligation, and people who genuinely enjoy it are framed as odd. However, if you spend any time around children you’ll quickly see that it’s far from the truth. As kids, we love to move around and to figure out what our bodies can do. At some point between childhood and adulthood, however, we forget how to enjoy it.

We can relearn. Start by finding a physical activity you can enjoy with a group of other people. These can be friends, an online community, a coach, or peers in an exercise class – the important part is that community support. Then, commit to doing something each day, even if it’s as minimal as putting on your shoes and walking up and down your street. Your first goal should always be consistency, never perfection.

Repairing Your Relationship With Food

As a culture, our relationship with food has grown pretty toxic. Between fad diets, extraordinary “super food” claims, and the ever-present push to treat junk food as a form of self-medication, it’s no wonder so many of us have nebulous relationships, at best, with what we eat.

Getting nutritional guidance and learning to practice mindful or intuitive eating can do wonders for your relationship with food. Consider using a journal to track what you eat and how it makes you feel, as well as what signals your body uses to convey hunger and satiety. This can help you relearn how to listen to your body – not marketing or stigma – when it comes to what you should eat.

These are just a few ideas for healthy habits you can build into your life, but the same principle applies to things like drinking more water, meditating, getting a good night’s sleep, and more. Focus on finding a source of social support, coming up with a plan, and making small changes as you go. You’ll be pleased at how much easier making a change in your life can be when you take this approach.

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