Half of the week I work as a health coach for the Kaiser Permanente Health Engagement and Wellness Services Department.
I do coaching for quitting tobacco, weight management, healthy eating, physical activity, preventing diabetes and heart disease, healthy sleep, stress and pain management.
I help folks develop healthy habits and overcome their challenges with motivation, consistency, energy and negative self-talk.
Here are two quick tips that help counter being stuck or overwhelmed with where to begin.
1) Just because something didn’t work for you in the past doesn’t mean it won’t work for you now (like going to the gym or eating vegetables, going to church or connecting with a small group, communicating boundaries or confronting someone).
If you want to be healthy, do what healthy people do.
Don’t stop short of figuring out what didn’t work and doing something about it.
Don’t wait till you have everything figured out to begin.
Starting and just doing something, is a huge part of overcoming.
Do the next best, the next brave, thing. Not the next big thing, start small.
2) Don’t get stuck on what doesn’t work, doesn’t fit for your schedule, the unanswered questions of “What should I do? What if I don’t pick the right thing?”, how you feel, that you’re alone.
Focus on what will work, what does work for your schedule, what you want and need, where you are confident and ready to begin, and find your people (they are out there!).
Here are a few resources on starting small, change and setting goals:
How to Break Habits by Charles Duhigg
Short workbooks for health topics like healthy eating and stress management
Personal Action Plan, a SMART goal-setting worksheet
Overcoming barriers and excuses from Make Your Day Harder.com
