Better Than Nothin' Tuesdays is baaaack! This is the time when we give you a hollah for taking even the tiniest and smallest of actions towards your health goals. Here we take a bow for the small stuff because over time it all adds ups and anything like eating one less fast food meal or doing the plank between TV commercials is better than doing zero!
So you comfy?
We all have our comfort zones for a reason because well, we feel comfortable, safe, and secure. We know what we're dealing with. And comfort zones are fine, if you are happy, fine, or content exactly where you are in your life literally, emotionally, or spiritually. However, if you want to evolve, grow, or expand as a person, you will need to start venturing out of your comfort zones whether it be in things like love, career, making new friends, or reaching your health goals.
Many of us continue to hold onto bad habits because there is a comfort there. In our head, we know that things like not exercising, being flaky, or not sticking to better food choices is not getting us to our intended goals like wearing the skinny jeans again, having good cholesterol levels, or lower stress. However, our fears and comforts can take over because it can become more important for us to feel comfortable with the bad habits we know than risk feeling the un-comfortableness of the unknown.
There's something to be said for teensy and tortoise-like
Busting out of bad habits or going cold turkey in my opinion never works long term because ultimately it's way too much change in a short time and it triggers our Inner Resistance Monster who goes, "Ohh, ohh, noooooo. Watcha think you're doing their Kemosabe? I'm shippin' you back to bad-habit-land."
So, let's take it softly and start taking tiny steps outside of your comfort zone. To start off, I'm talking baby steps that are like an inch outside the circle. For example:
- You want to eat more vegetables, and you've been hearing so much about arugula, next time you're out at a restaurant and see arugula on the menu, order it.
- You want to try kayaking but have been afraid of going into the water. Try just going to a store that sells kayak stuff and have a chat with one of the store employees about kayaking. You don't have to sign up for anything or buy anything, but you've made a step into an environment that will eventually get you into the water in kayak.
- You've been thinking for a long time about starting your own business and have even surfed online for entrepreneur resources and have bought books at Amazon, a tiny step you can do is grab a friend and go to small business owner event. There are all kinds of events in your local area for people who want to start their own businesses. You can check with your local department of commerce, entrepreneur or career centers, social groups, and even banks. My local Wells Fargo throws new business owner mixers all the time.
The point is that you're taking a tiny step out of your comfort zone and gaining a step closer to making your dreams a reality and making your goals a step closer within your reach!
So what tiny steps out of your comfort zone have you made lately, and didn't it make you feel good?