MAKE ONE CHANGE

Now you know why you will accomplish your big health goals and it’s time to train for the marathon, become a vegan and learn Spanish for your volunteer trip to Guatemala. The only problem is you haven’t run since high school, you don’t know and artichoke from an aardvark and you can’t even find Univision on your cable package. You have a lot to do and you need to do it right now! 

The truth is, lasting change happens one step at a time.

Research confirms our brains can only handle one task at a time. Multitask all you want, but you can only focus on one of the myriad of things in front of you. The same is true for changes in your health habits. Your mental energy is finite and every decision you make depletes it. This is especially true if you are exerting “willpower” toward a new endeavor or one in which you’ve failed in the past. The key to successful change is giving yourself permission to master one change at a time, even if it takes weeks, months or a lifetime.