Did you start out this morning determined to eat better, drink lots of water, and maybe even get to the gym - only to find yourself exhausted on the couch at the end of another day that somehow got away from you? Do you feel like you did nothing today to contribute to your health and wellness goals? If this is you, I have the best tool to make you feel like an action-taking, movement-making superhero!
The 5 minute action list
This is a list you make of things you can do in 5 minutes or less to get you a little bit closer to your goal. (FYI there is nothing special about 5 minutes - it could be 2 minutes, or 10 or 20...) The point is...
You want it to be small - so small it feels easy.
You want it to be an action you can take.
You want it to move you in the right direction.
My 10 small actions for big results:
Walk around the block
Go fill up your water bottle
Put on your favourite song and dance
Cut up a cucumber (or other fresh veggie)
Get out of your chair and do some stretches
Make a grocery list and put it next to your keys
Do a short meditation (apps like Calm allow you to sort by time)
Look up a recipe you want to try and make a note of the ingredients you'll need
Have a list of 10 exercises you can do for 30 seconds each
Write down 5 things you're grateful for
Take 5 minutes right now to make your own action list. What small tasks could you do in a day to make you feel like you made progress, that you moved the needle just a little bit?
Your day is full of many moments. Taking a few of these for yourself is critical for your health and wellness.
When you find space in your day - between appointments and meetings and pick ups - to carve out a few minutes for an action, your body and mind will thank you.
And these small actions will stack up on top of each other so that before you know it, you'll start to feel progress.
You'll start to feel like you're actually moving forward.
Because you are.