Are You Trying to Do Too Much?

I've been writing these emails every Monday for awhile now, and if you've been around since the beginning, about three years ago I told you this: 

"Developing new habits and changing one's lifestyle takes time, and trying to overhaul everything overnight is a recipe for frustration."

So what did I do last week, when I was starting a new job and commuting to an office for the first time in a decade?

I decided to start a totally new workout program on top of everything else.

In my defense, it was time to change up my programming, and I didn't have time to write myself a new program, so I figured I'd try a different one that was only 3 days a week since I'd probably be short on time. 

But if any of my clients were in the same situation, I would've absolutely told them not to change everything all at once, because it's a recipe for chaos, frustration, and stress. It's almost like I should follow my own advice. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Changing too many variables at once is not only mentally overwhelming, but it also makes it impossible to tell which changes are having which effects. 

Do I feel sore from my new workout programming, or from sitting a lot more throughout the week and not sleeping enough? Impossible to tell when there are so many potential new factors.  

And when it comes to making health and fitness lifestyle changes, changing everything dramatically at the same time makes it really, really hard to stick with those changes.

I see it all the time with clients who come in super motivated to start going to the gym every single day or throwing out all the snack food in their house because they want to eat healthier. 

They're the people who last a couple weeks, tops, before settling right back into their old habits. 

Most of us don't do well with "hard resets." 

We are much, much more likely to be successful in the long run when we make one change, practice it until we have it down, and then add more small steps over time. 

This week, I'm going back to my old workout programming that I know exactly how to adjust as I need to, and I'll save the new stuff for 2024 when I'm hopefully set in my new routine.