One step at a time. Stop avoiding the little things that will make your life better.

There are many things in our lives that are challenging. I don’t mean climbing Mount Everest challenging. More like remembering to make your bed challenging. Okay, perhaps that’s setting the bar a little low. Lets go with: get to the gym today, avoid sugar, and get to bed at a decent time all while keeping your to do list in check. That’s more reasonable.

And yet, many people struggle to maintain a healthy routine. Constantly bombarded with self inflicted distractions, excuses, or just plain lethargy. The average person finds themselves maintaining the bare minimum. They aren’t always ignorant to this either.

Distractions are everywhere, and we created them.

The plethora of distractions we create for ourselves are there for a purpose. That purpose is to bring us satisfaction, or so we hope. Each distraction gives us a small sense of accomplishment, or maybe just plain entertainment, bringing a little squirt of chemicals in the reward centers of our brains. Whether we’re accomplishing anything or not, our reptilian minds feel at least a little better, temporarily.

Excuses multiply like rabbits.

The many excuses we concoct for ourselves are all in the name of avoiding stress. We dare not challenge ourselves or take risks in fear of causing stress. We avoid stress by all means, believing a lack of stress will bring us happiness. Not all stress is bad! The uncomfortable feelings from a challenging activity are a sign of growth. Take exercise for example, by pushing yourself past the comfort zone you are training your body to build itself up. If you push past the comfort zone you may feel a little stressed, but you will grow.

Lethargy creates lethargy.

Lethargy is an epidemic among the high tech western world. Our infinitely entertaining distractions are capable of keeping us stagnant for eternity. Youtube alone has more content uploaded to it in an hour than you could hope to watch in four years. And that’s without sleep. Lethargy keeps us from even considering physical activity. We feel sleepy, so how could we possibly exercise? Do you know what would help you not feel lethargic? Exercise.

Objects in motion stay in motion.

The same is true for our minds, our bodies, and our lives. Your habits shape you and reflect the momentum of your life. Changing everything at once can feel like accelerating, or decelerating, too quickly. Crashing and burning is no way to start a positive life change, so don’t feel bad taking it one step at a time.

If you feel stuck, the best possible thing you can do is: Anything. Just do something. My personal favorite? Stand up.

If you don’t know what to do: Just stand up.

Do not let yourself sit down. Sooner or later this will get awkward, and that’s perfect. The only rule you have for yourself is to not sit back down. Want to keep watching TV? Sure, this time is fine as long as you keep standing! But I bet you’ll get the urge to move around, to do something with yourself. Because really, just standing there all alone is a bit awkward.

One step at a time.

Keep it small, keep it simple. Train yourself bit by bit to enjoy productive things by keeping your goals tiny. One pushup, No sitting, Making the bed, No desert after lunch, etc. Keep it so small that you can’t help but to accomplish it. Little victories add up. Soon your mind will find more enjoyment from accomplishment than from all the distractions you once created for yourself.