If you look at a giant staircase (I’m talking Cinderella’s castle massive marble staircase), you wouldn’t try to go up the entire staircase in one step. You take it one step at a time, gradually climbing the staircase, right? Duh. 

Segway (I promise these tie together eventually): it’s easy to have an end goal and be overwhelmed by the process to reach that goal and where to start. Taking on a TON of changes in your lifestyle to be healthier at once can be overwhelming and a complete shock to the system. If overnight you:

• Start going to bed two hours earlier

• Do a 2 hour gym session after skipping workouts for 6 months

• Eat greens at every meal 

• Take new vitamins 

• Dedicate 30 minutes to meditating

• Cut out alcohol 

• Start gratitude journaling

• Oh, and start doing a new skincare routine.

That is taking the entire staircase in one step. It’s not only unrealistic, it’s also unsustainable and will cause you to burn out in the long journey towards your goal. 

Instead, what if you approached your goals like you approach a staircase, and take it one step at a time? 

If your goal is to get back to working out after taking a hiatus, starting with 15/20 minute workouts 2-3 times per week is way more sustainable than 2 hour workouts 6 days your first week. This will also help you gradually build a habit so that you can maintain this and build upon it. Soon a 60 minute workout 5x per week might not seem so overwhelming. 

Starting with small, sustainable habits will help ensure you stay on course in the long road to reach whatever your goal may be. Show yourself what it can be like if you don’t quit or burn yourself out! 

Take the small steps and focus on them, and before you know it you’ll be standing at the top of the staircase thinking how every single little step helped you reach the top.