Just Checking In

Happy Monday! I hope you had a gorgeous weekend.

Today is Assessment Day! Which kind of sounds like employee review day and I guess in a way it kind of is, but it shouldn't be nearly as intimidating. I don't think. Anyway.

We've spent a little over a month talking about little and not-so-little ways to be happier and healthier, so I think this is a good time to take a look back and check in with yourself and see how you're doing. How's your breath? Are you hydrated and well-fed? How are you feeling about your exercise routine? Basically, I'd like you to take a look at your general situation and think honestly about how you feel about it and what adjustments - if any - you'd like to make. We all need a little self-assessment from time to time! So take a swing through the previous posts if you'd like a little inspiration, and feel free to leave a comment or drop me an email if you're not seeing the kind of suggestions you know you need.

And really, add a little self-assessment to your personal schedule; every month or so, just take a look at how things are going with you and decide if you need to make any changes. And then make them! 

Here's the thing about changes, though - it's easy to decide to make big, sweeping ones that are going to make everything awesome forever and ever amen. And sometimes those kinds of changes are necessary and executable in an all-at-once kind of format and you come out the other side maybe a little shaken or fatigued but ultimately feeling exactly like you knew you would. But sometimes those changes are maybe a little too big to take on all at once, in which case it can be easy to get discouraged and scrap the whole thing, so I think most of the time it's useful to work in a framework of small steps. Which doesn't mean that you can't decide on the big sweeping change! Far from it, actually - you can identify the big change and then break it down into its baby steps and go from there. So if you need to eat more healthily, you can decide that the first step is to introduce more vegetables and maybe the first step of that is to find one opportunity every day to either add a vegetable to something you're already eating or to replace something you'd planned on eating with a vegetable alternative. I always say in my pilates classes, but I think it applies to life in general, that once you perfect a small shape (or in this case, small step) you can start to grow it into a bigger shape/step. By the way, if you're a list-maker it is tremendously satisfying to plot out the baby steps and then cross them off as you take them.

So there's your assignment for today - good luck, have fun, and don't be afraid to ask for help! And I'll see you tomorrow, and we'll talk about your house some more. It's going to be great.

- Sarah