Small Steps Lead to Lasting Change

Welcome! January is Mental Wellness Month, which makes it an ideal time to launch this blog. I’ll be sharing content that you’ll find relevant, calming, and empowering. If you have any comments or suggestions for topics, please reach out!

At the start of each new year, many people begin to reconsider their habits and work to form new ones. It is through this process that I like to remind my clients that the best habits are formed one step at a time.

A recent New York Times article explains why it’s important to keep this in mind. The author, Arianna Huffington, writes about a time when she injured herself as a result of being too burned out. She realized—right then—that she had to make a change in her life, so she started to learn more about well-being. She searched for the best tools to help her form healthy habits, like the Box 1 Tool for Patients on this page.

She learned that many people fail to keep their New Year’s resolutions because they are not taking small, actionable steps in their daily lives. Very small steps, she says, are most likely to make new habits stick. Some easy-to-do “microsteps” for habit change can include:

  • Disconnecting from our phones and devices at the same time each night.
  • Eating while sitting down and without multitasking.
  • Turning off unneccesary cell phone notifications, which are known to trigger stress.
  • Allowing ourselves to feel boredom, instead of looking at a device, since unstructured time allows people to be more creative and reflective.

Read more tips here, and comment below if you try any of them today!