#43 Why You should Take Action Now on Your Health Goals (and Why You Shouldn’t)

When the girls were little, I so wanted to become a runner. My sister and a couple friends were avid runners and they described how good they felt and how they loved the freedom the activity came with. However, I was so unsure of myself. I had so many questions and worries. Would I be able to consistently train? What if I did things wrong and hurt myself? What if I did things wrong and wasn’t ready to run a race? Would running be worth the investment of time? Finally, I signed up for a 10K and simply jumped in. 

It was one of the absolute best things that I did that year. 

It was the same year that Micaela developed epilepsy, Adela began preschool, we started farming, and my husband started a new job that required a long commute. There was a lot going on in our lives, but the hours spent running and training were pivotal for my mental and physical health. The investment of time was worth every minute. 

What about your health goals? I work with women all the time who would like to lose weight, become more active, or handle their stress and anxiety better. However, we all have lives and women these days have so many responsibilities it makes our heads spin. The very idea of adding another complication to life feels completely ridiculous. 

So, I want you to consider three reasons why you should work on your health goals now and three reasons why it might be better to wait. 

Three Reasons Why You Should:

1. Your Best Life is Waiting for You 

Why would we live another minute with poor health or devastating mental habits? Our quality of life has the potential to get better. Every minute we are not working on change is one more minute you stay living the way you are now. 

1. Until you get started you won’t learn

Change takes a continuous cycle of trying, learning, and trying again. Until you start, you really won’t know what processes, habits, or routines will give you success. It is messy, but it is normal. By the way, if weight loss is one of your goals, I can help. 

1. You Want it Now (Harness that motivation)

Motivation is so important to get momentum in health changes. You want this now. You have reasons for wanting to improve your life. Why not harness that energy and use it to get started. When you push an object, that initial energy is always more than what it takes to keep the object going later. 

Three Reasons Why You Shouldn’t:

1. You lack clarity 

If you really don’t know what you want, then your efforts will mostly likely be wasted. Becoming clear on what you want will give your efforts focus, allowing you to hone in on what is important and get the greatest return for your investment of time, energy, and money. 

1. Your life isn’t in a good place for your goal (consider baby steps)

Perhaps you can’t go in big for the goal that you have. There are tons of life situations where a certain goal is just not the right or best time to get started. It is important to look at the different areas of your life (marital, financial, physical, mental, etc) and decide if it would be realistic to go for this goal now. If it isn’t, consider baby steps. For example, if you want to lose a lot of weight, but don’t feel like you have the time or energy for an intense program, you could pick a small change that you could implement now such as drinking enough water or cutting your snacking habit in half. 

1. Conflicting responsibilities and priorities

Sometimes there are simple conflicts in our responsibilities and we have to prioritize something else. For example, it probably wouldn’t be an ideal time to start training for a marathon if you have someone in your immediate family in the hospital and were having to juggle that along with a job and normal responsibilities. 

I look back on my life, and am so thankful to have went for the changes that have shaped me into the person I am today. 

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