Make March Your MICRO-Wellness Month

It’s March.

How are those 2020 wellness resolutions coming along?

Are you making it to the gym 5 days a week?

Are February’s vegetables decomposing into a green slime in your refrigerator drawer?

Still meaning to take that daily yet elusive mid-afternoon walk?

If you’re ready to drop the well-intended New Year’s resolutions that aren’t sticking AND the accompanying guilt that tends to go along with it, then follow FIT2order this month as we focus on creating, what science has termed, Micro-habits or Micro-steps.

And what we’ll call Micro-wellness!

[Winnable]

Now, there’s nothing wrong—or there’s everything right—with a New Year’s Resolution or a SMART goal that’s supported and working. But, for many,  ingrained behaviors combined with an unsupportive environment can overtake our motivation. Behavior change experts explain that too many people try to change their lives through sheer willpower. (1) And, for most, willpower is just not enough. The key to long term change, according to Caroline Arnold author of Small Move, Big Change is to set small but winnable goals that lead to creating good/healthy habits. (1)

[Want big change? Think Small.]

Micro-steps are about making changes that are too small to fail. BJ Fogg from the Stanford Behavior Design Lab says the key is making “minimum viable effort” that creates small wins. Fogg suggests your Micro-habits be “tiny, even ridiculous.” (2)

James Clear, author of Atomic Habits gives the guideline of using the “2-minute rule.” For example, wipe the dust off the book on your nightstand and, instead of reading a chapter a night, read for 2 minutes, about 1 page. Eventually, the book gets read and you create the habit of picking up a book before going to sleep. Most importantly, over time, these small wins change your mindset and become building blocks to healthier habits. (2)

Think of Micro-steps as the building blocks of habits that accrue over time and become new habits, which in turn create healthier and more thriving lives. Ready to make some tiny, even ridiculous wellness habits this month?

Start thinking small with us.

SOURCES:

• Blaschka, A. Want to make big progress? Science says to start small. Forbes Website. (November, 2019). Accessed February 27, 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyblaschka/2019/11/12/want-to-make-big-progress-science-says-to-start-small/#4170b5e1594e
• Huffington, A. Give your New Year’s Resolutions a Boost. Thrive Global Website. (November, 2019) Accessed February 27, 2020. https://thriveglobal.com/stories/arianna-huffington-join-thrive-for-microstep-month/