Just a little bit can go a long way

My family and I recently moved from one house to another with the help of a moving company (shout-out to Sunshine Movers). I marveled as the movers quickly and carefully packed the truck with our belongings.

The movers told me about how they had worked with all sizes of homes, from the smallest to the largest. As they told me these things, I was inspired by their “get it done” attitude and by how quickly our old house was being emptied.

Sure enough, after a few hours, our belongings were neatly packed in the truck. With the diligent effort of the movers, we were ready in no time to move on to our new house.

Are you facing a fitness or health challenge that has become overwhelming for you?

Perhaps you’re hypertensive and wanting to quit taking blood pressure medication, but all of the things you read tell you that what you’re supposed to be doing is just asking too much. Perhaps you’re overweight and you’ve been trying to lose the extra fat for 15 years, but you can’t seem to quit the sweets and there’s never enough time to work out.

Slow down for a second and let me tell you two things. First, it’s going to be alright. Don’t be anxious about it, because anxiety never really helps anything.

Second, stop looking at the big picture so much. When you think about the big health challenge that you desire to overcome, it becomes too easy to think about the potential difficulties, the risks, and the fact that many people aren’t successful in dealing with what you’re dealing with.

But think about this. Chances are, whatever health challenge it is that you’re facing, it didn’t happen overnight. It took time to develop. It takes months and years to become hypertensive or overweight. Little habits unconsciously picked up over time contributed to whatever it is that you’re currently dealing with.

And because little things over time created your situation, little changes done over time to counteract your current situation are going to help you overcome your challenge.

It makes sense, right? You may have heard it said that your body is the product of whatever you’ve been eating and drinking for the past six or so months.

With that said, instead of dwelling on this huge task ahead of you, focus on changing one little thing. A trainer friend of mine, Jay Jones, recently released a book titled “A Little Bit of Something Beats a Whole Lot of Nothing,” which captures this one little thing idea perfectly.

Target one habit that has contributed to your current challenge, and hammer it until you become so good at it that it becomes second nature. It’s only then that you would move on to the next thing. For the person with hypertension, that might mean that for the next month, you take five minutes every morning and evening to pray, meditate and breathe deeply to immediately lower blood pressure and to prepare the mind and body to calmly deal with the stresses of life. For the overweight individual, that might mean that for the next two weeks, you focus on making water the only beverage you drink.

Think about your challenge only as long as it takes to know where you’re headed. After that, focus on getting there one step at a time.

This story was originally published May 12, 2017 at 8:33 AM with the headline "Just a little bit can go a long way."