So now what? Health & fitness as we head into the last quarter of 2020

So. Now what?

Maybe you’ve been too worried/stressed/anxious/angry to stick to your workouts. Or to eat something that doesn’t come out of a bag emblazoned with “Flamin’ Hot”.

Maybe you’ve been working out and eating ok, but your stress levels are through the roof and you’re pretty sure your eye didn’t twitch like that last year.

Maybe you’ve done an awesome job chasing your goals this year and you’re ready to finish strong (hey, give credit where credit is due!).

What do we do to make the most of these last three months of 2020 in a physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy way?

Here are all of my reset and re-motivate tips that you can use right now. Seriously, get your timer out. We’re doing this in under 15 minutes.

1. Take stock of where you are.

Set your timer for 5 minutes and write down how you’re feeling. How your days are going. What you wanted to accomplish this year. I know – but just write it.

2. Review that list.

Set your timer for just 2 minutes and circle the things that stand out to you as the most important in this moment. Yes, it’s genuinely a shame that you missed your travel plans, your big family event, and all the other things we’ve lost or postponed this year. BUT. I don’t have a time machine yet, so we’re going to be moving forward instead of staring out the rear windshield.

3. Identify your next best steps.

Set your timer for 3 minutes and write down your single next best step (NBS) for each of your circled items. These should be things you can accomplish within the next 48 hours.

For example..

Circled: get back on the healthy eating wagon / NBS: write a simple meal plan for the next week of things I will actually eat and a draft a grocery list or fill in my online shopping cart

Circled: get active / NBS: find a group class or YouTube video that sounds good, and take a 10-minute walk

Circled: fix the clutter avalanche in my house / NBS: set a timer for 5 minutes and take 5 minutes to work on each affected room (no, you won’t finish, but this is just the NEXT best step)

Circled: insomnia wrecking my life / NBS: call my doctor OR set a regular bedtime for this week OR try a meditation/hypnosis podcast at bedtime tonight

Circled: stress killing me / NBS: turn off phone news alerts OR take a break from your exposure to the most stressful thing this week OR set a timer for 2 minutes and breathe deeply a few times a day (meditation not required)

4. Do your steps OR set reminders

You will forget to do these things because you are human, SO, grab some post-its and/or give yourself reminders on your phone (a post-it by your bed with your bedtime on it, an alarm on your phone to go for your lunchtime walk or get off the computer before bedtime hits, an alarm on your phone to place your grocery order, an alarm on your phone to do your 5 minutes of room rescuing…)..

DO NOT let yourself down. When these reminders pop up, DO NOT snooze them. It is a terrible garbage feeling, and you can give yourself 2-5 minutes of time to take care of the things that matter to you. Just do them. Right. Away.

AT LEAST 2-5 minutes.

Don’t sabotage yourself (again).

5. Set another timer to remind yourself to do this all again next week.

I do a version of this every single Saturday. And, every time I do my weekly review of what went well and what I did/didn’t get done from my lists (usually a lot of “didn’t” but a lot of “did this insteads”), I learn something new about myself and move a little closer to my next goal. When you do your next weekly review, you only have to review the past week in step 1, not the whole year. (Please. Don’t review it.)

Stalling tactic: I don’t know my next best step!

If your friend asked you, what would you tell them to do? If you know me, what would I tell you to do? Those are the next best steps.

Stalling tactic: My next best step requires a rock from the moon/quitting my job/a million dollars/marrying Stephen Colbert.

Dig in a little deeper and find a much, much tinier step. Take a look at my examples – if you snorted and said these steps won’t help me, TRY THEM and I promise I won’t say I TOLD YOU SO.

Also, he’s married.

Stalling tactic: I’m too worried about failing to try.

That is a totally normal human feeling and, the more you try, the more you will fail. Pick any famous person you still kind of admire before they get canceled, and ask yourself: is this person remembered for the 9,999 wrong ways they tried to invent this thing/record this album/write this novel/dance on tiktok or are they awesome because they pushed through all those times to get to the time that things finally came together?

No one has a perfect life, but your life DOES NOT HAVE TO SUCK. If you are a legal adult, congratulations, you have control over your thoughts and actions. Even in 2020.

I think.