How to Start (or Restart) Your Wellness Journey
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When first starting out on your wellness journey, it may seem overwhelming and complicated. My Wellness Basket is here to help you make that journey simple and break it down into smaller steps, offering you tools in your basket to help you along the way.
Before I continue, let me direct you to my last post, Every Step Is Progress, because in that post I shared a bit of self-reflection from a hard time I was going through in December. I had to really stop and take a break. And rethink. And restart. Not just my wellness journey. A lot of things. That post shares a bit of that and, most importantly, is a reminder that every step is progress. Don’t get hung up on making HUGE steps or having to start over. Every Step is Progress.
To Start (or restart) Your Journey
To start (or restart) a wellness journey, it’s important to know exactly what your purpose is or what you want that journey to look like.
Here at My Wellness Basket, your wellness journey is the whole purpose of everything I write. My Wellness Basket is your toolbox. A place to come and explore. Here you can figure out what you want to achieve, and what tools are your best bet to help get you there.
Everyone’s wellness journey will look different. Mine will be different than yours. But I have chosen to write this blog in a more simplified version of all the articles I have read and videos I have watched and conversations and professionals, to bring you an assortment of the things I have learned and tried, so that you can have the information in one place. And eventually I will get around to sharing more sources for you to complete the information you are seeking. Then, once you find some things of interest to you, you can expand your knowledge to make the best choices or your own optimal health.
Breaking It Down Into Steps
Since looking at the Big Picture is overwhelming, it’s important to break it down into steps. You know what they say about how to eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Your wellness journey must be made one bite step at a time.
So here’s your general steps. I say general because we are all different. You may need to break down your steps more or their may be steps that are different for you.
- Define Your Purpose
- Be Realistic About Your Obstacles
- Determine Your Starting Point
- Set Your First 3-5 Main Goals
- Determine 1-3 Supporting Habits for each Goal
- Set Weekly or Monthly Progress Meetings with Yourself and/or a supporter
- Redefine Your Goals When and If Needed
- Make My Wellness Basket a Place to Check in With On Your Journey
What’s Your Purpose?
As I said in the section above, you need to know what your purpose is to your wellness journey. What are your goals? What do you want to achiev
For me, I want to be free of pain and have more energy and be more physically able to do the things I love like playing with my grandchildren, hiking, and just enjoying nature and life. I want to be less anxious and not have the fight or flight reaction be my top response to almost everything. I want to be calm and I want to be positive.
How about you? Really think about what you want your end goals to be. Without these in mind, it’s hard to start or stay motivated. Write down your goals in a little notebook. Read them each day or at least once a week. Ask yourself what you are doing to keep you on track to reach those goals.
What Are Your Biggest Obstacles?
Now that you know your goals, think about the obstacles.
What holds you back from reaching the goals?
Is it dehydration? Lack of sleep? Too much on your plate?
These are some big ones for me. I have to make hydration and sleep a priority. I also need to figure out how to lessen the load on my plate and juggle and balance better what’s left. This will all be part of my journey this year.
But what about you? While there may be some health issues involved that you are not aware of yet, there’s bound to be some things that you already know hold you back. Write those things down. These will be the things you want to work on to reach your goals.
Is it a long list? That’s okay. Look over it. Some things may overlap. What are THREE things that stick out to you the most? Circle those three. Make them your beginning. Work on those three things for three weeks. Then ask yourself if it’s making a difference. Are you being consistent? Why is it or isn’t it making a difference?
Make My Wellness Basket a Place to Check in With On Your Journey
This blog is written for you as well as my self. I started my wellness journey many years ago but I’m still on it. I know that it’s hard. I know sometimes it seems so overwhelming and impossible. I know that sometimes something works and then it doesn’t. I know that what works for your friend may not work for you. And I know it’s really super important to take just one step at a time and keep things as simple as possible.
So My Wellness Basket is here for you.
I like to offer a little bit of information here and there, encouragement and lots of tools so that you can figure out what works for you. What speaks to you? What seems like it may be what you need or what may be a simple enough step to make a difference. Take a look around. Ask questions. Find something that sparks your interest or speaks to your body and research it more. Try it out.
This Year On My Wellness Basket
This marks the one year anniversary of My Wellness Basket ! While I’ll admit I didn’t achieve all of my goals the first year, I still loved writing posts and I learned so much! I’m still learning. There’s a LOT that goes on behind the scenes of what you read!
Last year I introduced a lot of topics and had monthly posts on herbs (see this one on my favorite herbs, Tulsi!). Herbs are one of my favorite items in my wellness basket and believe me, while I won’t do the herb of the month posts this year, there will still be plenty of information on herbs in my posts, newsletters, Facebook and Instagram sites!
This year I already have quite the stack of topics I hope to cover and will be introducing a healthy habit of the month. I’m still working out the final list of 12 to cover but some will include hydration, a balanced diet, sleep hygiene, and more. Of course, if you read my last post (here’s another link: Every Step is Progress), you may realize that I’m going to try not to FORCE those habits every month. I’ll figure out which ones are what I would personally consider the most important and start there.
What I hope to accomplish the most is letting you know your journey is never a short one. Even if you are in great shape and good health right now, chances are there are things you can do to improve and those things do take time. It takes time to start or change habits and it takes time to see the difference. It takes time for the big payoff. Give yourself grace. Give yourself time.
