It’s tough to change your ways, but in order to live healthier, that’s just what you may have to do. It’s easier if you start making changes slowly. That requires you to prioritize and eliminate the things that aren’t important. You have to learn what can you NOT live without this month before you find out what you can eliminate. If you’re budgeting, food, shelter, heat, transportation to work and clean clothing are on the must have lists. That infomercial pan that even a melted piece of plastic won’t stick to probably won’t be on the list. You therefore don’t purchase it. Making lifestyle changes always include this step.
Budgeting your time.
There are items on a time budget are important; time to eat, time to sleep and time for work. If you’re in a nine to five job, your time budget for work is easy, but self-employed people have to break it down further to what brings me business and brings in money. Meal preparation should be on the list. Remember, you cannot live an unhealthy life and get things done quickly if you’re sick, so you may add extra time to avoid grabbing fast food. You also need to add exercise. Not only is exercise essential to a healthy life, it also boosts your energy so you get other jobs done quicker. Identify important tasks and eliminate those unimportant.
Narrow your time expenditure by learning the most effective techniques.
If you’ve done a specific job for a long time, you’ve probably created shortcuts that save hours every month and help you get more done during the day. The same is true of everything, including exercise. That’s one reason it helps to have a personal trainer. They already know the best exercises to get quicker results and cut your exercise time, while keeping it effective. Our nutritionist can help you learn to create healthy meals that won’t take hours and can be just as quick as waiting in line at a drive-through. It’s a matter of planning.
Knowing what you want and need is the first step to creating a better lifestyle.
No matter what the area, you have to know what’s important to YOU. Nobody else can tell you that. Even if Aunt Milly thinks you should take the time to go to a singles dance she heard about, if you’re not ready for a relationship or simply hate the thought of attending, don’t do it. Prioritizing is the beginning of goal setting and you should control what your life goals.
- Always ask yourself whether your actions, purchase or the time you’re spending are helping you to achieve what you REALLY need.
- Once you recognize the needs in your life, start identifying the ways to achieve them.
- Make sure the steps you outline to achieve those goals are measurable, so you can pinpoint a specific result.
- Give yourself a timeline and make it realistic. While you may need to shed fifty pounds, one month to do it isn’t realistic and can make you feel like a failure.