How to improve your daily well-being

I don't believe in diets, restriction or deprivation, and neither do my other health coach colleagues. The mantra of an IIN health coach goes a little bit like this...

1) Set daily intentions, have micro goals:

You want to bring clarity on your big goals so you can align your daily micro goals to that.

It'll also boost your confidence short and long term. It feels good to reach your goals and by visibly progressing on a daily basis you'll signal your brain to keep going.

Fine-print:

over-night success is rare. It's likely you'll need months or years to reach bigger goals, so keep your every day enjoyable. Don't pause your life for a goal. Keep living. Allow yourself to experience life and success on multiple different levels; daily, weekly, monthly, yearly. There's no need to suffer long-term.

2) Nourish yourself with the basics - good food, drink, sleep:

Food: eat the rainbow, have whole foods, veg, fruits, non-processed and home made foods. Have a balanced plate. Nothing should be totally off limits. If you do discover sensitivity in regards to certain foods, do avoid those. In terms of taste, try swapping out the poorly performing food for one with similar taste. I encourage you to explore, trial, and be amazed.

Drink: up your water intake, lower your soda intake. You know what they say about coffee and alcohol; better to go easy. Caffeine can deplete certain nutrients, so don't take your supplements at the same time as you have your coffee fix. Alcohol again can cause inflammation in the body, so moderation is key.

Sleep: ideally get 8hr per night , however be aware that this figure is very individual. Experiment with what gives you a feeling of being well-rested. If you still feel tired after getting plenty of sleep we can discuss if that fatigue is rooted in another area; like adrenal fatigue, or in incompatible lifestyle choices.

3) Move more, socialize more, be kind:

Move more: means roughly 30min movement per day. It doesn't need to be excessive cardio, variation is key. Some days you might want to go for a run, another day you'll get a 20min walk in, another day you won't do anything, meanwhile the day after you'll go for a 2hr walk. Be kind with yourself and have understanding that you won't feel energetic every day. With more understanding for yourself that could also improve. Key here could be to implement more walking into your daily lifestyle. Remember it needs to fit your current lifestyle. If you're trying to break the camel's back with a too extreme new habit, do you really think it'll stick long-term?

Socialize more: we're social creatures, and do better together. If you're feeling down, there's a good chance that you could use some more face-time with a friend, family member or loved one. That's it, short and sweet. It's also proven to be a key ingredient for a long, happy live. Keep good people in your life, always. The more great people around you, the more support, the more great ideas and inspiration to live a fulfilling life.

Be kind: the energy you put out, comes back ten-fold. Whether you believe in that woo-woo stuff or not. Kindness in contagious. And so is being an asshole. You want to have a good day, be nice to your peers. You want to have a sucky day, go around being an asshole. No dancing around this topic.

4) Dedicate time to what brings you joy:

Have a thinker. What brings you joy, what puts a smile on your face? Do more of that, every day. Spending even one day without that is a day wasted.

I stay grounded by writing down my intentions and including my "passion projects" in my daily intention. Same days more, some less. I don't believe in burn-out and working 120% every day, we're not bionic people. We need both up and down time.

I also take time to reflect what brings me joy and look to pencil in those activities in my agenda or mental calendar. Writing these things down is x10 more efficient though. The chances of you actually remembering it and following through is far, far greater.

So - Be kind to yourself, do what brings you joy. Every friggin' day. Up the ante. You got this!