It’s a new year and a new decade. For a lot of people, that means making changes to start the next 10 years on the right foot.

Many of us are making major resolutions in many aspects of our lives. This could mean improving our finances, making more time for friends and family, taking more time for ourselves, or getting healthier.

The thing is, it’s hard to make major changes in all of these areas at the same time. I mean there are only so many hours of the day. Plus, we are creatures of habit. Too many changes all at once can be overwhelming and hard to maintain.

This post is for the mom who wants to go after a big goal in one area of her life but also wants to be healthier this year. Your main goal might be to make your side hustle more profitable, or to improve your relationship with your spouse. Or you might want to start a business or find and purchase a new home.

These goals are your focus for the foreseeable future, but you also want to be healthier this year.

The following is a list of small changes you can make to improve your health but won’t take away your focus on your main goal. They are simple things you can do that will have a big impact on how you look and feel.

1. Drink water 1st thing when you wake up

   Water is essential to human life. We should be drinking it all the time. It’s needed for healthy hair, skin, and a healthy brain. So much of us is made up of water.

   When you first wake up, you’ve hopefully been asleep for a good 7-8 hours. This means that you haven’t drunk anything for a long time. It’s super important to re-hydrate first thing to get your body back moving and flowing.

   There’s a lot of discussion about whether it’s better to drink cold water or room temperature water. I think whatever way that gets you to drink the water is best. I generally go with room temperature because I fill up my bottle the night before and leave it on my nightstand so it’s the first thing I see when I wake up.

2. Move every day

   Our bodies weren’t made to be sedentary. We need movement to feel our best. Movement can make you feel more energized and less tense. A nice stretch can get rid of aches and pains.

   Now notice I didn’t say exercise. Of course exercise counts as movement, but it doesn’t have to be exercise per se. You can take a walk with the kiddos. You can have a living room dance party (where you actually really dance, not just take videos of the kids dancing). You can shoot some hoops, go for a swim, jump on a trampoline. Just move!

   This movement is not about losing weight, it’s about feeling good. It’s about loosening up your body, getting it out of the seated position, and feeling alive.

   When you think about it like having to work out, it feels like an obligation or a punishment. When you think about moving as an opportunity to loosen up and use this amazing body we have been given, it becomes fun.

3. Practice gratitude

   Mental health is just as if not more important than physical help. Having a positive outlook not only makes us more fun to be around, but also can actually improve our health and lengthen our lives.

   Gratitude is a great way to maintain a positive mindset and attitude. I mean it’s pretty hard to feel grateful and feel angry at the same time.

   The great thing is it really doesn’t need to take any time out of your day. You probably go to the bathroom each morning after you get up. Just leave your gratitude journal on the side of the sink the night before.

   Instead of scrolling through Instagram while you go, take that time to write down a few things you are grateful for each day. Instead of starting the day trying to live up to the lives of the people you just viewed on Insta, you can start the day feeling positive and grateful.

If your big goal for the year is to be healthier, there are a million things you can do. But if it is one of a collection of goals, these are simple ways to kick start your progress. You can easily incorporate these ideas into your life while still going after other goals and make this a year where you reach all your goals.

Cheers,

Emily