What’s the smallest thing you can do today?

I’ve been a little overwhelmed lately (mostly just life and health admin 🫠) and it’s made me think a lot about how easy it is to dismiss small things as “not enough”.

When your best still doesn’t feel “good enough”

I’ve increased my movement massively over the last year, and overall I feel really good about that. But sometimes when I think about all the other things I could be doing (more strength training, more cardio, less sitting down) suddenly it feels like none of it counts anymore. Like even when I’m trying really hard, I’m still somehow failing at “being healthy”.

And I know I’m not the only person who feels like this. I’ve had clients tell me things like “I thought I was doing really well, then I looked at the guidelines and realised I still wasn’t meeting them”. Which honestly makes me really sad, because if someone has made meaningful changes to their life and feels better for it, why should the response be “still not enough”?

When health messaging doesn’t help

I think a lot of health messaging accidentally turns partial success into failure. There’s always another target to hit, whether that’s steps, active minutes, grams of protein, 5-a-day, sleep scores, calorie goals… and when life is busy, or your health is difficult, or your energy fluctuates - it can all start to feel impossible.

And when things feel impossible, most of us don’t suddenly become more motivated. Usually we just shut down a bit, and think “Oh well, if I can’t do it properly then what’s the point?”

But I’m increasingly convinced that the “perfect” health routine is nowhere near as important as finding something small enough that you can actually keep doing it.

Lowering the bar

For me, the biggest shift has honestly been lowering the bar. Not in a giving-up kind of way, but in a realistic way. On busy days, maybe movement is just 10-20 minutes. I only swim once a week. At weekends, I usually only fit in walks. My goal is usually just doing something, rather than constantly chasing the “optimal” version of health.

Because the thing that’s actually good for us is usually the thing we can repeat consistently.

How we measure success

I’ve also realised that I need different ways of measuring whether something is “working” for me. Not just external numbers or targets.

One is: how do I actually feel while I’m doing it? Does it feel good in my body? Does it feel manageable? Sometimes we focus so much on outcomes or discipline that we forget that enjoying something (or at least not hating it) is one of the strongest predictors that we’ll actually keep doing it.

The other is functional stuff. I love noticing the little changes in day to day life that make me feel stronger and more capable. I’m now at the point where I can stand on one leg to put my pants on without wobbling everywhere 😂 Which sounds ridiculous, but honestly I’m very proud of it.

Full disclosure though, I still compulsively check my smartwatch activity levels and energy scores even though I know they’re not helping me 😬 So I definitely haven’t transcended all of this. More on that in another post!

Finding movement that's right for you

This whole idea of finding movement that feels manageable enough to stick is exactly why I’m running a workshop next month with my brilliant Pilates teacher, Alex Sanson.

It’s for people who want to move more consistently, but struggle to fit it into real life: maybe because of time, energy, pain, overwhelm, all-or-nothing thinking, or just not really knowing where to start.

We’ll be combining Pilates and behaviour change approaches to help you:

• figure out movement that works for your body

• troubleshoot the barriers that keep getting in the way

• build a realistic plan for making movement part of everyday life, without needing to suddenly become a completely different person

It’s a half-day workshop on Saturday 27th June here in Walthamstow, with a mix of larger group discussion plus smaller focused groups where we can work through specific challenges together.

You can find out more here:

Movement Mindset Workshop

And if you’re not local but this sounds interesting, do let me know if you’d be interested in an online version in future!