To Make a Positive Change, Find Just One Small Thing

Here we are again at the beginning of a New Year. We all know what that means: RESOLUTIONS!

For example, you might be saying, this is the year I am going to:

Learn French (German, Spanish, Mandarin, Swahili)
Lose 10 pounds
Be a kinder (happier, smarter, tidier) person
Run 10 miles a day (thru-hike the Appalachian Trail, climb Mt. Everest)
Meditate every day or write in my journal
Eat more vegetables/eat less sugar/eat NO sugar
Go to bed earlier and get more sleep
Take up martial arts (yoga, boxing, mountain biking)
Be a better friend (partner, parent, daughter or son)
Get a handle on my Candida*

*We can help you there, check out our

Finding Your One Small Thing

There is such an allure, on January 1, of making plans to become a better person—how can we resist? And where, oh where, to start on some of these very ambitious plans?

Getting personal here, I will tell you a technique that has worked for me: start with something small, but detailed (in other words, don't be vague: "I'm going to be healthier" is easy to wriggle out of—what does that MEAN, anyway? "I'm going to walk 30 minutes, 4 times a week" is way easier to stick with!), put it on your calendar, and do it, just that one thing, for a while.

If it doesn’t work, that’s OK (this is important: it really is OK!). Let it go, and find another single, small thing. Spell it out, schedule it, and see what happens.

You may have a few false starts, but I can guarantee you that at some point you will stumble upon your “ON Switch”. This is one small thing that will suddenly cascade, helping your change several other things toward a positive direction.

For Your Health

Let’s talk about health: my personal ON Switch is eating more vegetables.

It seems counterintuitive that one small thing can have such a positive effect, but when I am down and cranky and feeling flabby and not feeling like making an effort to be healthy and craving sugar and being irritable with my spouse, if I can just agree to add vegetables—any vegetables, a few vegetables—to two meals or a meal and a snack each day, suddenly, everything changes:

The added fiber fills me up and can almost eliminate my sugar craving
I am getting better nutrition, so I have more energy, so I feel like exercising
The exercise helps me maintain a healthy weight AND releases endorphins (feel-good chemicals) in my brain, so I am (if I say so myself) a nicer person
I also sleep better when I exercise regularly and don’t eat sugar, plus, it's easier to control my Candida, which gives me more energy, which means I am more motivated to make good food choices, meditate, write in my journal and exercise
I still haven’t learned Mandarin and I could be a bit tidier, however, I think you see what I mean.

For some people that “ON Switch” is a dedicated morning quiet time, or perhaps sleep comes first, or exercise, or spending more quality time with family.

The trick is to keep trying that one, detailed, scheduled thing, until you discover what it is for you.

Just remember: Small, Detailed, Calendared.

What is your “ON Switch”?

Best wishes for health & healing in the New Year,

Your friends at Candida Support