You need to B.Y.O.B. (Umm...No. Not that.)

“How can I make it easier to have a wellness lifestyle?”

When this question comes up, I notice the answer is embedded in the question.

Lifestyle.

If you don’t make healthy living part of your lifestyle, you will stay frustrated with it.

To live well, to live healthy, is not living singular disconnected actions. It is a lifestyle.

One simple question to strengthen that lifestyle is “What would my future self want me to do?”

My two week ago self chose to not wash the apples, but leave them in the bag.  My self today got an apple out of the bag and it was rotten.

My self today also went for a walk in clean workout clothes because my last weekend self folded the laundry and put it away.

What about your lifestyle?  Do you set out your workout clothes the night before a morning walk?  One of my favorite ways to prep my workout clothes is pack them in my gym bag for the whole week. 

With plastic grocery bags to bring home the sweaty ones, of course.

If you want to cook creatively in the evenings, but just cannot face standing and chopping after a long workday, could your lifestyle include some pre-chopping on the weekend?

The flow of your lifestyle will change over time.

My schedule used to be that if I wanted healthy convenient lunches, I would need to pack them all on Sunday for the week.  Now, I don’t need to do that.  

But for the days I am out during lunch, I need to already know where the quiet places - or parks are to enjoy a relaxed lunch.

All of this means you will need to prioritize your healthy lifestyle.  That doesn’t mean there is never a place for “Oh, let’s be spontaneous and road trip this weekend instead of grocery shopping and prepping food.”  It does mean that if road-tripping is every weekend, your healthy lifestyle needs to plan for it.

What to do?

In the words of Chase Hughes, “Be Your Own Butler”

Step One: What’s the most emotionally painful part of healthy living for you?  Is it rushing to get a healthy dinner on the table?  Is it missing a lot of your workouts?  Or are you tired of stressing out because you are always late?  Or ____________?

Step Two:  For that area, how can you be your own butler?  What do you need to prepare ahead?

Your future self will thank you.