Everyone has their own goals and their own methods to reach them, but how can we increase our chances of success? In my opinion, it’s by making small and sustainable changes.

A somewhat inactive individual isn’t going to be able to run a marathon overnight, and someone looking to lose weight won’t drop the pounds for good merely after a few days of crash dieting. For sustainability everything is achieved in small steps over a period of time. Many of us find it much easier to take these small steps out of our comfort zone rather than jumping head first into the unknown, and this way we can adapt effectively to the changes and sustain them.

Crash diets may get you initial results, but is it really likely that you can stick to cutting out carbs or excessively restricting you calorie intake even despite the damage it may cause? No, I thought not. Most crash diets just end up in regression because they aren’t enjoyable and are rarely sustainable. A healthy and sustainable approach to dieting is more likely to get you the results you want without compromising your health at the same time.

If I asked a sedentary person to attend the gym 5 days a week, the chances are that they probably won’t. It might seem like an unrealistic and unreachable goal for them seeing as they don’t usually visit the gym at all. However, changing this goal to attending the gym twice a week makes it instantly more attainable. Once going to the gym twice a week becomes the norm, they may want to start going three times a week and so forth. Small and sustainable changes allow you to start where you feel comfortable and slowly work your way up. This approach can be used in many aspects of life including dieting, exercising, making positive lifestyle changes (i.e. giving up smoking), learning a new skill, and improving general health.

Small steps lead to a big change. Sustainable changes lead to long term success.

Adie Blanchard – Researcher