How to Turn Good Intentions into Effective Actions

Photo by Bruno Nascimento on Unsplash

Think back to the last time you started a new diet or exercise program. How did it go? If you’re like most people, probably not too well.

After a few weeks of eating better, exercising more, or drinking less alcohol the odds are you fell off whatever wagon you had forced yourself to climb on to. You started with the best of intentions and yet there you were, back where you started: unhealthy, unhappy, and just a little bit more guilty and ashamed than you were before.

Again and again, you find yourself stuck in this old, familiar pattern that starts with energy, excitement, and hope…and ends in disappointment. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. Here are three keys to success that will help you action your good intentions and turn them into real, lasting results.

Give Yourself Permission to be Imperfect

The problem with skipping a workout or having a cheat meal isn’t the fact that you aren’t perfectly perfect. The problem lies in perceiving your imperfection as failure.

Let’s be honest. You will cheat on your diet or skip a workout at some point. We all will. And by building permission to be imperfect into your plan of action, you can avoid feeling like you’ve failed when the inevitable happens.