Tag: Go Team

A painting of a shiny gold star against a background of thin lines and layered circles. Go Team 2026: What CAN You Do Today?
ADHD · advice · Go Team · goals · habits · motivation · self care

Go Team 2026: What CAN You Do Today?

Christine Hennebury

Hey Team,

My ADHD has been especially tricky about time lately.

I mean, I always have trouble judging how much time I have, how much time I need, how long things will take, and how my tasks will best fit into the time available, but all of these challenges have been amplified lately.

And, as a result, my time feels tight and compressed and so does my brain.

And, as a result of that, I don’t feel like I have the time to do the kind of planning and thinking I like to do before getting started on anything.

And, as a result of that, I feel like I need to set aside hours and hours to get things in order before I actually do anything and my brain compiles a long list of ‘work before I can work’ that it insists must be done before anything else.

And, as a result of THAT, when I do clear a couple of hours to get things in order, I end up sitting there with a ton of ideas and must-do items in my head.

And, as a result of THAT, I end up in a situation where my brain decides that because I can’t do EVERYTHING then it will do nothing.*

Yes, this process is just as much fun as it sounds.

At this point, you may be thinking, “Well, that sucks, Christine, but what does it have to do with encouraging me to keep up my practices?”

Good news! I am indeed heading towards some advice and encouragement for you, I am just taking the long way.

You see, as much as my current process loop sucks, I also know that there is a way out of it.

I have to move my attention from all of the things that feel overwhelming and impossible and direct it towards the things that I CAN do right now.

I CAN make a list of the stuff that is bouncing around in my head.

I CAN put stuff on my calendar.

I CAN choose to work on one thing for a short period of time.** Some people might like to choose one task to do but I frame this way because it lets my brain know that the task can only go on for so long right now. That makes it easier to start.

And moving through those things I CAN do helps me start moving out of the loop and back towards my normal level of time-weirdness.

Of course, this all hinges on me becoming conscious of the fact that I am in the loop in the first place.

And HERE’S where my time issues can dovetail with your practices.

If you are finding it hard to get started on your practice (today or in general), to keep your actions going, to keep working towards the life you want, your attention may accidentally be focused on all of the things you can’t do.

You know the kind of thing I mean…

You don’t have time for a workout.

You don’t have time for a shower after your workout.

You can’t think of anything to journal about.

You are in the middle of decluttering and you don’t have room to roll out your yoga mat.

It’s loud at your house and you can’t focus on your meditation.

All of those things are totally valid and they may be a good reason to give yourself a break today.

BUT, if you don’t really want or need a break, you brain might be so focused on what you CAN’T do that it won’t let you see what you CAN do.

Perhaps you can do a shorter version of your workout or you can add in a walk or dance a little.

Perhaps you can do a workout that is less sweaty or do a bit of a sponge bath instead of taking a shower.

Perhaps you can write about not having anything to write about – this almost always leads me to finding something interesting to put on paper.

Perhaps you can do a standing yoga session or a yoga practice that can be done in bed.

Perhaps you can wear headphones or do something mindful or do a walking meditation.

By switching your focus to what you CAN do at the moment you can help yourself feel a lot better and you can do at least a placeholder version of your practice.

And that’s got to be good for you, right?

So, Team, today I invite you to consider where you are focusing your attention and how you can shift your thoughts towards what version of your practice is available to you today.

And, of course, here’s your gold star for your efforts.

Whether you are working hard, resting, figuring things out, or trying to figure out how to figure things out, I hope you will take a few minutes to celebrate what you CAN do, what you ARE doing, and, even what you are choosing NOT to do (a valuable practice in itself).

And make sure to give yourself a metaphorical pat on the back (or a literal one if you have the flexibility to do so) for everything you manage to fit into your days.

Go Team Us!

Please be kind to yourself out there.

A painting of a shiny gold star against a background of thin lines and layered circles.
This is one of my favourite star drawings I have ever made. A painting of a gold star that is trimmed in layers of black, gold, then black again. The background is decorated with thin vertical lines and clusters of circles. The lines are a repeating pattern of a slightly thicker black line, a thin gold line, a thin dark green line and a thin light green line. The circles are groups in some places and further apart in others. Each circle has a black circle with a dark or light green circle inside, and a black circle with a gold dot inside of that. The drawing is ‘framed’ with a thick black line.

*For the record, this is NOT a time to come at me with advice that starts with, “If you just…” because it will not be well-received. If ADHD could be solved by will power, I would have left it behind years ago. Also, I’m not exactly doing ‘nothing’ – that might actually be kind of restful – I am doing nothing that is actually helpful to me. I am experiencing an avalanche of thoughts while doing some tangential task that is not particularly relevant to the overall project and generally building up unpleasant feelings about the whole thing.

**I usually pick 13 minutes because my brain likes that amount of time.

A small painting of a gold star that is made up of smaller triangle shapes and other shape shapes painted different colors. Go Team 2026: Gather Support
ADHD · advice · fitness · goals · habits · motivation · self care

Go Team 2026: Gather Support

Christine Hennebury

Hey Team,

No matter what kind of practice you are working on at the moment, you don’t have to do it alone.

And, yes, this is just as true if you are working towards a solo adventure far away from home as it is if you are taking a solo adventure into the deepest parts of your feelings as it is if you are joining a hockey team.

You can always seek, request, and build the kind of support you need to help you move forward in your practices, your habits, and toward your goals.

Just be choosy about who you ask for support.

For example, you don’t have to seek support from the person who is always negative but claims they are just being realistic. Being realistic would include a balance of positivity and negativity and if they can’t wrap their minds around that then they aren’t going to be much use to you.* The last thing you need to ask someone for support and then end up feeling worse!

I would, however, recommend ensuring that at least some of your support comes from someone who is firmly in your corner, someone who wholeheartedly believes in you. That doesn’t mean that they think you are perfect or that they would never offer suggestions to change your approach, it just means that they want what is best for you and they will support you in getting there.

You can also find support from in-person or online friends or acquaintances who have had similar experiences. You can seek out new people who have done what you are trying to do. And/or you can find seek out people who are at the same stage in the process and you can cheer each other on.

You can ask friends who are doing different projects to be accountability partners or to do some body-doubling for you. You can support each other even if you are working on different things.

You can also ask people who have had success in other areas about how they approach their work or how they would approach the practice you are trying to develop. Even if they haven’t done anything similar, their processes from other projects might give you a new idea for your own process. (To clarify: Here’s an example of this kind of thing from a CBC article I wrote in 2020.)

And you can also seek out non-interactive support – collecting memes, posts, and photos that you find encouraging and referring to them when you need a boost. This might look like keeping them in a specific folder on your phone, in your saved items on social media, or in your browser’s bookmarks, or, if you are so inclined, you could consider making a journal that includes quotes, images, and anything else that makes you feel good about your habit-building process.

Another form of non-interactive support could be creators you follow on YouTube and on social media or whose websites/newsletters you read. If reading their work, watching their videos, or doing their practices adds to your energy, then you can consider them as part of your support team.

Really, the important thing is that you support yourself by developing the support network and resources that you need to move towards the life you want to have.

You get to decide what kinds of support you need and the best ways to find them.

Oh, and please know that I am firmly in support of your efforts and that I wholeheartedly believe in you.

As always, here is your gold star to celebrate your efforts today.

See how all of those shapes are supporting each other to create the star? Funny how that works, hey? It’s like I was putting a message in the drawing AND in the text. I am so subtle!

So, Team, no matter what your practice looks like today and no matter how much or how little support you need at the moment, please know that your efforts matter and that you matter.

Be kind to yourself out there.

Go Team Us!

A small painting of a gold star that is made up of smaller triangle shapes and other shape shapes painted different colors.
A painting of a gold star that is made up of triangles and other shapes that have been painted different colors, creating a kind of stained glass effect. Each section within the star is outlined in black, and the star itself is outlined in a line of black than a line of gold, and then another line of black. The background has been painted with watercolour pencil, and it’s sort of a brownish color. All along the outside edge of the paper there is a series of gold dots and they’ve each been trimmed in black.

A drawing of three hanging gold stars Go Team 2026: Check your expectations
ADHD · advice · fitness · Go Team · goals · motivation · self care

Go Team 2026: Check your expectations

Christine Hennebury

Hey Team,

Have you given any thought as to whether your efforts and your capacity match your expectations?

If not, today might be a good time to give it a try.

Sometimes we set a marvellous goal and give ourselves a timeline but we forget that we don’t necessarily have the time and energy to make that happen within that timeframe.

Then, as a result, we can end up being heard on ourselves or being very disappointed in ourselves when we don’t meet our own expectations.

The problem isn’t that we didn’t work hard enough, nor is it that we weren’t committed enough, the problem is that the time and energy we had available didn’t match the time and energy required to complete that goal in that timeline.

This is never about us not being good enough. It’s just a miscalculation.

I imagine that your goal is to write a first draft of your memoir this year. That’s going to take considerable time and energy.

If you only have one hour per week to work on your memoir, it’s a better idea to adjust the timeline of the project than it is to be upset with yourself about not getting it done in 52 hours.

If you can only fit one strength training session in per week, a goal that requires three strength training sessions is going to be a mismatch.

If you want to improve your shoulder flexibility, but you can only do stretches once a week for 10 minutes, that’s probably not going to be a quick process.

All of these goals are going leave you feeling like you are falling short or like there’s something wrong with you.

But you are doing just fine and there’s nothing wrong with you.

It’s OK to work slowly.

It’s OK to work within your capacity.

It’s OK to inch forward.

The key is to frame your goals and expectations in terms that match your current life and your current capacity.

If you are realistic about what you can accomplish on a regular basis, and you frame your goals accordingly, you will be much more satisfied and motivated, and you’ll be far less likely to be hard on yourself as you go along.

So perhaps your goal could be to work on your memoir for 52 hours this year.

Perhaps your strength training goal could be to extend your training session by a few minutes each month. Or perhaps your goal could be to explore ways to include a second training session per week.

For your shoulder flexibility, perhaps your goal could involve preventative actions changing the the chair you sit in or taking small movement breaks throughout your day.

Framing your goals that way puts them back within your reach and removes the mismatch between what you have to give and what you want to get out of it

We all have different capacities and those capacities differ from day-to-day for each individual.

We need goals that let us work within our capacity instead of shaming us for things that are beyond our capacity.

If we set our expectations based on our current capacity and abilities, we have a much better chance of getting where we want to go.

It may take us a while to get to our big picture goals, but we’ll feel a lot better along the way

So Team, whether today finds you scaling your goals, adjusting your activities, or working out just what you want to do next, I wish you ease and clarity.

And I celebrate your efforts, whatever size and shape they are, with these gold stars.

Go Team Us!

A drawing of three hanging gold stars
A drawing of three gold stars having on strings from a wavy shape that’s decorated with diagonal black pinstripes. The stars are outlined in black and there are gold dots in the background.
A black vase filled with gold stars on long stems. Go Team 2026: Varied Days Need Varied Plans
advice · fitness · Go Team · goals · habits · motivation · self care

Go Team 2026: Varied Days Need Varied Plans

Christine Hennebury

Note: I wrote this via voice dictation and published it too quickly. My apologies to those who read the error-riddled version prior to this this one.

Hey Team,

One of the biggest challenges I have with adding something new to my life is the fact that my days aren’t the same.

Maybe you’re someone with lots of routine and schedules in your life, but I’m not -in fact trying to make my days feel even remotely similar is a huge challenge for me.

And when you add the fact that the effects of my ADHD can vary, depending on how much sleep I’ve had, how busy I am, and a bunch of other factors, it complicates things even further.

So I have had to learn to accept that I will have different capacities on different days.

I know this is true for everyone, but I feel like I really get a lot of practice.

And, as a result, I have had to learn to develop several different types of plans for accomplishing any given thing and, when I remember to use them, those varied plans can be really helpful.

I thought they might be helpful to you too, even if you don’t have ADHD.*

So, let’s imagine that you want to add a set of five exercises into your day.

Perhaps you know that, on the average day, you can do these right when you get up. Those days you’re done early, you have that task out of the way, and you have a sense of accomplishment.

But on other days, you may have an appointment to get to, or you may not have slept well, or you have to respond to some family situation, or there may be some other disruption in your schedule.

If that kind of disruption is a rare occurrence, you can probably just skip that day and return to your plan the next day.

But if you’re like me, and you have some days that are fairly routine and many others that are kind of all over the place, you may want to have several versions of your plan

So, plan one would be to do your exercise exercises as soon as you get up.

On days when you didn’t sleep well perhaps your plan could be to do one of each exercise so that minimal routine sort of holds your place.

On days when you have an unusual appointment, perhaps your plan can be to do those exercises right before supper.

On days when you have family commitments, perhaps you can sprinkle your exercises throughout the day.

And while I know that some of us can wake up in the morning, realize that today will be a bit more complex, and then make a new plan on the spot, others of us may have difficulty doing that.

For those of us who find that challenging (i.e. Me!), the benefit of having thought through several scenarios in advance is that we’re not faced with an all or nothing decision in a moment when things are going awry.

If you don’t have a back-up plan and you get up in the morning, you’re running late, and you realize you can’t do your exercises, you may feel upset, frustrated, and be hard on yourself for not sticking to your plan.

When you have varied plans for varied days you have a bit of breathing room. And even if something comes up that you don’t have a plan for, you may be able to adapt one of your existing plans for this new situation.

So, Team, today I’m inviting you to consider how ELSE you may be able to include your practices in your day, even if your schedule ends up looking different than you expected it to.

Developing a few different scenarios like I’ve described above can be a great kindness to your future self so it will be worth any extra effort that’s required in advance.

Whether you are working on one plan, many plans, or still considering what a plan for your future self might look like, I am celebrating your efforts.

And here are a series of gold stars to represent all the bits and pieces of effort involved in moving towards the lives we want.

Go Team Us!

Be kind to yourself out there, pretty please.

A black vase filled with gold stars on long stems.
Image description: a vase filled with gold stars that are on thin black stems. The vase is black and has a pink ribbon tied around it. The background of the drawing is sprinkled with purple dots.

*Now, I will warn you that this is one of those lines where I try to prepare enough for the possibilities without overwhelming myself with details. If you don’t have ADHD, this may look like overthinking. If you have ADHD, my balance might not work for you but let’s see how it goes.

**You know that I’m always going to advocate being kind to yourself whether or not you stick to the plan, but we all know how hard it can be to choose self kindness in frustrating moments so I love any approach that makes it easier.)

a drawing of a gold starfish in water Go Team 2026: It’s OK to change your mind
advice · fitness · goals · habits · motivation · self care

Go Team 2026: It’s OK to change your mind

Christine Hennebury

Hey Team,

We all know that consistency (however you define it) is important for building habits.

And we know that it takes a while to form a habit.

And that it takes a while to see results from your work (that’s part of the reason I keep asking you to celebrate your efforts instead!)

And we know that some days you just don’t feel like doing the thing but that it can be useful to try doing it anyway.

But there is something else you know that could be relevant to your habit building process:

IT’S OK TO CHANGE YOUR MIND

Yep!

It’s ok to change your mind about your goal/habit/practice.

It’s ok to change your mind about the habits related to that goal/habit/practice.

It’s ok to change your mind about the tasks that will build towards that goal/habit/practice.

It’s ok to change your mind about any and all parts of your plan for today, for this week, for this month, for this year.

When you started this process two weeks ago, you had certain ideas about how this was going to go, how this was going to feel, and about how important this would be to you.

And you may already know that those ideas aren’t panning out.

You may already know that this goal, this habit, these tasks are not something you want to pursue.

So, I want to make sure you give yourself permission to change your mind.

It’s OK to stop following your first idea (or set of ideas) and try something else.

If you aren’t finding the tasks helpful, useful, or enjoyable, you don’t need to spend any more time doing something that isn’t leading you where you want to go.

If you aren’t all that interested in reaching that particular goal anymore, then you don’t need to keep moving towards a place you no longer want to go.

Please don’t stick with a plan because you once thought it was a good idea.*

If you’re anything like me, your next question is probably going to be of the, “How can I tell the difference between ‘just not into it today’ and ‘this isn’t for me’?” variety.

And here’s the answer I usually give myself:

Pretend that you have already changed your mind and now you are free to choose a different goal and/or never do that task again.

Do you feel relieved? If so, changing your mind is probably the right answer.

I know it won’t always be that straightforward. You may have to give it a lot of thought. You may need to give yourself a break from your efforts towards your goal and see how it feels. Or, oddly enough, you may need to dig in a bit harder for a fixed period of time and see if that helps you feel more connected to your goal.

It can be challenging to figure these things out but, as someone who used to agonize over changing her mind about any goal she had said aloud to other people, I really wanted you to free yourself from that nonsense.

Your goals are there to serve you.

They are supposed to be helping you move towards the life you want.

They are not supposed to be self-perpetuating.

There is no point in doing them just because you said you would – especially if they no longer have the same meaning for you.

If your interest in your goal has momentarily waned, you may just need a little boost of motivation, some way to renew your interest.

But if you are totally over it, if that goal has lost its meaning entirely, please know that it is ok to change your mind.

In fact, I heartily encourage it.

Two weeks may not be enough time to know if our efforts are paying off but it is definitely enough time to know if we hate this project and that we do not want to continue.

If you feel that way, feel free to ditch this goal and try something that makes you much happier.

And, as always, here is your gold star for your efforts today, whether those efforts are directed towards a goal, towards deciding whether you still want to pursue this goal, or towards something else that contributes to your fitness, health, or well-being.

Be kind to yourself out there!

Go Team Us!

    a drawing of a gold starfish in water
    Starfish are still stars. 🙂 Image description: a Gold starfish with rounded points that is decorated with black dots. The background is blue with small circles outlined in black and small black dots between the circles.

    * As I was writing this I was reminded of a quote, “Don’t cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.” (Aubrey de Graf) which is sort of an encapsulation of the Sunk Cost Fallacy and something I need to remind myself of on the regular.

    Go Team 2026: Track Your Victories
    ADHD · advice · fitness · Go Team · goals · habits · motivation · self care

    Go Team 2026: Track Your Victories

    Christine Hennebury

    Hey Team!

    How are you tracking your victories this year?

    Now, if you are about to get all, “Christine, I’m not sure I am going to have any victories this year, I’m just trying to keep things small and…” then please pause that thought.

    You know what I am going to say, right?

    TEAM, EVERY EFFORT IS A VICTORY.

    And since every effort is a victory, a step towards the life you want to create, it only makes sense to keep a record.

    I like to keep a record of my efforts rather than my results because I know I can’t control my results (in fact, I can barely imagine what they might end up being) and tracking my efforts helps me to see the work I am doing on a regular basis.

    Not everyone needs to keep this kind of record, of course, some people are able to do what feels right on a given day and trust in the process.

    However, if I tried to do that not only would I often forget to do things that are important to me (Hello, ADHD!), but each action would feel isolated and kind of random.

    Keeping track helps me to grasp that my daily activities have meaning, that my small efforts are part of a bigger project.

    If I track my efforts, my victories, in some way, then they will automatically seem like part of a larger life project – the project of feeling good in my body and in my brain.*

    So, I would like to invite you to consider doing something similar, to find ways that help you record your actions, your efforts, your victories, as you move towards the life you want to create.

    Now, I’m not saying that you MUST create elaborate tracking charts or fancy spreadsheets but if you enjoy that kind of process, please have at it.

    What I am saying is that tracking your habit-related actions can be useful and that you can do that tracking in any way that suits you.

    You can track in a detailed way – noting the specifics of each exercise or practice to measure things that have meaning for you. (For example – I’m keeping track of how one of my hips feel.)

    You can track simply – just noting whether or not you did the thing (don’t forget to set a low bar for what counts as done.)

    Tracking can look like:

    Adding stickers or a mark on a calendar (or a piece of paper with your habit written at the top)

    Adding marbles or stones to a jar every time you do the thing.

    Creating a tally sheet.

    Creating a bingo card.

    Creating a spreadsheet.

    Creating a chart in your notebook.

    Using a digital tracker.

    Keeping a reflective fitness or well-being journal.

    Getting an accountability buddy and texting them whenever you do the thing.

    You can choose literally any way of keeping track and you can use that method any way that you like.

    The key here is that you find a way that works for you, that feels easy, and that helps you feel and see your accumulated efforts.

    Like I said above, keeping track of your victories helps you focus on the things you can take charge of – your actions – rather than waiting on the things you cannot control – any possible results.

    And if you have tried tracking your actions before but it didn’t feel great, you may want to work on reframing what the information in your tracker means.

    Tracking your victories isn’t about creating guilt or shame, it’s about information.

    If your tracker reveals that you are never getting around to certain tasks or activities, it doesn’t mean anything negative about you, it just means that you need to adjust your systems, that you may need to choose different activities for this point in your life, or that your initial idea for a new habit isn’t a good fit.

    You don’t need to adjust to fit your plans, your plans need to adjust to suit you.

    And the same goes for your tracker.

    If your tracker doesn’t help you celebrate your victories, then kick that thing to the metaphorical curb.

    Anyway, Team, whether you are tracking your victories, exploring your habit-building on a day-to-day basis, or trying something that I haven’t even thought of, I wish you ease and fun and great success.

    And, I offer you these gold stars in celebration of your victories.

    Your hard work matters.

    You matter.

    Go Team Us!

    Image description: a drawing of three gold stars on a green shelf. The stars and the shelf are trimmed in black. The background of drawing is covered in green vertical pinstripes.

    *Yes, they would be part of that project even if I wasn’t tracking them but I would be less conscious of it and that’s less helpful.

    A drawing of a large gold star with big eyes and a happy smile. Go Team 2026: Don’t forget that you are the boss of you.
    advice · fitness · Go Team · goals · habits · motivation · self care

    Go Team 2026: Don’t forget that you are the boss of you.

    Christine Hennebury

    Hey Team,

    There are people all over the Internet who are trying to tell you the one true way to achieve your fitness or well-being goals.

    They may have some valuable information for you, but there is no such thing as the one true way.

    Different things work for different people, and there are so many factors involved that it is not even remotely possible that this random person has your well-being all figured out.

    You are the one who knows you best.

    You are the boss of you.

    You get to decide which practices make sense for you and for your life.

    And if what you are doing is working for you and moving you in the direction you want to go then stick with it.

    It doesn’t matter if it’s the latest trend or if you’re addressing all the micro elements that someone has identified as essential to fitness.

    What matters is if it is beneficial for you, you are able to do it, and it is getting you where you want to go.

    The practice that you will do is way better than any perfect practice someone else’s outlined.

    You know yourself, your schedule, your capacity and abilities, and your inclinations better than any influencer on Instagram or YouTube.

    So you don’t need to feel weird about not jumping on a bandwagon, about not following the latest trend, about not pushing yourself in the way that someone who doesn’t even know you is insisting that you should.

    A lot of these influencers use heavy duty pressure tactics to convince you that there’s something wrong with you and if you don’t want to follow their program, there will be no way to fix it.

    But not wanting to follow someone who makes you feel bad, someone will benefit from you feeling bad, that is not wimping out, it is not a lack of commitment, and it is not an unwillingness to work hard.

    Choosing not to follow their guidelines or their program is actually about you trusting yourself. It’s about you trusting your knowledge and it’s about you understanding your own body.

    Don’t buy into their hype.

    Now, I’m not saying that you can’t seek out advice or that you can’t look for interesting online programs to follow.

    I just want to remind you that, as your own boss, you get to decide what will work for you, for your body, and for your well-being.

    Please be kind to yourself out there.

    And, of course, here is your gold star for today.

    Today we are celebrating your efforts to move towards the life that you want

    Those efforts may be big, they may be small, they may be visible, or they may involve making the decision to trust yourself and your practises and letting your skills and abilities develop.

    No matter what work you put in today or any day, your efforts matter

    You matter.

    Go Team Us!

    A drawing of a large gold star with big eyes and a happy smile.
    This star strongly approves of you doing things your own way. Image description: a large metallic gold star with big eyes and a happy smile against a background of different coloured dots. The dots are lined up diagonally across the page. They start with pink and then they’re a few rows of orange and then yellow and then green. The star is outlined in black and has three black freckles on each cheek.
    A drawing of a gold star Go Team 2026: Dealing With Deja Vu
    ADHD · fitness · Go Team · goals · habits · motivation · self care

    Go Team 2026: Dealing With Deja Vu

    Christine Hennebury

    Hey Team,

    One of my challenges with adding practices to my life is the fact that I keep reminding myself of any previous times that I have tried this or something like it and it didn’t work out.

    That feeling of habit deja vu can make me feel like I am fulfilling that quote about doing the same thing but expecting different results.

    Luckily, I have a fair bit of practice in unpacking these sorts of thoughts.

    See, even though this situation feels familiar, I am not actually doing the same thing and expecting different results.

    Sure, I may be trying something I have tried before but this time I have more experience and more information.

    And, of course, I have the possibility of adjusting my approach.

    The fact that things didn’t work out before isn’t predictive, it’s informative.

    My previous attempts show me which approach (or approaches) won’t work, how I can figure out what obstacles I need to avoid or overcome, and then I can choose different responses to the challenges that arise.

    And the same is true for you.

    If your brain is churning up the tired, old “You tried this before, why bother?” routine, please don’t fall for it.

    Your brain is just trying to save energy (brains tend to default to that kind of safety.) It kind of forgets that your efforts to move toward the life you want can start generating a whole different type of every once you get started.

    Trying again isn’t a waste of time, it’s a sign of the determination that will help you find success.

    So, Team, whether you are trying something new, trying again after a break, or still trying to get started, the renewed effort is worth it.

    Just make sure to keep gathering information and adjusting your approach as you go.

    You can totally do this.

    Go Team Us!

    To celebrate your determination and your efforts, here is today’s gold star.

    You can find a way to get the thing done, even if you have to keep making adjustments. Especially if you have to keep making adjustments

    Be kind to yourself out there!

    A drawing of a gold star
    This gold star is made of bits and pieces to represent the ways we keep trying and it keeps adding up. Image description: a shiny, metallic gold star that is divided internally into rectangles and triangles that are trimmed in black. I’m hoping this gives the impression of a star constructed from irregular gold bricks. The star is trimmed in black. The background is broken up into various sized rectangles made of thin black lines with a small black circle where each line meets another.
    A drawing of gold stars and dots. Go Team 2026: Celebrate what you’ve figured out so far
    advice · fitness · Go Team · goals · habits · motivation · self care

    Go Team 2026: Celebrate what you’ve figured out so far

    Christine Hennebury

    Hey Team,

    Here we are at Day 10 of 2026 and I think this is a perfect time for a celebration!

    I know, I know, you are probably thinking that you haven’t done much so far, or maybe that you haven’t started, or maybe you haven’t even made a plan yet.

    Good news:

    THAT ALL COUNTS!

    No matter where you are in the process of moving towards the life you want to be living, it’s time to celebrate the fact that you have figured some stuff out!

    If you have made 10 days of steady progress – that’s great! You have figured out a system that works for you right now. Go you!

    If you have some vague ideas but you haven’t actually gotten started – that’s great! You have figured out that you need a bit more time to get things going. Go you!

    If you have tried a few things but they haven’t worked OR if you have a plan but you have only been able to follow it here and there – that’s great! You have either figured out some things that don’t work or you have figured out part of your plan. Go you!

    If you don’t have a plan and you don’t even want to think about it – that’s great! You have figured out that now is not the right time for you to make plans. Go you!

    If you have decided that you are perfectly happy with your systems and you don’t want to change anything – that’s great! You have figured out that you are pretty content and you aren’t going to be pressured into feeling otherwise. Go you!

    When it comes to your plans, your ideas, your practices, and your day-to-day life, please don’t wait for HUGE things to celebrate.

    Instead, please choose to celebrate every time you figure something out, every time you make a decision that gives you peace of mind, every time you put in some effort -big or small- that will help you move towards the live you want.

    You can always choose a small celebration – a gold star, a relaxing cup of hot chocolate, an extra episode of a favourite show, some time with a good friend- for the small stuff and then scale upwards for your bigger milestones.

    The most important thing is that you notice the effort you are putting on a regular basis so you don’t take your work for granted.

    Your efforts matter and so do you.

    Please celebrate accordingly.

    Today, I am celebrating your efforts with this collection of 10 gold stars and 29 gold circles (one of them is kind of off the edge of the page in the photo – oops!)

    I am so proud of you!

    Keep being kind to yourself out there!

    And, of course…

    GO TEAM US!

    A drawing of gold stars and dots.
    Today’s topic seemed like it needed a lot of gold stars to celebrate it so here’s 10 of them. Image description: 10 gold stars of various sizes interspersed with gold polkadots. Both the dots and the stars are outlined in black as is the edge of the drawing. There are thin black lines in the background behind all the stars and dots.
    Go Team 2026: Let your routine carry you
    ADHD · advice · fitness · goals · habits · motivation · self care

    Go Team 2026: Let your routine carry you

    Christine Hennebury

    Hey Team,

    During each series of Go Team posts, I have a few days when I don’t really feel like writing.

    Either I feel meh about the task or meh about my topic and it just feels like it will take forever and not be very interesting to the writer or the reader.*

    In case you haven’t pieced it together, today is one of those days.

    But because I’ve had these days before I know what to do.

    I let my writing routine carry me.

    I draw my star – which is always fun for me.

    Then I give the post a title and add the categories and the tags

    And then I start writing stuff.

    Now, I say “stuff” instead of “start writing the post” because the first 10 sentences are just going to be stuff.

    The whole point of those first 10 sentences or so is to help me get started, to get me into writing mode.

    Occasionally, there’s something salvageable in there, but mostly I just delete them after I figure out what I want to say.

    I have learned, with practice, that I can trust my routine for writing these posts. And, in fact, I use a similar routine for any writing that I find challenging to start.

    So what does this have to do with your fitness or well-being routines?

    If you feel meh about your practice on any given day, you can go through the motions, you can trust your routine, and those actions will carry you through.

    Now to be clear I’m not talking about when you have a more complicated obstacle between you and your practice. So this doesn’t apply if you are sick, injured, having a lot of trouble, or having a recurring issue with your planned routine. Those challenges require different solutions and a lot of self kindness.

    My suggestion today is for when you just feel meh about your activities.

    So if you feel meh about meditating, maybe you drag out a cushion and a blanket and put on some restful music and see if it becomes a little easier to meditate.

    If you feel meh about your exercise routine, maybe you can put on your gear and just start moving slowly with no specific plan.

    If you feel meh about yoga, maybe you can lie on your mat for a while.

    If you feel meh about journaling, maybe you could take out your notebook and pen and put them on the table.

    Now, maybe it will turn out that you still can’t get yourself to do the thing. That might tell you that you need to look at your systems, that you need more rest or maybe that your plan for today was a little too ambitious.

    I’ll bet, though, that if you let your routine carry you then most of the time you’ll just go ahead and do the thing anyway. Some days, you just need a longer on-ramp.

    You will notice that the routines I’ve described here are not elaborate. They are just the few steps that come before you do the thing.

    If you like routines, you may also want to spend some time figuring out more elaborate ones for future practices (as long as that will help you instead of making you feel like you have to do a bunch of things before you start your practice.)

    But it’s also OK to keep things really simple and just have a few necessary, preliminary tasks that will lead you into your practice.

    So, Team, my routine has carried me almost to the end of this post, and I hope your routines will work just as well for you today or whenever the next meh feeling pops up.

    You don’t have to be totally enthusiastic and all-in every single time you go to do your practice.

    It’s OK to keep strolling towards it until it feels possible to do.

    And here’s our gold star to celebrate our efforts today.

    Whether you are approaching your practices with enthusiasm or utter meh-ness, whether you are working on a small or large scale, and no matter what your tasks are, your efforts matter.

    And so do you.

    Be kind to yourself out there!.

    💚

    Go Team Us!

    * If this seems familiar, well I have definitely written about this in previous years. Maybe I’ve even written about it every year. And I feel a bit self-conscious about that, like I’m being too repetitive, but, as always, then I tell myself that if I need the reminder, maybe you do too..