Tag: self care

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 HenneburyLeave a comment

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 HenneburyLeave a comment

    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.

    Star shaped holiday lights hang in a darkened window. Christine practices winding down
    ADHD · fitness · rest · sleep

    Christine practices winding down

    Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

    There’s a certain irony in when I’m writing this post.

    You see, during December and January when I’m writing daily ‘Making Space’ or ‘Go Team’ posts, I occasionally forget that I also need to write my regular Tuesday post.

    And that’s what happened today.

    The irony comes in because this post that I’m writing at 10:41PM on Monday is about how I’m trying to do a better job of winding down before bed. Obviously I do a better job on some days than on others.

    Like a lot of people with ADHD I often end up, trying to cram a lot of stuff into my evening and I sometimes find it hard to switch out of doing mode and start getting ready for bed.

    But I do know that a good wind down routine helps me to switch modes and get ready to rest so I’ve been working on that.

    Last week I mentioned that I have found that evening is a good time to do yoga.

    And that practice has become a key part of helping me wind down for the evening.

    However, I’m now ready to add something else to my routine, but I haven’t quite figured out what that is yet.

    I thought about adding journaling, but it’s all too easy for me to either slip into writing a lot or avoiding writing because I don’t want to write a lot.

    I don’t want to add more exercise because that will wake me up again.

    I already read once I get in bed so that wouldn’t be extending anything.

    The obvious thing to add is meditation, but I’m finding myself resisting that for some reason.

    And the only other thing I can think of is to do some sort of drawing before I go to sleep.

    But if I decide to do that, going to have to figure out something specific or related to draw each evening, so I don’t get caught up in a decision loop.

    Quick question: Does this type of thinking happened to everyone or is this an ADHD thing?

    Obviously, the next step in this process is to start experimenting and I had planned to start that experiment this evening.

    But now that it is 10:55PM, I think the experiment will have to wait till tomorrow night.

    I’m just going to do a short yoga practice, get my pyjamas on, and tuck myself into bed with my book.

    A photo of a light haired dog on a bed
    Khalee thinks I am foolish for staying up just to do yoga. I tried to argue that she was doing downward dog just a second ago but she’s having none of it. Image description: a photo of my dog in profile as she sits on my bed. The photo really only shows her from the collar up and shows one of her paws. Khalee is light haired and medium sized and is lying on a blue blanket with some pillow in the background. Her head is raised slightly off the blanket so she’s not in full rest mode.

    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 HenneburyLeave a comment

    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 HenneburyLeave a comment

    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 HenneburyLeave a comment

    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 HenneburyLeave a comment

    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..

    a drawing of a gold star that is growing out of a stem like a flower Go Team 2026: Make it Easier
    ADHD · advice · fitness · Go Team · goals · motivation · self care

    Go Team 2026: Make it Easier

    Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

    Hey Team,

    Yesterday, I talked about how making decisions in advance can reduce your frustration around starting your practices.

    Today, I’d like to invite you to consider some other, smaller ways you can ‘smooth the path’ https://orghacking.com/advise-the-rider-steer-the-elephant-and-shape-the-path-heath-153b12003436 and make it easier to do the things you have decided to do.*

    Note: I know that I have definitely written about this before but since I need to keep reminding myself, I’m assuming you may need the reminder too.  

    Those small ways may include things that will make the task more straightforward, things that will make your body or brain be more comfortable with the task, or things that feel like good rewards for the effort of switching from whatever you are doing at starting the task. 

    For example, as I’m experimenting with journalling more often, I have decided to keep a notebook on the main floor of my house and up in my room, both of which count as my journal.

    Sure, the idea of having one big journal with everything in it is great but I also know myself. If I just have one notebook, there will be times when the fact that my journal is upstairs or downstairs will be enough friction to prevent me from journalling in that moment.

    And maybe it’s a bit silly to have two notebooks on the go, particularly when it’s only one flight of stairs between them.  But by giving myself the freedom to have two notebooks for journaling,  I’ve doubled my chances of actually journalling. Now, any time it occurs to me to write, I’ll have a notebook nearby.

    But perhaps journalling isn’t your thing for this year, maybe you are exercising or doing yoga or meditating, instead.  

    No matter what you are trying to add to your life, it’s worth thinking about the friction that you experience in the process. 

    What will make your practice more straightforward, more comfortable, more accessible, or more you- friendly?

    For example, if you have a nice cushion for meditating in your living room but you find yourself reluctant to meditate because you find it chilly sitting there for a long period of time. Can you put a comfortable blanket or a fluffy sweater next to your meditation cushion?

    If you are trying to drink more water, can you fill up multiple glasses of water at the beginning of the day and keep them in the fridge or have several water bottles at different spots in the house?

    If you find it unpleasant being barefoot for yoga, do you have a pair of shoes that let you move enough to do the asanas? You can always develop a habit for barefoot yoga over time. 

    Sure, yoga with shoes on is not quite the same and it’s not perfect, but it’s getting where you want to go.

    Do you need to find a specific spot for your exercise clothes?

    Do you need to move your weights to a different room?

    Do you need a specific playlist to get yourself going in the morning?

    It is totally OK to give yourself the things you need to establish and continue your practice even if those things feel a bit foolish or if you feel like you are being a bit ‘lazy’ about it. (Ugh. See my note** about the word lazy below.)

    So, if you need to buy a package of gold star stickers to put one on the calendar every time you exercise, then buy a package of gold star stickers and start getting them on that calendar.

    If you need to have three towels nearby so you can keep sweat at a manageable level, keep three towels nearby.

    If you need to wear a woolen hat to feel comfy while you meditate, wear a hat. 

    If you want to put bells on your shoelaces so you jingle while you walk, then break out the bells. 

    Basically, anything you can afford*** to do to encourage yourself, to reduce friction, or to smooth the path is totally worth doing.  

    Making change is hard enough without imposing extra limits on ourselves. 

    If something will help you get where you want to go and it doesn’t hurt anyone else then there’s no reason not to do it.

    And if people get all judgey about it, that’s their problem. 

    So Team, whether you are shaping your environment to make your well-being practices more straightforward, or you have everything worked out and you’re forging ahead, or you’re still making your way through your day in baby steps, I celebrate those efforts.

    No matter how big, how small, or how intense they are, your efforts matter and so do you.

    Go Team Us!

    Here’s your gold star for the day. Please be kind to yourself out there.

    a drawing of a gold star that is growing out of a stem like a flower
    Today’s gold star is growing like a flower. Image description: a drawing of a metallic gold star on a stem that is growing out of the ground and that has a leaf on each side of it. The star is outlined in black and the stem and leaves are filled in with tiny circles outlined in black. The ground is represented by a wavy black line that is about 1/5 of the way up the page and that bottom fifth of the page is decorated with short black lines that alternate horizontally and vertically to form a woven effect.

    *The way I am using ‘smooth the path’ here is not exactly the way the Heath brothers use it in their book but the basic principles are close enough. I think so, at least!

     **I think the word lazy is as much of a jerk as the word should. People wield those words like weapons and there is absolutely no call for it. Increasing your chances for success by smoothing the path to your practice is just a smart way to proceed.  People can keep their petty judgements to themselves while you forge ahead to the life you want.  

    ***I don’t just mean financially. You also have to decide how much time and energy you can spend on reducing friction and smoothing the path. And if your exact solution is out of range, perhaps there is a different approach that will create the same effect.

    fitness

    Beginning the Year as I Mean to Go On

    Diane Harper1 Comment

    Lots of people start the new year with some sort of physical activity, signalling their intention to be active. This year, I decided to signal my intention to make time for rest.

    I spent two glorious days lounging in bed: napping, cuddling cats, and watching old movies.

    Cat tax: this is Milo, my grey and white shorthaired fellow, who flopped into my arms and demanded cuddles on New Year’s Day.

    I think it did me some good. I went to swim practice on January 3 and did more distance than usual I even did some full stroke instead of babying my sore ankle by doing arms only with a pull buoy.

    Wish me luck remembering to rest for at least some of the next 355 days!

    A bowl of small gold stars with more stars spilled out in the left. Go Team 2026: Make Some Decisions
    ADHD · habits · motivation · self care

    Go Team 2026: Make Some Decisions

    Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

    Hey Team,

    Today, I’m asking you to take good care of your future self.

    I’d like you to consider what decisions you can make today (or, soon, no pressure!) that will make it easier for future you to do the practices you want to do.

    Let me give you a non-fitness example…

    For a while now, a friend and I have been meeting almost every week to spend a bit of time writing together. My initial plan was to spend these hang-outs doing revision on my novel but I haven’t actually managed to do that very often.

    Instead, I have often gone with a section of my novel in hand then couldn’t make my way into it and ended up working on something else instead.

    The scope of the project is part of the problem (my ADHD hates a huge project that will need multiple iterations) but after doing some project-focused morning pages earlier this week, I realized that there was a whole other factor involved.

    I hadn’t actually prepared myself to work on my novel in those sessions.

    I was expecting my jumpy brain to easily switch from whatever else I had been doing/planning/thinking about that day and just start working on a project that is largely undefined and will require me to work in a different way than I usually do.

    That would be like trying to make a quilt by sitting at your machine with a bunch of uncut fabric in one hand and a pattern in the other and expecting to start sewing right away.

    Or like trying to grocery shop with a list like this: 1) protein 2) carbohydrates 3) liquids 4) vegetables.

    All of those things are possible but approaching them that way makes them far more difficult than they need be.

    There are a lot of decisions to make between ‘I want to do this thing’ and the actual doing of the thing and if we don’t take the time to make those decisions, we are going to struggle unnecessarily.

    Look, I know there are people out there who can say, “I’m going to start journaling!” and pick up their notebook and just start writing. And there are people who are able to say, “I need to exercise!” and just start moving.

    That’s really terrific for them (gold star!) but for most of the people I know, things feel more complicated than that and if they try to start their practices without any prep, they are going to stall out pretty quickly.

    So, Team, have a look at your practices you are trying to start (or planning to start) and/or at the existing practices that you sometimes struggle with and see if there are any decisions that you need make about them.

    Do you need to choose a series of videos to work out with?

    Do you need to pick which strength training exercises you’ll do in your next session?

    Do you need to choose some prompts to journal from? Or a series of questions to ask yourself each day?

    Do you need to decide in advance what kind of meditation to do?

    Do you need to pick your clothes or your notebook or your reward* in advance?

    If you have trouble figuring out what is in your way, you could try the ‘morning pages’ practice I have linked above (you can do it any time, really) or you can be REALLY kind to yourself the next time you feel stuck when starting your practice and instead of being annoyed or switching to something different to relieve the pressure of not being able to the thing, you can explore why it feels hard, what you need in that moment, and what you wish you knew right then.

    As for me, I’ll be heading to my next writing session with a very specific plan – I have a list of things that have to be included in the next section of my novel and I will be able to get started on them right away.

    (I also need to do this for some fitness practices but my novel is a much clearer example for our purposes today.)

    Here are your gold stars for your efforts today!

    No matter how big or small, no matter how hard or easy those efforts were, please, please, please take credit for them and collect these gold stars.

    Our capacities and our abilities change from day to day and I really want you to recognize the work you are doing today even if it is far less than yesterday.

    If this morning found you struggling to get out of bed but you did it anyway? Gold star!

    If this morning found you struggling to get out of bed and you decided that the right thing to do was to rest? Gold star!

    If you just did a really hard workout? Gold star!

    If you just decided that you only had 1 minute of exercise in you today? Gold star!

    Exercise and wellness practices aren’t about doing those practices, they are about helping us to take care of ourselves in the best ways we can.

    And those ways will vary from person to person and from day to day and ALL OF THOSE EFFORTS COUNT. Every day. Every person.

    So please be kind to yourself out there, Team.

    Go Team Us!

    A bowl of small gold stars with more stars spilled out in the left.
    A drawing of a bowl of about 30 small gold stars with about a dozen stars spilled out in the left side. The bowl is purple and it is resting on a black line about 1/3 of the way from the bottom of the page. Below the line are angled lines that lean to the left and there horizontal lines that break up the leaning lines and make a grid pattern of rectangles that are longer on the right and left sides than on the top and bottom. Above the horizontal line the background is filled with small dots.

    *As you may have guessed, I am a strong proponent of regular rewards for practices someone is developing.