The New Year is a time when many people set health goals. The pressure (often self-imposed) to achieve great health and new milestones is high, however there are instances when striving for health goals can, ironically, come at the very cost of health.

It’s not uncommon to have a never ending list of wellness “things to do” ranging from meditation and yoga to losing weight and cutting out sugar. In fact, popular culture, from influencers and social media to celebrities and TV shows, imply that we “should” be doing it all. But is this realistic or even achievable for the average person?

Life is becoming increasingly demanding. We all have responsibilities including work, parenting, familial commitments and social engagements, therefore adding in multiple health “obligations” can add to an already extensive list of responsibilities. 

Wellness fatigue occurs when the cost of implementing healthy habits is greater than the benefit of said habits.

The purpose of health practices is that they should leave us feeling better, not worse. If engaging in wellness practices comes at the expense of your health, it might not be worth it. For example, if exercising late into the evening, just to fit it into your schedule compromises your sleep and leaves you feeling groggy the next day, it may be worthwhile assessing if such a rigorous regime is required.

Some things to remember when making changes to your health:

Implement changes one at a time

Implementing change is difficult, let alone when trying to change multiple habits which are deeply ingrained in our psyche and lifestyle. A one-step-at-a-time approach can help make changes more realistic and achievable, as opposed to a quick overhaul which can frequently backfire, leaving us feeling overwhelmed, exhausted and demotivated.

Celebrate the small wins

Creating change, breaking old habits and creating new ones takes time. Every small step you take brings you closer to your goals and these wins should be celebrated. This will help keep you motivated and moving towards your next milestone and eventually your overall goal

You don’t have to do it all

Our life circumstances are individual to us. We may not have the same schedule, budget, health concerns or priorities to our neighbour, therefore implementing change which benefits our unique circumstances is more important than checking off a to-do list of things we “should” do because others are doing them and may not be helpful for us. Do what you can, and do what works for you.

The goal is to feel better

Some health habits can be challenging by sheer virtue of what they are. For example, exercise is strenuous and making dietary changes is uncomfortable. That being said, our health habits should largely leave us feeling stronger, calmer, more energetic etc. than how we felt prior. Learning to discern between discomforts that have positive or negative effects is key.

Comparison is the thief of joy

Comparing to a wellness influencer who likely does “wellness” as a fulltime job is unrealistic for most people. We’re often only shown the “before” and “after” images or cleverly shot, heavily filtered photos on social media, many of which are not realistic and or a reliable source of comparison. Compare you only to you – your journey need only be judged by the distance you have come, not by the others in the race.