One Thing

Do you remember in the movie, City Slickers where Billy Crystal’s character asks his guide and mentor, Curley what is the secret to life?  On his last dying breath the wise cowboy holds up his right index finger and reveals to Billy that the secret is just “One thing.”  While this response was perplexing to Mr. Crystal, I have found it to be sound advice on a journey to better health and wellness.  In some of my wellness presentations, I teach that we often overcomplicate healthy living.  To get healthier, all you need to do is take a piece of paper and write down one thing you believe you could do to improve your health and then go do that thing. The problem is that we all know a multitude of things that we could or should do, and we get paralyzed by the complexity of the decision and then do nothing.  The key is to do just “One thing.”

It really doesn’t matter what your initial “One thing” needs to be.  Perhaps you need to eliminate that sugary or fatty snack food from your diet.  Or maybe you need to commit to adding a fruit or vegetable to every meal.  What about devoting time for just 20-30 minutes of any kind of exercise per day.  Some of you may need to address the cause of a lingering pain by visiting a chiropractor, massage or physical therapist.  I find many people just need to give themselves an extra hour or half-hour of sleep or perhaps they need to practice some form of stress relieving activity such as meditation so that they can get sound and regular sleep.  I’ve seen many times that when you choose to drink the recommended 6-8 glasses of water per day, you will automatically drink less sugary and caffeinated beverages that dehydrate you and add unnecessary calories.

In the end, health is about habits.  All our bad habits took time and due diligence to develop.  Fortunately, most of us have time to change.  Keep it simple.  Choose your one thing you need to do and take the next month or two to work on making that change.  Once you’ve mastered that, take a look at your healthy to-do list and choose a new one thing to work on.