Rounding Out Sustainable Health Habits: The Action Stage

If one day change became easy, many of us could probably make a long list of health habits we would like to build. Some might involve changes we tried in the past but struggled to maintain. Others might involve changes we never attempted because they always felt out of reach.

While desire plays a role, building sustainable health habits also requires navigating the realities that make change difficult, learning what works best for us, and remembering that the goal isn’t to perfectly follow the first plan we create. We must act, learn, adjust, and repeat.

As a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach at Mazarine Wellness, I guide clients through this stage by creating room to reflect on what is working, what is not working, and how to use those insights to take more strategic action moving forward.

Putting your plan into action.

As part of your plan, long-term goals offer direction, while short-term goals serve as actionable steps to take in the near term. Together, they reflect informed assumptions about what matters most to you, what is realistic, what challenges you may encounter, and what support may help you succeed. Action tests those assumptions.

You'll begin gathering data that helps answer questions such as:

• Did you have a clear picture of what would be involved?
• Was your goal challenging but still within reach?
• How did anticipated challenges compare to actual challenges?
• Did you have an appropriate amount of support and accountability?
• Is your goal something you still want to focus on?

When action doesn’t go as planned.

Approach behavior change with a mindset that values learning over perfection. Our behavior is influenced by factors within and beyond our control. This is the reality that makes change difficult.

When action doesn’t go as planned, can you pinpoint where your plan started to unravel? Revisit the questions from the previous section as a starting point. Also, consider how factors like time, knowledge, decision fatigue, resources, and motivation played a role.

Give yourself permission to adjust your plan. When you understand why you didn't reach a goal, you can make more informed decisions moving forward. Perhaps you take a smaller next step, try a new strategy, or focus on a different behavior.

Whenever you feel discouraged or uncertain, reframe your short-term goal as an experiment to produce insights rather than an exact measure of your capability.

The importance of regular check-ins.

Regular check-ins offer accountability and create time and space for learning and adjustment. You can honestly evaluate how you feel, what's working, what isn't working, and how to move toward your wellness vision, in real time.

You can use this time to acknowledge your wins. Pay attention to what they reveal about your strengths, preferences, and the conditions that support your success. When you achieve a goal, you may decide to maintain it or increase its difficulty for the next period.

Conversely, you can dig deeper when action doesn’t go as planned. Perhaps you set a goal to wake up earlier but struggle to follow through. Instead of concluding you're incapable, you may discover your evening routine or sleep habits need attention first.

The example above represents one reason why taking a holistic view of well-being is valuable. The changes that feel most exciting aren't always the ones that create the strongest foundation. Sometimes the most effective adjustment isn't changing your destination. It's changing where you begin.

Sustainable change happens through iteration.

Although exploration, planning, and action happen in a relatively chronological order at the beginning of your journey, they quickly become intertwined. Every time you act, you naturally return to exploration and planning by learning more about yourself and your environment.

This is what iteration looks like in behavior change. Rather than moving through these stages once, you revisit them as your experiences, priorities, and circumstances evolve. Sustainable health habits aren’t built from following one perfect plan. They are built over time by continuously refining your approach.

Your next step.

It's time to act on the goals you've set.

If your short-term goal spans one week, schedule a check-in at the end of that week. During that check-in, reflect and decide whether to maintain your goal, challenge yourself further, adjust your strategy, take a smaller next step, or focus on a different behavior.

Remember, explore, plan, act, learn, adjust, and repeat the cycle.

If you're an adult in the U.S. struggling to reach your goals and looking for support from a health coach, schedule a complimentary discovery chat here.