Having a routine is no bad thing. Sometimes, doing the same thing at the same time, helps to make things easier especially as we try to juggle family, work and social commitments. However, sometimes, in order to make  changes in our lives it’s important to step away from our routine to shake things up.

But moving outside of your comfort zone and doing new things that might feel uncomfortable isn’t easy. Especially so if the task feels daunting or overwhelming, such as dieting, exercising and losing weight. So, we’ve put together some tips that could help you step out of your comfort zone towards a whole new you. 

• Believe that the first step is the hardest and that each one from then on will be easier. You might even find that a lot of the difficulty you faced was all in your head and it was easier than you thought to take that first run, do your first workout or make your first healthy meal from scratch.
• Focus on how amazing you’re going to feel when you take that first step.
• Repeating daily affirmations can also help to put you in the right, positive mindset.
• Purposefully choose something that makes you feel uncomfortable, such as talking to someone in the community or trying a workout you’ve never done before, then celebrate how good it feels to do something that scares you! Who knows where that could lead next?
• Feel the fear and say yes anyway. It can help to talk to a friend beforehand to help calm your nerves. Then, head held high, deep breath and off you go!
• Sometimes it helps to simply not think. Making a snap decision to do that thing that you feel is being held back by fear can be the best way to actually get out there and do it!
• Create a series of mini challenges, that together add up to a much larger challenge. Breaking things down into bite sized chunks helps enormously. Dieting and exercise for example work extremely well when broken down in this way – no one can go out and run a marathon without tackling a 5km first. Slow and steady definitely wins the race!
• Learn from each thing you do, be that positive or negative. It can help to keep a diary or journal. Reading back through it can be very cathartic, especially if you’re struggling. Seeing your progress in black and white can give you the extra push you need to go even further.
• Don’t punish yourself if you don’t manage to do what you set out to do. Tomorrow is another day and you can give it another try. Be gentle with you, you’re trying your best and that’s more than good enough. You’ve got this!