How to Change your Life.
Wellness isn’t just some buzzword—it’s a path to clarity, fulfillment, and resilience. For me, that path opened up during one of the most anxious chapters of my life. I was in and out of social relationships that did me no good, and constantly battling the weight of my anxiety, depression, and imposter syndrome. Despite going through cognitive-behavioral therapy, I felt stuck, burdened by negative mindsets and habits I couldn’t seem to shake.
That was when I realized I needed to look inward. I began my wellness journey with something simple in theory yet difficult in practice: daily movement and a keto diet. In three months, my obsessive attitude toward a healthy life led me to lose 20 pounds. But more than that, I gained a sense of confidence and resilience I hadn’t felt in a long time. It wasn’t just about the physical change, it was a wake-up call that I could achieve new goals, no matter how far away they felt.
My journey didn’t stop with fitness. I discovered the wellness wheel, a profound framework that opened my eyes to the interconnectedness in my life. The wellness wheel isn’t just about focusing on a single part of one’s life, it’s about nurturing eight key dimensions:
Social
Emotional
Physical
Intellectual
Spiritual
Environmental
Occupational
Financial
By setting short-term and long-term goals in each area, I found a balanced approach that helped me leave behind toxic patterns, build healthier relationships, and eventually land a job at a local nonprofit child advocacy center—a role that felt aligned with my values and passions.
One of the biggest insights I’ve had along the way is how crucial it is to be aware of our habits. Right now, I’m in the middle of reading Atomic Habits by James Clear, and it’s already changing how I think about the complexities of wellness. He talks about how small, intentional habits can transform our lives. That’s exactly what the wellness wheel taught me: real change doesn’t happen all at once. It starts with small steps, repeated consistently, and grows from there to extend along one’s life.
START SMALL
Choose one dimension of wellness and set a tiny, daily goal. It can be as simple as drinking more water, spending 10 minutes cleaning up a space, or reading a page a day. When you start small, you build the habit gently, without overwhelming yourself. Small steps create momentum, and momentum turns into sustainable change. The focus shouldn’t be why you can’t do something, but how you can. I could have blamed the mediocre tendonitis in both my shoulders, but I didn’t let that hold me back from achieving who I wanted to be.
GET CURIOUS ABOUT YOUR HABITS
Take the time to track them, tweak them, and celebrate every bit of progress. Awareness is the foundation of change; it’s about noticing how your actions shape your day and your mindsets. Personally, I love writing quotes, goals, or tasks on sticky notes and putting them in places I’ll see regularly—my mirror, my desk, or even my water bottle. I currenlty have two cork boards by my desk: one is used as a wellness mood board, and the other is used for random lovelies. These gentle reminders keep my intentions alive and help me stay accountable.
GIVE YOURSELF GRACE
Wellness is a lifelong journey, not a sprint. Let yourself rest, reflect, and adapt as you grow. Missing a day doesn’t erase your progress—it’s part of the cycle. If your aim is to be perfect, your consistency will suffer. I’ve learned it’s significantly harder to pick back up on a habit if I go over three days without doing it, so I try to keep the momentum going by doing something every day, even if it’s small. If you’re into lists like myself, I’d recommend keeping an open planner near to check off your daily wins. Progress over perfection, always. The dopamine hit I receive when I check off or review my daily tasks is so worth it!
FIND YOUR “WHY”
Wellness isn’t just about what you do, it’s about who you want to be. Reflect on what matters to you, what lights you up, and what kind of life feels truly fulfilling. Then, embody that version of yourself. Don’t tell yourself, I want to be that person. Instead, tell yourself, I am that person. This shift in mindset can change everything—it did for me.
Wellness can truly change your life. I know this, because it changed mine. People have told me that I have it lucky or that my opportunities were handed to me on a golden platter. Truth is, I had to put in the work and the time and the energy to be this person that I am today. And, I’m certainly not perfect, despite the voice inside that tells me I ought to be in order to achieve great things.
I could sit back and say that everyone’s life is different or that some people are more privileged, but I believe that anyone can change their life if they seek the right things. I used to claim to be a victim of circumstance—a child in the foster care system, a target of narcissism, a woman navigating today’s culture. But the more I reflected on my resilience, the less I felt the need to use these circumstances as excuses to hold me back from becoming the person I’ve always known I could be.
Holistic wellness helped me see that.
If you’re ready to explore what wellness means for you, start today. Take that first small step, and keep walking. There’s numerous resources to assist the process.
If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.
