Impulsive behaviour to change lifestyle

[Peckahminn11]

Does anyone else sit there at nighttime and think, tomorrow I'm going to the gym, going to eat healthy, do this, do that. Then when it comes round to it, doesn't do anything! I've been like this my entire life, I procrastinate in the evenings, get depressed about my life, want to do something about it then... don't. I have OCD tendencies but wasn't sure if it's to do with that or just general.

I want to do the following:

Start the gym 3 times a week.
Quit sugar and processed food.
Meal prep.
Go on long walks on the weekends.
Grow my nails.

Yes it’s quite common, especially in younger people.

It will take you a while to build all those. You need to start with one small thing.

Read a few books on habits - the kindness method, tiny habits and atomic habits are all good.

See which ideas resonate with you and then Start with one small thing.

Also, make sure you know why you want to do it, and you haven’t just picked up a random idea from the media. Totally quitting sugar sounds a bit like this, and going for long walks (if you don’t actually do it now) sounds a bit likely something you think you should like doing rather than you actually like doing.

You might also need to slowly dig a bit deeper into whether you’re expecting these things to magically fix your life. They are mostly good things to do, but they won’t give you purpose and meaning or cure you of loneliness in themselves.

What a superb reply from @theduchessofspork.

That does look like a bit of a huge list. You want to watch out for "all or nothing" thinking - making a whole lot of sweeping changes feels overwhelming, and the logistics of fitting all that in would be enough to put you off even making a start. Then you reckon it's not worth the hassle, because it is a hassle to make that much change all at once.

Thing is, everything starts small.

Have you got a gym membership yet?
You could just down on sugar for a bit.
How is meal prep a problem, and what will you get from doing it?
Try a short walk this weekend.
What stops your nails growing?