One is reminded of the Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody song – From little things big things grow. Not the protest nature of the song but the symbolic nature associated with Gough Whitlam handing back of traditional lands to Vincent Lingaiari in 1975. 

The symbolic nature of us doing little things regularly will lead to a cultivation of habits that reap significant health benefits over the longer term. Little things, done regularly, prompt improvements across a range of risk factors and ultimately your health. 

We all have too little time to curate a perfect lifestyle to manage our health. Sometimes it is the little things we can do that matter most.  

Many studies suggest we all may have been underestimating how the small achievements, the slight improvements, the modest approaches can impact and influence our health and wellbeing.  

The idea that a not so perfect approach to activity, diet and sleep may have little impact on our overall health has been questioned. Studies are suggesting that modest improvements, when combined across the three elements (activity, diet and sleep) is associated with additional years of healthy life.  

For those who suggest…” No time to attend to my own health”. “I am too busy”. “I always have a hectic schedule” …then take note.  One does not have to join a gym, run marathons, or inject the latest medication to gain health benefits. What the studies suggest is that it is the little things getting done that matter. 

Great metabolic health is the sum of small positive decisions we make. We can all improve our health and wellbeing by doing little things, often. 

• Walk that little distance to the coffee shop or from the carpark. 
• Introduce healthier elements into you lunch selection. 
• Consume a few more glasses of water. 
• Stand alongside your desk to answer your phone. 
• Make your meetings mobile ones…walk. 
• Get to bed 10-15 minutes earlier and wake that little earlier. 

On their own, each of these behaviours may not mean much. Put them together regularly and the big things start to happen. These small behaviours will influence the pathway that your health will travel. 

This type of approach is contrary to the more typical approach to your health and wellbeing. Avoid aiming for the one great thing that you believe will change your health and wellbeing. Slow and steady is the winning approach. Accumulate habits and complete them often. 

The other winner here is that small habits can fit in around your life and business. Getting to the gym may not always be possible but taking a 10-minute walk between a full book of appointments can work. 

One big decision very rarely shifts the dial on your health risk profile. However, our work indicates that attention to a collection of risk and making small adjustments over a longer time does return the better result in mitigating individual risk. 

We may not be able to write great songs but we have the capacity to improve your risk profile and that of your business. If you wish to explore how this can work for you then contact us.