Nice title, but what do we mean by it? First, we have to look at what sustainable change means:
- Sustainable: adjective-able to be maintained or kept going, as an action or process
- Change: noun-the substitution of one thing or another, a transformation or modification or verb-to become different, altered or modified; to become different
That means that while most of us want to make some kind of change in our lives, to make our lives better, healthier or more rewarding, to MAINTAIN those changes is the hardest thing to accomplish. Pretend it’s New Year’s – you make a resolution that you want to get in shape and you join a gym…statistics prove that only a very very small percentage of us last more than a month (if that long!) at the gym. We don’t sustain the changing.
So, what can you do to make a change and make it stick and work for the long term? In our constant search for making life better, healthier, more valuable and more rewarding for you, the TUNG Brush and Gel team has found a great source of ideas for sustainable change at The Change Blog. They propose a ten step program to maintaining the promises you make yourself for change. Here are a few tips as food for thought:
- Plan! – This seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many want to change something, but haven’t really planned how to do it. You need to know what you are going to be accomplishing.
- Start small – You can’t lasso the moon without learning to tie a rope…meaning you need to break the change you want to make into smaller parts and tackle those.
- Take baby steps – Aim for five minutes at a time! Increase your steps/time gradually so you don’t get overwhelmed.
- Create a support system – Tell someone you trust what your plan is so you get the moral support you need for success!
- Put on Your Seatbelt — Know there will be bumps in the road to change…don’t be surprised by them.
Remember, change takes time, and sustainable change is harder to accomplish and takes longer to fulfillment.
One thing you can start right away is to think about changing your oral hygiene habits, including cleaning your tongue daily with your TUNG Brush and Gel, the original and best tongue cleaner. That is a change for better health that you can sustain! It only takes about 10 seconds, yes–10 seconds—a day!
So get out there, see what you can do that will make your life better – only you can make that decision – and give it your best shot! And, don’t forget, don’t punish yourself if you have setbacks. That’s called life. But the effort will be well worth it in the end.
