How to change your life for the better

Personal trainer Tracy Griffen with Coco the fitness pug

How’s your 2024 looking so far? Full of good intentions, or have they already gone out the window? Every new year many of us resolve to live a little healthier, be a bit fitter and generally a better version of ourselves. But rarely do we actually implement these resolutions in the long-term.

Quite often we want to get fitter, but preferably without having to do the exercise. We focus on the end goal, rather than the process. What if we concentrated on the process instead?

As our external environment often mirrors our internal one, perhaps we should be looking at looking after our external environment. The premise is that the more physical and meaningful we can make our everyday life (including our chosen vocation), the more benefit it will have to us, too. ‘Be the change’ is about being what you see for the future, in the world, and in your self.

I train clients from all walks of life, with different goals and obstacles in their way. Usually the obstacles are either perceived or are surmountable. However, a common problem is when people are in a job that really ruins their health. This can be from long working hours, shift work, stress, interpersonal issues, enforced hospitality or client entertaining or even WFH, working from home. When looking at your 2024 resolutions, mentally check what obstacles there are. Make a roadmap to your goal – get planning.

More people nowadays are looking to authentic role models and sustainable change. What would happen if we mirrored this authenticity in our own personal aspirations? Who would you like to be more like?

I’m personally inspired by the two Highland farmers, Lynn and Sandra, of Lynbreck Croft. Their story has motivated me to get outdoors more, and grow more vegetables. This is great not only for my health and Vitamin D levels, but also my headspace and feeling of wellbeing. Here is Lynn Cassells’s own story: “Nearly a decade ago, my partner and I quit our jobs and moved to Scotland, desperately trying to escape the busyness of the south east of England for a more tranquil life where we could reconnect and rebuild our relationship with a more natural, seasonal pace of living. It was all very bucolic and perfect in our minds.

“After two years of searching, we bought a small farm and moved to the Cairngorms. The day the deal was done and we arrived at Lynbreck Croft, it felt like our ‘New Year’. This was it. From this day on life would be perfect. We had arrived at the dream.

“It took just 24 hours for that whole mirage to disappear, the storm clouds of life gathering above us as the thunder of reality began to rumble. Those resolutions we had made for big life changes blew away like leaves on a windy day as the reality hit. We had no idea what we were in for and no real clue where to start.

“Nearly eight years on, we can look back and reflect on that ‘New Years Day’ from a much happier and healthier place. Lynbreck has been transformed into a vibrant and diverse hub where food grows in abundance, nature thrives and people come to experience and learn from what we do, leaving with full hearts and minds. The storm of eight years ago has weakened its grip as more sunny days punctuate the grey.

“Whilst many marvel in the big achievements and hard work, the real change has come from the micro shifts we’ve made in our own lives where the biggest life lesson has come from learning how to farm successfully. We’re both natural do-er’s and as we’ve learned how to work with our team of animals on the land, we’ve seen in real time how valuable and potent the power of rest is as a tool in our farming toolbox. By giving our fields pockets of ‘time off’ from grazing, they have become more diverse and more productive.

“It's an observation and tool that we have been trying to apply in our own lives. Taking time off has always felt counterintuitive to achieving more, and I, like many others have had moments of burn out where the life storm peaks causing my mind to fog, temper to crack like thunder and even sometimes, a river of tears to burst its banks. Farming can be a relentless, 24/7 way of living and it’s often the accepted norm to work long hours for little money and no holidays.

“Over the last few years, it’s been the small changes around the theme of rest of both body and mind that have really added up. For me, it started with taking ten minutes at the start of every day to meditate. I also timetable a few hours a week to go running, a hobby I love, and have set myself rules such as ‘no emails after 6pm’, a time when I also turn off the wi-fi and mobile data on my phone. We now even manage a few annual holidays, important time away to step back and recharge.

“Replacing old habits with new ones, little by little, has gradually led to a deeper sense of personal contentment, a happier workforce and a healthier, more productive and more sustainable business.”

Think about what you really want to do with 2024. There’s a whole year ahead, Rome wasn’t built in a day, but if you start making small changes now they will have a cumulative effect. Rather than try to squeeze in punishing gym sessions, plan around what fires you up. If you want to lose weight, look at all the lifestyle factors that have made you gain weight. Exercise will help, but only you have the answer to what’s holding you back. Use this year to be brave, and to be change you want to see in the world.

For more inspiration check out Tracy’s book ‘Get Fit & Enjoy It: Learn Effective Exercise Without the Gym’ available from www.getfitandenjoyit.com and the Lynbreck Croft story ‘Our Wild Farming Life’ published by Chelsea Green, www.lynbreckcroft.co.uk. You can find Tracy on Twitter / X @tracygriffen and Lynbreck Croft on Instagram @lynbreck_croft and Facebook @lynbreckcroft.