You don't need massive goals to make progress

We often think progress needs to start with a big goal.

Lose a stone.

Run a marathon.

Completely overhaul your diet.

Go to the gym five times a week.

Become a “better version” of yourself.

Big goals can feel exciting. They give us that rush of motivation and make us feel like change is happening quickly.

But they can also feel heavy.

Sometimes the goal feels so far away that it becomes overwhelming before we’ve even started. We focus so much on the end result that we ignore the small daily actions that actually get us there.

And when life gets busy, motivation dips or progress feels slower than expected, it can feel tempting to give up completely.

I’ve learnt this first hand.

Last year I lost a stone, but not through anything extreme.

No strict diet.

No cutting out entire food groups.

No punishing workout routine.

I started with the things that felt easiest, and they gradually compounded over time.

I noticed my skin wasn’t looking great, I felt like I looked tired, I noticed more wrinkles and I just felt older than I wanted to feel. So rather than jumping straight into fitness or dieting, I focused on self-care first.

I improved my evening routine. I invested a little more time into my skincare, started adding a few calming habits into my evenings and noticed that those small changes made me feel better about myself. It also helped me relax, sleep better and even eased some of the tension I was holding in my neck.

It felt simple. It felt manageable. And most importantly, it felt easy to stay consistent with.

That became my focus for 2025, consistency with anything new I introduced.

Keeping things simple was my trick.

I’ve always seen myself as a runner, but after my son was born in 2020 I had complications from my c-section which eventually resulted in a hysterectomy in 2024. Running wasn’t something I could consistently do during those years.

Once I had recovered from surgery and started feeling stronger again, I wanted to get back into running.

And honestly… it was hardly what you’d call running at first.

I started by plodding around the block doing a 2km walk/run, 2-3 times per week.

That was it.

I kept that distance for months because it didn’t feel intimidating. It wasn’t too hard. It felt simple and achievable, and again, my focus was consistency.

I wanted habits that supported me, not habits that added stress.

But those small runs gave me the bug again.

And recently, I ran a marathon. Not particularly well, I might add, but the marathon was really just one day. What mattered most was the months of training beforehand that made me feel strong, fit and genuinely proud of myself.

My diet was also something I also looked at.

I know myself well enough to know 'traditional dieting' does not work for me.

The moment I tell myself I can’t have something, chocolate being the obvious example, it suddenly becomes the only thing I want.

Restriction has never worked well for me. It’s not always about craving the food itself, I think it’s more about feeling like my choices are being controlled, which often makes me want it more.

So instead of cutting foods out, I created some simple structure around when I ate.

For me that was intermittent fasting, skipping breakfast, having a healthy lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, dinner and dessert if I wanted it, followed by a herbal tea in the evening.

Those were my rules.

And if I wanted chocolate? Fine.

What changed most was my mindset.

I started paying attention to how food made me feel before and after eating it.

Did it give me energy?

Did it make me feel sluggish?

Did it genuinely satisfy me?

And yes, sometimes the chocolate absolutely made me feel good.

But over time, I naturally started making better choices because I was paying attention to how I wanted to feel overall.

Nothing dramatic.

And that't exactly why it worked.

Slowly, over the year, I naturally lost weight.

Each small change felt manageable enough to repeat.

Each habit gave me evidence that I could stick to it.

And over time, those habits became part of my normal routine.

A year later, I’m still doing them.

That’s the bit people often overlook.

Quick fixes can create quick results, but if the habits underneath don’t change, it can feel like you’re constantly starting again.

Small progress might feel slower, but it builds confidence.

When you trust yourself to follow through on small promises, bigger goals stop feeling so intimidating.

Sometimes progress simply looks like:

Going for a walk after dinner.

Adding more water into your day.

Doing two Pilates sessions each week.

Going to bed earlier.

Cooking more meals at home.

Taking five minutes to breathe before rushing onto the next task.

These things can feel too small to matter.

They’re not.

They’re often the exact things that create lasting change.

And sometimes, removing the pressure of a huge goal allows you to actually enjoy the process a little more.

Your health doesn’t need to be transformed overnight.

You do not need an extreme plan.

You probably just need one small change you can genuinely maintain.

Then another.

And another.

That’s how progress quietly builds.

And often, that kind of progress lasts far longer than the dramatic kind.

If you feel like you’re behind because your progress feels slow, you’re not.

You might just be building something that’s actually designed to last.

“Small habits quietly create big change.”

If this resonated

If this resonates, you don’t need to try harder.

You may just need a way of doing things that feels more natural and sustainable for you.

My aim with My Health Notes is to share my thoughts, some tools, facts and reflections that could help you navigate life with a bit more kindness and clarity, without expectations or pressure.

If you need a little support, you might like my Compound Effect session, a simple guided way to explore how one small habit change can quietly create a much bigger shift in your life.

The Compound Effect Session

I’ve got your back.

Take care,

Kirsty