Preventable chronic conditions are a growing concern in Australia, with over 38% of the disease burden attributed to lifestyle-related factors. Conditions like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity are significantly influenced by our daily habits. While the desire to improve health is common, starting the journey can feel overwhelming. With so much conflicting advice—low-carb vs. high-carb diets, intense workouts vs. gentle movement, mindfulness apps vs. traditional therapy—where do you begin?
This article provides a structured, science-backed approach to wellness. Rather than focusing on quick fixes, we’ll explore how to build a solid foundation for lifelong health. From seeking professional guidance to understanding the six pillars of wellness, choosing your starting point, and setting realistic goals, we’ll break the process into manageable steps. By following this step-by-step plan, you’ll create a sustainable and personalised health strategy that aligns with your lifestyle and goals.
1. Start with Professional Guidance
Before making any major lifestyle changes, consulting a GP is crucial. Many people start their wellness journey with enthusiasm, only to encounter unexpected barriers such as nutritional deficiencies, undiagnosed health conditions, or injuries. A preventative health check with your GP provides valuable insights into your current health status and potential risk factors.
A comprehensive health check may include:
- Blood tests to assess triglycerides, cholesterol, blood sugar, iron levels, and vitamin deficiencies.
- Blood pressure monitoring to detect hypertension, a silent but significant risk factor for heart disease.
- BMI and body composition analysis to understand weight-related risks.
- Lifestyle and mental health assessments to identify stressors and habits affecting well-being.
- Screening for chronic diseases like diabetes or thyroid disorders.
If possible, seek out an integrative or lifestyle medicine GP who can provide holistic guidance on nutrition, movement, stress management, and more. These professionals take a preventative approach, helping you craft an evidence-based wellness plan tailored to your unique needs. They also consider factors like gut health, hormone balance, and mental resilience, ensuring that your efforts are safe, effective, and aligned with your overall health needs.
Professional guidance in wellness planning offers several benefits, including:
1. Personalised Plans: Professionals can tailor wellness plans to an individual’s unique goals, needs, and preferences, ensuring a more effective and sustainable approach.
2. Expert Knowledge: Wellness experts bring specialised knowledge in areas like fitness, nutrition, mental health, and stress management, helping to avoid misinformation or ineffective methods.
3. Motivation and Accountability: Working with a professional can provide motivation and help set measurable goals, while also offering accountability to stay on track.
4. Comprehensive Approach: A wellness professional can address multiple aspects of wellness, including physical, emotional, and mental health, ensuring a holistic approach to well-being.
5. Support and Encouragement: Professional guidance can provide ongoing support and encouragement, helping individuals navigate challenges and celebrate successes.
6. Injury Prevention and Safety: Experts ensure that wellness activities, especially physical exercises, are performed correctly and safely, reducing the risk of injury.
7. Informed Decision Making: With professional insight, individuals are more likely to make informed decisions about their wellness routines, whether it’s choosing a balanced diet, effective workout plan, or self-care practices.
8. Time Efficiency: Professionals can help streamline wellness plans, ensuring the most efficient use of time to achieve results without unnecessary trial and error.
Taking this first step ensures you have a clear picture of your health and a professional guiding you towards sustainable improvements.
2. Understanding the Six Pillars of Wellness
A well-rounded wellness plan incorporates six key pillars: nutrition, movement, sleep, stress management, avoiding risky substances, and social connection. Each of these elements plays a crucial role in overall well-being.
Nutrition
Food is fuel for both the body and mind. A predominantly plant -based diet is recommended. A diet rich in whole foods, proteins, healthy fats, and fibre supports digestion, energy levels, and disease prevention. Prioritising minimally processed foods, staying hydrated, and being mindful of portion sizes can make a substantial difference.
Movement
Exercise isn’t just about weight loss—it improves cardiovascular health, enhances mood, and strengthens muscles and bones. Whether it’s brisk walking, strength training, yoga, or swimming, regular physical activity supports long-term well-being. Even simple activities like taking the stairs or stretching throughout the day add up.The key is to find an activity you love!
Sleep
Quality sleep is a non-negotiable pillar of wellness. Poor sleep increases the risk of obesity, heart disease, and mental health struggles. Establishing a bedtime routine, minimising screen exposure before bed, and ensuring a dark, quiet sleep environment can enhance rest and recovery.
Stress Management
Chronic stress wreaks havoc on the body, increasing inflammation and the risk of chronic disease. Practicing mindfulness, gratitude, deep breathing exercises, journaling, getting out in nature or engaging in hobbies can help manage daily stressors. Identifying stress triggers and setting healthy boundaries is equally important.
Avoiding Risky Substances
Reducing alcohol intake, quitting smoking, and limiting caffeine consumption can have immediate and long-term health benefits. These substances affect everything from sleep quality, nutrition, energy to mental health and organ function.
Social Connection
Humans thrive on connection. Strong relationships boost mental well-being, reduce stress, and even increase longevity. Prioritising quality time with loved ones, joining social groups, or participating in community activities fosters a sense of belonging and support. Social Connection is not a nice to have but is essential to our well-being.
Each of these pillars interacts with the others, with each supporting the others in creating a holistic approach to wellbeing. For example, regular movement helps the body absorb nutrients more efficiently, which in turn fuels better exercise performance and aids in muscle recovery. Proper nutrition also supports stress management by regulating mood and energy levels, while sleep enhances physical performance by promoting recovery.
Stress management techniques, like mindfulness, reduce the negative impact of stress on sleep, appetite, and overall health, while avoiding risky substances like alcohol improves sleep quality and emotional regulation. Additionally, strong social connections foster emotional resilience, making it easier to manage stress, adhere to healthy nutrition habits, and stay motivated for regular physical activity. Together, these pillars create a balanced lifestyle where each element reinforces the others, contributing to long-term health and wellness.
3. Choosing Your Starting Point
It’s important to assess your readiness for change and determine which pillar of wellness to focus on first. Trying to overhaul every aspect of your lifestyle at once can lead to frustration, burnout and giving up. Instead, focus on the area that will have the biggest impact and that you are ready to change.
Choosing the right pillar to start with can be the difference between giving up in frustration and creating long term lifestyle behaviour change. The underlying purpose of that first critical month of effort is twofold: to introduce positive change and to fuel your confidence.
Ask yourself:
- Which change would make the biggest difference in my daily life?
- Which habit feels easiest to improve right now?
- What’s currently causing the most discomfort or health concerns?
- Where do I feel the most motivated to take action?
Reflect on how improving your chosen pillar might benefit other areas of your wellness. For example, If stress leads to emotional eating, working on stress management could have a ripple effect on other areas of health. Identifying your unique starting point sets the stage for long-term success.
4. Your ‘Why’ Matters
It is IMPERATIVE to find a compelling reason to drive your wellness journey. Having an individual reason why you must change now is GOLD and you may have to dig for it.
Ask yourself:
- Why do I want to improve my health?
- How will these changes positively impact my daily life?
- What am I most excited about achieving?
- How do I want to feel six months / 5 years from now?
Your ‘why’ might be as simple as having more energy to play with your kids, feeling confident in your body, or reducing your risk of chronic disease. Writing down your motivations and revisiting them regularly can help maintain focus and resilience when challenges arise. You might start with extrinsic motivators but transition to intrinsic ones over time. Intrinsic motivators are associated with greater persistence, satisfaction, and long-term success in your wellness journey.
For more support and inspiration on finding your compelling reason go to 100 Reasons
5. Building Your Support Network
Building a support network for wellness goals involves connecting with people who motivate, guide and hold you accountable. Support is crucial for long-term success, and it comes in many forms:
- Personal Support: Family and friends can provide encouragement and accountability. You can look for people who share similar goals or values, such as friends, family members, or coworkers who are also working on their wellness.
- Professional Support: Healthcare providers, nutritionists, personal trainers, or therapists offer expert guidance. They can also provide more structure and accountability to keep you on track for your wellness journey.
- Community Support: Wellness groups, online communities, and local fitness classes help foster motivation and connection.
Communicating your goals with your support network allows them to offer encouragement and practical assistance. You increase your chances of staying committed to your wellness goals. For example, asking a friend to be a workout buddy or having a family member join you in meal prepping can make the journey more enjoyable.
6. Setting SMART Goals for Early Wins
Breaking down your wellness plan into small, achievable steps is key to building momentum. Setting Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) goals provides clarity and structure.
Examples include:
- Nutrition: “I will eat 3 serves of vegetables with my evening meal 4 times a week for the first week.
- Movement: “I will walk for 10 mins 3 times a week for the first 2 weeks. - Sleep: “I will read a book for 15 minutes before bed 4 times this week
- Stress Management: “I will practice deep breathing exercises for five minutes each morning.”
Tracking progress using a journal, habit tracker, or wellness app can reinforce positive behaviors. Whatever you do, please start small. Celebrating small victories keeps motivation high, allows you to build on your successes and has a cascade effect, generating a desire to incorporate additional sustainable behaviour change.
7. The Long Game: Understanding Sustainable Change
Focusing on a long-term wellness journey involves patience, consistency and building sustainable habits rather than seeking quick fixes. Here’s how to stay on track:
- Shift to Long-Term Goals
- Commit to gradual, sustainable change. Focus on building habits, not chasing quick results. Enjoy the process, not just the outcome.
- Start Small
- Break your goals into manageable steps. Prioritise habits like daily movement or balanced meals over extreme changes.
- Accept Setbacks
- Setbacks are normal - view them as learning opportunities. Avoid the “all or nothing” mindset and get back on track without guilt.
- Track Non-Scale wins
- Celebrate progress beyond physical changes, like improved energy, sleep or mental wellbeing.
- Leverage Your Support Network
- Reach out for motivation when needed and share milestones with your support network.
- Be Patient and Compassionate
- Give yourself time to adapt and practice self-compassion. Recognise that progress is a slow, steady process.
- Keep Learning and Adapting
- Stay curious and open to new strategies. Adjust your wellness routine as your needs and life change.
By focusing on small, sustainable changes and relying on your support system, you can create lasting wellness habits and remain committed to your journey over time.
About the Author
Ros Lindsey
Registered Nurse
As a Registered Nurse with a Master of Public Health, I am deeply committed to preventive healthcare. My goal is to inspire Australian men and women to shift from feeling unmotivated to becoming empowered, living healthier and longer lives. Together, we will:
- Identify your top health priorities,
- Take meaningful action to achieve your goals
- Craft a personalised Wellness Plan that pinpoints where you are now, where you want to be, and connects you with the right experts and resources to help you get there!
“May you love the body you are in and look after it, so that it stays well for longer”
Ros also hosts a podcast called The Wellness Nurse, which you can access on YouTube,Apple Podcasts and Spotify
