Do you feel like you missed the boat on New Year's resolutions? Maybe you were too burned out from the holidays to start, or maybe you started and already fell off the bandwagon. Or maybe New Year's resolutions just aren't your thing, but you're simply looking for a fresh start to eat better and manage your diagnosis. If so, season three of my MS podcast is for you. And I want to kick it off on a personal note. I want to share with you how I'm resetting after I got derailed from my own routine. Here's a look at how I reset when I feel like I've fallen off the bandwagon. Because let's be honest, life can be really hard sometimes. And when you're living with a chronic illness like MS, you don't ever get a break from it.

Yet life still throws you curveballs. So let's talk about how to get back up when life knocks you down. And my friend, if you want to be more consistent with the healthy habits that get results, download a free copy of my wellness tracker at Alenebrennan. com/tracker. Now on to today's episode. There are 1 million people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the US. So that makes you one in a million. And you have a special purpose in this world that no diagnosis can take away from you. So if you are ready to reclaim your body, mind, and life from multiple sclerosis, welcome to my MS podcast. I'm your host, Alene Brennan. Welcome to season three of my MS podcast. This is definitely later than I planned on launching this season.

But 2024 had a little bit of a bumpy start for me. And now here we are, the end of January, and this episode is finally being released. I initially planned having this episode released the first week of January. So it was aligned with all the New Year's resolutions and everybody who was ready to crush their goals. That's my mindset, but life had other plans. And while I was very quick to start going down a rabbit hole of how my whole plan was thrown off because I got derailed on day one, I realized that this is actually the perfect topic to kick off the new year on this podcast. Because it's more common than not to stumble when you start a new plan.

We think, or at least want to believe, that the path from our starting point to reaching our goals will be a straight line, right? That's what I want to believe. We think that we can pick a date, we start, and everything will just fall into place. But then you start and you realize you didn’t buy the right foods at the grocery store, or you have a family dinner at a restaurant that serves all the wrong foods for you, or you get sick and therefore you don’t have the energy to exercise or cook the healthy meals you planned for. This year, I fell into that last category. I had great plans for a fresh start in 2024 because 2023 was a really hard year for me personally.

By the time December rolled around, my entire nervous system was shot. My body desperately needed a break. It needed a break long before December. But, actually, that's not totally accurate. There were a lot of circumstances that didn’t allow me to rest, so I can’t fully blame myself. But nonetheless, I needed 2024 to be different. I didn't want to constantly feel like my body was in burnout mode. Can you relate? My tendency pre-MS was to push myself to always get just one more thing done. I always set the bar out of reach, but convinced myself that I could reach it if I just hustled hard enough. And the worst part was many times I would actually hit my goal, but it was always at the expense of my health.

And I would actually go as far to say it was at the expense of my happiness because constantly plowing through sucked all of the fun and the joy out of the process. Everything just became so serious. Crossing one more thing off the list, adding one more project in, getting it done faster. It was always about more and faster and never letting up. Now I was fully aware this wasn't the best way to live, but it just felt like who I was and how I needed to live to survive. I kind of didn't know any different. Then I got MS in 2016 and the MS fatigue entered my world. And if you're listening to this episode, you know that feeling all too well. You know that you can try to push through the fatigue, but it never works.

It only sets us back further. For the first time in my life, I realized I had to figure out a different way to live. But that doesn't happen with the flip of a switch. I have been living this way for 36 years. And over the years, since my diagnosis, I have made changes. But 2023 had me facing this again. And in a way, I couldn't ignore. As I said, it was a hard year; we all have them. We all have those years that are harder than others. And for me, that was 2023. And as I said, by December, my nervous system was fried. It just felt like my body didn't have a tolerance for anything, not even the daily activities.

So, for the first time in almost 10 years since starting my business, I took off for the holidays, almost three weeks. And I'll admit, just saying that now even feels uncomfortable because that feels, I hate saying this, but that feels excessive. Like three weeks, you don't need to take three weeks off. You can just take two weeks off. That'll be good enough. But my body needed it. And I had the ability to do it. So I had to commit. And I'll be honest, at first, it was really uncomfortable because as much as I didn't have the energy, my body was still trying to run on autopilot. And I felt like I just needed to keep busy. I kept thinking about all the things that I could be doing to get ahead for work for the next year.

I thought about big projects that I could do around the house. All of those things that you think about, someday I'll do that. Okay, I have time off now. Let me do them. Basically, I just thought about all the things that I could or should be doing other than resting. You know that feeling or mindset where you tell yourself that resting is lazy. That pretty much defines me to a T. But the point of my break was to rest. And I knew that those weeks would come and go whether I was going to rest or not. And the last thing that I wanted to do was to go into the new year with the same level of burnout that I ended the last year.

It took me the better part of the first week, but I eventually allowed myself to relax. I actually read some really good books, mostly on mindset, which if you've been listening to this podcast for a while, you know that's one of my favorite topics. I started using my essential oils more, which I've used for years, but I just wanted time to play with new combinations in my diffusers and get out different roller bottles that I haven't used in a while. I love my essential oils. I love how they support my body. My sleep is undeniably better when I use them. And I love the environment that they create in my home when I diffuse them. And most of all, I got to spend some really quality time with my daughter.

I wasn't checking my phone or running into the office for anything. It was just me and her. On the floor, playing or snuggled up reading her favorite books. And with it, there was an exhale, the long-awaited exhale. It felt like my body was finally, finally giving into the rest, or maybe my mind was finally getting on board with the rest. And there were many moments that popped up where I realized I had to do things differently moving forward. January had to be a new beginning for me. I didn't want to go back to how I'd been living before. I constantly felt rushed and always set such a high bar for myself. Now, don't get me wrong; I love setting goals. I love chasing big dreams. That will always be part of who I am.

I just didn't want it to come at the expense of my health and me enjoying everyday life. Because the reality is, stress was my weakest link when it came to managing my health and MS. I can eat all the kale and all the liver in the world, but if I'm a ball of stress, I'm limiting my ability to have the best outcome with keeping MS quiet; with keeping it at bay. I didn't want every day to be a sprint anymore. I didn't want every day to be a chase that no matter how many things I crossed off my list, it felt like it was never good enough. So January was my new beginning. I wanted to come back from the holiday break and start the new year without the chase.

I could still have goals. I could still have my dreams, but they were focused on what truly matters to me and not chasing someone else's definition of success or someone else's timeline. This was what matters to me and works for my body and my life. And here's how I saw that looking for me. It meant setting boundaries around my time and energy. And I'll be honest, those boundaries aren't against other people in my life. They're actually against myself. I needed to stop pushing myself to unhealthy limits. Please tell me I'm not the only one when I say this. Can you relate? I mean, we can often be our own worst enemy with this. And we're living it firsthand. We know the struggles.

We know the weight that comes with living with a chronic illness, of which fatigue is one of the most challenging symptoms. We have to make sure that we are setting boundaries against our own expectations. And I also wanted a realistic pace for work. Being a solo entrepreneur is really hard, but yet I believe so much in the importance of our community. I need a pace that will last for years to come because that's my vision for our community. This is not a short-term thing. This is a vision that I have that lasts decades into the future. I also wanted to stop stressing about keeping the house immaculately clean and organized. I needed to start accepting that not everything had to be done right away. I feel like that's like an affirmation that I need posted everywhere.

Not everything has to be done right away because that applies in so many areas. This wasn't about being less ambitious. It was about being ambitious for the things in life that mattered to me. Again, not chasing someone else's definition of success. I was ready for my new beginning. And I read some incredible books on mindset that were a perfect setup for this new approach in the new year. And guess how we rang in the new year? With our entire family getting diagnosed with COVID. I had to take one family member to the hospital on a Friday night, another on Saturday morning, and yet another was taken to urgent care the following week. Happy New Year. Now, to be fair, my immediate family actually did really well. Personally, I didn't have any respiratory issues.

I just experienced a lot of fatigue and frequent migraines. And I'm guessing that's because those are often my two weakest links anytime I get sick. But it was really hard to accept the fact that I hit a new level of fatigue right as I was ready to make these changes. COVID just makes everything harder. On top of MS making things hard, I was sleeping in later. So I was now getting up at the same time my daughter was, which meant my morning routine that I love so much was out the window. So each day felt like I was already behind by the time I got out of bed. And of course, it's hard to stay consistent with your diet when you're fatigued, when you can't even do your normal grocery runs to get good food.

Everything felt harder. It's like I was immediately set into an intense training for this new mindset. But as I thought about it, and my response to it, I realized that there were three things that I always go back to, to stay focused when I get derailed. Or maybe it's more accurately said, there are three things that I go back to, to not get swallowed in defeat on day one of a new beginning. So I figured I would share them with you today, not to suggest that they're the only or the best way, but simply because it's something that I find to be really helpful and sharing what works with one is really important for us as a community. So here we go. And as always, I encourage you to take what resonates and leave what doesn't.

Also, I would really love to hear what works well for you. So please drop me a note on Instagram, send me a DM or send me an email. I always love hearing from you. All right, so what should I call these? These are my top three steps to fail-proof new beginnings. Does that work? Okay, here we go. My top three steps to fail-proof new beginnings. I feel like I'm setting high expectations, so I better deliver. And the first step might be the hardest, but it can also be the most freeing step. And that is accept and respect the fatigue. You have to accept and respect the fatigue. I say fatigue because that's often our most challenging symptom living with MS. But if there's another symptom that applies to you better, just swap it out.

But oftentimes when we're starting new beginnings, we tend to feel our worst. That's what is motivating us to make a change in the first place. And it can feel like a catch-22 because you want to make a change because you don't feel well, but you're not feeling well to have the energy to make those changes. And I get it. I battle with it too, especially this year when I was faced with not only MS fatigue, but COVID fatigue. It felt like insult on top of injury. It was pouring gasoline on the fire. But as disappointing and defeating as fatigue can feel, trying to push through it doesn't work. You can't power through fatigue. That's not how it works. You know that, and I know that because I'm willing to bet almost all of us have tried to do it, and it doesn't work.

Your body heals through rest. Your body needs the time and space to rest. It doesn't need you. And I'm speaking to myself, if nobody else here, to punish it by trying to push through the fatigue. Personally, I find that the sooner I am able to, what I'll say, respect the fatigue, the less disappointment I have, and the sooner I am able to move forward. Fatigue can feel disappointing, I know, because you start to think about how unfair it is that you got the short end of the stick when it comes to having enough energy to live life. It's disappointing when you have to cancel plans because you don't have the energy. It's disappointing when you can't finish your to-do list because you need to rest instead. It's important to recognize that disappointment.

I am not downplaying that. We need to be fully honest with our emotions. I have full podcasts on that topic in and of itself. But in my experience, the sooner I can call it what it is, my body needs rest to heal right now, the faster I stop that story that I try to build out around what fatigue and MS are doing to my life. Can you relate? You have a symptom like fatigue pop up and all of a sudden you build out this whole story about what MS is doing to your life and how unfair it is. And then you like envision this worst-case scenario unfolding in your future. If you can relate to that, and if you're looking for a fresh start or a new beginning right now, I encourage you to get really honest with the fact that you are living with a chronic illness.

I know I'm stating the obvious here, but how many times do you actually give yourself grace or factor your health and your energy into your planning? I don't. I still try to set that high bar and ignore the fact that I have MS. But we have to allow ourselves the rest that our body needs when it needs it, even when your mind is trying to fight against it. You have to interrupt that story in your mind that's telling you, you should be crushing your goals right now instead of resting.' That's not helping anything. What if? What if you were to take a more realistic approach and honor where you're currently at and that it might need you to go at a slower pace than you would like to go?

Perfect example, during my first few weeks of January, I allowed myself to sleep in. And as I said, my morning routine had to take a back seat. I allowed myself to rest during the day when my expectations were to be back at work, full steam ahead. And as much as I wanted that productive start to the new year, I had to recognize that's not where my body was at right now. I guess the main message that I'm saying here is to be flexible in the expectations of your plan or of your new beginning. Set a clear goal and yes, have a plan of how you're going to make it happen. But don't get so hung up on sticking to a rigid plan. Give yourself some grace to adapt so that you can respect the fatigue.

This flexibility will give you the strength to keep going and not get thrown off by your first setback. Because we know our path to success, or our path to our goal, is never a straight line. You have obstacles, you get derailed. Things happen. Life throws you curve balls. And if you're so focused on a rigid plan that has to look a certain way and has no room for resting during fatigue or honoring where your body is at on a given day, you're not going to get to the finish line. I want to help you get there. So maybe that means that you create some flexibility in your expectation of time or your expectations of all the steps that you're going to do to get started.

So if something comes up, it doesn't come as a surprise and totally catch you off guard. You give yourself grace. You do what you need to do to support your body in that moment, and you keep going. So step one, accept and respect the fatigue. Now this next step may feel like it completely contradicts what I just said, but hear me out. The next step is actually one of my favorite sayings: Action precedes motivation. Now, just as much as there's a place where you need to honor your body's need for rest, that's how your body heals. There's also a place where you can find yourself lacking motivation to take the first step. And that's why one thing that I have found to be true from the day that I heard these words is that action precedes motivation.

In other words, you can't wait to feel motivated to take the first action. If you're waiting on motivation, chances are you'll never achieve your goals. It sounds harsh, I know, but it's the truth. You can't wait on motivation to start taking action. It doesn't happen like that. More times than not, you'll have to take that first step even when you don't feel like doing it. Because it's not until you start doing something that your body will start to see the benefits. And that is when motivation kicks in. So, sometimes you have to choose the side salad at the restaurant when you want to order the fries. Or you have to take the supplements when you don't feel like taking the time to get them out.

Or you have to go to bed when you want to watch one more episode on Netflix. Action precedes motivation. Now, this third step is what ties it all together. Because if I'm telling you to respect the fatigue, but also take action before you're motivated, where's the line? How exactly do you start this new beginning for you? One of the best and most effective ways to start a new habit or take the first step in achieving your new goal is to make that first step ridiculously easy. Let's say, for example, you're trying to get those nine cups of veggies in a day, but right now you don't even get one cup in. Well, your first step might not be necessarily to get one more cup of veggies in a day.

Your first step might just be to decide which day you're going to grocery shop this week and add one veggie onto your grocery list. That's what I'm talking about when I mean make that first step ridiculously easy. Just decide which day are you going to shop and which veggie are you going to put on your list to have this week? Or if you want to get back into your workout routine, but right now you're struggling to have the energy to get through the day, maybe you walk to the mailbox to get your mail this afternoon. And then eventually you work your way up to walking around the block. If you want to go far, you have to be willing to start small. And I'll keep it 100% real with you.

I struggled with starting small. Because like I said, I have big goals and big dreams and I want to quote unquote crush them. I want to achieve them with like, oh God, I even hate saying this, but it's true, like with precision. And I want to accomplish it in a really short period of time. But that's not realistic. I'm not setting myself up for success. MS or not, that's not healthy. That's not realistic, but it sure as heck isn't realistic living with a chronic illness. So for example, when I think about setting my goal for exercise, I really want to get back into my exercise routine. I miss it. I always feel better when I'm doing it. But yet the idea of starting small feels really unappealing.

I don't want to just do 10 minutes of a 30-minute workout. I'd rather wait until I had the energy to do the full 30 minutes. But here's the thing, starting with 10 minutes of a workout will get me to do the full 30 minutes a lot faster than staying sedentary. You can't be too proud to take action on a small step. Again, I'm speaking to myself if nobody else, because let me tell you, the further you push your starting point away, the less likely you are to ever start. Let alone achieve your goal. That's one of the things that I read in one of the mindset books I was talking about earlier. The bigger the goal that you set, the harder your brain has a hard time of believing that it's possible and finding out how to start.

There's such a big disconnect when your brain is trying to process that enormous goal and then see where you're at right now. So that's why we want to-yes, you can set a big goal 100%. I will never discourage you from that. But if nothing else, find a realistic milestone to start first. So for me, with this idea of getting back into my exercise routine, my first milestone would be doing a 10-minute workout three times a week. That is something that my brain can wrap its head around. And that's something that doesn't feel incredibly intimidating. That's something that I can start with. Don't push your starting point off into the future. Be willing to start small, but start today. I've actually come to like this because it makes me feel like I'm actually doing something versus staying stuck where I'm at.

Doing five minutes of stretching makes me feel more accomplished than continually telling myself that I'm going to start back on my yoga practice as soon as the fatigue goes away, or this past week. I committed to taking one supplement this week because I knew that I can make that happen versus putting it off until I could take all of them and get them all organized in my supplement container. No, set this one container out and just take this one every single day. Be willing to start small. That gave me a sense of accomplishment instead of just pushing my starting point back. And circling back to the mindset aspect of new beginnings, when you start with these small steps, you're actually training your brain to start seeing those small steps in all areas of your life.

My brain now starts spotting little opportunities. And the more I follow through on them, the more my brain looks for the next opportunities. That's what I love. Like I start seeing, okay, just take this one supplement this week. That's all that you need to do. Great. And then the fact that my brain sees that I'm following through on that when I'm thinking about stretching or yoga or a workout and I'm in my office and I have my yoga blocks, all my yoga stuff up here, I'll get the idea of why don't you just sit down and do five minutes of stretching? So my brain starts to see these little opportunities and the more I follow through on them, the more it spots them again. That which you focus on gets bigger.

Do you want to keep focusing on your setback or do you want to focus on taking small steps that will lead to your comeback? This, my friends, is the theme of Season Three of my MS Podcast, New Beginnings with simple, realistic steps. In the episodes that come up, I am going to be sharing different ways in which you can start your new beginnings of a healthy lifestyle to support your diagnosis so that you can start gaining momentum and getting results and making this realistic and sustainable because you're living with a chronic illness. This can't be a quick fad. This has to be something that will last a lifetime. So, to recap here, the three steps – what did I call them? To fail-proof your new beginnings, accept and respect the fatigue; action precedes motivation, and start small, but start today.

Now, I have lots more in store for us. And on that note of creating more balance: starting small, setting realistic expectations. I'm shifting the posting schedule of this podcast – I'll be posting once a week on Wednesdays. Not only was the three times a week a lot for me to manage with producing this podcast on my own, but I also was hearing from a lot of you that you are having a hard time keeping up with all of the episodes. So it sounds like it's going to work well for all of us here. I'm going to post once a week on Wednesdays. And if you want to connect more in between each episode, come and join me on Instagram as I am sharing the behind-the-scenes of my day-to-day life.

And it's a great place to come for some daily encouragement. And while you're there, please send me a DM and let me know what goals you're currently working on. I would love to cheer you on and support you along the way. Here's to new beginnings in the new year. Well, my friend, we've reached the end of this episode. Pick one lesson from today's discussion and put it into action now. It's time to reclaim your body, mind, and life from multiple sclerosis. And for more resources, events, and programs, head over to Alenebrennan. com. See you on the next episode of my MS podcast.