Book Review: Just One Thing; How Simple Changes Can Transform Your Life
Making changes slowly may make it easier for them to stick.
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I purposely chose to read Just One Thing a few weeks ago because it’s not very long. Many of us don’t have much time to read longer books, so I thought short ones might be appealing if they can provide good, solid information. And this was such a book. Its premise? Changing one thing at a time will help improve your health because you are more likely to succeed with sticking with the changes.
This approach isn’t new. I’ve been saying for a long time that I believe one of the reasons many people fail at health improvement (especially if it’s part of a New Year’s resolution) is that they try to change too many things at a time.
Want to lose weight? Many people dive right into it, signing up for a gym membership, changing their diet, and more. All at once. It’s too much to keep up.
The book is divided into one act of change per chapter, from things you can do at the start of your day to the end.
The author, UK-based Dr. Michael Mosley, is a physician but has mainly worked in media. He started a podcast, Just One Thing on the BBC, and he went on to write his book with the same title. He has written other books, which I’ve not read yet. I’m not going to address his diet program, books, and ideas on weight loss, because I don’t know about them, and I’m not fond of physicians selling weight loss plans. But I liked this book on how to make changes in your life. Other than purchasing the book, it doesn’t cost anything to make the changes and it can’t hurt to try.
The book’s presentation
The book is divided into one act of change per chapter, from things you can do at the start of your day to the end. But the chapters don’t build off each other, so you can pick and choose the order to read them. Because I was going to review the book, I read from start to end, but I found that I wasn’t paying much attention to the chapters that didn’t interest me.
Practical ideas
For early morning changes, Mosley suggests things like a cold shower. I have a friend who takes cold showers and he swears by them.
Unfortunately, I have fibromyalgia and cold is like pain, so I can’t even try it. How painful? If I sit on the side of the tub, the cold surface touching my leg hurts. Applying cream to my skin – even at room temperature – is very uncomfortable. So no cold showers for me! But I did like his suggestions of taking an early morning walk, drinking more water, and consuming probiotics.
For the mind as well
Mosley’s changes aren’t just for the body but also for the mind. He suggests napping – something I already do. I don’t know if it’s because of all the years I did many midnight shifts, or I’m just not a good night sleeper. I have taken “micro naps” for years. Quick, 10-15 minute naps get me through the rest of the day.
A friend once suggested that I don’t sleep well at night because I take those naps. But if I can’t nap, not just for one day but several in a row, my sleep does not improve, so napping remains part of my routine whenever possible.
Mosley also suggests journaling. Many of us have no trouble writing a journal when something goes wrong. I know I do. I started one when the pandemic began, and I had no problem finding something to write almost every day for a year. But as it wore on and then as things started to improve, I found myself writing fewer and fewer entries.
Many mental health experts suggest gratitude journals as a tool; I have kept a few. I always fall out of the habit though. So I decided to try it again. I don’t write much; I just get to the point and write three good things that happened. Some days, it’s no problem. On other days, I really have to think to come up with a third. But that’s a good exercise. I think we focus too much on the bad and we need to focus on the good too.
Other changes Mosley suggests are meditation, singing, and deep breathing. My Decipher Your Health co-founder, Dr. Karin Molander, recently wrote about breathing techniques over on our blog.
All these suggestions do good things for the body and soul. But, as the book title says, they are all each just one thing to do. Trying them too quickly will likely mean you end up doing none.
So, if you are looking for painless ways to improve your health and wellness, this may be the book that helps you.
Let me know in the comment section below about how you try to make changes in your life. Let’s get a conversation going.