E042 | Wellness on your terms: Why Gentle Goals are the only strategy that works

Are you stuck in a cycle of trying to do it all yet still feeling like nothing is working?

If you’ve been caught up in the trap of chasing massive changes—like strict diets or rigid routines—only to feel more overwhelmed, this episode is for you.

The truth is, transformation doesn’t happen with quick fixes or big leaps. It happens with small, intentional habits that build momentum over time. But most people overlook this missing piece in their wellness journey.

BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU’LL DISCOVER:

• Why big, all-or-nothing approaches often fail and leave you stuck.
• The power of micro habits to create lasting change in your wellness journey.
• A simple, step-by-step method to start building momentum with small, consistent actions.

Ready to break free from the cycle of overwhelm and frustration? This episode will show you how to start making meaningful progress—without stress or burnout.

OTHER LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Join our free Facebook group: Embrace Your Healing Journey.
• Check out the blog post - You need to stand up for what your body needs when dealing with any chronic illness, here’s why
• Sign up for the "Gentle Goals, Big Wins" 5-Day Challenge

Write to me at anindita@aninditarungta.com—I’d love to hear from you!

Make 2025 the year you simplify wellness and amplify life—one micro habit at a time.

Chapters

• 0:01 The exhaustion of trying it all!
• 1:32 A story that resonates: "Archana’s Transformation"
• 3:49 The symptoms we ignore: "Your Body is Speaking"
• 6:37 The real problem: "Disconnection and burnout"
• 10:03 What’s not working: "Why the hustle fails"
• 13:31 The missing piece: "Reconnection and Simplification"
• 17:01 Join the Gentle Goals Challenge starting on the 13th of January 2025

Transcript

Listen. You've tried it all the diets, detoxes, hustle and it's still not working. That's because none of those things were designed for you. What you need is a gentler, smarter, smarter way to achieve what really matters. So it's time for you to get rid of that noise and take that control of your wellness with a strategy that works for your life, your energy, and your priorities. Let me show you how and if by the end of this episode, you're ready to take action.

I have got an exciting challenge coming up in January that will help you make those big wins happen. Let's dive in because this is the year you make your goals work for you. That's all coming up next right here on Embrace Your Healing Journey.

Welcome to Embrace Your Healing Journey, a podcast for women with autoimmune and other chronic conditions to help them navigate the illness without fear of isolation and uncertainty and find relief from their symptoms. Your body is your guide and ally in healing. If you're ready to embrace this journey with compassion and awareness, then the show is for you. Tune in weekly as I, a Functional Medicine certified health coach, deliver tips and insights that demystify the healing process, guiding you towards the relief you deserve so that you can feel healthy and happy once more.

 I want to share a story that really touched me and perfectly highlights what will be diving into today. So Archana joined one of my programs, feeling quite confused and overwhelmed and stretched thin by the demands of daily life. Like so many other women. Like so many of us, she was trying to balance everything worked family and her whole own health issues without feeling like she was making meaningful progress. In her words, self-care was an alien concept, but through simple, intentional steps, she learned to make time her ally instead of her enemy. Because that's what she said that she doesn't have time to take care of herself. And that's true for so many of us. So she started with 3 to 4 manageable priorities in a day embraced a strategy that I call a not to do list thing that you don't want to do, and began weaving gratitude into her routine. The result? Not only did Archana transform her relationship with time, she got her time back, but she also experienced a profound shift in how she cared for herself. Journaling, in fact, became kind of her lifeline, and the small, consistent actions that she took every day led to big, lasting changes. And that's exactly what we are talking about today. How to break through the noise, simplify your goals, and create meaningful success that lasts. And if Archana story resonates with you, stay tuned. You're going to love what's coming up.

If you want to take action, if you're ready, then head to https://aninditarungta.com/gentlegoals and sign up for the challenge today.

So here are some things that you might notice in your day to day life. So you are waking up tired even after a full night's sleep, feeling like your energy tank is empty even before the day begins. Or you may have physical symptoms like persistent bloating or digestive discomfort and you know you are eating healthy, but it still makes you feel heavy or sluggish after meals. Or maybe you have aches and pains sometimes in your joints, sometimes all over your body. And this doesn't necessarily mean that you have a diagnosis, or that you are already dealing with a particular disease or a condition. This can happen even without any diagnosis. And then there can be emotional symptoms. So you may be battling a constant overwhelmed feeling like no matter how much you check off your to do list, it's just never enough, right? It never gets over. Or they are mood swings that come out of nowhere. One minute you're fine and the next your irritable or on the verge of tears. And again, this may be with or without the fact that you are in perimenopause now. You don't have to really suffer through this.

Or there might be a sense of guilt for taking the even the smallest amount of time for yourself, as if self-care is selfish. That's exactly where Archana was, and there's so many of us in that kind of, you know, category. So if this sounds familiar, know that you are not alone.

These struggles are really common, but they're your body's way of asking for attention and care, signaling that it's time to simplify wellness and amplify your life. And it's not really your fault. The problem is that there is disconnection from your body, your needs, and the signals your system is sending. And so many women that I see around me, in my friends circle, in my family and my clients, they are stuck in this cycle of stress over commitment and unrealistic expectations. They're trying to do everything for everyone else while neglecting themselves. This is something that I, you know, personally experienced because I have been there, believe you and, you know, believe me.

And this was something that I saw when I was trying to take care of my daughter. And I realized very early that if I was exhausted and if I felt burnt out, then I could not really be able to help. I would not be able to help her the way I wanted to. I would not be able to take care of her the way I wanted to. So that was a learning. But you know, I these are this is a lesson that I have to sometimes keep re, uh, you know, coming back to or relearning. So when I had a couple of years ago, uh, around during the pandemic, I actually had a very bad case of sciatica nerve pain, which became really bad, uh, to the extent that a couple of doctors said that I now have to do surgery, which I didn't, because then I went back to the root and I did address that. But it became bad only because I actually neglected it. I was traveling so much with my daughter, and she was, you know, she's a she's an equestrian. Or she used to be. So I used to travel with her, and I actually neglected to go and show right at the beginning. If I'd shown it to the right person, I could have avoided a lot of pain and suffering. So it's it's, you know, this is true, I think, to a large extent for all of us because that's how we have been conditioned. That's how we have been led to believe this is the right way of taking care of our family, you know, to the point of burnout and exhaustion. That's that's sort of the patriarchal society that we live in. And it affects men and women both.

So this constant push leads to burnout, hormonal imbalances, digestive dysfunction and a weakened immune system. And they can, you know, manifest as the symptoms that you are experiencing. And of course, if you add to it that you are already in perimenopause, which is kind of the decade or many years before actually menopause hits, then it's a double whammy, right? But you don't have to go through this because at its core, the issue isn't just physical. It's a deeper misalignment between how you are living and what your body truly needs to thrive. So you've been following a lot of external things like external advice like diets, routines and treatments. And they are of course, important and they often promise quick fixes. But the problem is that most of us end up following a one size fits all approach, and they don't really address the root causes of your symptoms or honor the unique wisdom of your body.

So the solution is NOT in doing more or trying harder. It's actually just the reverse. And it's, you know, going to sound, uh, you know, it's going to be quite different from what you hear in many of the other programs or many of what you've been following or the advice. Because what I am talking about is actually pausing. It's a it's about tuning in, and it's about making small align changes that work with your body rather than against it. So when you reconnect with yourself this way, when you simplify your approach, you finally create the foundation for healing that is just not just effective, but sustainable. More importantly for your body's unique requirements. That's the part that is I find is often missing. This personalized approach is often missing, and I find that it's missing even in the functional medicine space.

Unfortunately, functional medicine is all about addressing the root causes of disease. It's about personalization. It's about participating like your kind of, you know, taking control of your own wellness. But a lot of times I find that we lean too much into, again, external inputs such as supplements, testing, uh, diets only.  We don't take the internal inputs that we need to. And in fact, I have written about this in an earlier blog post. You need to stand up for what your body needs when dealing with any chronic illness. Here's why. When I delve deeper into this topic and I'll share the link in the show notes below.

So you've likely tried all the common approaches to feel better strict diets, exercise plans, supplements, medications, of course, or even diving into wellness trends like detoxes or elimination challenges. And again, I, uh, you know, I don't want to, uh, sort of, uh, say that medications are of course, necessary. Seeing specialists and doctors are, of course, necessary, but they are often not enough. So while you're doing that, at the same time, you need to figure out what's really going on. So you've probably seen multiple doctors, specialists or even functional medicine practitioners hoping someone could finally give you the answer. If you've got the answer, then Bravo, right? That's amazing. If you finally found someone who, uh, you know, is able to understand what you're going through, what your body needs, uh, you know, from you, then that's it, right? You don't have to look any further.

But if you've not, then you need to listen to the rest of this episode. So maybe you've even tried powering through, believing that you just push a little bit harder or you're a bit more disciplined. You will eventually break free from the cycle. But what usually happens is that despite your best efforts, the results are either temporary or non-existent, so you may find yourself stuck in a loop in a vicious cycle. Or I call it the disease merry go round where you know its solution actually feels like yet another thing that you have to add to your already, you know, uh, over, uh uh, you know, like your to do list that you have. Right? And it's like another chore.

And the reason that these approaches often fail is because they address the surface symptoms rather than the root cause. Because because they don't consider you your unique body lifestyle and your emotional needs, because, you know, any kind of chronic condition comes and or any kind of disease for that matter. There is a mind and body aspect to it. It's not just the physical part, it's also the emotional part. So what has not worked is treating your body like it's broken or, you know, sort of, uh, fighting against it and battling it into submission with rigid plans and quick fixes. So you are overlooking the deeper need for connection and alignment with your own body. So true.

Healing requires a shift from external solutions to internal awareness. And that's what I'm going to do with this episode and all the other episodes that I do in this show. If you haven't listened to some of the other episodes, you need to go back and listen to them, because it's actually about learning to listen to your body and honoring what it needs to thrive. I don't want you to just survive. I don't want you to just get by. I don't want you to only focus on managing or reversing your symptoms. You need to live a full life and you can live a full life even if you are. You know, if you have a condition which may never go away. There are so many conditions which are in in some form of the other incurable, and they will never go away. But you can still, you know, live a meaningful and fulfilling life. So learning to listen to your body and honoring what it truly needs is how you can thrive. And that is the missing piece that you have been searching for. So here's what I want you to do instead. These are four things.

But the third most important one before I mentioned that is stop trying to do all the things I see you juggling a million responsibilities, falling, following rigid routines, and chasing every wellness dream that promises to change your life. It's exhausting. And it's not working because healing isn't about doing more. It's about doing what matters to your body. So I want you to stop doing all the other things. So here's the plan.

Number one, reconnect with your body. Start tuning into what your body is telling you. The symptoms that you've been ignoring. They are signals. So spend a few minutes each day checking in. How with how you physically feel, uh, physically and emotionally feel. And you can do it with a quick body scan the minute you wake up before you even get up from the bed, you can do a very quick body scan right from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head, and you can see if there's any tingling, any sensation, anything, any heaviness, any pain. You know, this kind of this is a beautiful and a very, very effective way of tuning into your body. And you become better and better at it.

Number two, simplify your goals. Forget those complicated plans and rigid resolutions. Just pick 1 or 2 things that will make the biggest impact on your energy, nutrition, or rest. That's where the magic happens. Just simplify it right? You don't need to have these huge goals, especially if you're dealing with any kind of chronic health issues.

Number three focus on small, consistent actions. It's not about perfection. It's about progress. When you focus on what's sustainable, one small step at a time, you build momentum that lasts. And I've done an earlier episode on perfectionism and what why women are stuck because of it. And there are certain myths around it. So I want to I will be sharing the link below, and I want you to listen to that episode. And I find that consistency is often missing the, you know, the the things that you need to do every single day. Does it matter so much as what you are doing, as it probably matters more than if you are doing it every day? So you know, as as they say, what is the best exercise that you will do? The answer is the one that you will actually be doing every day. That's the best exercise.

So number four, give yourself grace. Give yourself grace. When you make a mistake, give yourself grace when you you know when you can't do it a particular day. Self-compassion isn't optional. It's essential because this journey to wellness is not a sprint. And it's okay to take break. It's a journey. Right? And it's it's it's for the rest of your life. So be kind to yourself. You're doing the best that you can. And again, I have I have a couple of episodes on self-compassion on this very topic, and I'll share it in the show notes below. And I want you to go back and listen to them.

So if you keep piling on more, more routines, more goals, more shoulds, you know, I should be doing this and I should be doing that, and I should be exercising five times, five times a week. You're going to stay in the same place, stark, exhausted and wondering why nothing seems to work. And that's the trap. So many women fall into because they believe that they have to sacrifice themselves to keep everything else running, to take care of everything, everybody else, perfectly. The truth.

You don't need to add more to your plate, but you definitely need to realign your priorities with what truly matters. And what truly matters is what you will need to figure out. Because here's the thing wellness isn't about doing everything perfectly. It's about creating simplicity and alignment. So your energy, nutrition, rest, everything will work together to support the life that you want.

 So imagine waking up feeling clear, energized, and focused, knowing your goals aren't a burden but a source of momentum. And imagine having the tools to tune into your body and make decisions that feel right for you. Because this this isn't about quick fixes. This isn't about just trying harder. It's about building a foundation that lasts. And I keep talking about it in my coaching programs with my clients that we need to focus on building a very strong foundation. It's exactly like building a very tall building, you know, constructing a very tall building. We need to have proper foundation in place, otherwise, you know, it will not be stable. So when your wellness is in sync, everything your life shapes, everything becomes better. So your relationships, your work, everything.

Because the problem is not that you're not doing enough, it's that you are doing too much and most likely in the wrong ways. And which is why I actually created the Gentle goals, big wins challenge. It's a five day challenge and it's your opportunity to reset, simplify, and start your year with clarity and purpose. And, um. This will help you focus on the steps that actually move the needle for your wellness and your life. So starting January 13th, over five days, we will work together to create aligned, sustainable goals. And we'll be using my simple, simple model. They'll also be a tool like the Gentle Goals Playbook, because this is the year you stop chasing and start thriving. And here's the best part if you join the challenge and are ready to dive deeper, I'll show you how to create your personalized wellness roadmap.
 
So I want you to stop waiting for some day and start creating your wellness story today. And I. If you're ready, then you can head to Comm forward, slash general goals and join the challenge and discover how to start strong and stay gentle. Thank you so much for joining me for today for this episode of Embrace Your Healing Journey. In the next episode, the missing piece in your wellness journey how to build Momentum with Micro Habits, I will talk about why the grand gestures and the massive overhauls you've been chasing don't really work, and why small, consistent habits are the secret to sustainable change, and we'll explore how micro habits those tiny habits can create momentum in your wellness journey. And this is the episode that will change how you think about progress forever. So don't miss this episode! Your body knows how to heal. Are you ready to support it?