You don't need to change everything to improve your health

Eat perfectly.

Exercise every day.

Sleep eight hours.

Drink enough water.

Meditate.

Get outside.

Reduce your stress.

Switch off your phone.

Sometimes the advice we're given about being healthy is enough to make us feel stressed before we've even started - Particularly when we're already busy.

The good news is that improving your health doesn't have to mean changing everything at once.

In fact, trying to do that can be one of the quickest ways to give up altogether.

Start with what is affecting you most

When I work with someone, I'm interested in what is happening in their life and their body.

Two people may both tell me they're exhausted, but the reasons may be very different.

One may be sleeping badly because they can't switch off from work.

Another may sleep for eight hours but wake feeling unrefreshed.

Someone else might be skipping meals, struggling with digestive problems or going through hormonal changes.

That's why generic health advice can only take us so far.

We need to understand the whole picture.

Small changes can have wider effects

One of the things I find particularly interesting is how changing one area can influence several others.

If you sleep better, you may have more energy to exercise.

If you manage your stress more effectively, you may find it easier to switch off at night.

If you eat more consistently and healthily during the day, you may not experience the same afternoon energy crash.

If you make time for a short walk, you might return to your desk feeling clearer and more focused.

None of those things is dramatic. But together, over time, they can make a considerable difference to how you feel.

Health is more than the absence of illness

We often wait until something feels significantly wrong before paying attention to our health, but there is a large space between being ill and feeling at your best.

You might be functioning perfectly well on paper – going to work, looking after your family, seeing friends and getting everything done – while knowing that you don't have the energy, clarity or resilience you once did.

You don't necessarily have to accept that as an inevitable part of being busy or getting older.

And you don't have to completely reinvent your life either.

My approach is to look at the different factors that may be affecting how you feel – including sleep, stress, nutrition, movement, digestion, hormones and lifestyle – and work out where small, realistic changes could make the biggest difference.

Because looking after your health shouldn't become another exhausting job on your to-do list.

It should help make the rest of your life easier.