Hello again! It's Dr. Jean Latting.

I want to share an insight I had this week while staying late at the hospital caring for a relative. I went down to the hospital cafeteria and ordered a black bean burger.

The cafeteria was empty except for the cook, the cashier, and myself. While waiting for the burger to grill, I started doing leg lifts because my body felt stiff and I hadn’t had time to stretch in the last couple of days.

When I went to pay, the cashier looked directly at me, locked eyes, and said, “you exercise?”

My mind raced in a million ways I could answer. Was she looking for tips on how to get started exercising? Motivation to even try? Or was this just a friendly conversation?

I suspected she was seeking tips and motivation, so I flashed to wondering what I could even tell her in two minutes about forming new habits. What would be useful to a middle-aged woman who works hours every night while sitting in a nonergonomic chair?

“Yes,” I said. “I exercise. My body gets mad at me when I don’t.”

I smiled at her and although she didn’t smile back, she kept staring intensely at me. I knew that look. She was hoping I’d have magic words to help her. I continued on.

“I have fallen off my typical schedule the last few days, which is why I was doing leg lifts right here in this cafeteria while I have a moment.”

Still no response, but her eyes never left mine. I decided to tell her what has helped me maintain an exercise habit without feeling completely overwhelmed.

“Start in small doses,” I shared. “Do what you can. The goal is to form muscle memory of exercising. It doesn’t matter how much you do until you form the habit. While you are sitting and working, you can simply lift one arm up in the air, then the other, and get into a rhythm of stretch and movement…

“Don’t overdo and think you have to do a lot. It’s about one small step at a time.”

She nodded her head. I paid for my burger and wished her a good evening.

It got me thinking about how challenging it can be to form new habits, and how I use this approach in my own life as well as my leadership coaching and programs.

My goal is for people to learn to take small bites at first until they get used to a new way of being and interacting.

As they are ready, they then move down a path toward conscious leadership – one step at a time.

In all our online leadership development programs, including Pathfinders and ChangeMakers, reading is a key aspect of our program. We write original blog content every two weeks, and we hope you are enjoying it!

Last week’s blog post titled “Supreme Court bids goodbye to affirmative action. What comes next?” was about a topic near and dear to my heart. The learning questions this blog posed for our clients were:

• What is your definition of affirmative action? If affirmative action is no longer viable or emphasized in some settings, what is the best way to promote diversity?

Meet the Leading Consciously team! Meet Carole Marmell, our dedicated Content Coordinator. She had a hand in this newsletter and our blogs and helps us keep our content compelling! Fun fact about Carole: She’s been a city girl all of her life, moved to a small town eight years ago and will never leave. Meet the team!