Start Small
Why we’ve made healing harder than it needs to be.
Start Small
One of the questions I’ve been asked the most since announcing my book is surprisingly simple.
“Where do I start?”
It’s usually followed by another sentence.
“I know what I should be doing, I just can’t seem to stick with it.”
Every time I hear those words, I smile because, for years, I asked myself the exact same question.
“Where do I start?”
I honestly believed healing would begin with one big decision. A perfect morning routine. A gym membership. A meditation practice. A new diet. A planner. A calendar.
I kept waiting for the day I would finally be ready to change my life.
Looking back, I don’t think I needed a different life.
I think I needed a smaller beginning.
When I was rebuilding my life, everything felt like it needed my attention.
My health, my relationships, my work, my finances, my purpose, even my breathing.
Every part of my life felt like another project that needed fixing, and every morning I woke up feeling like I was already behind.
The problem wasn’t that I didn’t care. The problem was that I cared about everything all at once. I wasn’t trying to change one habit or improve one area of my life.
I was trying to become a completely different person.
It’s no wonder I felt overwhelmed.
Somewhere along the way, I stopped asking myself, “How do I change my life?” and started asking a much quieter question.
“What’s one thing I can do today that my future self will thank me for?”
That question changed everything.
Not because it solved my life overnight, but because it finally gave me somewhere to begin.
Over the last 17 years, I’ve had the privilege of walking alongside thousands of people through counselling, fitness, nutrition, and breathwork.
Most of them wanted the same things we all want.
More energy. Less stress. Better relationships. A healthier body. A calmer mind. They weren’t lazy, and they weren’t lacking motivation. They genuinely wanted to feel better.
Almost every one of them believed the answer was to do more.
More discipline.
More motivation.
More willpower.
For a long time, I believed that too.
I don’t anymore.
I think we’ve made healing feel far more complicated than it needs to be. We’ve convinced ourselves that real change requires a complete overhaul, so we wait for the perfect time to begin. We tell ourselves we’ll start when work slows down, when the kids are older, after the holidays, on Monday, or on January 1st.
The problem is, life rarely becomes less busy.
It simply keeps asking us the same question.
What’s one small promise you’re willing to keep today?
That’s why I called the book 2 Things To Do Today, Healing Without the Hustle.
Not because two is a magical number.
Because two feels believable.
Two feels possible.
Two is small enough that our mind doesn’t immediately push back. It’s enough to create momentum without creating overwhelm, and enough to help us finish the day feeling like we kept a promise to ourselves instead of breaking another one.
Over time, I realized something that completely changed the way I think about growth.
Trust isn’t built by making bigger promises.
It’s built by keeping smaller ones.
Every time we keep one small promise, we’re doing more than building a habit.
We’re rebuilding our relationship with ourselves.
We’re teaching our brain that our word means something.
That we can be trusted.
That we don’t have to earn our confidence through perfection.
It grows quietly, one kept promise at a time.
I wish someone had told me that years ago.
I spent so much of my life believing I needed a complete overhaul, when what I actually needed was one small step that I could repeat tomorrow.
That’s the beautiful thing about healing.
It rarely arrives in the dramatic moments.
It arrives in ordinary Tuesdays.
A walk after dinner.
A glass of water.
A conversation you’ve been avoiding.
A few slow breaths before walking into work.
One kind decision.
One promise kept.
Those ordinary Tuesdays have a funny way of becoming extraordinary lives.
2 Things To Do Today
Thing 1. Breathe
For the next two minutes, breathe gently in through your nose for 4.
Breathe out through your nose for 4.
Nothing to force.
Nothing to fix.
Just a steady, even rhythm.
As you breathe, ask yourself:
What’s one promise I know I can keep today?
Don’t think about tomorrow.
Don’t think about next week.
Just today.
Let that question settle with each inhale and let the answer arrive in its own time.
When something simple comes to mind.
Trust it.
Thing 2. Keep One Promise
Choose one small promise and keep it.
Drink the glass of water.
Take the walk.
Read one page.
Stretch for two minutes.
Send the text.
Go to bed fifteen minutes earlier.
It doesn’t matter what you choose.
What matters is that you finish it.
Then take a moment to notice how it feels.
Not pride.
Not perfection.
Trust.
Because every promise you keep is another vote for the person you’re becoming.
Today’s Mantra
I don’t need to change my whole life today.
I only need to keep one promise.
Let’s Talk
What’s one small promise you’ve been putting off?
I’d love to hear what you’re choosing today.
Until next time, one breath, one kind action, repeat.
🧡 Ben
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Its here - my book 2 Things To Do Today- Healing Without the Hustle is offcially available for preorder - If you like what I am sharing and resonate with the message I would appriciate you picking up a copy or 2 at amazon and sharing it with your community. My Mission is simple spread the word that people are not broken and that real human healing can come from simple small acts of self love that then ripple into our families and communities. Pick up your copy with the links below.
Order from Red links below
In Canada:
Amazon
In the United States:
Amazon
A Gift I’d Love to Give You
There’s another reason I’m excited about this launch.
I’d love the opportunity to meet many of you.
One of the central ideas in this book is simple:
“The way we breathe is the way we live” (Jeff Sorenson- Breath Army)
The way we breathe often reflects the pace we’ve learned to survive at.
Fast.
Shallow.
Guarded.
Always preparing for what’s next.
Over time, that breathing pattern becomes the way we move through life.
The beautiful thing is that the opposite is also true.
As we begin restoring a more natural rhythm to our breathing, many people discover more ease, more energy, more clarity, and a greater sense of trust in themselves.
So everyone who pre-orders 2 Things To Do Today will receive a complimentary 60-minute Breath & Nervous System Assessment with me.
Together we’ll:
Assess your breathing patterns.
Explore how your nervous system responds to stress.
Experience a guided breath session.
Build a simple breathing practice designed specifically for you.
You’ll leave with practical tools to help reduce stress, restore energy, improve your breathing, overcome limiting patterns, and reconnect with your body’s natural rhythm.
Think of it as experiencing the first chapter of the book, together.
Simply pre-order the book, then email me at ben@lifttorise.ca or send me a private message here on Substack with a copy of your receipt.
I’ll personally send you the booking information.
One of the things I’ve loved most about writing on Substack is that this has never felt like an audience.
It’s felt like a community.
You’ve celebrated with me.
Encouraged me.
Challenged me.
Shared your own stories.
Many of you have become friends.
This book may have my name on the cover.
But every page was shaped by the people I’ve had the privilege of walking beside over the last 16 years.
If it reaches the people it’s meant to reach, it won’t be because I wrote it.
It will be because a community decided this message was worth carrying.
I can’t think of a more beautiful way for this book to enter the world.
With breath, love, and gratitude,
Ben ❤️
Great idea to make small promises to yourself!!