FEELING GREAT: A park run is one way to add that extra bit of variety to your life

OK, so maybe you’re thinking about it and you’re going to try something new.

That’s great! And if it’s something that adds value to your life, you’ve next got to make it stick so that it becomes a healthy habit which will last.

Now, I’ve heard variations on how long it takes to form a good habit, but I work on 21 days.

That means you’d need to be working towards doing something 21 times continuously if you want that good habit to stick.

Answer me this: did you know that bad habits can’t be stopped? No, they can only be replaced - by good ones.

And I’m just thinking out loud here - one option for something new for you to try might be something like an organised park run.

It’s a 5k run starting at 9am each Saturday morning and all are encouraged to attend, including people who’ve never ever even considered running.

You can walk it or walk-run; it’s likely you will find more than one person who is your age, with your fitness ability, and who has your same outlook on life, at the start line.

They’re great fun to be part of and also a great place to meet like-minded, curious people of all ages.

Park runs are perfect if you’re a keen runner, or wanting to pick it up, maybe just start up a new healthy habit, and perhaps are a bit fed up with the same route, week after week.

Each run is an organised, timed event, starting at the same time every week (helps for the habit) and are full of people who turn up to just give it a go to try something new.

Now I believe most people are able to go a long way to fixing the problems in their own life.

The only problem is actually recognising the problem in the first place.

So if you’ve hit a point in your life where you are constantly finding yourself resisting new things, take note.

No matter how safe or enjoyable they seem, it might help to tell yourself it’s just the lack of a few curiosity chemicals that’s holding you back.

Also consider that life just might be a little more enjoyable if you tackle it with action (probably healthier, too).

And the easiest way to achieve all of that is to replace no with a simple maybe.

Think you could do that?