By Louise Pyne
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Scroll through wellness accounts on social media and you’ll quickly spot the trend: posts and Reels urging you to be the healthiest, most productive version of yourself. Wake up at dawn, squeeze in a workout, meditate, journal and more.
This drive to pack in health habits and become the most optimised version of ourselves has now been packaged into TikTok’s latest self-improvement obsession: the ‘lock in,’ a seasonal challenge that went viral earlier this month.
How does it work? Participants are encouraged to share their personal vows and goals online and upload their daily progress to help hold themselves accountable. The idea is that you have from now until the New Year to transform your physical and mental health by focusing on discipline and structure.
Of course carving out time for essential elements such as movement, nutrition and lifestyle improvements can indeed help us feel like more rounded individuals, and science shows that it takes around 66 days to form a new habit, (which means you have enough time to get your ducks in a row leading up to the festive season if you jump on the lock in bandwagon now).
Yet the darker side of self-disciplined routines like the lock in are hard to ignore. The illusive quest for perfection perpetrated on social media can end up feeling like the ultimate thief of joy; ambitious goals can turn into pressures that magnify stress rather than soothe it. What begins as empowerment risks becoming obsession, and happiness can quietly slip out of the equation.
So is it really possible to strive for balance? Absolutely! There are simple ways to embrace the premise of the lock-in trend without taking it to extremes. Here are some gentle ways to make it work for you.
Having grand plans to overhaul your routine can be motivating, but a more sustainable way to reach long-term goals is by focusing on micro-actions — small, practical tasks you can consistently fit into your day. Simple examples include slowing down during meals, taking a few deep breaths to decompress when stressed, or carving out just 10 minutes a day for exercise.
The beauty of micro-actions is that they feel manageable in the moment, yet over weeks and months they stack up, allowing you to create lasting change that sticks.
You might be tempted to cling onto sleep when the alarm rings in the morning, but the fact is, what you do as soon as you wake up can help to set up your energy levels, sleep and productivity for the day ahead — and one of the best things you can do is get enough sunlight first thing, because that morning light acts as a natural ‘reset button’ for your body clock (circadian rhythm), telling your brain it’s daytime and helping you feel more alert.
Whether you head into your garden, or sit by an open window — allowing yourself around 10 minutes of sunlight exposure as soon as you wake up will help to regulate your level of the hormone cortisol, which should naturally peak in the morning, so grab a cuppa and your coat and step outside.
Winter screams comfort food, but it doesn’t have to be all about indulgence to bring some cheer to gloomy days. Think simple and hearty food to warm the senses. Try cinnamon-spiced stewed apple with a dollop of Greek yoghurt for breakfast, chunky soups made with root vegetables like squash and pumpkin for lunch and hearty lentil and veg stews and curries for dinner.
Make your life easy with one pot meals that can be batch-cooked ahead of time for a quick weeknight meal to greet you at the end of a busy working day.
With cold season setting in, getting enough sleep has never been more important. As temperatures drop, the immune system naturally weakens, and it’s during sleep that your body repairs and renews its cells. Studies back up the importance of sleep in winter, with one piece of research demonstrating that people who slept less than seven hours were almost 4.5 times more likely to catch a cold.
One simple way to boost your nightly rest is to head to bed just 20 minutes earlier. That small shift can make a noticeable difference in your energy, mood, and immune resilience over time.
We often think of our goals in order of outcomes, but aligning more with our personal values is a better way to keep motivation levels high. Ask yourself why your goals matter to you, and how can they benefit your health, energy or overall wellbeing to help build sustainable habits that you’re more likely to stick to for the long-haul.
