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Dianna Teasdale

One Small Step Toward Change


One day while I was at work, hair pulled back in a messy bun, no makeup, still wearing my glasses (which was my style over day these days), one of my coworkers walked by. I didn't work with this girl often but I had worked with her enough to know that she is always put together. Her hair was done, her nails done, and her outfits on point. Of course, she was young and with no other responsibilities, so of course, she had the time for self-care. Or so I thought.

Then, I saw her head into the office with her two children. She had a boy and a girl just a few years older than mine and she was waiting for the babysitter to come to pick them up so she could work. My mind was blown! How does a single mother of two look so put together? Let’s clarify, looking put together and being put together can be two totally different things. However, for this point, she looked put together. I wanted to look put together too! I wanted to feel pretty again. That was the moment everything changed (okay, not everything). That was the moment I took one small step in the direction of changing my life.

Do you know what that one small step was? I decided I would wake up on my days off and get dressed. That’s it. I would no longer spend the whole day in my pajamas. I would brush my hair and make myself look presentable before my husband got home from work. Nothing fancy, just take a few minutes to put myself together.

The most powerful part of this step was that when I decided to do it, I did it. I got dressed and I made myself feel presentable. I actually took the step. I took control of a small piece of my life, and it snowballed from there. I started wearing makeup to work and trying to look cute when I left the house. That led to the next step: I wanted to lose the baby weight that I still had after birthing to precious girls only 16 months apart.

This next step started in my kitchen. Even though I spent 10 hours a day in the kitchen surrounded by food, I chose not to eat everything around me. I started intermittent fasting. I started a keto diet. I began to lose weight for the first time in a long time. It felt good, and it was empowering. With the weight loss, I got to buy new clothes. Clothes that actually fit, looked trendy, and made me feel sexy. Then I had a friend reach out to me and told me she started CrossFit and absolutely loved it. She thought I would love it too. After a few times of her encouraging me to give it a try, I did. She was right! I loved it. I continued to lose a few more pounds, but more importantly, I started to build muscle and reshape my body. I started to get a shape that I liked.

This transition from the girl who looked in the mirror and did not recognize herself turned into a girl who learned to love the girl looking back at her. This transformation began at a moment where enough was enough and I decided to take one step in the direction of how I wanted my life to go. I found the motivation when I saw that somebody else do it. If she can do it, I can do it. I took that first step of getting my life back.

It just takes one small step. It takes one small commitment to do the work to move toward what you want. One step or one small transformation leads to the next. You lose weight, then you buy new clothes. One thing affects the other. You cannot tackle the whole goal and the whole dream in a moment. It's a process. So many people feel overwhelmed because their goal is so far away or so big. We all get to a goal the same way, one step at a time. Start by committing to the first step. One step leads to the next. When we look at it one small step at a time our dreams become achievable. The fear of tackling them dwindles. With each step, we build more confidence that we are going to make it to the dream. What is that one small starting step for you?


-Dianna Teasdale


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