Most routine advice asks you to do more. Pilates instructor Bryony Basse, in a day-in-the-life piece told to Rose Beer for the AOL-syndicated feature, argues for the opposite: pick one or two promises small enough to keep, and build from there.
Here's how to use her approach, with the habits she shares as inspiration. You'll leave with a way to choose your own starting promise and a few gentle ideas for mornings and evenings.
Start with a promise you can actually keep
Basse says she doesn't believe transformation comes from reinventing yourself. In her words, it comes from "building trust with yourself through small things you say you will do and then actually do." She adds that most people don't need a complete life overhaul, just one or two promises to themselves that are small enough to keep.
Her examples are refreshingly modest:
- 10 minutes of Pilates in your pyjamas before work
- Putting your phone away for the first 20 minutes of the morning
Once a promise feels trustworthy, she says, build from there. Her reasoning: consistency builds evidence, and that evidence builds self-belief.
How to choose yours
- Pick something you could do on your worst day this week.
- Attach it to something you already do, like making a drink or brushing your teeth.
- Keep it going for a couple of weeks before adding anything.
That tie-in to existing habits is my suggestion, not Basse's, but it fits her spirit.
A flexible morning, not a rigid one
Basse has a nine-month-old, so she wakes between 6am and 7am and says she has learned to embrace flexibility. That's a useful note for anyone whose schedule shifts: a routine can have a shape without a fixed clock time.
Her mornings include:
- An alarm, with the phone kept away from the bed and no snoozing
- Tongue scraping and brushing her teeth
- Something warm to drink (she's a fan of Chinese medicine and avoids cold drinks)
- Journaling most mornings: looking back at the previous day, writing what she's visualising, plus one thing she'll do for her mind and one for her body
You don't need all four. The journaling prompt is easy to borrow on its own: one thing for your mind, one thing for your body. Two lines on a notepad is enough.
Keep food simple, and skip the "off limits" list
Basse says she doesn't fast or follow a restrictive diet. At home, she likes eating fairly monotonously during the day because it removes some decision-making, then she's more flexible at dinner. She doesn't believe in foods being "off limits" and has dark chocolate every day.
If daytime choices drain you, try repeating a similar breakfast and lunch for a week and see whether your evenings feel easier. It's a small experiment, not a rule.
Move in a way that fits your life
Basse's movement is scheduled because she's fitting it around a baby and running a business. She does four Pilates by Bryony classes a week and two weight-training sessions at the gym. She calls movement her number-one tool for managing stress and mental fatigue, saying that when she's very in her head, getting into her body changes her state quickly.
She describes the two styles as complementary: Pilates gives her strength, control, mobility and mind-body connection, while gym sessions let her work with heavier loads.
Your version can be far smaller. Her own suggestion is 10 minutes of Pilates in pyjamas. Schedule it like an appointment so it survives a busy day.
Rest without expensive gadgets
Basse loves saunas and cold water, and enjoys sea swimming when she can. She says cold water makes her feel mentally clear. But she doesn't think recovery needs lots of expensive tools. Her foundations are walking, sleep, gentle movement and a proper rest day.
That's the budget-friendly takeaway: before buying anything, check whether you're covering those four basics.
Try visualisation as a mental rehearsal
Meditation is a daily practice for Basse, and she's especially interested in visualisation. She uses it like a rehearsal: if something coming up makes her nervous, she mentally walks through it beforehand.
To try it, spend a few minutes before a meeting, appointment or event picturing it step by step, from arriving to finishing. It's simple, free, and takes no equipment.
A note on supplements and tracking
Basse also shares a few more personal choices. She takes five grams of creatine daily, which she became interested in for strength and recovery, noting there is emerging research on cognitive function too. She takes magnesium in the evening. And since having her daughter, she has become curious about how her energy and mood shift across her cycle, and recently did a DUTCH hormone test to explore it.
These are her personal choices, not recommendations for you. If you're curious about supplements or testing, a conversation with your doctor or pharmacist is the sensible first step.
Build an evening wind-down
Basse starts winding down around 10pm and tries to fall asleep soon after. Her evening looks like this:
- Dimmed lights and candles
- A calming playlist
- Mint tea and a book
- No phone for 30 to 60 minutes before bed
This is the cosiest part of her routine, and the easiest to copy. Dim a lamp, make a warm drink, and put your phone in another room. If 30 minutes feels like a lot, start with 10.
Remember the bigger picture
Basse is fascinated by research on the Blue Zones and observes that wellness can become complicated and commercialised, while many fundamentals associated with healthy ageing are simple: movement, food, purpose, connection and a sense of belonging.
Your next step
Choose one promise this week, make it small enough that skipping it would feel silly, and keep it. Trust comes first; everything else can be added later.