More...
One Habit At A Time
As coaches, we tend to think that we live much healthier lives than our clients. Most of the time this is true.
We generally workout much more consistently and smarter than your average person. We eat way healthier than the average American. We also tend to have a pretty healthy overall lifestyle and view on life.
I don’t know about you, but unfortunately there have been a few times where I realize I am not very good at taking my own advice!
Times Have Changed
It seems like the only way that you have not read about habit change is if you have been under a rock for the past couple years!
I am guessing that you have come across at least one (if not hundreds) blog post, article, podcast or other form on media that discussed the best way to inspire change.
It seems to be one of the new “hot” topics in our industry, and for good reason. Gone are the days where you can tell your clients to just “eat less and move more” to achieve their results (hopefully you always did at least a little more than that anyways!).
So many different companies and individuals are putting out great content relating to sustainable behavior change. In fact, that is becoming the main part of a trainer’s job. We get people who did not view themselves as “exercisers” to come to love their workouts! We help change lifestyles to where our clients do not think it is weird to bring their lunch to work instead of going out to eat all the time.
These are huge improvements, but how do we get them there quickly but also in a sustainable way?
Follow Your Own Advice
Like I mentioned earlier, there have been just a few instances where I have had to look in the mirror and realize that I have not been following the same advice I give out each and every day.
For me, following one habit at a time was one of those times.
I have been studying habit change for many years and thought I had a pretty good understanding of it. I would give our clients all the research, data and tips on how to create new healthy habits. I always just kind of assumed I was following the same tips.
It wasn’t until I did more of a personal audit one day when I realized that I had in fact been chasing way more than one habit at a time. And the really tough part to swallow was that I was not making much progress at all toward any of these habits.
I would be great for a week or two and then jump to something else. I was always chasing and never sticking to one at a time.
There is a quote that says: “We tend to overestimate what we can do in a day and underestimate what we can accomplish in a year.”
I think this hits the nail on the head for my situation. I thought that I could change a couple different habits in the short-term as I did not want to wait. Looking back, if I would have just taken each one slowly and by itself, I would have accomplished all my goals within a year.
Now I was just stuck standing there with not much progress made at all.
It Was Time For A Change
I decided it was time for a change. I knew all the research, so I decided to actually follow my own advice and start super small.
Even though it had nothing to do with healthy habits, I decided to make my bed every morning for a month. I focused entirely on that and did not try to change anything else.
And do you know what happened??
I formed a habit! I used that momentum and start tackling some other healthy habits that I have wanted to form for quite some time. Each one building on the next and before you know it, I had made way more progress in just 3 months than I had in the last 12 months combined.
Why Does The “One Habit At A Time” Advice Work?
We have all heard this advice, so why does it actually work so well? Why can’t we change a bunch of habits all at once?
I think it comes down to two different things:
- Our willpower is a finite resource.
- In general, humans are very bad at multi-tasking.
WILLPOWER
What does willpower have to do with habit change? Quite a bit actually!
When we try to adopt a new habit, we are actively going against what we normally do during our day. It might be something very simple, but it still involves a choice.
The tricky part is that willpower is a finite resource. It is a measurable form of mental energy that depletes as you use it, much like gas in your car.
This means that using too much of it when you’re trying to change multiple habits at a time can easily make you end up with no changes at all.
This can be especially true when it comes to nutrition habits. How easy is it to pass up a warm cookie and choose cooked vegetables instead? While it may not ever be easy for some people, it will be much easier for those who have not used much willpower throughout the day. Think of all the willpower it requires to walk by the candy dish at work and not take a piece, over and over throughout the day.
This is another reason why it is a smart idea to structure new habits to be done in the morning. Your willpower bank is still full at this time and it is much easier to complete your habit than later in the evening.
John Tierney, who coauthored Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, said “People with the best self-control aren’t the ones who use it all day long. They’re people who structure their lives so they conserve it.”
Stick with one habit at a time and watch your compliance and willpower rise!
MULTI-TASKING
Multi-tasking used to be all the rage. You were expected to be able to do it and it was deemed productive.
We have since learned otherwise.
Multi-tasking in fact lowers your productivity, adds more stress to your life and increases chaos in an already crazy world.
Each time you switch between tasks/projects, your brain has to make that switch as well. This might not seem like a big deal, but it can cause your brain to run at as low as 20% of its capacity.
By clearing distractions and focusing on the task you are doing in the moment, your brain can be clear and functioning at an optimal level. Now don’t you think that this will make you more productive over the course of a day than constantly switching between tasks?
Your brain works the same way when it comes to habit change. When we try to focus on changing too many things at once, our efficiency goes way down and we end up with zero change.
By directing 100% of our focus to one activity or change, we can learn to really dominate it and make it a sustainable part of our life. This is where real change happens. This is where lives are dramatically changed for the better.
Start Your Clients Out Small
If you haven’t already, I highly encourage you to start talking and working with your clients on habit change. It is a very rewarding journey and something that will get you raving fans for life.
Take the approach I took and have them start with something very small. It doesn’t even have to be nutrition-based, if you don’t want it to be.
Have them start by making their bed every morning or even flossing every morning. Yes, you are bound to get some pushback on how that will help them reach their goals. Just ask them “If you cannot take 45 seconds in the morning to do this simple task, what makes you think you are ready to take on < XYZ bigger, more complicated> task?”
You need to set them up for success and get that snowball rolling!
Knock out one easy habit and then move on to bigger and better things. Just remember:
We tend to overestimate what we can do in a day and underestimate what we can accomplish in a year.
Make this the best year of their lives!
Sign Up Now for the Wait List!
Be the first coach to get your hands on this technology and set your gym apart