The Yellow Brick Road Toward Change

The Yellow Brick Road toward Change

 Take a moment to check out the changes you’d like to make in your life. Some changes are pretty easy to target, like weight loss and smoking. Even though some changes are easy to target, they AREN’T easy to complete. They seem almost out of reach.

But remember the saying  „A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step“.

While we may have a goal, we must also develop habits that get us there. Old habits are hard to break and new habits are hard to form because the behavioral patterns we repeat are imprinted in our neural pathways, yet it is possible to form new habits through repetition. Lally et al. (2010) found the average time for participants to reach the asymptote of automaticity was 66 days with a range of 18–254 days.

As the habit is forming, it can be analyzed in three parts: the cue, the behavior, and the reward.

1)   The cue is the thing that causes your habit to come about, the trigger to your habitual behavior. This could be anything that the mind associates with that habit and will automatically let a habit come to the surface.

2)   The behavior is the actual habit that is exhibited and

3)  the reward, a positive feeling.

Habits can either benefit or hurt the goals a person sets.

When going for a change, you have to develop a clear idea of what you want to achieve. What is going to be different that it is now?

If you want to lose weight, you can limit yourself to 700 calories per day in order to lose 40 pounds. Or you could start passing by the dessert and eating two servings of vegetables. The second way of changing is easier and more pleasurable. And you “suffer” less, which is better for your motivation.

Step 1: Make a list of the improvements or goals (changes) you would like to achieve within the next year.

Step 2: Map a multi-level plan that begins with where you are now and where you want to be when the transformation has been achieved.

Step 3: Let the people who love/like you and you trust know what you are trying to achieve. Enlist their help and support for the project(-s).

From Who You Are, To Who You Want To Be

I see behaviour change as the process of moving yourself from who you are, to who you want to be.

Who You Are ---------------------Who You Want To Be

Behaviour change is a process, not a switch.

It’s like learning how to play an instrument, or speak a new language.

Deciding today to learn the piano doesn’t mean tomorrow you’ll wake up and play Rachmaninov.

Deciding today to change yourself doesn’t mean tomorrow you’ll wake up and be a different person. You may FEEL better about yourself but nothing has changed yet. Don't get caught in this "feel good for nothing" limbo!

The most important thing is to know that you can use techniques and practice and repetition to get better at changing yourself.

Some of the most compelling work on identity is happening in, of all places, the 3-D virtual world Second Life. When people create online identities in these simulated spaces, few stray far from representing themselves as they actually are. And there's growing evidence that the more an avatar looks like you, the more you bond with it, and the more it may influence how you view yourself. Jeremy Bailenson, PhD, who founded Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab, helped discover that if a person sees diet and exercise making her avatar thinner, she'll feel more compelled to eat right and work out in the real world. It doesn't take long. Spending about five minutes with your avatar—watching her run on a treadmill, for instance—may lead to changes in what you think you're capable of accomplishing.

The Elements of Successful Behaviour Change

A one-size-fits-all formula for behavior change is impossible. Every change is different – compare starting a flossing habit with going from a couch potato to training for your first marathon.

BJ Fogg’s Behavior Grid describes the 15 ways behavior can change really succinctly. Trying to script a formula for all 15 is a mistake.

Here's the plan:

1. Get your head right
2. Set the right goal
3. Set the right activities
4. Feedback and regular review (Are you still on the right track?)

The first element, and probably the most overlooked, is creating the right mindset for change. Most people fail at change before they start because they haven’t set the right expectations for the change process.

There are some general points to consider setting your expectations of change correctly.

1.    I can get better at this.

2.    The journey, not the destination.

3.    Don’t pretend you have a different life.

4.    Start now.

5.    Expect disruption.

6.    Expect failure.

7.    Remove guilt.

8.    Be patient.

The second element is setting the right goal. Another major reason people fail is because they set a goal that isn’t right for them. It might be impossible or unrealistic or it might be something they don’t want or aren’t willing to do.

Assuming your expectations are reasonable and you’ve set an appropriate goal, the third element is determining with sufficient specificity the activities that will move you towards your goal.

The final element is regular review, both of your activities, and your goal. You have to take what you learn as you’re going to adjust your goals and your activities.

The cycle of these elements is ongoing. The regular process of review will allow you to calibrate your mindset, which will allow you to better define the right goals for you, which will require you to adjust the activities you’re doing, which will require regular review… and so on and so forth…

I can get better at this.

This is the fundamental belief you'll need to start changing. It’s not the same as thinking – “I can change” – which might actually work against you. It’s the mindset that whatever you’re going for, the goal is progress, not perfection.

It’s the journey, not the destination.
 
 



Go for it!