This is the time of year when most people, whether they have given it there all or not, drop many of their New Year’s commitments to change. Most people chalk it up to lack of will power, not having enough time or some other excuse to make themselves feel better about falling back into the same old routine. However, if those resolutions are calling to you, if you feel a twinge or guilt or despair about your inability to reach your goals or if you simply want some good ideas on how to get and keep going, read on.
I recently read a book called Switch, by Chip and Dan Heath that had a lot of great ideas on how to facilitate successful change. For things to change, you have to act differently than you are today. Successful change involves three things: (1) having clear direction on what to do, (2) motivating yourself to do it, and (3) changing your situation to make success more likely.
Here are some tools adapted from the book to get and keep you on track:
Having clear direction
- Envision what you want and get clear on why you want it. Picture this whenever you are tempted to veer off course.
- Think of a time when you have made a successful change or find an instance where someone else has done what you want to do, then copy the steps used to do it.
- Break the goal down into specific things that you can do right now to get you closer to your change and do those things today.
Self-motivation
- Get in touch with whatever feeling is motivating you to change. Whether it is fear, joy, anger or sadness, keep that feeling in your heart and use it to keep moving forward.
- Associate with people that have already achieved what you desire. Observe them, talk with them and learn from them; let them inspire you. Become part of that group.
- Do something every day, no matter how small, to get you to your change. Write down the most important next step and do something to bring it closer to completion every day.
Change the situation
- Eliminate obstacles to your desired change. If you want to lose weight, get rid of all the unhealthy food in your house and don’t buy any more. If you want to get out of debt, get rid of your credit cards. If you need more time, cancel cable/satellite and put the TV in the closet for a month.
- Look for ways to encourage the habits you want to build. If you want to exercise more, join a group class and make time to go. If you want to eat better, have healthy foods on hand and take 30 minutes on the weekend to think about how you will eat well during the week; make the arrangements you need (grocery shopping, finding restaurants, locating a salad bar) ahead of time.
- Get your friends and family on board. Share your goals with those closest to you and/or someone that can help you get to your goals and ask them to help in specific ways. Rather than saying, “I’d really like your help” let them know exactly what they can do, such as “can you please watch the kids from 5-6 PM on Wednesday and Friday so I could get in a quick workout?” Being specific will greatly increase the chances of you getting what you want and them feeling like they are helping out.
Change is hard for many people, but that’s usually because we don’t know exactly what we are supposed to do, we don’t know exactly why we are supposed to do it, we don’t know how to do it and/or we feel like the change is too big to accomplish. Following the steps above can help you widdle away at these obstacles so you can make the changes you want.
If your changes include weight loss or improving your health this year, we are always here to help in whatever capacity you need so you can make the changes and achieve your goals! Please contact us for more information.