Your path to renewing your health will involve discovery.
When we approach strategies with a sense of exploring new possible paths, it eliminates the tendency to view ourselves and our efforts as a failure if a particular strategy doesn’t work. Instead, a sense of exploration enables us to keep experimenting: some strategies will propel us forward along the path we’ve chosen; some strategies need tweaking before they will reliably help us move forward, and some strategies can be discarded in favor of more effective ones.
Some key types of strategies to include:
- Strategies that strengthen your motivation to make the changes you have decided to make
- Strategies that use cues to remind yourself to engage in the actions you’ve chosen or that minimize cues to engage in habits you want to break
- Strategies that help you navigate around obstacles that are likely to get in your way
- Strategies that increase your sense of reward for achieving your goal
- Strategies that provide self-accountability through tracking your efforts
Examples of strategies that strengthen your motivation
Whenever you are trying to change, there will be a competition in motivation: Part of you will be motivated by the benefits of the long-term changes in habits. Another part of you will be motivated by the immediate payoff of the habit you are trying to change! So we need to put our finger on the scales and tip the balance to the long-term motivations.
- Write a reminder on a post-it note where you will see it frequently. Bonus if you can put it near the site of temptation
- Journal about your deepest motivation
- Tell friends or family about why you are making the changes you’ve decided on
Examples of strategies using cues:
- Link a new habit to an established one (E.g. Use the time the coffee is being made to do some squats. Making coffee then serves as the cue)
- Set a timer
Examples of strategies that help you navigate around obstacles:
- Putting on your workout clothes before leaving work (Saves an extra “step” when you get home. Also doubles as a “cue.” )
- Before eating out with friends, preview the menu online and make your choice. (Gets around the obstacle of possible impulse decision-making.)
Examples of strategies that increase your sense of reward:
- Finding a friend to join you in exercising
- Savoring your food rather than gulping it down
Examples of strategies that provide self-accountability:
- Using a wearable device to track your steps
- Charting your progress by making spread sheet or a simple chart (stickers can work for adults, too!)
Return to Self-Coaching Introduction
Return to Step 1: Identify where you are now
Return to Step 2: Seek reliable information
