Programs & Assessments Tools for Behavior Change: Awareness to Willpower by Annette Lang | Date Released : 13 Mar 2014 0 comments Print Close You get up every morning and take a shower. Or do you pour a cup of coffee first? When you put your pants on, do you think about which leg you should stand on? It would have to be a deliberate decision to stand on the other one, wouldn’t it?! If we had to reconsider these patterns every second of our day, there would be even more noise in our heads than we currently have to deal with. When you think about it, each day is composed of one behavior or habit followed by another, with some new adventures sprinkled in throughout. So how do we reduce or stop one of those behaviors, or add a new, different one? If these questions sound overwhelming, they are! It’s really not that surprising then, that most of us are not successful with our New Year’s Resolutions each year. In this article, I will discuss how we can help our clients identify key tools they can use in their efforts to change behavior. It is also extremely helpful for us to think about this in terms of our own lives. Appreciating one’s own struggles will help empathize with what our clients are going through. After all, this insight is not only for exercise or fitness. We might find it easy to exercise regularly, but have a hard time staying neat at home. So, ask yourself: What behavior do you find difficult to change? The concepts discussed here are: Awareness, Plans vs. Goals, and Practicing Willpower. A strong habit is automatic (Wood et al., 2007), i.e., you don’t even think about it anymore. This concept of automaticity is important in both stopping a behavior, and starting a new one. Awareness First, bring awareness to the behavior’s role in your life. Are you trying to start/increase a habit, or stop/reduce one? There are different strategies that might help you depending on what your challenges are. Stopping/Decreasing a Desired Behavior Stopping, or modifying a current habit could be made easier by distraction. Let’s assume you want to drink less coffee. Think about your habit in terms of how automatic it has become and what the triggers are for this habit, e.g. what happens before this action, and the behavior/reward after. You always get off the elevator and the break room is nearby, so you get a cup of coffee on the way to your desk. Now, think about what would happen if something occurred to break you of that pattern. What if someone saw you get off the elevator and asked if you could step over to their desk to look at something right then? Or what if a colleague tripped on the carpet and you helped them get medical attention? There is a good chance that the cup of coffee slips completely from your mind. Using this as an example, try to deliberately create that “glitch” - that distraction in your pattern. You can deliberately plan a different path. For example, perhaps walk up the stairs rather than take the elevator, which causes you to enter the floor at a different location (away from the coffee). One of my clients said she became acutely aware of how the action of putting the key into her front door triggered the thought pattern of pouring a glass of wine and cooking dinner. She decided to try taking a shower first, and broke an important pattern. For her, distraction/adding a "glitch" helped at least delay the first glass of wine. Over time, the first glass of wine became the only glass. Starting/Increasing a Desired Behavior Depending on how complicated or time intensive the new action is, it can be more difficult to start or increase a desired behavior. Starting a new behavior might require you to evaluate your time management and determine exactly when during your day you can incorporate the new habit. This is where plans and willpower can help. Plans vs. Goals If you are trying to start, or increase a new behavior, think about how you describe your efforts, in terms of plans vs. goals. Even the best-laid goals are often unachieved because there are no plans. Behaviors are more successful at changing if you keep the plan in mind, even if you forget about the goals (Masicampo & Baumeister, 2011). This point is painfully obvious every spring, when most people do not even think about their New Year’s Resolutions. A major contributor to this is the lack of a plan. A goal is to lose 10 lbs., and a plan is to go to the gym 3 days each week; run 5 miles; eat 500 calories less per day by focusing on nutrient dense food, etc. Remember, you need to reinforce these new habits, and the habits are composed of little plans/actions. Incorporate an additional positive component to help reinforce the new desired habit. For example, if you want to eat better and your plan is to cook at home twice each week, perhaps it would be fun to take a knife skills class and plan simple dinner parties with friends. If you want to walk 30 minutes each day, you could plan to pick up some soup for lunch from a location 15 minutes away from the office. You can add another positive layer by asking a colleague to walk with you. Remember, the more automatic it becomes, the stronger the habit will be. Willpower Also thought of as self-control, this attribute can be a strong contributor to success in changing behavior. People with strong willpower tend to be able to delay gratification, override unwanted thoughts, stay cool under pressure and self regulate. This “willpower muscle” (Muraven et al., 1998) can be exercised, but is also subject to fatigue. Keep your mind on the plan to strengthen the precise actions you need to reinforce the habit, i.e. don’t worry about whether you are losing 10 lbs. Focus instead on going to the gym 3 times that week and running 5 miles, etc. On the other hand, your ability to practice self-control and stay strong can be diminished if fatigued. My clients report this often; they stay away from tempting snacks all day long, and then something stressful and unrelated happens at work. Before they know it, they are sitting at the bar eating French fries! When times get tough and you stumble in your efforts, it is important to stay focused on present and current actions, instead of dwelling on why you didn’t succeed (Rock, 2007). Conclusion A recent article in the New York Times presented some insight as to why nutrition is confusing, citing how many people are already failing at their attempts to lose weight just 6 weeks into the new year (Taubes, 2014). The author explained that one of the challenges with nutrition research is the fact that the “gold standard” -double blind studies - cannot be used to research various diets and eating habits. In double blind studies, participants and researchers do not know who is receiving the medication being tested or a placebo for example. With research on diets however, the participants would know whether they were eating a donut or an apple! Here’s the thing: our clients are not lab rats volunteering for double blind studies. They are complicated individuals, with layers of predisposing, and reinforcing contributing factors to their ingrained habits. Research has been trying for years to gain better insight into what factors can enhance the probability that someone will be successful at these efforts. We can function as a more effective coach if we put ourselves in their shoes, look at ourselves, and identify how we approach our own efforts. In doing so, we are better able to empathize with, and help someone else in his or her efforts. References: Baumeister, R., Tierney, J. (2011). Willpower. Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. The Penguin Press. The Center for Neurobiology of Stress (CNS); uclacns.org Masicampo, E., Baumeister, R. (2011). Consider it done! Plan making can eliminate the cognitive effects of unfulfilled goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 101 (4): 667-83. Muraven, et al. (1998). Self-control as limited resource: Regulatory depletion patterns. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(3); 774-789. Rock, D. (2007). Quiet Leadership. Harper Collins Schwartz, J. (2002). The Mind and the Brain; Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force. Regan Books Taubes, G. (2014). NY Times; Why Nutrition Is So Confusing. Feb. 8 Williams, Ray. Wired for Success. Psychology Today. Feb. 17, 2010 Wood, W., Neal, D. (2007). A New Look at Habits and the Habit-Goal Interface. Psychological Review. 114(4); 843-63. Back to top About the author: Annette Lang Annette Lang has been in the health and fitness industry since 1983, working in sales, education, management and personal training. She is one of the most sought-after presenters at health and fitness conferences in the US and abroad. She speaks on a variety of topics related to the education of fitness professionals, contributing to the integrity of the personal training business within health clubs. The conference groups include: Perform Better, The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), American Fitness Professionals and Associates (AFPA), the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), International Health and Racquet Sports Association (IHRSA), Club Industry, Towne Sports International (TSI) Summit, Reebok International, Sara’s City Workouts and more. In 2005, Annette presented at international conferences in Moscow and Portugal. Annette is a Reebok University Master Trainer and helped develop Reebok Reactive Neuromuscular Training (RNT), Reebok Core Training, Reebok One to One Flexibility Training and Reebok Deck Training. She presents for Free Motion Fitness exercise equipment and is one of the original authors for www.PTontheNET.com. Annette was on the original team of the Equinox Fitness Training Institute, developing and teaching the nationally recognized education program for Equinox personal trainers. Annette teaches at numerous health clubs on a regular basis, some of her programs being a standard component of the facilities’ education process. The clubs include Equinox, Crunch/Bally, Wellbridge, NY Health & Racquet and many private facilities. Trainers enjoy Annette’s practical way of teaching, making concepts easy to understand and relating topics to real life training on the gym floor. Annette works as a private trainer in New York City. Full Author Details Related content Content from Annette Lang Fitness Coaching Tools: Powerful Words and Outcome-based Decision Making John Berardi | Articles Eliciting Behavior Change by Facilitating Intrinsic Motivation Camilla Dempster | Articles Goal Setting as a Strategy for Healthy Behavior Change Kim McDevitt | Articles Client Assessment: From Activity to Exercise by Annette Lang | Videos How to Get Honest Evaluations During Client Re-assessments by Annette Lang | Videos Understanding Client Motivation: Meeting of the Minds 08 with Annette Lang by Annette Lang | Videos Client Behavior Change Leigh Brandon | Articles Motivating Your Clients Part 2 Sherri McMillan | Articles Motivating Your Clients Part 1 Sherri McMillan | Articles Goal Setting and Motivation Sheldon Persad | Articles Goal Setting Chip Richards | Articles Program Design: A Themed Workout Annette Lang | Articles Time Management = Me Management Annette Lang | Articles Fun and Play in Program Design Annette Lang | Articles Tools for Behavior Change: Awareness to Willpower Annette Lang | Articles Pounding the Pavement: Making It as a Private Trainer Annette Lang | Articles Diastasis Recti in Pregnant Clients Annette Lang | Articles Assessing Clients Along a Continuum from Activity through Exercise Annette Lang | Articles Re-Assess the Client, Not Merely the Fitness Program Annette Lang | Articles Overcoming Obstacles to Client Retention Annette Lang | Articles How to Sell Personal Training Without Selling Out Annette Lang | Articles Creating a Great Personal Training Experience Annette Lang | Articles Advanced Exercise During Pregnancy Annette Lang | Articles Active Isolated Technique Annette Lang | Articles Bikram Yoga and Pregnancy Annette Lang | Articles Straight Leg Hamstring Stretch Annette Lang | Articles Integrated Warm-Ups Annette Lang | Articles Stretching... What’s in a Word? Annette Lang | Articles Reebok Movement Screens - Case Study 2 Annette Lang | Articles Reebok Movement Screens - Case Study 1 Annette Lang | Articles Personal Trainer Sales - Part 3 Annette Lang | Articles Biceps Stretches Annette Lang | Articles Increasing Range of Motion for Frozen Shoulder Annette Lang | Articles Children in Gyms Annette Lang | Articles Calories Burned in Heat vs. Cold Annette Lang | Articles Personal Trainer Sales - Part 2 Annette Lang | Articles Strong Wrists for Rowing Annette Lang | Articles Strengthening the SI Joint Annette Lang | Articles Personal Trainer Sales - Part 1 Annette Lang | Articles External Obliques Stretches Annette Lang | Articles The Reebok Core Board Annette Lang | Articles Quadriceps Stretches Annette Lang | Articles Quad Stretch - Which Way is Right Annette Lang | Articles Medicine Ball Training - Part 3 Annette Lang | Articles RNT Mobility and Stability Screens Part 2 Annette Lang | Articles Reebok RNT: Rotational Movement Screens Annette Lang | Articles Medicine Ball Training - Part 2 Annette Lang | Articles Teenagers: Guidelines on Strength and Flexibility Training Annette Lang | Articles Medicine Ball Training - Part 1 Annette Lang | Articles Functional Training with Foam Rollers Annette Lang | Articles Reebok Reactive Neuromuscular Training Annette Lang | Articles The Reebok Slide Annette Lang | Articles Upper Body Stretches Annette Lang | Articles Basic Lower Body Flexibility Assessment Annette Lang | Articles Flexibility Training - Part 3 Annette Lang | Articles Flexibility Training - Part 2 Annette Lang | Articles Flexibility Training - Part 1 Annette Lang | Articles Please login to leave a comment Comments (0) Back to top