Michelle Segar's Blog, page 3

How to Plant the Motivational Seeds for a Physically Active Lifestyle

This content was originally posted on the US News & World Report's blog.

Spring is a lovely time of longer days, more sunshine and the call of the great outdoors. It's also a wonderful, natural lab in which you can experiment with physical activity. Take time now to plant the seeds of lifelong fitness motivation by figuring out what you love to do and what hidden barriers may be getting in your way. Here's how:

Seed 1: Identify the 'Right Why.'

Why we exercise determines whether we have low- or high-quality motivation. Research shows that when we embark on fitness activities because we feel guilty, because friends or family are urging us to or even because a doctor prescribed it for health reasons, we are likely to lose our motivation and stop. The "Right Why" – a term I coined and discuss in my book, No Sweat: How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You a Lifetime of Fitness – is a reason for being physically active that delivers an immediate boost in positivity, such as greater well-being, connection and energy, when you do it.

Tip: Especially if you have started and stopped a physical activity regimen over and over, take a moment to think about why you usually start in the first place. Recognize whether you feel like you "should" exercise or whether you deeply want to experience the benefits that regular physical activity brings.

Seed 2: Find the right way.

The way we exercise determines whether we desire it or dread it. Stop following prescriptions or "rules" about how you think you should work out and start picking physical activities that generate positive feelings. Making your own choice about the ways you are going to move – be it by walking, dancing, biking, doing yoga, enrolling in a gym class or something else entirely – ensures that you look forward to having a similar experience again and again. After all, research shows that moving in ways that feel good is among the very best motivators.

Tip: Pay attention to how you feel in the moment of movement, and make sure to do what you enjoy or what feels good – not what you think you should be doing.

Seed 3: Figure out the right how.

How are you going to prioritize your own self-care by way of exercise? Doing what you love generates joy and life energy – the essential fuel that enables you take care of yourself, your loved ones, your necessary tasks and what you value most. Stop believing that well-being and joy are luxuries. They are fundamental experiences that reduce stress and depression and enhance the ability to have perspective and be resilient in the face of challenges.

Tip: Remind yourself that prioritizing your self-care is not taking away from your family, friends and work; it is fueling you for what you care about doing well every day.

Seed 4: Learn from the right do.

Get up and move! What did you learn?Instead of following an achievement mindset – or focusing on hitting a specific target – consider adopting a learning mindset, or a perspective that lets you be more compassionate and reframe your "mistakes" and "failures" as data you can use to correct your strategy. In other words, find the plans that work for you and eliminate the ones that are unrealistic, too ambitious or that otherwise fuel resentment.

Tip: Strategize! Make plans ahead of time for barriers like schedule changes, last-minute meetings or family emergencies that inevitably interrupt your plans. Figure out new or different ways to be active – even if it's reducing your workout from 30 minutes to three minutes.

Remember, consistency trumps quantity when you are learning how to establish life-long motivation

The post How to Plant the Motivational Seeds for a Physically Active Lifestyle appeared first on Michelle Segar.

The Perfect Fitness Plan for Every Mindset

This content was originally posted on the US News & World Report's blog.

We're all different in how we approach planning, including when it comes to fitness. Some of us are more comfortable knowing we have a well-structured routine, some of us prefer a free-form approach and others mix it up – with some days planned and some days left open. All of these approaches can be successful, especially if you know how to be resilient in the face of setbacks.

But do you?

If you feel guilty when an unexpected call on your time prevents you from getting your planned workout, or you keep saying you'll get to it tomorrow (yet tomorrow never seems to arrive), you may benefit from becoming more aware of the pros and cons of your approach – and making a strategy adjustment if necessary. Here's how to know what mindset you have and how to make helpful changes:

Fixed Planning Mindset

You have this type of mindset if you are happier knowing what you are supposed to do every day, and you take pains to stick to your schedule.

Pro: When we automate our approach to life, we use fewer cognitive resources – and this is a good thing! If you get joy out of having a schedule and sticking to it, and are successful at finding ways to meet your self-imposed obligations in the face of adversity, this approach can keep you on track.
Con: Society teaches us to aim at a perfect target and hit it, or consider ourselves failures. Most people feel like this planning mindset is the "right" or "best" one, even though it doesn't make them happy and doesn't work for them in the  long term. If you get anxious being obligated to meet the perfect goal (say, that exercise must be at least 30 minutes or make you sweat to be worth doing), even when you clearly have no time, this approach is not helping you. Research also shows that people with extrinsic goals (like exercising for appearance reasons) tend to use this approach more and experience more self-doubt.
Strategy: Without flexibility, your plans will inevitably fracture because that's the nature of life. Be sure to have alternate plans in place that you can call on when you hit a pothole. If you miss your typical morning workout, for example, give yourself permission to do something different (say, taking steps for 10 minutes at work or walking with your family after dinner) instead of feeling frustrated. Consider the change of plans a good way to mix things up, give yourself a break, use different muscles or renew your body and mind for your regular workout tomorrow. Keep in mind that everyone gets sick sometimes, and everyone has work and family emergencies. And, even though you prefer being "perfect," having compassion with yourself when things go awry is an evidence-based strategy for staying motivated to continue.

Flexible Planning Mindset

You have this type of mindset if you like to adjust your physical activity schedule based on what you can fit in to your available time and what you feel like doing. For example, you might have planned a 40-minute intense workout at the gym, but when the time arrives to leave, you are exhausted from a stressful day. You listen to your body and take a 20-minute leisurely walk instead.

Pro: Studies show that people who can be flexible with their behavioral plans and goals tend to be better at managing themselves over time and sticking with it. Interestingly, having a flexible mindset is also linked to being happier and healthier, and is thought to reflect a more committed and values-based approach to behavioral goals. Being flexible (rather than rigid) with our behavioral plans (like around eating) even seems to help people maintain weight loss over time.
Con: Having boundaries can give our aspirations shape. If you take flexibility too far, plans can easily fall by the wayside – if you even make them at all. Also, when we feel we need to totally reinvent the wheel by planning a different workout at a different time every day (instead of just doing it reflexively), we can use a ton of cognitive resources. Too much thinking and too many choices can become overwhelming and, instead of giving us momentum, freeze us in indecision.
Strategy: Try making one firm physical activity plan for the week. For instance, take a walk during lunch on Monday, park in the far lot at work on Wednesday and take every opportunity to move on Friday. Whatever you plan, commit to it as an opportunity learn and then evaluate how it goes. Use this new data for future weeks.

To get started, it's important to be aware of your behavior. Ask yourself these questions in order to gather key data about the approach that has (or hasn't) worked for you:

Have you tended to display a fixed or flexible planning mindset when you've tried to adopt a new self-care behavior like exercise?
What strategies (of any sort) have actually worked to keep you consistent long-term?
Do you want to try a new mindset and approach if the ones you've been using haven't yielded long-term results?

The bottom line: Resiliency allows us to bounce back from challenges rather than be flattened by them. Building resiliency into your fitness approach will help ensure that you can more easily navigate challenges, whether a fixed or flexible planning mindset works best for you. Adopting a learning perspective toward what you do allows you to take charge, enjoy the process and evolve creative solutions when you need to.

The post The Perfect Fitness Plan for Every Mindset appeared first on Michelle Segar.

Why February Is the Best Time to Recalibrate Your New Year’s Resolutions

This content was originally posted on the US News & World Report's blog.

If you took my advice to heart last month, you ditched those old New Year's resolutions that never worked. Instead, you made some great new resolutions based on the right whys, and you gave yourself permission to take time for your own self-care. But now, just over a month into 2016, you've got a ton of things to do and you can feel the impending resolution crash.

We start the year bursting with determination and diving into behavior change. But it doesn't take long for the roar of life to come thundering back. Buy special food? Complete five workouts a week? What were we thinking? We suddenly recognize that our resolution plan may have been more grounded this year, but it was still crazy ambitious and will never work.

Hold that thought. This is not the time to give up. Actually, it's the perfect time to make a small course correction that will make a long-term difference.

Why Resolutions Crash So Quickly

Think about it: The holidays are famously filled with fun, stress, eating, drinking, family pressures and time off work – and then more eating, drinking and stress. We enjoy it all up to a point, and then we go past that point. We feel sluggish, tired and maybe a little depressed and mad at ourselves

So we're determined to get it right in the new year. But the problem is, we make our resolutions while we are in a bubble of gluttony, disgust and fantasy. Trapped in this bubble, feeling an intense desire to escape our current bodies, eating habits and selves, we are filled with determination and willpower to change everything.

But then, we're forced to make those changes in the real world. After only a few weeks, everyday life is back: unexpected needs, busy schedules, family crises and not enough sleep. We feel overwhelmed by – and even resentful of – the resolutions we were so excited about and committed to on Jan. 1.

Why Now Is the Time

This month, most people throw in their resolution towels. But what many don't know is that now is actually the perfect time to become successful and stick to their resolutions. Think of it this way: You haven't spent the past few weeks "failing" to execute your plan, you've spent your time gathering valuable data on what really works for you.

For example, did you like the spinning class you started? Does the food your new eating plan requires feel satisfying – or punishing? By reflecting on your answers to these types of questions, you'll be gaining insight into what will and won't work for you in real life. Then, you can use those insights to tweak your plan so it's more in line with your personal reality.

Recalibrated resolutions:

Reflect the real you.
Feel good.
Are enjoyable.
Are realistic.
Are adjustable in the face of time constraints and life's curveballs.

Take this quiz for a personalized report about how you can recalibrate your resolutions and prevail in 2016. And remember: Be compassionate with yourself during this learning process – research shows it's a much more motivational strategy than the alternative: negative self-judgment.

 

The post Why February Is the Best Time to Recalibrate Your New Year’s Resolutions appeared first on Michelle Segar.

3 Things People Who Stick to Their New Year’s Resolutions Do Differently

This content was originally posted on the US News & World Report's blog.

Here's my advice for 2016: Stop making the same resolution every year and expecting to get a different result.

If "willpower, dieting and workouts" has been your mantra year after year – and year after year you lose the will, tire of restricted diets or stop going to the gym – I have some good news: It's not your fault. We've learned to make resolutions, and change our behavior more generally, in a system that sets most people up to fail. But if you want to take a cue from people who've mastered the art, this year can be different. Here's what they do differently:

They choose the right 'whys.'

"Whys" are the reasons for making those resolutions in the first place. They are the foundation of the entire behavior change process and have a domino effect. Surprisingly, the most popular "whys" for going on a diet or starting an exercise program – "to lose weight" and "to improve my health" – are the wrong ones for many people because they lead to low-quality, unstable motivation.

Motivation is our fuel for doing anything, and the quality of our motivation affects whether our resolutions stick or fade away. Research shows that our primary reason for initiating a change determines whether we experience high- or low-quality motivation. Outside pressure, or the belief that we "should" do something, leads to low-quality motivation. Doing should-based behaviors doesn't only fuel resentment, but it also depletes us when we do them. Talk about a lose-lose situation!

But people who stick to their resolutions dump the should-based "whys." Instead, they resolve to change their behavior because they truly want to improve areas of their daily life in concrete ways that energize them – not deplete them.

They give themselves permission.

Many people feel uncomfortable with the idea of putting their own self-care needs at the top of the priority list, feeling that their work and family needs should always come first. But, if we don't feel comfortable giving ourselves permission to prioritize our own self-care – say, by sleeping more, eating better and exercising regularly – it's unlikely that our resolutions will feel compelling enough to stick with once the post-holiday grind kicks in mid-February.

For over 20 years, I've been helping clients become more comfortable prioritizing their own self-care and sense of well-being. I've found it's truly the most challenging part of sticking with resolutions. Luckily, when we resolve to adopt a new behavior out of a desire to feel better and fuel meaningful areas of our lives, it's no longer a chore, but a gift we are giving ourselves – and everyone else too. Research also shows that making a behavior change out of this mindset is among the best ways to create stable and lasting motivation.

They develop strategies to sustain their resolutions.

Motivation and permission are the drivers of sticky resolutions, but we also need smart strategies in place to help us successfully navigate the inevitable obstacles that threaten our good intentions. We make sure to plan for likely challenges related to getting our kids to school and making work deadlines, so why don't we also appreciate that our resolutions and weekly self-care plans need the same strategic attention?

People who stick with their resolutions use easy strategies like "if-then" planning that keep them on track. By simply previewing likely obstacles to their plans and ways to get around them, they know ahead of time which choice to make when those obstacles arise. Research shows this type of strategizing drastically increases people's long-term success.

If you want to learn how likely your 2016 New Year's resolutions are to stick, take my free "No Sweat" resolutions quiz. You'll get a personal assessment in three key areas that drive sticky resolutions – and discover what you can do differently to make them more likely to last in 2016.

The post 3 Things People Who Stick to Their New Year’s Resolutions Do Differently appeared first on Michelle Segar.

The Simple Trick for Finding Joy Amid Holiday Chaos: Create a ‘well-being wall’ and your sanity – and loved ones – will benefit

This content was originally posted on the US News & World Report's blog.

If there's one thing I need to be my best self, it's a good night's sleep. For my husband, it's a biking session before work. For my friend Beth, it's 15 minutes of yoga. For Serena, it's a quiet bath. We all have at least one baseline self-care need that allows us to function at our most energetic, our most joyful, our best.

But during the holiday chaos, why should we even try to make time for ourselves when we have so much to do for everyone else?

The answer is simple: When we make sure to meet our own basic self-care needs, we fuel ourselves to take care of the daily tasks that make up our busy days – and still have time to care for our loved ones and friends.

Of course, practicing self-care can be easier said than done. But my simple trick – what I call a "well-being wall" – can help. The wall is a dedicated space where you'll put a sticky note every day about the small act of self-care you plan to do or you want to celebrate having done. This wall will blossom with these small acts, helping you document your efforts to cultivate well-being – even amidst the chaos of the holidays. With the wall, you don't have to wait until after the holidays to relax and experience well-being. Here's how to get started right now:

1. Scout out space.

Find a space in your house that you see every day where you can post sticky notes. It can be a blank wall in your family room, a door to your office, by your bedside table, your bathroom mirror or on your refrigerator. If need be, ask family members to help identify the right spot, and invite them to participate too!

2. Identify feel-good activities.

Think of one, two or three small things you can do for yourself that bring you a feeling of well-being or joy. Sleep 15 minutes longer one morning. Take a 10-minute walk any time during the day. Read a book for five minutes. Call a friend. Watch one funny YouTube video. Play with your dog. The list goes on.

3. Grant yourself permission.

Allow yourself to practice at least one small act of self-care every day through December 31, starting today. It can be something as small as one minute of reflection about a great vacation or a loved one.

4. Share.

Get a buddy to create a well-being wall with you for mutual support. Tell your family and friends what you're doing and ask them to support you by watching the kids while you snag your 5-minute meditation session, asking you what you did each day or checking in with you about how you feel, or helping with holiday-related tasks. You can also get virtual support by posting about this self-care project on Facebook.

5. Think ahead.

Every evening, decide what one small thing you want to do the next day and when you'll fit it in. Put that on a sticky note and post it to your well-being wall. If spontaneity is your friend, decide what you'll do when you wake up in the morning.

6. Notice.

Every time you do something to tend to your self-care in any way, be sure to take a moment to notice how you feel as you are doing it, and afterward. (If you want, add what you noticed to the sticky note.)

7. Repeat every day.

You can find new nice things to do, or recycle ones you really loved. Your life is yours to enjoy!

8. Celebrate.

Notice how your well-being wall is growing, and revel in the positivity and proactive self-care it reflects in your life. Enjoy it in private, or take a photo of your wall and share it with others. Celebrate the idea that when you take care of yourself even in the smallest way, you feel better – and the people in your life benefit too.

The post The Simple Trick for Finding Joy Amid Holiday Chaos: Create a ‘well-being wall’ and your sanity – and loved ones – will benefit appeared first on Michelle Segar.

Need Reasons to Walk? Let Me Count the (9) ‘Whys’

Here's my confession: I love to walk. I walk into town whenever I can, I walk my son to school as he rides his bike, I walk with friends to catch up on our lives and I walk alone just to have some time to myself. If you've met me even once, you know that my confession isn't such a secret after all: I'm a huge promoter of walking as the perfect exercise for all ages. That's why I was thrilled when the surgeon general launched the "Step It Up!" call to action on walking and walkable communities in September.

I believe the campaign is the most exciting physical activity initiative we've ever had in America, and here's why: It gives everyone permission to rethink walking – something we do all day, every day, without thinking about it – as an easy way to fit more physical movement into our lives. Rejoice in the parking space that's three blocks from work! That's three blocks of walking each way that contributes to elevating our moods and enhancing our overall health and well-being.

Walking is a feel-good gift we can give ourselves every single day, as many times as we like. It's free, there's no learning curve (except for toddlers) and it's arguably among the best exercises we can get. Want more reasons to walk? Allow me to provide nine "whys:"

1. Lift your mood.



In my experience, there is no better way to lift a melancholy mood than to take a walk – especially outside. Whether it's a 40-minute walk in the park or a 10-minute stroll in the city, walking outside on most days is among the hardest-hitting self-care tools in my toolkit.

2. Clear your mind.



Need room to think? There's something about walking that enables our minds to let go of the cobwebs and let some light into the dark corners. Just wait for the new, exciting ideas to incubate.

3. Connect with friends.



Phone calls and Facebook are fine, but there is nothing like the conversations we have with our friends when we're walking. Whether we're just laughing together, offloading the events of the week or sharing insights on a deeper level, walking and talking side by side generates real connections.

4. Get a burst of energy.



Studies show that even small amounts of movement generate energy. The next time you feel sluggish, try this: Get up, put on your shoes, grab a jacket if you need it and take a walk around the block. Now ask yourself how you feel. I think you'll be surprised at the difference in your energy level. Maybe you'll even want to walk another block or two before you go back home.

5. Enjoy time with your family.



A family walk can be more than quality time, it can be a way for you and your spouse to reconnect away from the everyday stress of life and work, and a memory your children will cherish and later pass on. If serious is not what you're after, increase the pace of your walk to a chase – and get ready for some family fun!

6. Do it your way.



You can walk slowly; you can walk fast. You can walk and talk, walk to music, listen to a podcast or walk mindfully and let your mind go. You can walk down to the corner, walk to the store, walk a mile or walk across the country. Walk in the way that works for you, and you are doing it right.

7. Fit it into your busy schedule.



No daily schedule – not even yours – is so crammed that you can't claim three to five minutes to walk. Consider all of the walking you do: Whether you're walking from your desk to the bathroom, dashing from your car to grocery store or going from one meeting to another, it all counts. There are infinite ways to fit more gifts of walking into your day.

8. Use it as a 'replacement activity.' 

Work too late or feel too tired to go to the gym in the evening? Allow me to introduce walking: the perfect "replacement activity," as Jane Brody of the New York Times put it, for disrupted exercise plans. You can do it by yourself, with a partner, friend, child or even your neighbor's dog.

9. Enjoy the seasons.

Skiing is a winter sport, swimming is fun in the summer, but walking is truly a year-round physical activity. I enjoy walking in spring, when the flowers are just peeking their heads out and trees are budding green. The riot of fall leaves on a walking path has called me away from my work more than once. And, if you've got some good winter boots, mittens and a hat, walking in the snow is an invigorating way to escape the grind for 20 minutes.

What's your why to walk? Collect your reasons and spread the word now to your friends, family, colleagues and clinicians. Together, we can make walking go viral! 

The post Need Reasons to Walk? Let Me Count the (9) ‘Whys’ appeared first on Michelle Segar.

Yes You Can! 7 Easy Workout Strategies for Parents During Fall

As a working mom to a 7-year-old boy, I think it's safe to say no one is busier than a parent. When you already lack time alone, the idea of getting regular exercise can seem like a relic from the distant past – especially as the days get shorter during fall.

Yet, as an exercise motivation researcher and coach, I know this for a fact: Any kind of physical movement you can fit into your day, and any amount of time you can find for it, counts big time toward replenishing your energy, lifting your mood, supporting good health and restoring your sense of yourself.

Use these seven strategies to discover how you can find time for physical activity on even the most crazy busy, overscheduled day:

1. Toss out exercise "shoulds." 

 Expand your definition of what a workout is so you can actually make it work. Toss out old ideas about duration and intensity that claim you should work out hard for 40 minutes for your workout to "count." Not true! Exercise of any kind – including yoga and strolling around town – adds up over the course of a day. If you actively dislike intense exercise, I've found that many people share your feelings.

2. Think of physical movement as a way to nurture yourself.

In order for movement to be sustainable, you have to want to do it. Forget about "exercise" and understand that this is your time. Give yourself permission to take a five-minute walk to renew yourself. If you want to go slow and smell the roses, that's great. If you feel like running around the block, that's great too.

3. Shrink – don't cancel – your plans when life throws you a curveball.

If you planned to work out for 20 minutes, but life suddenly gives you only 10 minutes, do it anyway. The point isn't to hit a specific time target, it's to add physical movement to your life on a consistent basis. Even one minute of exercise in an otherwise crammed day reminds you of your intentions and builds consistency.

4. Look for the natural spaces in your life. 

Literally hundreds of natural spaces – one minute, three minutes, five minutes, ten minutes – exist in everyone's days. If you're sitting at the computer, get up every 50 minutes and do something. Take the stairs, walk around your office, stretch. Waiting in line at the store? Toe lifts are discreet! Park farther away from an appointment and count the extra time it takes to walk there as exercise. Take your dog for a walk and count that too.

5. Practice active waiting.

When you accompany your child to a lesson or sports practice, you'll want to watch his or her activity – but why just sit there the whole time? Take some of your wait time for yourself – a short walk alone or with another waiting parent ensures that we all get what we need. Be sure to tell your child beforehand that you are going to go out for a short time. This strategy serves double duty as expectation management and role modeling that taking time to be active is important for parents too.

6. Bring the whole family on board. 

Make physical movement a family affair, a way for your family to spend quality time together. When my husband and I walk, my son rides his bike and his friend rides his scooter. Everyone can choose the way they want to enjoy the walk – on foot, on wheels, going fast or going slow. Make it a rule that you can't bring devices on the walk.

7. Make it playful.

Family movement is a world of infinite possibility. Try backyard or park games like croquet, badminton, basketball, pickleball, catch or just turn up the music and dance together!

© Copyright Michelle Segar, 2015.

This content was originally posted as a blog on US News & World Report's Eat + Run blog.

The post Yes You Can! 7 Easy Workout Strategies for Parents During Fall appeared first on Michelle Segar.

Interview with Inspiration Nation Host Michael Sandler

For an energizing interview, see links below!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-get-motivated-fit-w/id1039562972?i=354453517&mt=2

And for folks who don't have iTunes, or who have android phones.

http://inspirenationshow.com/how-to-get-motivated-fit-without-even-trying-michelle-segar-no-sweat-simple-science-of-motivation/

Enjoy!

The post Interview with Inspiration Nation Host Michael Sandler appeared first on Michelle Segar.

We need new systems to create the sustained human motivation and consistent decision making that underlie fitness, health, and well-being

Learn how to create better systems, protocols, and messages that lead to the sustained human motivation and consistent decision making that underlie fitness, health, and well-being among patients, employees and consumers.

Why Our Current Approach to Fitness and Health is the Wrong One

In the health and fitness field, long-term behavioral change is the Holy Grail that has eluded everyone, from individuals to health care providers to organizations.

Changing health behaviors is easy. The problem is, people quickly revert to old habits, resulting in high rates of disease, lost productivity, and spiraling health care costs.

Most in health promotion and health care have assumed that “better health” is valuable enough to motivate people to practice the lifestyle behaviors necessary for healthier living and disease prevention.

We’ve assumed wrong.

Future health benefits are too abstract to overcome inertia and hectic schedules. Body-shaping motivators, particularly for women, are based in self-rejection, and also fail to motivate long-term behavior. When motivation is linked to distant, clinical, and/or abstract goals, health behaviors are not compelling enough to trump the other daily goals and priorities with which they constantly compete.

My research and other science suggest that people are more likely to sustain behaviors that are essential to their daily lives in immediate and noticeable ways.

It’s time for health promotion to become more strategic about promoting health.

See this short video explaining this idea.

Motivation Is the Result, Not the Source

Until now, we’ve been taught to think about motivation in terms of “quantity” and how much of it people have – or don’t have. Thinking about motivation in this black-and-white way is not very helpful because it doesn’t address how to change it.

We’ve also been taught to think of motivation as the primary driver of behavior. Yet, research shows that motivation results from the main reason why individuals initiate any behavior change. The foundation of motivation is people’s primary reason for initiating that behavior.

Motivation isn’t the cause. It’s actually the result.

How Behavior Actually Works

When people initiate a behavior change out of pressure or for abstract reasons, such as “better health,” this does not bode well for long-term motivation or behavior.  Consider these types of reasons for behavior change as “The Wrong Whys” for many people (but not all).  These types of reasons are The Wrong Whys not because they are inherently “wrong,” but rather because they have a hard time trumping the other daily tasks and responsibilities against which they constantly compete.

It is important to note that The Wrong Whys are different for different people, often depending upon their life stage, gender, etc. We still need to learn more about which reasons for adopting behavior are more or less optimal for behavioral sustainability by demographic groups. (I am currently conducting research with colleagues to better understand these differences.) You can, however, identify a Wrong Why by how people feel about pursuing it.  In general, the Wrong Whys (and the behaviors they are attached to) feel like chores or “shoulds,” and because of that, they tend to result in unstable, low-quality motivation and less persistent behavioral pursuit.

When people start any behavior with The Wrong Why, it tends to lead to cyclical rather than sustainable behavior. However, because this is the only model people have been taught, most have been stuck repeating the same cycle for 10, 20, or even 30+ years.  See the image below for “The Vicious Cycle of Failure.” It starts at 11:00, with The Wrong Why.

INSERT WRONG WHY IMAGE HERE.

Luckily, escaping The Vicious Cycle of Failure is actually quite simple.

We can create high-quality motivation and lasting change by going to the origin: The primary reason for initiating any desired behavior change.

The Sustainable Cycle of Motivation

In contrast to The Vicious Cycle of Failure, “The Sustainable Cycle of Motivation,” starts with “The Right Why,” rewards from behavior that can be immediately experienced. These types of Whys often result in good experiences, as well as being personally meaningful. Because of that, the behavior starts to feel like an essential part of the day and is considered as a “gift.” It’s easy to see why high quality motivation results from starting the behavioral cycle with The Right Why.

INSERT CYCLE HERE.

The Right Whys initiates a cycle that is more likely to successfully result in sustainable behavior.

Thus, health promotion efforts based on Right Whys should be more cost-effective than those based on Wrong Whys because they are more likely to lead to higher quality motivation and greater behavioral persistence.

If on-going daily decision making in favor of self-care is the goal, we must reconsider which goals and purpose for behavior are actually the most motivating. Will power is vulnerable to fatigue, but the pursuit of daily well-being offers immediate, fulfilling rewards.

A Game-Changing Strategy for Sustainable Motivation and Health Behavior 

 

For almost 20 years, I have been translating the latest science, including my own research as a motivation scientist and behavior change expert, into easy-to-apply real-world solutions.

Sustainable behavior change really boils down to the numerous little decisions that people make every day that affect their health and well-being.

We now know that most of human decision making and behavior occurs automatically, outside of conscious awareness.  So, modern health promotion systems and solutions must be designed in ways that leverage the whole brain, especially emotion and the unconscious.

I call this “Whole Brain Health Promotion.”

Out of almost two decades of work across academia and the private sector, I developed Behavioral Blueprints, a powerful yet simple, evidence-based model for leveraging the whole brain to motivate the consistent decision making that drives sustainable fitness, health, and well-being.

Healthy lifestyle behaviors do much more than improve patient and employee health – they lead to increased energy and productivity, focus at work, patience at home, and life satisfaction. People make time for what’s most important to their day-to-day lives. Because of that, it is much more strategic to reposition health behaviors (in the minds of people) for the immediate ways they enhance people’s well-being and performance in the key life roles they most value, such as Parent, Partner, and Professional. I am calling for organizations, the media, and any professional who cares about helping people build behaviors that last a lifetime to “rebrand” them in a “life enhancing” way in our strategies, communications, and brand lifestyle programs.

Want a positive return on your investment? Rebranding health-related behaviors in this way does much more for organizations than simply create the sustainable behavior necessary for health and well-being. Positive organizational research also suggests that rebranding health promotion in these ways will foster the core levers of “thriving” within organizations.

My easy-to-adapt Behavioral Blueprints were designed to achieve this, and are becoming the foundation for more effective health promotion and corporate wellness initiatives, and counseling protocols for patients, apps, gamification software, and other technology-based products.

Behavioral Blueprints –

Building Lasting Motivation and Behavior

INSERT BLUEPRINTS HERE.

My three-part, evidence-based Behavioral Blueprints framework, above, helps organizations and health professionals better achieve behavioral sustainability and other key outcomes among end user populations by making sure global strategies, specific program activities, counseling protocols, and algorithms:

Contain the right emotional hooks to optimally engage and motivate both women and men
Foster the foundation of authentic, lasting motivation
Prime end users to expect, and to notice, the immediate everyday benefits of healthy choices and how they facilitate better enjoying and performing in our most cherished daily roles and responsibilities
Offers permission to individuals to prioritize decisions and time to foster health and well-being
Provide the most effective support and tools to prioritize and make consistent health decisions in real time
Create an architecture of sustainability

Behavioral Blueprints is a three-part model that distills the complex scientifically-derived ideas above into three sequential steps that organizations, providers, software designers, and individuals can take to facilitate sustainable lifestyle changes that lead to vitality, health, and happiness.

Behavioral Blueprints:  The Why

Research clearly shows that the primary reason WHY we decide to adopt any lifestyle change determines our quality and level of motivation for persisting in the behavior. My Behavioral Blueprints ensure that programs, protocols, apps, and algorithms foster the highest quality motivators for optimal engagement among both women and men. “The Why” transforms health behavior from a chore (“extrinsic motivation”) into a gift (“intrinsic motivation”) that individuals want to keep giving themselves. “The Why”  generates the highest quality motivation possible by leveraging human experiences, symbols, emotion, and the unconscious.

Behavioral Blueprints:  The How

These Behavioral Blueprints show you how to guide individuals to shift “health,” “exercise,” and “self-care” from abstract values that they call important but don’t consistently act on, into energy- and performance-generating behaviors that they prioritize and consider essential to living well every day.  In today’s busy world, most will only sustain behaviors that are deeply meaningful because essential to their daily roles and responsibilities. “The How” gives people permission and guides them to perceive self-care behaviors as top daily priorities by targeting and supporting people’s core values and daily energy.

Behavioral Blueprints:  The Do

This last part of the Behavioral Blueprints trains people in simple, evidence-based strategies to create the automatic daily decision making that underlies health and well-being. “The Do” undergirds and supports the high quality motivation and shifted values achieved from The Why and The How parts of the Behavioral Blueprints. “The Do” reflects the learning process that helps people integrate the new mindset and skills into their lives. Sustainable behavior is made up of consistent daily decisions that favor health. Because of that, it is essential help people learn types of beliefs and strategies that will transform health-promoting decisions from necessitating self-control into automatic habits.

While based on an integration of complex science, these concepts and their implementation is straightforward and simple. And the Holy Grail of sustainable fitness and health behavior change is within reach!

My Behavioral Blueprints promote the successful integration of behaviors by systematically building the foundation of what science shows are the core processes necessary for lasting motivation and behavior.

They are also completely flexible and can be adapted for use in any type of intervention medium and mode.

 

Let’s Talk About Rebranding Health as Well-being

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We all know that people make time for what’s essential. And my research shows that people are most motivated by wanting to feel good right now, the promise of immediate rewards.

If instead of extolling a future health benefit, we were to market positive health behaviors for their very real and instantaneous payoffs that benefit daily living, individuals would have a much more compelling incentive to adopt and sustain them within their busy lives.

Healthy lifestyle behaviors do much more than improve health – they lead almost immediately to increased energy and productivity, focus at work, patience at home, and life satisfaction.

Evidence indicates that when we prime people to expect and notice these real-time benefits, we create a reciprocal cycle of motivation and adherence that leads to improved health and outcomes.

I call this concept “rebranding health as well-being.”

The essence of what I’ve discovered is that when we rebrand health behaviors as a source of immediate happiness and well-being, individuals become engaged with taking care of themselves in a way “disease prevention,” “weight control,” and “body-sculpting” motivators just can’t accomplish. In other words, let’s rebrand health as well-being.

The process of transforming the dialogue about exercise, nutrition and self-care from a logical “medical prescription” into promoting daily acts that deliver joy, vitality, and well-being reflects the core and foundation of my easy-to-use Behavioral Blueprints. 

Once people go through this process, they not only become inspired and energized to practice self-care, but they also become committed to sticking with it in spite of busy schedules and distractions.

Most simply, this process transforms a “health” behavior from a chore into a gift.

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Why does this work? When we are less stressed, healthier, and more energized, we enjoy life and perform better in our key life roles that we value, such as Parent, Partner and Professional.

Because emotions motivate more powerfully than logic, to put this knowledge to work, we must take a page from the marketers’ book and create the emotional hooks that truly drive behavior.

When we see an immediate benefit in our feelings of energy and well-being, and how they actually fuel improved performance in the everyday life roles that we care most about, we are motivated to continue to do positive health behaviors.

When we promote “health” behaviors for the very real role they play in creating meaningful lives – it changes EVERYTHING.

Same behavior. Different motivator. Sustained change.

When we encourage end users to expect these immediate benefits, it motivates them not only to participate, but also to notice how much better they feel – and live – when they fit healthful activities in.

This is what creates a truly sustainable cycle of health: motivation and adherence based on real-time benefits.

“What sustains us, we sustain™.”

 

These ideas Can Help Professionals Achieve Sustainable Motivation, Decision Making, and Behavior Change in Their Target Population

 

Fitness and health promotion professionals can get higher retention rates, greater levels of engagement, and better long-term results among their end users. As a first step you need to evaluate your culture, products, services, and protocols. Following this, it’s important to create more persuasive and effective marketing, sales protocols, interactive technology, and satisfied clients.

 

Employee wellness professionals can design or invest in a more cost-effective strategy to promote employee health and well-being that both fosters the levers of sustainable behavior AND thriving organizations!  If done properly, you can have a healthier, happier workforce and increased performance from the same cost and effort.  This is a cost-effective strategy because the same investment impacts multiple behavioral and outcomes of interest for organizational well-being, culture, and performance.

 

Behavioral coaches, clinicians of all types (nurses, OTs, PTs, physicians) and psychologists  can use this simple framework to build fitness, health, and wellness behaviors that last a lifetime. These ideas leverage the latest science and easy-to-understand methods to create real foundations of sustainable health behavior change. They are new methods that are potent, inspirational, as well as being easy to learn and evaluate. You can foster high quality motivation for a desired health behavior by transforming it from a “chore” into a “gift;” converting “self-care” and desired health behaviors into meaningful top daily priorities; and training individuals in the specific strategies that lead to consistent decision making that favors health and well-being by following the guidelines on this page

Health Aapp/software developers can create more potent systems, protocols and algorithms to create sustainable health-related changes. You can use these concepts to design algorithms that incorporate the most relevant science on motivation and decision making to create more engaging and effective products. This applies to app, gaming, and other Health 2.0 program developers who want an edge in the commercialization process.

Sparking Innovations in Motivation 

So you know where these ideas above about sustainable behavior come from. They informed by the three synergistic perspectives I have. As a:

Health motivation and behavioral sustainability researcher
Health behavior program development and evaluation specialist
Physical activity, self-care, and lifestyle coach

With two decades of real-world experience putting my evidence-based insights to work in my private practice as a lifestyle and fitness coach, I am able to bridge the gap between research and practice, and bring my insights full circle. I hold graduate degrees in Psychology (PhD), Health Behavior/Health Education (MPH), and in Kinesiology (MS).

Read what people and organizations have to say about these fresh ideas that challenge that status quo here.

To read a few studies that have informed my thinking about creating sustainable motivation and health-related behavior please see links to the published papers below:

Rebranding Exercise: Closing the gap between values and behavior – Read
Physical Activity Advertisements That Feature Daily Well-Being Improve Autonomy and Body Image in Overweight Women but Not Men – Read
Type of Physical Activity Goal Influences Participation in Healthy Midlife Women- Read

 

 

 

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The 4 Steps to Move Past Behavior Change to Behavioral Sustainability: It’s Not What You Think

When we decide to become healthier, lose weight, or simply take better care of ourselves, there is usually a specific reason, a desired outcome, driving that decision.  But what gets you to start taking better care of yourself is often not what keeps you motivated day in and day out.

While future outcomes may be powerful enough to motivate great big intentions and investments of cash, research suggests that they may not be adequate to drive sustainable behavior.

This blog showcases 4 steps to move from merely changing behavior to sustaining it over time.  These ideas are relevant for individuals, clinicians/practitioners, employers, and any type of health and wellness service provider.

I want to give you a heads up that this is a long post.  For those who are interested in this topic, I thought it would be easier to read this content as one long post instead of many short ones.

 Step #1 Close the Gap between Starting and Sustaining

Many people pledge (and really hope) to change their behavior. Common motivators include:

their company offers a wellness challenge
your doctor tells you that you need more sleep
in the checkout line you see that magazine cover
it’s New Year’s resolution time

To create lasting behavior change, we must understand that, in general, behavior doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Instead people decide to change their behavior because they hope it will help them achieve a specific outcome or goal. We adopt a new behavior because we believe it serves a specific function, or purpose, in our lives.  In the health domain, people often change their behavior to achieve future outcomes like losing weight, decreasing bad cholesterol, or preventing diabetes.

These desired outcomes reflect the logical thinking that has been driving behavior-change initiatives for the last 30+ years. Yet, those large future outcomes mentioned above that spur us to change our behavior may also be the cause of its ultimate demise.

Given that sustainability is our ultimate goal, how do we bridge the gap between behavior change and behavioral sustainability?  The answer might surprise you. New research suggests that large future outcomes, like disease prevention, might be too logical and not emotional enough.

 

 Step #2 Focus on Feelings Instead of Function

In my keynote for the National Business Group on Health last May (Rebranding Health as Well-being: A Better “Hook” to Motivate Sustainable Behavior and Create Thriving Organizations), I explained the important research about the links between health behavior and our brains. Basically, humans have two different (and often conflicting) systems that process information and drive our decisions and behavior. One system uses logic while the other system uses emotion. The logic-based system is vulnerable to depletion while the emotion-focused system actually motivates us effortlessly, often outside of our awareness. (If you want a very friendly read about these two systems, see the Heath brother’s book “Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard”.)

While the two systems co-exist, one of them might be more central to sustaining healthy lifestyles over time.  Research recently published in the Journal of Consumer Research (“Affect as a Decision-Making System of the Present”) investigated whether people rely more on their feelings about an outcome from a choice  (e.g., How do I feel about exercising at the gym?) than the function of that outcome in their actual decision making (e.g., What do I hope to achieve from exercising?).

This study showed that when the outcomes from a choice occur close to the time of making the choice, participants relied more on their feelings. Thus, when the outcome of a decision happens close to the point of decision, our feelings about the outcomes drive our decisions more than the value of the outcome.

I’m going to suggest that all parties can become more successful closing the gap between behavior change and behavioral sustainability by shifting the frame of reference from the future outcomes from “behavior” (better health, weight loss, etc.) to the smaller outcomes that result from the “point of decision” (less stress, feeling proud of yourself, etc.)

 

 Step #3 Target Daily Decisions Not Behavior

While the study I briefly described above was not focused on health-related behavior, it supports my experience from the last twenty years of helping people create sustainable behavior changes.  This research has crucial implications about how all of us can better foster the consistent decision making that undergirds long-term fitness, health, and well-being.

The typical outcomes sought by people, professionals, and organizations from health-focused behavior changes are almost cliché, goals like weight loss, disease prevention, etc.  It’s easy for us all to say (and really believe) that we value these important outcomes from self-care practices and health-behavior.  Yet it’s another matter entirely to consistently prioritize a behavior with a function targeting the future, when everyone is constantly juggling many responsibilities and urgent fires related to the many aspects of our lives.

Our modern quick-paced society necessitates living with our attention in the present. Our hectic schedules do not permit many people the luxury of having their attention toward the future and desired aspirations. In this hectic context, much of our behavior, including the goals we pursue, occurs automatically, outside of our conscious awareness.

A key point is that this automatic system makes decisions out of our emotions and feelings about the choice at hand. Therefore, to more effectively motivate sustainable behavior we must shift our focus away from function of behavior to the feelings people have about the outcomes of health-related decisions.

Let’s consider the specific decisions we have to make again and again that determine whether we sustain our well-intended self-care behaviors (physical activity, sufficient sleep, etc.):

Leaving for exercise class or not
Deciding which snack option to select in the refrigerator when hungry

At each point of decision, there are immediate outcomes about which we have some type of feeling.

Do we have positives or negative feelings about the exercise class that is starting in 20 minutes?
Does choosing carrots instead of chips have negative feelings associated with it because this decision feels like a chore we should do instead of a “gift” to ourselves?

For example, how someone feels about leaving their friends on Facebook compared to their feelings about going to sleep may drive their decision at 11:45pm about whether to sign off or stay on.

Generalizing from the “Affect as a Decision-Making System of the Present” study mentioned above, when our decision about something impacts us in the near future, how we feel about the different options (i.e., “participating in exercise class” vs. “not exercising”) is more likely to determine our choice in the moment than the future function, or value, of that choice (losing 30 pounds, preventing heart disease, pleasing someone, etc.).

Thus, to bridge the gap from behavior change to behavioral sustainability we must change our emphasis. Instead of focusing on the logic-based, future outcomes people seek from behavior change, we should understand and influence the feelings about the outcomes of every health-related decision.

New York Times columnist Jane Brody’s “Changing Our Tune on Exercise” column beautifully illustrates this need. Her thoughtful article about sustainable physical activity sheds light on the greater influence of feelings over function in driving health-related decision-making. Reflecting on her own experiences, Brody wrote that if you ask her why she exercises, “weight control may be my first answer, followed by a desire to live long and well. But that’s not what gets me out of bed before dawn to join friends on a morning walk … It’s how these activities make me feel: more energized, less stressed, more productive, more engaged and, yes, happier—better able to smell the roses and cope with the inevitable frustrations of daily life.”

Brody’s personal insights showcase the powerful role that feelings play in driving the repeated decision making that undergirds behavioral sustainability.

Whether we are individuals who want to adopt self-care behavior (e.g., exercise), practitioners who coach people in these issues, or organizations whose economic well-being depends on their employees’ good health we must turn our attention to creating positive feelings about the immediate outcomes of health-related decisions and self-care rather than their logic-based future function. How do you make this change? See the next section.

 

Step #4 Transform Self-Care from a Chore into a Gift

When I first got into this area back in 1993, my guiding question was: “What is everything that undermines sustainable behavior and how can these things be prevented or overcome?”

In my long-term study of this issue, I discovered that one of the essential keys to cracking the code was to transform decisions about fostering self-care and health from negative to positive. My solution converts the meaning of a behavior and behavioral choice from feeling like a “chore to accomplish” into a “gift one wants to give themselves.”

After refining this process over two decades working with clients, I’ve found that this conversion is systematic and can be achieved quickly. Only days after teaching this approach in my behavioral sustainability trainings, practitioners send me excited emails sharing the powerful shifts they are getting with their patients from using my method to transform self-care from a chore into a gift. (Read their comments here.)

If you’d like to convert a behavior from a “chore” into a “gift” in your own life or for your professional work, the point of entry is understanding the primary reason, or what I call “The Why,” for initiating a behavior.  Seek to understand whether the primary “Why” focuses on long-term goals that feel like “shoulds” or the immediate rewards from selecting the choices that favor self-care and well-being (e.g., more energy, etc.).

Research suggests that the “Why” for initiating behavior actually determines our relationship with the behavior, and whether it feels like a chore or a gift. Whether a behavior feels like a chore or a gift and determines how people feel about the in-the-moment decisions about self-care, and ultimately, whether the behavior is discontinued or sustained.

I call these two cycles, The Vicious Cycle of Failure and The Sustainable Cycle of Success, respectively. See the images below showcasing these two distinct cycles.

I have written about this process, in a previous blog post about how to change the meaning of behavior from a chore into a gift. This “chore-to-gift” post is the last part of a three-part blog series called The Secret Life of Motivation. (To read this series in order see: Part I, Part II and Part III.)

In addition, if you want to read a personal account of someone who learned how to tip the scale from function to feeling and transformed exercise from a chore into a gift, check out this article in ELLE Magazine published last June (2013).

Find these ideas interesting or useful? If so, please feel free to share this post with your friends, family, colleagues, and/or health care professionals through the social media and email icons below.

Do you have a personal or professional experience to share about targeting the points of decision rather than behavior?  What have you seen happen when people learn to develop positive feelings about decision points that favor self-care?  I’d love to hear about your experiences and will respond to your comments.

© 2013 M. Segar. All rights reserved.

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