One problem people seem to have making changes in their life is that they are unable to muster up the necessary power to hold on to whatever changes they’ve made. You see it all the time with diets that last under a week, bold decelerations of change that last hours and continuous failed attempts to sustain a desired behaviour despite the person consciously wanting to grow and mature.
Part of the problem here is that people (maybe you) are relying solely on willpower to propel that change. Maybe it’s New Years and you’re feeling good and confident, enough so that you really think you can wake up every morning to workout. Maybe you’ve had a really great week and you feel good enough about yourself that you’re going to take on learning another language. In both scenarios, you’re on the positive side of the emotional spectrum and truly believe you can learn a new skill or become a better person.
The problem arises when the circumstances aren’t so cheery and easygoing. Working out in the morning becomes a different challenge when it’s -35 degrees outside and you’re car barely starts. Learning a new language becomes much more difficult when your schedule gets busy and you suddenly realize that it’s not quite as exciting an exhilarating as your mind originally made it out to be.
When I first went paleo I had a hard time adapting. I tried to do too much in too little time and as a result I had to take several steps back before I could move forward. I touch on this topic a bit in my post about incremental change but I want to flush out the idea more fully here.
Instead of using willpower as the lone power source for growth and change, it’s important to use it to create positive habits that unconsciously reinforce the changes you want to make. Making the statements “I want to get in shape” or “I’m going to learn a new language” are great, but without a plan of attack, they have no real meaning. Instead it should be like so:
I want to get in shape.
So…
- I’m going to start by waking up three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to workout at 7:00 AM.
- I will do [insert workout here] at [insert location here]
- On Sundays I will reward myself with [insert activity here]
Here you have a plan of action, albeit a simple one, but sometimes simpler is better. You know who, what, when, where, how and why you’re doing the activity. You make the goal a priority and carry forward. When the going gets tough you have the ability to fall back on the habits you’ve built and know that the workout on those three days is key and that you only get your reward on Sunday if you’ve followed through with your word.
Willpower comes in limited quantities but habits require minimal energy. It’s that starting point that’s tough, but when you bridge that gap, usually after 30 days or so, the going becomes much easier and you’re goals are set on autopilot. Don’t waste your willpower trying to force yourself to do something. Set a goal, break down how you’re to accomplish it and create moderately challenging steps to that goal that are capable of becoming long term habits. With these simple steps you being to grow, evolve and change in the most efficient manner.
