We sincerely want to, but it never seems to happen!

Most of us have at least one health and wellness goal that we have promised ourselves to begin only to find that the behavior change remains elusive. Creating new behaviors can be difficult, especially when it comes to regular intentional exercise sessions and healthy nutrition. Perhaps the change you desire has not happened because your attempt to change is based on a flawed premise.  When this happens, we may become frustrated with and disappointed in ourselves and fail meeting our goal.  In Psychology Today, David Davivo outlines “thinking fallacies” to watch out for in your next endeavor to create a new behavior.

Mistaken Motivations

Negative emotions may be strong, but they are the least motivating. When we maintain our drive to change by holding on to feelings of shame, embarrassment, anger etc., success is unlikely. Who wants to continue feeling badly to keep pushing toward a goal. Yuck!  According to Davivio, “One review of 129 behavior change studies found consistently that the least effective change strategies hinged on fear and regret. As much as this sounds like a platitude, real change needs a positive platform to launch from; you need positive, self-edifying reasons for taking on the challenge.” I suspect the 129 studies is only a drop in the bucket of studies that lead to this same conclusion.

“All or Nothing Thinking”

Look up The Wellness Coach notes on “all or nothing thinking (this is a certain type of thought process).  “All or nothing thinking” contradicts the premise of SMART Goals. SMART Goals for behavior change are effective goals and can be in reference to most anything, You may have heard of the acronym  SMART,  Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant(how does the goal align with broader goals), and Time based.  Phrases like “lose weight”, “exercise more”, “be healthy” are vague and lack direction. What do SPECIFIC fitness goal look like?

Here are a few.

“I will review my budget weekly and see how much I can afford per week to improve my health “

“I will visit one fitness gym per week to familiarize myself with the options available to me”

“I will attend 1 fitness class per week and see which one I feel most comfortable in considering my fitness level.

“I will try 1 online video workout per week to find a genre of exercise I feel most able to do”

“I will interview 1 wellness/ fitness/nutrition coach per week to find one I feel is competent and friendly”

“We neglect the toolbox”

Reliable tools help support sustained change.  A specific meal plan or consumption-based nutrition plan, a specific exercise routine, or an accountability system i.e. a coach, an app or group, are all health and wellness tools.  This is necessary for the long haul. We all come up against physical, mental and emotional discouragement, weariness or boredom. Be sure to have reliable tools in place before you start on your health and wellness goals. The goals do not have to be grand, but the tools need to be solid.

The remaining “thinking fallacies” will be in my next newsletter and website blog.  I hope this you find this helps when setting your next health and wellness goal.