New Year’s Resolution Stalled or Slow to Start? Let’s Hit The RESET Button & Overcome Some of Your Barriers

Hi! Nick here.

Just checking in the with any New Year’s Resolutions going on out there.

How are they going? We are 3 weeks into the New Year. Successful? Not?

(what a boring intro…let’s try something new)

(Nick clears throat) Uh-hum…

Before I jump into the life-changing lessons, let’s weed out a few readers right now.

This article IS a list of 5 steps that are at the bottom. If you want to miss the point of this article, feel free to swipe down there, or stay with me. Better yet, just read the next sentence. The magic steps are: Brainstorm, Select, Measure, Set a Goal, and Evaluate.

(Go now, be healthy…)

Still with me? Good. I am glad the other readers are gone and I have YOUR full attention.

This article IS NOT a cheesy motivational Rah-Rah! get-off-your-ass, waste-of-your-time blog post. Rather, it is a fresh take on motivation, New Year’s Resolutions, AND THEN examples of steps to take…

If I have convinced you to keep reading this far. Thank you and let’s begin…

[REAL ARTICLE STARTS NOW!]

January is an exciting time. The holidays are finally over. The hustle and bustle of travel, seeing family, and getting those last second presents has come to an end.

But has that “Get Fit in 2018” yet to take off?

(still not the best intro, but you get it, I am talking about this January stuff)

About New Year’s Resolutions…

 Just to get this out of the way, there is nothing special about New Year’s Resolutions. No matter the time of year, you still have to change your weekly activity to see the change you want.

There is something about the ideas of starting anew, becoming the best version of yourself in 2018, and kickin’ old habits as fun ways to think about change.

 So, New Year’s Resolutions are special in the sense that they come along with all the excitement this one time of the year.

We do other weird things as the months and seasons change like: lighting fireworks, dressing-up like our favorite Stranger Things characters, and buying heart-shaped chocolates.

(A behavior analyst like myself may view these changes as motivational events that make it more or less likely l will do certain things).

I am more likely to look for Easter Eggs on fence posts in March or April. 

I get the Christmas box out AFTER Thanksgiving.

And Boooooooo to the people that decorate for Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving! Can we all agree on this?!?!

They are messing up all these seasonal motivational events that I am describing…

With the New Year’s Resolutions come different outcomes. Some people DO make the change by quitting smoking, getting to the gym, or starting new routines.

Some people DO NOT.

New Year’s and Health Goals

I have set the stage for this:

“New Year’s Resolutions by themselves are motivational events that occur once a year.”

The time for making a new behavior change is strongest during the first couple weeks of the New Year, every year.

We are more likely to run, buy new workout clothes (because stores put them on sale and right in the middle of the entrance), and purchase gym memberships during January.

I worked in a globo-gym in my early days, and boy, did we pour on the excitement in the gym itself!!!!

We set up balloons everywhere, the marketing department created catchy emails and posters for potential members to see, and of course, there were discounts galore!

The gym business has it figured out: these variables or a combination equals more members.

Think of it like this:

January + Balloons + Discounts + Potential Members + Excited Staff = $$$$

In general, these equations are great for business (or they wouldn’t do all these things).

But, what happens after we link our credit cards to monthly dues? Does this alone lead to the healthy habits, routines, and physical results we are looking for?

The idea of starting something new, especially in January is a valuable experience. It provides a time for all of us to hit the “reset” button and force ourselves to reflect on what we’ve accomplished, where we are, and where we want to go.

Picking that next path, breaking it down, and following through is the hardest part.

Success by Taking Action

The New Year Resolution is unique because we often remember our successes and failures.

By the end of January or beginning of February, we think to ourselves,

“Well these resolutions didn’t work, I will try again next year…”

But wait, it’s not too late! We cannot lay victim to this special time of year!

The “Late-January Resolution” and “Early-February Resolution” are just as good as any other.

They don’t sound as sexy or come with all the hoopla, but they are just effective when you take action.

A Plan, a Map, or Action steps?

Whatever you want to call my ideas below, I put together a list on how I think about taking action, and how I have helped my clients.

If you need to kick-start your “New February Resolution”, then wait no further…

(I am applying these ideas to health and fitness, but they could be used for area of your life like business, life, relationships, and spending less time on social media…but please finish reading this post if you found this article on social media.)

HERE ARE 5 STEPS TO KICKSTART YOUR STALLED RESOLUTIONS

1. Brainstorming – this is the most important step, you need to start off on the right path. As a behavior analyst, I always plan and build a list of targets that make sense for a client. I ask: “What is something that you see yourself doing 1-, 5-, or 10-years from now?” If a client wants to run a marathon, then walking a couple miles first is a logical first step. Pun intended. The key here is building a list of activities that can be maintained in both the short- and long-term.
2. Selecting – With the list compiled from step 1, now we categorize (and sometimes rank), which targets are the most important. A list of targets, in a client’s preferred order, may look something like:

                        1.) Run more often  2.) Eat more vegetables  3.) Sleep better  4.) Sit less

The key with these selections is that each can be observed.

Which sets us up for the next step…

3. Measuring – to determine success we need to match our behavior with just a little bit of data. You may not be into data like I am, but this is very, very important. It is what separates working with a behavior analyst than other health professionals. The insistence of taking regular, behavioral data.

While physical measures are good and what most people are interested in like: weight, body fat, and strength. These are outcome measures. They are the result of changing your health behavior.

What we are really most interested in are the process measures. The behavior change itself. Measures like steps taken, number of vegetables eaten, and compliance with exercise programs.

(This is not a jab at other professions, but the core of our decision-making rests on objective data. If we are not taking data, then we are not practicing our craft.)

Insert Technology…

Apps and tech gadgets measure almost anything. Most smartphones come equipped with basic tools to get you started. The combination of apps and taking a photo and video allows to take an unlimited range of behavioral measures. Tech just eases this process.

Of the 4 targets above, with walking being the most important, it is actually pretty easy to track. Most phones have step counters built into them.

Here’s how steps are measured in the health app on iPhones.

The issue with data and measurement most of the time is this: most people do not use technology that is available and free to them.

Simply having data in your pocket and taking new data doesn’t change behavior. Well it can…but that’s a discussion for another day.

Using the right data with the right person at the right time does.

Right now, I have two clients that use a Garmin running watch. The Garmin is fantastic at what it does (using GPS for running) and takes incredible data. The challenge is weeding out all the data that we don’t need.

Is outside temperature, humidity, running pace, distance, heart rate, and floors climbed ALL important to YOU? Or is just one?

“Data is not about getting the fanciest or most expensive tool for the job. It’s about finding the valuable piece that works for that individual.”

And a quick note on measurement, while you may be gung-ho about changing and measuring everything all at once, it’s better to start with one measurable target, work on it, and add a new one later.

4. Goaling – in nerdy science land, before a goal is set, we need baseline data. A measure on how you are doing without any sort of intervention.

(Yes, I made ‘Goaling’ up, but you can tell what it means)

If we want to increase walking/running, and have a tool to measure it (a Fitbit), then we need to see how much we actually do the activity, BEFORE changing anything else.

This is another hallmark of behavioral science. Taking data before doing anything. Why? So that we can figure out if the changes you make, or the recommendations made by a coach, are helpful or not.

Nothing like holding coaches accountable. Puttin’ data where their mouth is!

#Science

When setting up goals, the more specific, the better. This is a skill, an art.

Running those very general targets from step 2 through the magic BehaviorFit consulting machine gives us these very specific goals:

…actually nothing “magic” here, I just broke down the general targets into smaller components.

You may be familiar with the ever-so-popular SMART goals formula – Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-Based…but that acronym is overused, and misses other behavioral pieces that I have mentioned, so I avoided using it.

FYI: My acronym is BSMGE (buh-sim-gee)…kinda sounds like that dog breed Basenji. (buh-sen-gee). Close enough, I’ll take it.

My acronym come to life!

Catchy right?!?!

Last step…

5. Evaluating – So we built a list, selected a target, measured it, and set a goal. The final step is evaluating our work. Did we bite off more than we could chew? Was the goal set too low, too high? Either way, collecting and seeing the data guides on you how to adjust your daily and weekly activities.

This is the piece that a lot of health programs TALK about, but I never see any data.

For example, I love CrossFit and they take lots of data, everyday. Reps completed, fastest times, personal records…but you never see regular progressions charted in a meaningful way. The onus is on the individual athlete.

There is no secret sauce to success, but it is nice to know how the ingredients change each week. Did the temperature drop? Have sick kids? Are the reminders working? Has your coach dropped the ball?

Staying close to the data, observing what you are doing, and communicating with another helps you build the healthy activities that you are looking for.

Of course, that’s the benefit of hiring consultants and coaches. Helping you evaluate what is working, what is not, and finding goals that makes sense for you.

Time to wrap it up!

 This article went a little longer than anticipated. Thanks for hanging in there.

I described the 5 activities to help you realize your health changes:

1. Brainstorming
2. Selecting
3. Measuring
4. Goaling, and
5. Evaluating

The list is not exhaustive of all the things that go into transitioning into a healthy lifestyle, but hopefully breathes some life into your stalled, slow-to-start, or even dead, New Year’s Resolution.

February resolution anyone?

The BehaviorFit consulting team has been fortunate to work with clients on a variety of health targets. Here is a list of health targets we are currently working with our clients:

• Increasing the number of total steps per week
• Increasing the number of 20-minute workouts per week
• Tracking the average minutes slept per night
• Reducing the number of sugary sodas consumed per week
• Evaluating total added sugar consumed per week
• Evaluating the effectiveness of online sports performance coaching

If you are looking for guidance on a health target, give us a shout. Fill out the form here and tell us about it.

Or if you want, I created a worksheet for you to get started on your own.

BSMGE!

And as always, Keep moving!

-Nick