Healthy Body: Fundamentals
Chains, Not Whips
TL:DR version
- Small, consistent actions are highly effective in habit formation
- Negative feedback is counterproductive,
- Celebrating success increases your willpower.
Or let’s get into it.
Although I identify as a P.E. person, school cross country was my idea of hell.
“It’s cold, it’s muddy, there’s no music – what’s the point?”
(I was a petulant little oik)
Amy, however (as you would imagine) would gleefully charge across the countryside at a ridiculous pace.
There was one P.E. teacher who took delight in handing out burpees for the ‘dawdlers’ (they’d probably be strung up for that now).
I went faster (tutting), so I could get in the warm quicker.
What this meant was:
- I hated cross-country forever
- I tended to bunk off when it was on the timetable.
- I didn’t run again in any capacity until I was 49.
Safe to say – the ‘whip’, whilst temporarily effective,
(I RAN DIDN’T I?? – GODDDDD. STOP GOING ON ABOUT IT!!)was counterproductive in the long term.
Science consistently backs this up.
WHIPS DON’T WORK
(Well, you know – time and a place…)
Being punished, or receiving negative feedback for ‘slip-ups’ is shown to decrease motivation and increase the likelihood of abandoning healthy habits.
There is a legion of exercise-phobics created by well-meaning/sadistic school P.E. teachers out there.
Or someone else being mean/making the experience dreadful at some point.
Or even the negative mental chatter about; our bodies, abilities, getting older, being judged – they all have a demotivating effect.
JAPANESE ROPES AND CHAINS:
(side note: definitely don’t accidentally look up Shibari – Japanese Bondage kink. It will, in my experience… distract you – and we need to stay on course.)
If you’ve identified that one NCD-proof action (e.g. reduce stress, eat more healthily etc),break it down into smaller parts, if that’s possible.
Bite off a Chunk.
The Japanese Kaizen approach to habit change, is to make it small and specific.
For example -Eat more healthily.
That’s too big and vague.
But maybe you always have 3 Chocolate HobNobs (biscuit of Kings) with your mid-morning coffee.
Although delicious – the 300 empty sugary calories are not helpful to your goal.
So you decide to:
Switch the daily HobNobs for a healthier homemade (still yummy) fruit and nut protein ball.
When you do – you give yourself a tick for that day.
Don’t worry about changing anything else.
Just that.
Everything else stays the same.
A study by Duke University found that about 45% of our daily behaviours are habitual.
They proved the hypothesis that tiny habit changes significantly impacted daily lives, and enhanced overall wellbeing and productivity.
2) Build a Chain
Aim to build the longest unbroken chain of ticks (days) that you can.
If you break the chain
(“I fell and ended up in Tesco and the HobNobs fell into my trolley, then there was a tornado and one lodged in my mouth and I had to chew it in order not to choke to death…Your honour”)
you start a new chain – and beat your previous score.
You don’t berate yourself, you just carry on.
However, keeping it almost daftly manageable means that you are almost guaranteed to succeed.
Your brain LOVES succeeding – and wants more of that good stuff.
It will enjoy seeing the links grow in your success chain.
Whether your chain lasted three days or thirty, it’s progress.
Celebrate it.
This is not babying yourself, or letting yourself off doing something ‘bigger’.
Celebrating boosts your intrinsic motivation – your natural willpower – and makes it easier to continue.
According to research published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, positive reinforcement (like celebrating small victories) increases the likelihood of maintaining healthy habits long-term by over 50%.
3: The Rhythm Method
Success comes from building a sustainable rhythm, not chasing perfection.
Focus on the next decision in front of you.
Once you’ve mastered that first little habit and it feels natural, (which it will quite quickly),you add another positive habit in, layering it on top.
It’s about creating small, sustainable micro-habits that build to a significant change.
The change is achieved far more quickly than if you went hell-for-leather and tried to change everything at once.
SET YOURSELF UP TO SUCCEED
Clear away obstacles that might make you say:
‘nah, can’t be bothered with the faff, today’.
If you want to build an exercise chain – you could lay out your clothes and your water bottle in advance.
A healthy eating chain – get the food prepped and in the fridge.
A meditation chain -set alarms for meditation, with your candle, recording, cushion or whatever else you like.
GO DEEPER WITH MINDFULNESS
Mindfulness can fundamentally change your relationship with cravings of all kinds.
It gives you the mental space to choose actions wisely.
It helps you be curious about your habit cycle; ‘trigger-behaviour-results’ and help you deconstructing unhelpful habit patterns (constructing ones you prefer).
Have a go at our audio Mindfulness course if this sounds interesting to you. So, throw the whips of self-criticism away and let’s build some beautiful, sexy little chains of positive changes.
In summary:
Bite off a chunk, build a chain, layer it up and find a rhythm.
ACTION:
Set your specific Kaizen baby-step commitment:
I will do/change/avoid _______________________________, and instead I will _________________________________.
.,,and build a chain.