I have been reading a number of articles today looking for one to post on new year resolutions, however most of them have been a bit poor or annoying. A number of them suggesting that this is a bad thing, that it is negative, setting yourself up to fail!!! I disagree with this and here’s why.
Some sources are saying why make a new year’s resolution, it’s just the start of another year, just another day, you can make these changes any day of the year, why put this pressure on yourself, by doing this and failing it will have a negative effect on your mental state!!! It’s right you can do this any time, any day of the year but the new year is an excellent time after the Christmas excesses, it’s a natural start point and if you do it right and for the right reasons you won’t fail!!!
Why is a resolution to be better or do better bad?! It’s obviously not, trying to better ourselves and improve our life choices has got to be a good thing, it’s just how you go about it and why you want to do it.
In contrast to this negative standpoint I would like to put a positive spin on it. I believe that January the 1st gives you an ideal opportunity to make a positive change in your life, to contract yourself to become a better you and a date to do it from; however, behaviour change is a complex subject and to have the best chance of success you should endeavour to do it correctly utilising effective methodology.
Firstly, let’s explore the why aspect. Motivation comes from two types of motivation, extrinsic and intrinsic, extrinsic will be for external gratification i.e. if I lose weight people will be more attracted to me or I will be judged in a more positive way. Intrinsic would be that you will feel more energetic, you will feel fitter, your own perception of your body image will be better, you will have less illness and live longer because you are eating better and exercising more and sleeping better. The trick is to make the motivation intrinsic, do it for you but decide why you really want to do this and what the long-term benefits to you are.
Next, we should look at the time line a resolution should be set for. The answer is forever, a change for life, a change for a better!!!! Make it a habit, make this the new you a better version of you. The changes don’t and probably shouldn’t be massive big changes but small incremental ones that when added up make a big change when added together. This will result in in not being a big shock to the system and easily sustainable. What I find is that when I exercise more and lose weight and get fitter my diet improves as I don’t want to ruin the good and hard work I’ve invested in my exercise, I tend to go to bed earlier as I’ve achieved more in the day, this in turn gives me more energy the next day, enables me to make healthier food choices and be in a better mental frame of mind which in turn informs all the other choices with a cyclical holistic effect.
Next we need to look at the science behind behaviour change and how to better achieve it. With behaviour change there are five recognised stages of change:
Pre-contemplation,
Contemplation
Preparation
Action
Maintenance
Termination
The last stage, termination, is not recognised when exercise is the behaviour change as you could sustain an injury or illness that could mean that you can’t exercise (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983).
With this well recognised model it is important to utilise another model in conjunction with it to establish where you are in regards to readiness to change and then when you have established that you are ready. The two elements to consider are:
The importance of this new desired change (rate it 1-10, 10 being the most important)
Your confidence in succeeding (rate it 1-10, 10 being the most important)
(Rollnick & Miller 1991)
Both aspects should be at least more than a 5 for you to succeed, to be deemed as ready for change. If you’re less than 5 in importance then you’ll easily slip back to your old ways and you should explore why you are thinking of doing this in the first place anyway if it’s not that important to you (is it extrinsic motivators?!), if your confidence is less than 5 then you need to look at what you need to improve your confidence, more information, peer support, improved self will and strength, better self-standards.
If both elements do exceed 5 then it’s time to put effort into the most important stage of behaviour change, preparation. You should look to prepare fully to enable this change in your lifestyle so that hurdles and challenges can be overcome, look ahead make sure there are no stressors on the horizon that could de-rail you, job changes, redundancies, big work projects, parties, weddings to tempt you to the dark side! To be better prepared for success look at coping strategies for stress and challenge in your life, look into new recipes that will be health but also enjoyable, plan your workout diary, make it a MUST not a ‘should’ that you exercise on certain days of the week at certain times, have active rest days where you do less intense activity but are still active. Once you have appropriately prepared, setting a date to make this change is important write it down in your diary and then stick to that date, contracting yourself.
There are a number of issues that hamper successfully maintaining this behaviour change:
People don’t prepare well enough
They don’t foresee some of the challenges along the journey
They set the bar a bit too high thus they find it very difficult to continue with this new change
Not everyone can go cold turkey when totally abstaining from something or commit to the ideal quantity and intensity of the new activity regime (this is why small incremental changes can work better for some people).
Just because you slip one day doesn’t mean you’ve failed! it’s just a slip, get back on the wagon.
So let’s conclude and summarise. The question is do you need to go flat out with this new change, stop smoking all together, totally cut out bread, sugar, meat, exercise 7 days a week for an hour a time. Cutting down progressively or building up your activity progressively could be the best plan of action for you and the recipe for success. What I would suggest if a more progressive plan is what you feel will work for you is that you should have a plan written down as to how this progression will work with milestone dates and try to meet these timelines, continually preparing and planning ahead. Look at why you want to make these changes, what is your intrinsic motivation, focus on these motivations. The research time and time again demonstrates that making this change with other likeminded people, pulling on peer group support, you are more likely to succeed, being with other motivated positive people with a similar goal to yourself will keep you motivated and more likely to succeed.
At the moment it might seem harder than usual with the C-19 restrictions but it’s not impossible, in fact you could argue that its easier as you don’t have to travel to join in with training sessions you can do it from your own living room, it just takes a little more motivation and a little more commitment, strength of mind, self-discipline.
If you find the above a little daunting, then that’s what Personal Training with a good quality trainer is all about. A quality trainer will not only be qualified in exercise, diet and weight loss strategies but also behaviour change and resilience coaching. You might be able to wire a plug but can you wire your whole house? Probably not that’s why you employ a professional to do it for you so you now the house won’t burn down a few weeks later because you had a go at it!! Most people spend more on keeping their car on the road than they do keeping their body running well!!!
So now to the TKD sales pitch, martial arts fits the above so well:
It’s done with like-minded motivated people, all be it on Zoom or on Facebook
It has depth to it, its not just exercise for exercise sake (picking stuff up and putting it down again repeatedly, running on a treadmill going nowhere), it’s also about personal development and personal growth, you improve your self-confidence and self-efficacy
As you see success in this activity and build confidence it gives you confidence to make other changes in your life
You are supported fully throughout the journey
Its progressive
You learn a new useful skill
You meet new people and gain new supportive friends
And lastly and probably most importantly Its fun.