If you want to change your life, you have to change yourself. Or, at least part of yourself.
From Joe: We’ve talked about it before: Converting lifestyle changes into permanent improvements is a major potential stumbling block for everyone who wants to develop better health and fitness practices. That’s why I’m always harping on the importance of framing the issue as one where you change your life by changing your self. Or at least a part of yourself. In the final analysis, that’s the only thing over which you might truly have control.
Two bloggers recently made Lifehacker when they addressed this stumbling block. I’m connecting their dots because their different perspectives work harmoniously to give TheFittestLoser.com readers something to think about.
Jonathan Field summarizes the problem:
People want lower health care costs, but nobody wants to endure the changes to medicine, law and bureaucracy it’ll take to get it.
People want lower insurance, but nobody wants to adopt the changes in lifestyle and behavior that’ll drive it.
People want to be thinner, healthier and happier, but nobody wants to own actions it takes to get there…
A really smart entrepreneur once told me Maslow got it wrong.
The fundamental need is not survival, but rather the need to not have to endure change.
I laughed. But, increasingly, I’m finding truth in those words.
(Recommended by LifeHacker)
Heidi Grant Halvorson gives a more detailed look at the problem and some research-based hints on dealing with it:
The road to hell may or may not be paved with good intentions, but the road to failure surely is. Take a good look at the people you work with, and you’ll find lots of Good Starters — individuals who want to succeed, and have promising ideas for how to make that happen. They begin each new pursuit with enthusiasm, or at the very least, a commitment to getting the job done…And then something happens. Somewhere along the way, they lose steam…If you are guilty of being a Good Starter, but a lousy finisher — at work or in your personal life — you have a very common problem.
…becoming a Great Finisher is about staying motivated…Recent research has uncovered the reason why that can be so difficult, and a simple and effective strategy you can use to keep motivation high.
In their studies, University of Chicago psychologists Minjung Koo and Ayelet Fishbach examined how people pursuing goals were affected by focusing on either how far they had already come (to-date thinking) or what was left to be accomplished (to-go thinking)…A dieter who wants to lose 30 pounds may try to fight temptation by reminding themselves of the 20 pounds already lost, or the 10 left to go.
Koo and Fishbach’s studies consistently show that when we are pursuing a goal and consider how far we’ve already come, we feel a premature sense of accomplishment and begin to slack off…Great Finishers force themselves to stay focused on the goal, and never congratulate themselves on a job half-done. Great managers create Great Finishers by reminding their employees to keep their eyes on the prize, and are careful to avoid giving effusive praise or rewards for hitting milestones “along the way.” Encouragement is important, but to keep your team motivated, save the accolades for a job well — and completely — done.
(Recommended by LifeHacker)
The basic idea is simple but profound: People love to obtain the benefits of making changes. People hate the process of making changes. Unless, of course, the changes are to be undergone by someone else!