It Doesn’t Have To Be So Difficult. How To Make Change Easy (or Easier!)
@rossfindon
Why is it so difficult to lose weight? You already know what to do. So, why can’t you just do it?
You’re desperate to change things. You want to eat healthier, get a good night’s sleep, have more energy and feel, well, just better than you do right now. You know it’s possible, but you also know that doing something different means stepping out of your comfort zone and you’re not quite ready for that. Not just yet. Sound familiar? This week’s blog is for you.
It’s unanimous. All the most recent behavioural science shows: the easier we make change and the simpler we make our new habits the more likely it is that they’ll stick in the long-term.
Ready to find out more? Let’s dive in to this week’s blog, Does It Have To Be So Difficult, How To Make Change Easy (Or Easier!)
One of many reasons that diets don’t work in the long-term is the all or nothing approach. When we make too many changes or change things too drastically, we set ourselves up to fail before we even start.
We’re creatures of habit, so when we we dive head first into a completely different diet or lifestyle and hope that motivation will help to keep us going, well, you already know how this one ends. And, maybe, after all this time, maybe it’s time to try something new. Making too many changes at once can be overwhelming and it’s often not realistic. Rather than out with the old, in with the new, how about we start small. Take it step by step. Maybe even acknowledge that the old us isn’t too bad really?
You know situation. It’s a random Tuesday night. It’s 11pm already. You’re watching your latest favourite Netflix series. You know that watching one more episode will leave you feeling exhausted in the morning. You also can’t wait to find out what happens next. You know exactly what you should do. But, the next episode starts and before you know it, it’s midnight. It’s no accident that the next episode just keeps on playing without you having to move a muscle. It’s the easiest option and Netflix have engineered it exactly like this on purpose. It’s easier to carry on watching.
It’s exactly the same with Amazon. You can order almost anything to arrive at your house the next day with just a few clicks of your mouse. Even easier, you can order it on subscription. Order something once and it turns up every single month. You don’t even have to give it another thought.
Why do Netflix and Amazon do this? They know that we are creatures of habit. We like life to be easy. They also know that we take the path of least resistance most of the time.
So, if you’re struggling to stop watching Netflix and start going to the gym, but you can’t quite manage to drag yourself off the sofa? Nothing wrong with you at all.
But, we’re gonna need to use a bit of the old Netflix “make it as easy as possible” psychology to help ourselves achieve our goals. We need to use this knowledge to our advantage to help us create healthy habits that last.
In James Clear’s fantastic book, Atomic Habits, he lays out exactly what we need to do to create habits that last in the long-term.
Here are his top suggestions:
Decrease friction.
Have you ever done Dry January? You probably felt pretty great afterwards. But, knowing that drinking less made you feel good probably wasn’t enough to reduce the temptation of having a drink. So, how can we make it easier? Reduce the friction . There are lots of ways you can reduce the friction here: stop buying wine, buy non-alcoholic alternatives, arrange to meet your friends in coffee shops instead of bars. When alcohol isn’t available? It’s easier not to drink it. Reduce the friction wherever possible. Simple and obvious, but also powerful and effective. It’s about making the healthier choice the easier choice and the unhealthier choice the harder choice.
Follow The Path Of Least Resistance.
We are so much more likely to do something if it’s easy. That’s not to say we can’t do hard things. Of course we can. It’s just that for many of us, most of the time, we prefer not to. That’s okay, we just need to work with it! James Clear uses the example of watching TV. If you’re trying to cut down on the amount of time you spend binge watching Netflix, then make it more difficult to watch Netflix. Log out each time you finish watching. Unplug your TV. Take the batteries out of the remote. Ask your other half to hide the remote. Only turn the TV on if you can name the programme you want to watch. Plug your TV into a timer plug. Make the unhealthy option the harder option as often as possible. You can apply this to anything. You just might need to be a bit creative.
Take it step by step.
Think of starting your new habits like a slip road on the motorway, once you start going, you’ll just keep on going. And when James Clear says to start small, really does mean step by step. Maybe you want to start running? Here’s a great way to do it if you currently feel like you have as much chance as going to space as you do running 5km. Your first step could be download the couch to 5km app. Your next step? Dig out your running gear. Then, put your trainers on. Once you’ve got your trainers on? Go outside. Next step? Press play on your couch to 5km app. Then? Start running. You can run for 1 minute. Then stop. Here’s the truly brilliant thing about this: if you take each of these actions as separate steps, there’s nothing overwhelming or difficult about any of them. If, after one minute of running, you go back home, you’ve achieved your goal. If you decide to keep on running? Amazing. But keep it like this until this small stack of habits becomes a routine and no longer feels overwhelming. Then you can build on it.
Start small.
Clear suggests making any new habit just two minutes in length. Once this small, two-minute habit becomes established it’s almost like a ritual. A gateway habit. Want to work out more? Make the first thing you do when you get home from work putting your gym clothes on. It might seem small, but eventually that action will automatically lead to the next step. After years of being on the all or nothing dieting bandwagon this might make you feel a little uncomfortable and itching to do more, but in the words of Mr Clear, “it’s better to do less than to do nothing”. If you have resistance to this, know that it is normal. Even though my clients sign up to my one to one coaching programmes knowing their weight loss will be slow and steady, it’s not unusual for them to get a little twitchy 2 or 3 weeks in when they haven’t seen drastic results. It’s important to remember two things at this point. The first is all the non-scale victories you will get when you start to add small, healthy changes into your life (for example, better sleep, more energy) and the second is to remember that while you may see drastic results 2 or 3 weeks into a fad diet, it’s where you end up years or months from now that matters more. We’re looking for long-term, lasting change. Not short-term changes from a drastic regime that causes us to fall of the wagon weeks later.
Focus on the decisions that matter.
It’s so easy to get distracted by shiny object syndrome and the promise of fast results and social media is making this easier and easier. It’s crucial that we focus on those habits that are going to make a difference. Clear explains this brilliantly by talking about options in a restaurant. Technically you can eat whatever you want when you go into a restaurant. However, the moment you choose the type of restaurant, you are limited to the food on the restaurant menu. It’s the same with your habits. There are defining moments that will make a difference. Identifying these moments can be a game changer. A great approach to change is to reflect back on your week, every Sunday say, and look at anything that might have knocked you off track in the previous week. Are your eating habits tripping you up? Spend some time at the weekend meal prepping or chopping veg so you don’t have to spend a long time cooking when you’re tired after a busy day at work. Is it lunch that’s the issue? Make it the night before and take it work with you. If you have a habit of taking a healthy lunch to work, but being tempted by takeout when all your colleagues to out for lunch? Leave your purse at home.
If you’re reading this and still have doubts about this approach, remember that habits, like everything, have a cumulative impact. The more, small, healthy habits you do throughout the day the bigger the impact on your health. Think of it the other way. If you were to smoke cigarettes or eat fast food constantly for five minutes every single day, it wouldn’t surprise if it was negatively affecting your health. It’s exactly the same the other way round. Small, simple, consistent actions over time can add to big changes.
Once your small habit has become established that’s when you can grow it. Be careful here, it’s really tempting to adopt the “go big or go home” mentality early doors. Take it slow. If you try to grow your habit before it’s established, it can be like trying to build a house on rocky foundations.
Start small. Start simple. Make it as easy as possible. Then build from there.
Let me know in the comments which of these tips you found more helpful.
If you enjoyed this week’s blog, Does It Have To Be So Difficult? How To Make Change Easy (Or Easier!), I have two similar posts that you might also find helpful:
How To Redesign Your Life To Easily Create Healthy Habits
How Small Steps Lead To Lasting Change
I’ll be back next week.
Until next week, take care,
Catherine xx