Taking Action
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Last week you learnt about habits and how to change them. This week we’re going to put that knowledge to use and actually make the time to implement change.
Next lesson: Mindful Eating
Lesson 3: Taking Action
Making change takes action
Most of us don’t have the intention of becoming unfit, but it’s something that can easily happen over time if we aren’t paying enough attention or not taking appropriate action.
To create the type of change that you want, you need to create the type of action to match. In order to do that, you need to have the intent to do so.
Do you do what you say?
Action is a crucial element to any change you seek. You might be really good at talking about your goals and might have even told your friends (and yourself) that you’re going to run a marathon this year (for the fifth year in a row).
But the intent to do something and actually doing it are two separate things.
Until you take action to sign up for that marathon and make time to train for it, you aren’t moving any closer towards achieving your goals.
The Intention-Action Gap
Is there a gap between your intentions and your actions?
Are you lacking the right intention?
Are you taking the right action?
Build awareness around these questions to uncover how big the gap is between your intentions and actions. Do this in detail and you can figure out what steps you need to take to close the gap.
Make time for yourself.
“I don’t have time.”
”I don’t have the energy.”
”I can’t. I’m too busy.”
It can be easy to overcommit to all of the other things that make up your life like work, social networks, and even family, leaving no room for you to work on yourself. But whose habits are you trying to change right now? Whose goals are you trying to achieve? Who are you living for?
That doesn’t mean that altruism or a kind deed has no place and it doesn’t mean you should become an overly self-centred individualist. Like many things in the world, there needs to be balance. Your life is yours, but your life also exists among others. Help yourself and others.
‘Helper’s High’
There is an interesting phenomenon called ‘helper’s high’ where the act of helping others can release feel-good chemicals like endorphins that help improve mood and boost self-esteem.
“Helper’s high” was first carefully described by Allen Luks (1988) where he conducted a study of over 1700 volunteers. He described the volunteers’ experiences of a euphoric feeling from helping others, followed by a longer period of calm and improved emotional well-being. It also improved the sense of self-worth and reduced stress of the helpers.
Luks, A. A. (1988). Helper's high. Psychology Today, 22(10), 39
Helping others feels good, but what if you can aim that same eagerness to help towards yourself? Where would you be in one year if you treated yourself like someone you were responsible for helping?
How to be organised
Simply trying to remember to take action is not enough. You need to be organised. The degree of organisation changes person to person, but you need to have some organisation to take responsibility for your intentions and initiate action.
Use a Calendar or Diary: Use these to make appointments with yourself and your tasks.
Create subtasks for your tasks: What do your tasks consist of? The more you can break them down into actionable steps, the clearer your plan will be.
Set reminders: Whether its a post-it note, a reminder on your phone, or even asking your friends and family to help remind you.
Manage your environment: Setting up triggers in your environment can help remind you about the behaviour you’re trying to practise. For example, you can make vegetables the most visible food in your fridge to help cue you towards eating them.
Ask a buddy with the same goals as you to help hold you accountable. Do the same for them as well.
Hire a coach to help you stay on track.
A note:
Cast your mind back to the lesson on habits. Remember that the brain needs repetition before the neurological patterns become more efficient and turn into subconscious habits. When taking action, you’re creating a new behaviour so don’t expect it to be easy at first. It will take practise and a healthy reward system.