Synopsis
about the “Change You Brain Everyday” Blog
Some people can make big lifestyle changes at the drop of a hat. Others (like me) do better with an incremental approach. This is commonly referred to as the 1% better mentality. It is discussed in length in the book Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Nancy started off by drinking more water then she added omega-3 and vitamin D supplementation. She experienced increased energy and focus respectively. Feeling better she add exercise to her routine which increased her mood. With exercise working she wanted to see what changing her diet would do. She started losing weight. With increased confidence she decided to try and learn a different language and play the guitar. She lost 70 lbs., was paid free and had increased her energy, mood, and memory. Nancy started a positive feedback loop with one small habit and changed her life forever!
Exercise: What is one small step you can start today from Nancy’s list? Are you more likely to succeed on a fast track or at incremental?Approach
The only thing I haven’t done from Nancy’s list is to try and learn to play a musical instrument. That’s not in the cards for me today. I’m kinda calling myself out for procrastination on this…maybe a chance to learn a musical instrument will present itself to me today. Walnut Creek does have a lot of piano’s scatted around public places. I think I might give one a try.
As far as success goes I’m better with the incremental approach. As mentioned several times already in this blog series I try to do too many things at once. This leads to burnout. When I try to make several changes all at once I do great for 3 weeks. Eventually I have a day where my will power is low. When this happens I don’t drop one of the several changes. I drop them all.
What I have found best for creating lasting changes is creating a positive feedback loop around 1-3 new habits at a time. Nancy’s story is the perfect example of a positive feedback loop. She made one small positive change, drinking more water. That change had a positive momentum that made the next, slightly bigger change of adding supplementation, easier. The next step of adding exercise is too daunting of a first change for most people. Since Nancy had developed positive feedback from the first two changes, she developed faith in the third change. Then she changed her diet! An even bigger step.
When you create a positive feedback loop the changes get bigger but not harder. Its like climbing a set of 20 stairs. You are gonna fail if you try to climb all 20 at once. If you climb the first small step, the next step is just as easy as the first one, but the altitude gained is twice as much.
Author – Coach Brian