Small Changes,

BIG DifferencesSimple daily strategies to improve health.

Cristin Stokes and Neal Andrews

MUS Wellness

April 2015

“If you made a New Year’s Resolution for 2015, how would you describe your success thus far?”

Very successful

Somewhat successful

Unsuccessful

I did not make any Resolutions this year

January was a long time ago and I don’t remember.

Poll Question!

…is how we live our lives.”

We can break down how we live by a series of behaviors and habits.

Intentionally, or unintentionally, these small behaviors and tiny habits accumulate to form who we are, including our health, accomplishments, and life outcomes.

“How we live our days…

One mistake we often make is setting outcome goals without making appropriate behavior changes.

I can set a goal to lose 10 pounds, but if I don’t change certain behaviors that lead to weight loss, I will most likely fail. I can’t “think” the 10 pounds away.

We must identify behaviors that we can either modify or create that help lead to the desired outcome.

Outcome goals are what we want. Behavior goals are how we achieve outcomes, so focus on setting, and following, behavior goals.

Behaviors and Outcomes

Outcome goal: Lose 10 pounds

Behavior changes to achieve goal:

Drink water instead of sugar-containing drinks

Eat breakfast

Bring your lunch to work instead of going out

Take the stairs instead of the elevator

Go for a walk around campus on your breaks

Get 150 minutes of exercise per week

Focus on what to do instead of what NOT to do!

Behaviors and Outcomes

…if you want to actually follow them.

Changing behavior/Creating new behaviors is difficult.

Tie to an anchor

Create a trigger if necessary

Start small

Make it easy

Remove obstacles

The rules of behavioral goals…

Anchors are behaviors that are already happening, or can be external triggers.

Examples: Brushing teeth can be an anchor Reading the morning newspaper might be an anchor

Getting out of bed may be an anchor

Logging onto your computer

Pouring the morning coffee

Parking the car at work

Walking the dog

Assignment: Write down 3 or 4 anchor behaviors in your daily routine.

Anchors, Habits, and Triggers

Once you list anchors, you can begin to attach desirable behaviors to them. Brushing teeth & flossing

Reading paper and eating breakfast

Eating breakfast and taking a supplement (i.e. vitamin or fish oil)

Pouring morning coffee and cleaning

Parking the car and taking deep breath (relaxation)

Getting out of your chair for a stretch break when your hear the Bell Tower

Anchors, Habits, and Triggers

Triggers elicit responses. Triggers tell us, “do something now!”

Behaviors only happen with a trigger Examples: A cellphone ring is a trigger.

Walking through the kitchen may be a trigger (to eat). TV commercials are intended to be triggers. Calendar reminders/alerts on our computers or phones. Pop-ups Senses

Smells Donut River

Visual

Shiny Things

Anchors, Habits, and Triggers

Avoid an “all-or-nothing” mentality.

Small changes create inertia, and lead to better outcomes.

Example: Flossing. Instead of flossing all your teeth, just floss one. Brushing is an anchor, and we attach the desired “tiny” habit.

“When I brush my teeth, I will floss one tooth.”

“When I pour my morning coffee, I will wipe the counter.”

Start Small

BJ Fogg, 3 Tiny Habits

Getting in shape

If you workout zero days a week, don’t set a goal to workout 6 days a week

Start with 2 or 3 days. Goals have to be realistic and manageable

Improving diet

A complete diet overhaul is overwhelming and impractical

More practical:

Include a fruit with breakfast

Choose whole wheat bread instead of white bread

Practical Examples

Handling stress “When I park my car before work, I will take 3 deep breaths.”

“When I go to bed, I will turn my cellphone off (or to silent).”

“When the clock tower chimes, I will do 2 stretches.”

Have a designated meditative minute (find appropriate anchor)

Financial “When I receive change, I will put it in a Piggy Bank for the

entertainment fund.”

“When I receive my paycheck, I will put $25 into my savings account.”

“When I receive my tax refund each year, I will designate X% to…

Practical Examples

Timed, focused work

25 minutes

5 minutes of break/rest

Repeat as necessary

The Pomodoro Technique

Make the habit something easy. Good: When I pour my morning coffee, I will wipe down the

counter. Not as good: When I pour my morning coffee, I will clean the

entire kitchen.

Good: When I park my car at work, I will take three deep breaths. Not as good: When I park my car at work, I will meditate for 10

minutes.

Good: When I hear the bell tower chime, I will get out of my chair do three stretches for 10 seconds each.

When I put my breakfast on the table, I’ll place my vitamins down beside my breakfast.

Make it Easy

Examples

Water bottle on desk

Fruits & vegetables washed & visible

Smaller plates for portion control

Workout clothes laid out for the morning

Make it Easy

For a habit to form (much less stick), we must remove obstacles.

Part of making things easy is setting ourselves up for success. Remove any barrier to your desired behavior.

Example: the Sunday food prep ritual.

Example: the night before the morning run/walk.

Example of a Fail: the guitar.

Example of success: my Journal

Remove Obstacles

Think of behaviors in terms of time.

Dots: Behaviors that happen once.

Spans: Behaviors that happen for a designated period. One week, one month, etc.

Paths: Behaviors that happen for life.

Brushing your teeth.

Washing your hands.

Dots, Spans, and Paths

BJ Fogg Behavioral Model

When instituting new behavior, dots & spans are advantageous, because we can handle them.

Montana Moves & Meals Challenge of the Month:

Ask us a question—dot.

Last month: tracking weekly intense exercise—span.

www.tinyhabits.com Practicing 1-week span behaviors, using many of these concepts.

Dots, Spans, and Paths

BJ Fogg Behavioral Model

Write down your goals. “It’s not a goal unless you write it down.”

Share your goals.

Track your behaviors! Online Incentive Program (Limeade)

Smartphone apps

Journal or logbook

Measure outcomes

periodically

Write it! Track it!

It’s a law of physics, and it applies to us!

Objects in motion tend to stay in motion/objects at rest tend to stay at rest.

Start small, and gradually build momentum.

Celebrate victories!

Do a dance.

Say, “I’m awesome.”

Inertia and Momentum

Rewarding yourself reinforces habits. Don’t reward yourself with something counterproductive

to your outcome goals Example: I worked out today so I can have a bowl of ice-

cream. (But maybe one spoonful if you are disciplined?) “Know Thyself”

Neal’s two post-workout rewards: Recovery drink Uploading results

Cristin’s reward: Gossip magazines!

Inertia and Momentum

Lose the “All-or-Nothing” attitude!

This is about learning new behaviors one step at a time.

If you slip up or have a bad day, just get back on track the next day (or meal).

Or, if you don’t have a great breakfast, it doesn’t mean the rest of the day is lost.

Consistency over time is what matters.

“How we live our days is how we live our lives.”

Don’t beat yourself up!

The Water Fountain Story

Create three new behavior goals for yourself. Choose your specific desired behaviors

Keep it simple, make it easy, remove obstacles.

Attach desired new behaviors to existing anchor Establish a trigger if necessary Pick a span of time to commit to this new behavior Celebrate your victories! Remove a trigger for an unwanted behavior

Visit www.tinyhabits.com to interact with BJ Fogg’sbehavior model. It’s free, and only lasts a week!

Homework

BJ Fogg Behavior Model and 3 Tiny Habits

www.bjfogg.com

The Essentials of Sport and Exercise Nutrition, John Berardi and Ryan Andrews

References

muswell.limeade.com

www.montanamovesandmeals.com

@montanameals @montanamoves

www.wellness.mus.edu

wellness@montana.edu

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