Fitness Camp Ireland

How great would it be if changing old habits didn’t have to be a struggle, if living a healthier lifestyle was almost effortless and did not have to be such a mission? Well there is an alternative option to the tiresome battle we all traditionally set ourselves up for at this time of year.

Psychology featured throughout the four years of my Sport Science degree. Studying the mind has always intrigued me, but I remember there being one particular health psychology module in fourth year that really grabbed my attention. Again while completing my MSc, a module on Mental Health and Exercise really fascinated me, and it ended up being the focus of my thesis. In more recent years I started to casually research the work of leading authors in the self-help movement, and it has really served to further my understanding of our motivations and behaviours. At long last – I’ve found answers!!

Self-Help Guru’s…

Throughout the last century self-help authors such as Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, Dr Wayne Dyer, Michael Gerber and Anthony Robbins have all advocated the same principle, but they each tailor it to meet the needs of different audiences. Their revelations are not new, philosophers and so many religious figures including the Dalai Lama, have been telling us the same things all along. One of the core principles that transcends the messages brought to us through religion, the self-help movement, philosophy and psychology is this: your thoughts determine who you become.  

Beliefs & Behaviour…

I listened to a fascinating piece the other day about how our thoughts/beliefs precede all action/behaviour. It went on to explain that it is an innate human compulsion to act consistently in accordance with our beliefs, and that the beliefs with the greatest influence over our behaviour are those that we have about ourselves. If we have a belief about ourselves, conscious or sub-conscious, we will always look to reaffirm it through our actions and behaviours. In essence, how you see yourself, your identity, is a self-fulfilling prophecy. So how does this impact making resolutions and long term change?

Changing how you see yourself…

The piece concluded that the secret to enduring behaviour change is simply this – change your identity, how you view yourself, and behaviours will intrinsically follow suit. It doesn’t mean that it will be effortless, action still needs to be taken – but the likelihood of success is extremely high if belief and behaviours are synchronised.

Contrary to this, if you keep a negative belief about yourself but try to change the behaviour it will always be a struggle, as you’re actions are inconsistent with the belief and this goes against our innate drive. It makes long-term change much more difficult to attain. It’s not that it is impossible to do the reverse (change identity through repeated behaviour), but it is far more difficult – it’s the same as swimming against the tide. The moment the new identity is formed the behaviour will be almost automatic.

Here are some simple examples of negative beliefs that I regularly hear;

“I hate exercise, I’m just not a natural exerciser…”

“I just look at food and I gain weight…”

“I can never stick to anything for more than a couple of weeks, I just don’t have the willpower…”

If you are constantly telling yourself negative things about your health/nutrition/exercise identity, it makes keeping new resolutions much harder. So what is the trick to mastering your identity relating to health, nutrition & exercise for the better?

Four Easy Steps

Step 1 – write down how you currently see yourself regarding the aspect of behaviour you want to change ( you can explore all aspects of identity, your skills, your character, your roles, your hobbies if you want to make bigger changes all round)

Step 2 – review the list and now write down how you would like to be, write out the list of the new you relating to the area you want to change (view anything you no longer want to be from the previous list as simply ‘the way you used to be’)

Step 3 – now just step into the shoes of the person you want to be, think about how they would act, and what they would do, where they would go, how they would feel in certain situations etc.. use your imagination, model yourself on someone. This is the process of creating a new belief.

Step 4 – Whenever you catch yourself saying the old negative things about yourself stop, and reaffirm the new you (use positive self-talk, affirmations, tell a family member about the new you – careful not to tell someone who’ll make a joke of it though!)

In my opinion…

Well, I think this is a fresh approach, a new way of thinking and certainly worth a try. When I look back on any major lifestyle changes I’ve made in the past, they were all pretty instantaneous – I don’t remember a transition period. That’s not to say change came easy, I only know too well the work it takes to make improvements in your life, but this approach seems to offer a way of making the usual process a lot easier.