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I often see clients who say that they are really motivated to lose weight, or eat more vegetables, or remember to drink more during training and yet they remain fixed with their old habits and quickly get frustrated. Often its because they have not thought through all the things that they will have to give up, or eat less of, in order to make the change. It may be because they have not realised the amount of time or effort needed to change the habit and to maintain the new good habit. |
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John wants to change from being an occasional goal scorer to being one of the top goal scorers for his club. He knows its within his capabilities and the benefits would include being picked more for the first team, extra pay, sense of achievement, recognition within his sport as world class player and he would help his team be promoted. He realises that what he has to do is put in an extra 2 morning training sessions a week and tells himself that he really must do it this year, he is really motivated this time and that 2 sessions a week is 'no big deal'. After 2 weeks of training, John realises that he has not managed to get to the gym. He decides to try harder. 2 weeks later he still has not been. He can not understand it he really does want to be the best, and surely it must be easy to get to the gym for extra training, so why isn't he doing it? The answer is that despite his commitment to the benefits (extra pay, recognition etc) he has not appreciated the less good aspects of change. By knowing the good and the not so good aspects of changing his training habits it is much more likely that he will be successful. This weighing up of the pros and cons of change is often called the Decision Balance. |
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i.e. 2 extra training sessions in a day |
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| Good Things |
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| Less Good Things |
Feel more tired. I need to get up early. I have to get to bed on time. |
Team may not get promoted. Feel that I've let myself and team down again. |
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Questions John should ask himself: A If I did decide to change (add in 2 extra training sessions a week), how would I be better off, what would be the benefits? B What concerns do I have about training more and what don't I like about extra training? C What things to I like doing that I might I have to give up if I add in 2 extra sessions a week? D At the end of the season if I am still only scoring the occasional goal, how will that bother me and what concerns do I have this?
To enable John to move in the right direction some or all of points made in boxes A and D need to be of greater importance than B and C. A and D could therefore be made more significant in John's mind and/or B and C could be shrunk down in their importance. Now look at the Decision Balance table using the example of someone trying to eat less chocolate. |
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| Good Things |
Eat more nourishing foods. Feel better. Look better. Better energy levels (less ups and downs. |
Convenient It's a nice treat 'Picks me up' Feel accepted its normal to love chocolate |
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| Less Good Things |
Feel deprived of something I enjoy. It cheers me up. I love the taste. |
I hate feeling guilty after eating so much of it. I do not want to pass my bad eating habits onto any future children. |
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Ask yourself: A If you did decide to reduce the amount of chocolate you eat how would you be better off? B What concerns do you have about changing your diet by eating less chocolate? C What do you like about eating chocolate? D What concerns do you have about the amount of chocolate you are eating? The power of emotions behind
A and D need to be greater than B and C or the barriers to B
and C need to be broken down and strategies created to overcome
them. Go to a blank decision balance table and work through your own issues. |
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