In recent writings in the press, about resolutions for the New Year,
there seems to be the illusion that all it takes is a strong motivation to gain
or drop a habit, which in my experience is an over simplification.
In over 30 years of efforts in the area of personal
change, the most successful efforts have been accompanied by protocols of actions. These contain
bother cognitive and behavior plans and strategies for getting to goal, not
just a strong wish to get to goal.
In my latest efforts focused on weight control with
special interest in eliminating alcohol from my diet. I have developed four
steps. The first step is to raise awareness of the central long term goal, which
is to maximize weight loss and fitness. The second is to identify the rewards
of not giving in to craves, i.e., better sleep, feeling better the next
morning, aiding weight loss and so forth.
The third step is the intervention of behaviors to
ward off craves or extinguish them altogether such as eating something, and
drinking a non alcoholic drink at 5pm. Finally,
there is the activation of memory of how badly I sometimes feel later at night
after imbibing, sleep disturbance, and so forth.
When I was working on the cold calling problem, cold call
reluctance, I developed a five step model for how to overcome the disinclination
to call strangers on sales calls. Set a goal for how many calls make on daily
basis; incrementally increase these calls at your own pace; keep records of the
fate of all calls; distance yourself from the inner critic that discourages you
from making these calls. And, finally, have an accountability partner to whom
you report your calls.
I followed these steps to increase my calling rate
with good success and taught many, many others to do the same, with positive
results.
Finally, in the weight loss domain, I developed and
followed three main rules: limited carbs, severely limited alcohol intake and 2
hours of exercise per day.
In all these domains of goal achievement, there were
these protocols of action to implement the steps necessary to ‘get to goal’. I
have found that having a plan is crucial to behavior change or new habit
formation, regardless of the goal.
Motivation counts heavily, of course. But by itself long term change
that is worked at and maintained over the long haul requires a systematic set
of rules to follow, a protocol of action.
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