Why behaviour change is more important than results

We find it really easy to stick to “unhealthy” habits, like having a take away instead of cooking and watching TV instead of going to the gym or for a walk...but why is it so difficult to stick to good habits?

When we start a new exercise or nutrition routine we are usually full of motivation to begin with. We tend to take on too many big changes too soon, which only causes us to fail, feel discouraged and revert back to our old unhealthy habits.

We often set ourselves goals, like fat loss, at the start of our new exercise and nutrition routine. The goals that we set ourselves tend to be focused on our appearance or performance, this causes us to focus purely on the results we want to achieve rather than the process of getting there, which is often more important!

When we focus more on the process of reaching our goals and what behaviours we need to adopt, success comes easier and the results are long lasting.

A good way to shift our focus on to the process rather than the results is to first determine the type of person we want to be....

For example a person who exercises consistently and practices their nutrition habits is the type of person who can lose body fat. The person that we are today is a result of the habits that we have today, so by changing your everyday habits you change the person you are.

Instead of worrying about how much body fat you want to lose, how strong you want to become and what deadline you have set, work on being the type of person who can achieve and stick to healthy habits, set yourself a behaviour goal.

Be the type of person who exercises consistently

Be the type of person who moves more and works towards achieving 10,000 steps everyday

Be the type of person who drinks 8 glasses of water everyday

Be the type of person who looks at food as a way to nourish their body rather than just as calories

Remember start small and make it easy! A habit you set yourself should feel “too easy”, ask yourself on a scale of 1-10 how confident are you that you can stick to your habit set, anything less than a 9, make the habit easier!

For example if we find achieving 10,000 steps per day too difficult, break it down and make it easier and achievable, start by walking an extra 250 steps a day for a week and then add 100 steps the following week, working your way up to 10,000 steps.

Find drinking 8 glasses of water a day difficult? Start by drinking 1 glass of water when you wake up for a week, next week add a glass to your lunch, the following week add a glass of water to your dinner. Once you have practiced this consistently start introducing water in-between your meals as well.

These are some examples of how to make your habit easier.

Don’t think a habit is too small or not important, by consistently building on small behaviours you will still be making great progress!

At the start your performance isn’t important, what is important is working on becoming the type of person who consistently sticks to their habits no matter how big or small they are.