{"id":25450,"date":"2015-06-28T14:58:43","date_gmt":"2015-06-28T18:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nomeatathlete.com\/?p=25450"},"modified":"2020-04-13T14:52:05","modified_gmt":"2020-04-13T18:52:05","slug":"habit-method","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nomeatathlete.com\/habit-method\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Method for Creating Changes that Last"},"content":{"rendered":"

When it comes to the best way to create a new habit, there\u2019s a great schism in the personal development<\/a> world.<\/p>\n

One classic approach is massive action. You go all-in, all at once, and you hope that by sheer force, lots of willpower, and a huge initial surge of motivation<\/a>, you\u2019ll be able to make your change last.<\/p>\n

The other way is the small steps method<\/a>. Here, you begin with the smallest possible step in the right direction, so small that you can\u2019t possibly put it off for later. Then you repeat it each day, gradually taking on just a little more, and eventually, your change becomes a habit.<\/p>\n

The big question, of course, is \u201cWhich works better?\u201d<\/p>\n

Most people say it depends on the person. That some people change better when they take massive action, and that others need to take it slow.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ve never quite been comfortable with that, because I see both types of people in me — and in just about anyone I’ve talked to about habit change, too.<\/p>\n

And after years of messing around with the two approaches, I\u2019ve come up with a method of change that uses both. And it works.<\/p>\n

In fact, when I look back at just about every significant change I\u2019ve made successfully, I\u2019ve used this method … even before I realized that’s what I was doing.<\/p>\n

Before we get into nuts and bolts of method, which connects the massive action and small steps approaches, let’s look at each individually to see where it excels and where it falters.<\/p>\n

Approach 1: Massive Action<\/h3>\n

Massive action is exciting. It\u2019s the Tony Robbins, go-for-it, on-a-mission approach. It\u2019s fun to believe that yesterday you were one way, but that you\u2019ve flipped a switch, and now you\u2019re different. You\u2019re unstoppable.<\/p>\n

And the best part is you don\u2019t need to wait. You\u2019re excited about making a change, and you go for it.<\/p>\n

And sometimes, it works. It works when the results come so quickly that your motivation just keeps growing and growing, in a cycle that\u2019s downright addictive (in a good way).<\/p>\n

A good example is the Engine 2 Diet<\/a>, where Rip Esselstyn (listen to us discuss this on NMA Radio<\/a>) encourages participants to go vegan and oil-free for 28 days.<\/p>\n

When it works — and it clearly does, often — it\u2019s because people notice such quick, drastic, and incredible changes in how they feel and look that they don\u2019t even consider quitting, even if the diet change is demanding. In time, the new way becomes a habit, at which point it no longer feels difficult, and everybody wins.<\/p>\n

But when massive action doesn\u2019t work is when the results don\u2019t<\/em> come quickly and noticeably. Our motivation is high at first, but each day of massive action drains that willpower a little bit more. If the willpower runs out before the new action has become habitual and automatic, then at that point, we break.<\/p>\n

This is when you eat the cheeseburger.<\/p>\n

Or the day, two or three weeks after starting that new fitness program, when instead of going to gym like you planned, you decide to go to happy hour, and it’s curtains for your new program.<\/p>\n

Most people keep trying to change this way, often taking on more and more to make up for the last time. Which only leads to more failure.<\/p>\n

Eventually, they tell themselves they can\u2019t change, and they give up trying to change at all.<\/p>\n

Sad face.<\/p>\n

Approach 2: Small Steps<\/h3>\n

Seeing this, some smart people came up with an alternative. Here, you rely on patience, starting with only a tiny, easy step.<\/p>\n

If you want to take up running, you start by running (or even walking) for two minutes. The next day, you do it again, and after a week of this, you increase to maybe five minutes a day. The next week, eight minutes.<\/p>\n

Slooooowly, you become a runner<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When the small steps approach works, it works because it\u2019s never hard. Each new step is tiny, and you\u2019re well equipped to handle it because you\u2019ve gotten there gradually. Soon, if you do things right, the new way becomes your habit, where you don\u2019t have to think about it at all.<\/p>\n

The catch is that you don\u2019t get to see results right away. If your reason for becoming a runner is to lose weight, you don\u2019t get that in the first month — you\u2019re only running a few minutes a day! The changes that happen in the early going are in your brain; you\u2019re building a habit. So when the volume increases later, and you actually do start burning significant calories, it won\u2019t break you … but that’s a long way off.<\/p>\n

Most people don\u2019t have the patience for this method. They can\u2019t resist doing too much, too soon. And even if they can, the results seem are far off that they have little power to pull you along. Eventually, for one reason or another (often it\u2019s just that you forget to take your tiny daily action!) you fall off the wagon.<\/p>\n

Small steps is a nice alternative to massive action, but a few years ago I began to sense that it wasn\u2019t quite enough for me. I so love the idea of making changes that I don\u2019t often have the patience to adopt new things gradually. I want to get in there and experiment, see what it\u2019s like, and experience those initial results quickly.<\/p>\n

So I wondered: Could there not be some way to get the benefits of both approaches — the initial surge of motivation and momentum that comes as you see early results due to massive action, and the gradual building of a rock-solid habit that comes from taking small steps — while minimizing the drawbacks of each?<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Solution: the Hybrid Method<\/h3>\n

Ever since I started writing about the small steps approach a few years ago, I\u2019ve been answering the question, \u201cWhat if I\u2019m more the all-in, all-at-once type?\u201d (Most people, it seems, believe that they are.)<\/p>\n

My answer has always been: “Then try it. Take the massive action, go cold turkey, whatever you want to call it. But if it fails, don\u2019t treat it as failure. Treat it as the completion of Phase 1, the massive action phase, then shift to Phase 2, the small steps phase.”<\/p>\n

This is the essence of my new approach to change (which I\u2019ll expand upon, in more detail, below).<\/p>\n

Although in the past few years I\u2019ve attributed a lot of successful changes to the small steps approach, what I\u2019ve more recently realized is important: all my successful changes were ones I had attempted (and failed) to make in the past with a massive action approach<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/strong>This isn’t to say the massive action phase is better — it’s to say it’s a necessary first step.<\/p>\n

I really think you need both sides if you want to maximize your chances of successfully changing for the long term. The hybrid approach works really well, for several reasons:<\/p>\n