The Journal #11
Motivation. Graft. Interest. Tupperware.
01. BEHAVIOUR CHANGE - Joe Gaunt
When Motivation Isn’t Enough
The gold standard of behaviour change has been distilled down into a model called COM-B (Michie et al 2014)
This suggests that behaviour change comes down to 3 key factors and our own situational level within each area.
Capability - our current skill or competence at a given task. So let’s say it’s nutrition and our understanding vs our goals. The higher the understanding, the more likely to achieve our nutrition goal.
Opportunity - circumstances and the level of situational difficulty vs goals. Let’s say it’s gym attendance, is the right gym nearby? Do you drive? Is there traffic when you can train? Can you afford extra support?
Motivation - our strength of desire to act on the goal. But this is a highly volatile variable. Motivation can change all the time and often reduces.
That’s why we need to work on the other parts of the system to increase our overall chance of success.
Top tips
Capability - there’s so many ways of attaining knowledge on any subject now. Make the time to learn how suits you - videos on YouTube, podcasts while commuting or reading up.
Opportunity- create the best opportunities with the things you can control. Set systems (planning ahead: overcoming known obstacles, pre - activity work e.g pack kit and have in car for the gym)
Motivation - when its high, embrace it, push yourself and take the time to set your systems for rainier days. If low, just show up. Do the thing and remember the NATS (The Journal 1) make it harder in imagination than it ever will be in reality. As the old saying goes ‘the only bad workout is the one that didn't happen’ and going light is better than not going.
Lastly, don’t give up if it doesn’t work at first or you falter. Behaviour change is a difficult and requires a big effort in most cases at the beginning.
02. MINDSET - Jonny Grayshon
Hard Work Pays Off
We all want the nice watch, the sports car, the big house, the 6 pack and the pet silverback in our back garden.
Ok…. maybe not the nice watch.
We all harbour these ambitions to have the best things and be amazing at things we are interested in….
But in reality, once we realise how hard it is to get there, 99% of people sack it off and settle for average, at best.
“Too much like hard work!”
Then the excuses appear. To justify their lazy, weak attitude.
We live in an Amazon Prime society where people want things immediately. If it comes yesterday it’s too late!
I see this every single day with people wanting to get healthier, lose weight, improve strength and ultimately be happier.
It doesn’t need to be a chore, or a hinderance to your lifestyle, but you will have to put some effort in and work at it, just like anything else worth having.
You’ll need to get your hands dirty.
For quicker results, you may even need to invest in a coach or a community like NXT45 for support and encouragement.
“But I won’t have any money left to buy pizza and beer every week!”
Are you prioritising the right stuff to achieve the things you really want??
03. MINDSET - Mike Bates
Compound Interest
If I was to offer you either £10,000,000 or one penny which would you choose?
Easy. But what if said you could double your penny every day for a month and keep the total, would you still opt for the £10,000,000 in the bank?
Last week I wrote about abstaining from things in order to become a happier, stronger and more resilient person.
Today I just want you to just show up.
But show up everyday. Even when you don’t feel like it, even when you know you can’t perform at your best, even if you were to fail.
Show up and do what you can with what you have on that day.
Every day.
There are so many stories of huge businesses that almost failed; Airbnb, Apple, Tesla, Nintendo, GoDaddy, Google are just a few.
But the one thing they never did was give up.
They kept showing up.
This week I was dealt another really tough hand on a really important project. I have to admit, this time it rocked me. I felt flat and deflated and wondered whether the challenges of the project would be worth the result.
I didn’t sleep that night as my mind raced and catastrophized all possible outcomes.
Then I woke early on Saturday, opened my Mac and went back to work crafting arguments that I feel will ultimately get me to where I want to be.
I showed up.
Now I can’t say whether or not I’ll be successful but whilst ever I keep showing up I am not defeated and that is my strength.
The compound interest of your efforts is what counts and that always leads to success.
So the £10,000,000 now or the penny to double every day for a month?
If you took the £10,000,000 you are rich.
But.
If you chose the penny and doubled it everyday for a month you’d end up with a total of £10,400,000. £400,000 more for your patience.
The crazy thing is that after 20 days your investment would only be at £5000.
The last 10 days is where the compound interest kicks in.
Try not to fall for the quick wins and don’t quit when things seem almost unsurmountable.
Really tough but rewarding things are worth fighting for.
Keep showing up.
04. QUOTE
“Keep company only with people who uplift you”
Epictetus
05. TIP
Last week we shared with you how Vodka a superb household cleaner.
Here’s another cleaning tip that will astound and impress in equal measure.
Fed up with saucy and discoloured plastic containers following storing the left-overs or meal prep in the fridge?
Simply add some hot water, fairy liquid and (the secret) a folded up paper towel. Shake well and hey presto.
Tupperware like new!
Disclaimer - if you’ve left those stains for years and there is significant discolouration in the container they’re likely never to come out. Worse still the change in colour is likely due to micro-tears and scratches in the plastic and this can create BPA contamination in your food. Time to buy some more or even better invest in glass containers with wooden lids to avoid the harmful chemicals found in plastic.
The Journal by NXT45
