“I’ll stop procrastinating … later.”
For three years, Patrick Wallace thought about taking a break from booze. But for three years, the happy hour invitations kept coming; the laughs at his jokes at the bar kept him going; and the comfort of the work-drink-work routine kept him from considering his idea seriously. Then, three months ago, he finally committed to it. “It’s surprisingly been an exceptional experience for me,” says Wallace, a 41-year-old public relations professional in Austin, Texas, who’s lost 20 pounds and taken up long-distance swimming. Inspired to finally make a healthy change you’ve been putting off? Here’s what psychologists say might be holding you back — and how to change:
1. You’re on your own.
For Wallace, the difference between three years of thinking about a healthy change and the past three months of actually making that change was a conversation with his husband, who committed to quit drinking indefinitely with him. “It’s been immeasurably helpful to have someone on your side,” says Wallace, whose colleagues are also supportive and buy him sparkling waters at happy hour. Indeed, experts say, social support is a key factor in successful behavior change. Don’t have a spouse or pal with the same goal? Look to the internet: Research shows that even joining an anonymous network online encourages people to stick to a fitness routine more than receiving motivational messages.
2. You’re in denial.
You know smoking kills, but maybe if you quit by age 40, you’ll be OK. You know your weight raises your risk for heart disease, but your overweight dad is still alive. You know your soda habit isn’t good, but there are worse vices. You know you should make a change, but you just don’t. To beat your passivity, talk to someone trained in motivational interviewing, a technique that can bring to light without judgment what you need to make a change, suggests Jodi Prochaska, associate professor of medicine at Stanford University. “If you’re hearing, ‘Here’s someone who cares, who can help me explore it,’ [you] can own it,” she says.
3. You live in the moment.
Would you rather eat that cookie now or hypothetically avoid diabetes later? Would you rather watch TV now or theoretically be fitter in a decade? If you’re human, you want immediate gratification. “You sit and talk to people about what they love about life, and it’s not lower cholesterol levels,” says Jonathan Ross, the American Council on Exercise’s senior consultant for personal training. Fortunately, healthy actions can make you feel good now (hello runner’s high!) — but the key is tuning into how. Ask yourself: “What would it take for me to feel better tomorrow than I do today?” Ross suggests. “If I feel better tomorrow, then I’m probably going to continue.”
4. It’s a habit.
For kids, the last school bell signals it’s time to catch the bus or change for soccer practice. For Wallace, the last email of the day used to mean it was time to blow off steam with colleagues over cocktails. “Now a soda water with lime does the trick — and with a lot less calories and cash,” he says. Wallace’s strategy illustrates what experts recommend: “Identify one habit that would be considered ‘bad’ and ask, ‘How do I develop a new one?'” says Ross, who’s also an ACE-certified behavior change specialist based in Maryland. For example, try frozen fruit instead of ice cream or a walk instead of social media scrolling after dinner.
5. You don’t actually want to make the change.
If you equate getting healthy with savoring less chocolate and cramming down more broccoli, of course you’re procrastinating. But if you equate it with being able to run around with your kids or being more productive at work, you may get moving. “The key is to figure out how we can take an action that we want people to do more of and turn it into things that are connected to what they care about,” Ross says. One of his clients, for instance, put a picture of his family on his exercise machine to connect to his goal: He wanted to ride roller coasters with his son; a previous summer, he was too heavy.
6. You don’t think you can do it.
Maybe you’ve tried to quit smoking before and failed, or you’re afraid your intention of cooking on weekdays won’t jibe with your erratic work schedule. In psychological terms, you’re low on self-efficacy, or the belief that you can accomplish a specific task, Prochaska explains. The solution? Choose a task you know you can accomplish (say, delaying the next cigarette by just 10 minutes or cooking just once a week), and build from there. All the while, coach yourself with kindness, not criticism, says Piers Steel, an industrial-organizational psychologist at the University of Calgary who studies procrastination. “Love yourself, love your future self, forgive yourself,” he says. “Recognize that you’re wonderfully imperfect.”
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6 Reasons You’re Procrastinating on Your Health Goals — and How to Stop originally appeared on usnews.com
