One of my favorite blogs is The Reality-Based Community (Subtitle: Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts), which is authored by a group of smart and insightful professors of law, public policy, political science, and psychiatry. It makes for interesting reading and is a good way to keep up on the news without having to wade through much of the junk that the major media outlets cover.
Last week, Keith Humphreys (Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford) posted a nice piece on behavior change and “just doing it” (yes, there is even a story in there about that kind of “doing it” - read here). What I like about his post is that, although we have all kinds of theories about behavioral change that involve contemplation of change, developing motivation, etc., etc., sometimes behavior change comes about just by, well, changing your behavior. That is to say, by just doing it.
In the post, Humphreys writes, “So, if you have slacked off at the gym, the best thing may not be to speculate as to why, wait for the moment when you feel really ready or spend hours kicking yourself for not going. Rather, just go to the gym whether you feel like it or not, right now if possible. There is a good chance that the next time your gym day rolls around you will be more interested in going and much more likely to indeed follow through with the behavior.” (emphasis added)
With a slight modification (that is, to tailor your activity level to how you are feeling), I like the idea of just doing it. And, since we typically feel better after a workout or engaging in physical activity, Humphreys is right that gaining exposure to that reinforcer (the post-workout high) increases the likelihood that you will do it again.
So, the next time that you find yourself thinking about how you’d like to eat better, get in shape, or get more sleep, stop thinking and start doing. Go do it!