THE UN-ROUTINE POWER OF THIS ROUTINE – A PROCESS YOU CAN TRUST TO PREVENT A GROOVE FROM BECOMING A RUT True to human nature, most of us like predictability, don’t like change, and really don’t like it when someone moves our sandwich in the workroom refrigerator. But oddly, we sometimes have trouble trusting a process, I suppose because we don’t trust that the end result will be as hoped, or now live in such a DVR world think we can fast-forward through any process, or have had our sandwich moved one too many times… Physical activity engagement is especially compatible to our ‘predictive psych’ since it usually means exercising according to the routine we have developed to do so. And, boy are we good at making routines routine! – exactly 30 minutes on THAT elliptical machine, precisely 3 sets of bicep curls using THAT machine, and specifically 10 minutes of stability ball work using THAT ball on THAT mat – which can serve us well for the power of a routine is its ability to BECOME our routine, its self-generation inducing a robotic groove: wake up-tie shoes-brush teeth-go to gym-repeat following day. BUT, Will Robinson, danger lurks when routines becoming ‘too routine.’ Performance plateaus, staleness, blahs and ho-hums grind grooves into ruts that erode our motivation to sustain engagement and trust in the process, however scant trust was to begin with. Well this sure presents a dilemma. Human nature draws us into developing routines, exercise is an especially conducive recipient but this actually doesn’t serve us well toward sustaining our physical activity habit. Hmm, what to do? Ha, I’ve got it! We need to trick human nature. We need to make human nature think we have a routine but then not really have one. We need an approach to activity that can be a routine and an UN-routine at the same time… Ok, that settles how to appease our ‘predictive’ nature but what about the process part? Since engagement needs to be sustained over, well, forever to realize its profound and unique life quality benefit we need an approach in which we can learn to trust the process to preserve our motivation… Wait a minute! Maybe there is more to ruts than just repetition? Of course! Since trusting a process means holding some degree of belief in its result, ruts and their resulting motivational erosion are partly caused by repetition AND how we consider achievement. If we have a narrow view of how to assess engagement for achievement it makes for a small target that lessens the likelihood we will ever… realize achievement – no wonder we have scant faith in the process! Repetition together with a short-sided view of achievement can create a pretty dismal engagement experience: Run – around same block – in same direction – looking at same landscape – anticipating we will grow the six-pack abs we have been told we can – except the six-pack abs never show up – so we resign ourselves to the fact they never will and stop trying to try… We need to deliberately run counter to our nature and take the routine out of our routine, AND learn to trust the process of doing so by reframing achievement. Yikes! Use the left treadmill rather than the right one? Use the top row of lockers rather than the bottom row? Spin instead of row? Use a different machine to do bicep curls? And, think this is a good thing? You seriously cant be serious!...can you? Can and am. UN-routine your routine to get the most out of how powerful your routine can be. UN-routine it by regularly infusing novel activity like motor skill practice, FitBUBBLES and FitBEST trials, and notching your Iron Footprint to reframe your concept of achievement. Ok, got it. The most powerful engagement routine is a UN routine that includes big targets for achievement. Whew! Ruts, routines, process, power. After all that I’m hungry. Wish I had a sandwich.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Jun 2013 15:50:26 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015