This series explores common issues raised by people looking for coaching. Episodes so far are about dealing with stress😫more specifically techniques to reduce Internal Pressure
Internal Stress Hack #6 - Intentional Programming
Practicing what we preach is really hard.
Sometimes I make really terrible food choices (or choose soft drinks) even though I'm consciously working on my weight. It's really stressful that feeling of slipping backwards on our goals.
It is one thing entirely to know the theory of what will work.
It is another thing entirely to choose to do it the moment.
So how can I increase the likelihood of choosing water over Vanilla Coke?
It is ALL choices and many of them come long before the moment that the choice is upon us.
Knowing our triggers is important; for example, most of us are far more likely to choose an action that lines up with our objectives if we are meeting our needs around sleep, rest, nutrition, hydration, connection and balance, and if we are not in the grip of strong emotion.
There are these other little mini moments of 'intention setting' - choices that hide in plain sight inconspicuously throughout our days and nights, setting an intention of what we are going to do later.
Moments when an image might flash in our minds and we think to ourselves, I’m going to do X later' or 'I feel like Y'.
Moments where we absent-mindedly set our intentions.
Sometimes this is with words in our minds and sometimes its a feeling or a picture or a combination of those.
These down-time moments in which we set our intentions, start default programs running that will make choices on our behalf if our thoughts are otherwise occupied in the moment of choice; which let’s face it, most of ours are most of the time, unless we cultivate some sort of present mindfulness practice.
So if I see an image of Vanilla Coke in my mind as I'm leaving my daily walk at the dog park, and I don't consciously challenge it; and replace it with a clear intention that I am going to go straight home and have a drink of water, it's possible that I can find myself pulling up outside a shop on the way home without ever deciding to do that. Once I'm there, unless something interrupts the pattern, odds are that I will carry on inside, buy a Coke and then drink it.
There is great opportunity in knowing this; if we notice thoughts and intentions early, we can interrupt the pattern, replacing the default pattern (Vanilla Coke) with a new intentions (straight home and water) and dramatically increase the likelihood of acting in a way that supports our goal (losing weight).
We can stack the odds even higher in our favor by adding one vital step - imagining ourselves doing the desired activity!
If we just picture ourselves:
in a specific location (i.e. at home in the kitchen),
at a specific time (i.e. in five minutes after having come straight home),
doing a specific act (i.e. having a drink of water)
and adding a positive emotional element (i.e. feeling proud of a good choice)
We increase the likelihood of automatically doing it exponentially.
I have seen this work in my own life (it's how I learned how to remember to buy milk on the way home) and I have seen it work for my coaching clients (changing ingrained behaviors and improving marriages as a result).
Don't take my word for it - pick something and try out Intentional Programming for yourself by just picturing yourself doing the thing you want to do.
Watch your stress reduce, your joy increase and come back and leave me a comment!
Comments