The Six Fundamental Elements of Effective Behavior Change

Behavior change is hard. But it's possible. Here are some fundamentals that will help with any behavior change effort - whether it's around health, fitness, productivity or something else.

Based on my Skillshare class on "The Science of Willpower, Habits and Behavior Change".

Transcript

1. Jason Shen
   THE ART OF
   ASS-KICKING
   FUNDAMENTAL
   ELEMENTS
   of effective behavior change
   the six
   @jasonshen
   

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2. Jason Shen
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   Let’s start with
   the facts:
   

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3. Jason Shen
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   MOST
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   diets fail
   

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4. Jason Shen
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   MOST
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   inboxes aren’t zero
   

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5. Jason Shen
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   MOST
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   meditation efforts peter out
   

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6. Jason Shen
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   But sometimes...
   

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7. Jason Shen
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   CHANGE HAPPENS
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   But sometimes...
   

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8. Jason Shen
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   Smokers QUIT FOR GOOD
   

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9. Jason Shen
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   Smokers QUIT FOR GOOD
   Alcoholics SOBER UP
   

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10. Jason Shen
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    Smokers QUIT FOR GOOD
    Alcoholics SOBER UP
    Couch potatoes SHAPE UP
    

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11. Jason Shen
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    BUT HOW?
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12. Jason Shen
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    Hi, I’m Jason.
    

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13. Jason Shen
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    Hi, I’m Jason.
    I’m the cofounder of a tech startup, a former NCAA
    gymnast & blog at The Art of Ass-Kicking.
    

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14. Jason Shen
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    Ironically, I don’t think I have a lot of self-discipline.
    It’s hard for me to work on things I don’t like.
    

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15. Jason Shen
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    Ironically, I don’t think I have a lot of self-discipline.
    It’s hard for me to work on things I don’t like.
    To address this, I’ve read a ton of academic research
    on how people really change their behavior.
    

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16. Jason Shen
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    Ironically, I don’t think I have a lot of self-discipline.
    It’s hard for me to work on things I don’t like.
    To address this, I’ve read a ton of academic research
    on how people really change their behavior.
    But to truly understand, you must teach. So I put
    together a class based on what I’ve learned.
    

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17. Jason Shen
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    In Jan 2012, I taught 167 students on Skillshare about
    The Science of Willpower and Habits
    

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18. Jason Shen
    THE ART OF
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    How willpower is like a limi
    post-heart surgery. Looking at behavior change like trai
    stress affects smokers, addicts, and dieters. The three different parts of ou
    brains. How to strengthen willpower via habits. Why habits allow you to
    bypass willpower. How exercise improves the plasticity of the brain. The
    power of “urge surfing” in containing cravings. Rewards and how they
    target our limbic brain. Avoiding the “what the hell” effect. The biggest
    mistakes people make when trying to change. How willpower is like a
    limited resource. The research on lifestyle change post-heart surgery.
    Looking at behavior change like training a dragon. How stress affects
    smokers, addicts, and dieters. The three different parts of our brains. Ho
    to strengthen willpower via habits. Why habits allow you to bypass
    willpower. How exercise improves the plasticity of the brain. The power
    “urge surfing” in containing cravings. Rewards and how they target our
    limbic brain. Avoiding the “what the hell” effect. The biggest mistakes
    people make when trying to change. How willpower is like a limited
    resource. The research on lifestyle change post-heart surgery. Looking
    behavior change like training a dragon. How stress affects smokers,
    addicts, and dieters. The three different parts of our brains. How to
    gthen willpower via habits. Why habits allow you to bypass willp
    ity of the brain. The power of “urge
    r limb
    18
    We covered a lot in the class
    

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19. Jason Shen
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    PRACTICAL
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    part of the class was the
    fundamental elements of change
    But perhaps the most
    

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    10+ years of personal behavior change as a
    student / athlete / entrepreneur
    100+ peer-reviewed academic papers
    400+ data points from class participants
    I studied the data...
    

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21. Jason Shen
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    10+ years of personal behavior change as a
    student / athlete / entrepreneur
    100+ peer-reviewed academic papers
    400+ data points from class participants
    I studied the data...
    Six elements that appear in nearly
    every successful behavior change effort
    ...
    and found the fundamentals.
    

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    They are:
    1) tracking behavior
    

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23. Jason Shen
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    They are:
    1) tracking behavior
    2) triggers & reminders
    

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24. Jason Shen
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    They are:
    1) tracking behavior
    2) triggers & reminders
    3) specific actions
    

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25. Jason Shen
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    They are:
    1) tracking behavior
    2) triggers & reminders
    3) specific actions
    4) rewards
    

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26. Jason Shen
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    They are:
    1) tracking behavior
    2) triggers & reminders
    3) specific actions
    4) rewards
    5) setting targets
    

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27. Jason Shen
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    They are:
    1) tracking behavior
    2) triggers & reminders
    3) specific actions
    4) rewards
    5) setting targets
    6) review & recommit
    

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28. Jason Shen
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    They are:
    1) tracking behavior
    2) triggers & reminders
    3) specific actions
    4) rewards
    5) setting targets
    6) review & recommit
    We’ll look at each in turn.
    

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    Tracking a behavior makes you more
    likely to do the right thing, and less
    likely to do the “wrong thing”
    TRACKING
    

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    A review of 22 weight loss studies found that:
    “Consistent self-monitors of exercise not only
    achieved significantly greater weight loss but
    also experienced fewer difficulties with exercise
    and exercised more often.”
    TRACKING
    Self-Monitoring in Weight Loss: A Systematic Review of the Literature
    Burke (2011) Journal of the American Dietetic Association
    Source:
    

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    Moleskin
    Post-it Notes
    Calendar
    TRACKING
    Evernote
    Lift
    iDoneThis
    Paper Options Digital Options
    

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    Use triggers of place, time, feelings,
    other people and prior behaviors to
    remind/spur yourself to do the right
    thing.
    TRIGGERS
    

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    As one student from the course said:
    “Consistent self-monitors of exercise not only
    achieved significantly greater weight loss but also
    experienced fewer difficulties with exercise and
    exercised more often.”
    TRIGGER
    

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    Place: bathroom, office, car
    Time: waking up, noon, arbitrary alarm
    Feeling: hunger, stress, fatigue
    Other People: spouse, boss, kids
    Prior action: after brushing teeth,
    eating meal, getting home, starting work
    TRIGGER
    

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    When you give yourself a specific
    action to take, you are more likely to
    follow through. Too many choices
    leads to indecision
    SPECIFIC ACTION
    

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    A study done on legislators responsible for funding
    (or shutting down) public hospitals:
    “Legislators were 2.4x more likely to
    “refuse to choose” when dealing with two
    underperforming hospitals (64%) vs only
    one (26%)”
    SPECIFIC ACTION
    Medical Decision Making in Situations That Offer Multiple Alternatives
    Redelmeier Shafir (1995) Journal of the American Medical Association
    Source:
    

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    Vague: “Work out more”
    Specific: “Run for 30 minutes around the park”
    Vague: “Eat healthier”
    Specific: “Make fruit smoothie for breakfast”
    Vague: “Be more productive”
    Specific: “Set 3 priorities each day and work for
    at least 25 mins straight on each one”
    SPECIFIC ACTION
    Examples
    

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    Frequent and immediate positive
    feedback is crucial for developing
    habits and motivating the right
    behavior.
    REWARDS
    

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    Rewards tell us we’re doing the right thing
    Habits are developed in the limbic brain which is
    reinforced by rewards / positive feedback:
    Imaging on human subjects show dopamine
    release (pleasure) + increased blood flow in basal
    ganglia (part of the limbic brain) when presented
    with potential rewards like winning money or
    getting food if subject is hungry.
    REWARDS
    The Role of the Dorsal Striatum in Reward and Decision-Making
    Balliene (2007) The Journal of Neuroscience
    Source:
    

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    Gold stars (really!) on your calendar/journal
    Earning points toward a massage, nice meal,
    small trip you get for yourself
    Small purchases/pleasures (buying a game, a bite
    of chocolate)
    Victory dance / cry of triumph
    Bragging on social media
    Examples
    REWARDS
    

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    Setting a target (a goal + near-term
    date) focuses you on taking
    immediate action — and you know
    you won’t have to do it “forever”
    TARGETS
    

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    TARGETS
    Elderly patients recovering from difficult hip surgery were
    given booklets — told to set weekly goals for recovery and
    make specific plans to achieve them.
    “Patients who had written plans in their
    booklets had started walking almost twice as
    fast as the ones who had not. They started
    getting in and out of their chairs, unassisted,
    almost 3x as fast.”
    Motivational and Volitional Processes in Action Initiation: A Field Study of the Role of
    Implementation Intentions
    Orbell (2000) Journal of Applied Social Psychology (Abstract + Summary from The Power of Habit)
    Source:
    

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    TARGETS
    Examples
    “Build up to 15 mins of plank, pushups, & yoga each
    morning over next 30 days”
    “Run the upcoming Nike Half Marathon without
    walking”
    “Complete 100 pomodoro’s on side project by April
    1, 2013”
    Write it down and post it: bathroom mirror,
    Facebook, to a friend
    

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    After reaching your target date/goal,
    review your progress. What went
    well? What could be improved? And
    then make a new plan for the next
    step of the process.
    REVIEW &
    RECOMMIT
    

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    REVIEW & RECOMMIT
    Similar to a software project post-mortem:
    “A postmortem is a procedure whereby you
    summarize a project's history and analyzes its
    positive and negative aspects. The goal of a
    postmortem is to draw meaningful conclusions to
    help you learn from your past successes and failures.
    Despite its grim-sounding name, a postmortem can
    be an extremely productive method of improving
    your development practices.”
    - Steve Pavlina
    

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    Examples
    “I was able to stick to my habit on weekdays, but
    weekends were tricky - how can I fix this?”
    “Setting a reminder for a specific time of day wasn’t
    as effective as when I associated with a pre-existing
    habit.”
    “Instead of grabbing dinner with my foodie friends, I
    should meet up with them for drinks so I’m not
    tempted.”
    “I’m proud of the progress I’ve made. It’s been hard
    but worth it. I’m going to set a new goal for the next
    quarter”
    REVIEW & RECOMMIT
    

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47. Jason Shen
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    TRIGGER ACTION REWARD
    TRACKING
    TARGET
    REVIEW &
    RECOMMIT
    THE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF
    EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOR CHANGE
    Learn more at jasonshen.com
    

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48. Jason Shen
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    THANK YOU
    Jason Shen
    jasonshen.com
    

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