I Love My New Website
Living Down Under last winter turned me upside down and inspired me to rethink my website, with the help of guru Jayme Johnson. I hope you’ll check it out, especially the new Learning section’s many free resources. Use these to increase your knowledge and/or cultivate discussions with others about how to more effectively change behavior in sustainable ways.
From Real Life to Research
A few years ago, I was thrilled when I heard that M*A*S*H star Alan Alda had become an activist, helping academics and clinicians learn how to communicate more effectively. What a great way to use his expertise in service of others. Recently, I came across this short (6-minute) video on BigThink of Alda talking passionately about this work. Check it out here.
Is Your Behavior as Resilient as It Needs to Be for Lasting Behavior Change?
Resilience helps us dodge and survive the many curve balls life throws at us, so naturally we want to know how we can become more resilient and how we can raise our children to be resilient, I am personally and professionally very interested in this research, and I’ve noticed a couple of core common themes:
- Being flexible and adaptable when challenges occur; and
- Framing the challenges we face in strategic ways (as learning opportunities rather than failures or setbacks).
It’s always exciting to see research that supports intuition and practice – In my 24+ years of coaching individuals, I have emphasized these same two strategies. In fact, my sustainable behavior change system helps individuals become fluent in “behavioral resilience,” one the three most important elements for successfully and substantially institutionalizing self-care behaviors into our lives.
Recently, I wrote about achieving behavioral resilience with my co-investigator Dr. Jennifer Taber (Read our article, The Middle Priority: Why Being Flexible with Exercise Plans Can Help You Better Sustain a Physically Active Life.) Using findings from our new study that I mentioned in the last SUSTAINABLE CHANGE newsletter, we explain the counter-intuitive idea (and supporting science) that framing a behavior like exercise as a “middle priority” instead of a “top priority” can cultivate the behavioral resilience that is necessary for sustainability.
This idea flies in the face of what so many people still believe they should be doing! In response to this post, professionals have started reaching out about their own research about and experiences with helping individuals become more flexible and how this counter-intuitive approach actually helps psychologically and behaviorally.
Shout-Out!
The first shout-out goes to Life Is My GYM. This is a simple and inspiring series of 10 30-second videos created by trainer Eric Blais. Eric reached out to me after he read No Sweat to share his parallel and inspired work that reminds us that all movement we do counts. A native French speaker, he transcends language to make the message “everything counts” crystal clear. It’s lovely and fun to watch.
A second shout-out, a second newsletter in a row, goes to the fantastic application of the the *Communication Pillars of Cultivating Employee Well-being and Engagement by the University of Michigan’s MHealthy group, under the leadership of LaVaughn Palma-Davis (Senior Director, Health and Well-Being Services), and designed by the HR/MHealthy’s communication’s **team led by Nick Kaleba. I want to feature more of their inspired communications:
- Emphasizing personal choice and immediate positivity: Choose your way to happiness and connection
- Emphasizing starting small: Small steps as success
* The Communication Pillars of Cultivating Employee Well-being and Engagement are based on key scientific principles and were co-created by myself, Hinke Jansen, and Ken Resnicow, as part of supporting the MHealthy’s next-generation work to re-vision their incentive system and boost employee well-being, engagement, and sustainable behavior change. Go Blue!
**The MHealthy communications team includes Juanita Day, Matt Snyder, and Michelle Braun.
Please continue to share your stories and experiences with applying these ideas in your own personal and professional lives. (I might even feature your story in a future newsletter, if you are open to that).
My Bookshelf
The Strength Switch: How The New Science of Strength-Based Parenting Can Help Your Child and Your Teen to Flourish by Lea Waters. Lea Waters is an international expert on strength-based parenting and education. As a parent who is constantly seeking to be better, I keep my eyes out for evidence-based, easy-to-implement strategies and this book knocks it out of the park. (I had the honor of spending time with Waters and other amazing researchers as a visiting scholar at Centre for Positive Psychology at the University of Melbourne while I was living in Australia earlier this year). Their high-impact work is truly visionary and being adopted all over the world.)
Feel free to share this post with others who share your interest in the science-based how-to’s of creating lasting changes that can survive in the real world.
Copyright © Segar, Michelle.