The Workout Habit

"The magic is in the work." Do the work to have a shot to be a contributor or more on MVB 25.

Let's look 'under the hood' of Fogg’s excellent "Tiny Habits" to influence your behavior (workouts). I

Start with the Maui habit, a phrase when you put your feet on the floor:

"Immediately say this phrase, “It’s going to be a great day.”" 

A behavior (Fogg) equation: 

A cue (prompt), plus motivation and ability determine our behaviors. We change behaviors by altering the inputs. For example, imagine you're like me and you like ice cream. Seeing ice cream in the freezer would be a cue to enjoy. Except that it's not in our freezer. 

Imagine that your motivation to workout is good or better...and that you have a home gym or gym membership. High motivation and easy ability puts your "dot plot" above the action line, so it will likely happen. 

Now imagine the same situation except that your motivation is low. The "dot" shifts way down, maybe below the action line so the workout doesn't happen. 

If you have the flu or a sprained ankle, then the ability point shifts to "hard to do," so the workout won't happen.

For many players, the problem is less with motivation than with ability. How can you "shift the ability" to easier to do. 

1. Schedule it. Bake it into your day. Put it on your 'to do' list on your phone. 

2. Workout with a friend. Friendships strengthen, workouts can be competitive, and more drills can be competed as a pair. 

3. Bring your workout gear to school and see if you can get permission to work out 'on site' after school, preferably with a friend. 

Another trick Gelb discussed was "keeping it tiny." He did two pushups after using the bathroom. "Anybody could do that." 

Make good habits easier to do and bad ones harder.