Change Academy

Being easily distracted can be a bad habit and also a barrier to change. But we can also use distraction as a way to break bad habits or ingrained behaviours. The trick is being more intentional about when, why, and how you choose to distract yourself. Takeaways: Distraction is when we allow an unplanned intrusion or diversion to pull us off focus or task. Redirection is when we consciously choose to redirect our attention.Distraction (unintentional) can cause harm in two ways 1) keep us from doing what we need to be doing and 2) may cause us to engage in behaviors or activities that aren’t serving us.Redirection (intentional) is 1) making a conscious decision that you would benefit from refocusing you attention on something else, and 2) choosing the alternative focus/activity thoughtfullyIntentionality is the key.Lab Experiment: Next time you find yourself in the grips of an unhelpful thought or emotion (such as anxiety, worry, stage-fright) try the mental flashlight technique:Step 1 - use your other senses (not your monkey mind) to identify (or shine your mental flashlight) on something you see, hear, smell, or generally are “aware of.” Step 2 - Simply say the words (out loud or in your head) “I am aware of ____” without attachment or judgement. Just simply be aware. Step 3 - Repeat: Become aware of something else around you (not inside you). Use as many different senses as you can to list all the things you are aware of. Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, we explore how and why we often talk ourselves out of making the changes we want to make - and give you some tools that will allow you to push through that self-sabotage.There’s an odd but very common phenomenon where we identify a change we’d like to make in our lives, we get excited about it (we may even take a step or two toward making it) but then, we abandon the effort before we’ve really even tried long enough to succeed (or fail!). Resources mentioned: Workplace Hero podcast episode: Work Expands (or contracts) to the Time Allowed Key Takeaways: Your brain is wired to seek familiarity, comfort, and efficiency. Change is by definition unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and inefficient.Talking you out of change--by convincing you that change isn’t possible or that now is not a good time--is your lower brains’ attempt to keep you safe.Often these thoughts are operating below the surface or your conscious awareness.By tuning into these thoughts with your higher brain, you can decide whether or not they are actually serving you. Lab Experiment: How are you talking yourself out of making a change? Identify the reason or excuse your brain has come up with and write it down as an "Unhelpful Thought."Then use the following questions to assess the validity of this thought:Is there substantial evidence for or against my thought?Am I trying to interpret this situation without all the evidence?What would a friend think about this situation if I consulted them?If I talk myself out of change, how will I feel a year from now? How about five years from now?Now, see if you can rewrite your unhelpful thought in a more balanced, rational, and helpful way. With practice, this can become a very effective tool for thought management in all realms of life. Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

People seem to love these short-term challenges where you give up sugar for a week, do 25 push-ups every day for a month, or give up alcohol for SoberOctober. While these can be fun, and an interesting challenge, do they ever actually result in permanent change? In this episode, we will give you a recipe to make the most of them.Resources mentioned: The 30-Day Nutrition Upgrade Key Takeaways: Habits aren’t made or broken because we did something (or avoided doing something) through willpower alone, for a set amount of time.Doing short term challenges can actually delay the process of making more meaningful changes.If you want to use a short-term challenge as a springboard for longer-term change, make sure you’re not just counting down the days, but using that time to gain a better understanding of the role that a particular behaviour plays in your life.Be sure to think past the end of the challenge: what happens at the end? What do you want to carry forward into the future?Lab Experiment: When you find yourself considering joining in the latest 7 day, 21 day, or month-long fad, take some time to ask yourself some questions:Why is this attractive to me? What do I hope to learn from this temporary challenge?What plan can I put in place to ensure I don’t just return to my previous behaviour as soon as it is done? Am I using this as a delay or distraction from the deeper changes that I know I want to make? (see episode 6: the hidden cost of unmet goals)Thinking carefully about these questions before you embark on a short-term challenge can make it about more just a temporary exercise in willpower. Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

Sometimes we get excited about an idea, we follow through on a goal, and are very successful at it. But while everything should be peaches and cream, we realize that this isn't the happy reality we thought it would be. Or maybe our feelings and values have simply changed. That is when we are faced with the problem of "what do we do next?"In this episode, we ask our guest, Naomi Rotstein, why she decided to leave her successful career as a competitive body-builder and how she went about redefining her new objective and, ultimately, created a freer and more satisfying life. Key Takeaways: Keep an eye out for warning signs that what you have achieved isn’t healthy or sustainable.Using your willpower can be addictive… not in a good way.Even if you have a history of being a bit of a control freak, you can learn to relax and shake that all-or-nothing mentality.You can change the values of your goals to make them more sustainable, without abandoning them altogether.Sometimes we can’t see what’s next until we clear away what is here.Lab Experiment: Take a look at your current goals and consider whether they are truly allowing you to live your best life. If this goal is no longer what you want, stop pursuing it.Think about your perfect life or your ideal day, what would you want to be doing?What are three steps you could take that would bring you closer to your ideal life?Which one of those steps could you take this week? Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

Most of us have a long list of things about our lives (or ourselves) that we would like to change. And while that is a great place to start, when you are working on creating a more fulfilling life, the problem is that when we try to make a bunch of changes at once, we end up changing nothing. That is why knowing what to focus on and when is essential. Key Takeaways: All goals feel and are important, and doing them in a particular order doesn’t mean you don’t value or will forget about the other goals.Focusing on one new behaviour at a time -- instead of trying to change everything at once -- can actually help you accomplish your goals more quickly.Cultivating the ability to prioritize and focus can help us with other aspects of our livesWhen choosing what to focus on, prioritize behaviours that you perceive to be impactful AND that you feel ready to tackle now. Lab Experiment: Make a list of all the changes that you’d like to make. Consider their potential impact and your readiness to do them.Choose no more than three to focus on and put all the others on hold - for now.Estimate how long you will need to focus on each one (in order to either accomplish it or create a solid habit.)Decide what the very first step for each one will be, including when/where/how you will take it--and then take that first step! Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

It's hard to keep believing that change is possible when all the evidence seems to point to the contrary. And that's why it's so important to collect some evidence that a different choice is possible.Takeaways: You can’t lie to yourself - you need evidence to convince your brain that this is true, possible and worth doing.Evidence can come internally or externally.It takes deliberate practice to collect enough evidence to make it stick. One success is unlikely to convince your inner skeptic.Habits that have good evidence behind them, gain momentum.Lab Experiment: Choose a behaviour or habit that you have struggled with but failed to change in the past. Those past failed attempts could be considered evidence that change is, in fact, not possible.Collect at least one piece of counter-evidence. This can be either an example of someone in a similar situation or (ideally) one time in which you actually succeeded in changing your long-standing behaviour.Think about how many pieces of counter-evidence you would need to collect in order to believe that you do, in fact, have the ability to change this pattern in a more lasting way.Then, start collecting (and counting!) that evidence. You may even find that it doesn’t take as many pieces of evidence as you thought to begin believing something new about yourself. Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

We humans like comfort. We believe that making ourselves comfortable is a good way to take care of ourselves and make ourselves feel content. But is this desire truly helpful or is it simply a way to keep ourselves stuck exactly where we are?Most of us place a certain value on being comfortable. And sometimes, something that is comfortable is very pleasurable (like putting on a favourite comfy sweater or connecting with an old friend). But often, it’s simply familiar (like the way your family celebrates holidays).By the same token, something that is uncomfortable at first, because it’s unfamiliar, may end up being very rewarding. But if we are unwilling to be uncomfortable, we’ll never find out.FOLLOW the Change Academy:Subscribe to the podcast (and leave a review/rating)Sign up for our newsletter at changeacademypodcast.com (and you’ll get a downloadable copy of each episode’s lab experiment)Connect with us on social @changeacpodDrop us a note about what you’re working on and how we can help Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

You have probably heard the term 'grit' thrown around but what does it actually mean? Our guest on this episode boils it down to “getting back up, one more time.”In this episode, Monica interviews guest Rebecca Louise, of the It Takes Grit podcast about why we feel stuck what it takes to get unstuck.Rebecca has helped millions of people improve their mindset and achieve their goals. The secret behind Rebecca’s success isn’t just her (as she says) cheeky British humour; people come to Rebecca because she’s shared many of the same experiences as them – so she knows what’s it’s like to feel lost, unable to find the right career, be broke, divorced, and struggle with an unhelpful relationship with food. It wasn’t until Rebecca changed her mindset and started to become the master of her habits that she was able o truly find her way to a career that she loved and a lifestyle that matched. Key Takeaways: The only way you can fail at something is if you quit.Instead of saying that you are stuck, admit to yourself that you have stopped and then find a way to get going again.Action creates motivation, not the other way around.If we are so locked to our identities as someone who defined by their past or in need of fixing, we will find it hard to make change. Don’t take advice from someone you wouldn’t trade places with. And then make sure you actually follow their advice.Lab Experiment: Think about the last time you asked for help, heard some good advice on a podcast, or found some helpful knowledge in a book you read.Then think about whether or not you actually took action based on what you learned.If the answer is “no” or even “sort of,” see if you can identify why you didn’t take action. Was it because you are too tied to your identity as someone who is X, Y or Z? Is it because you were scared that it actually might work? Or did you think it was going to take too much effort?Learning how to do this type of introspection can help you avoid that stuck feeling and help you become the curious experimenter that we all want to be. Resources and Links: Resources and Links: It Takes Grit podcast episode:  How to get unstuckRebeccas's new book, It Takes Grit Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

What are the pros and cons of using rewards vs. consequences as our compelling reason to change?Sometimes our compelling reason is a positive vision of a future we want to create. But other times it’s a negative vision of a future we want to avoid. Is one better at keeping us on the path toward our ideal self more than the other? Key Takeaways: There is no clear winner or wrong way to do this. Just knowing the difference and trying each on for size is important.No matter which version you feel works best for you, make sure you develop a clear and detailed picture of the Reward or the Consequence.Be aware of the language that you choose when you are working on developing or solidifying a behaviour.Performing an action is often more achievable than not performing one.Lab Experiment: State your compelling reason (or your Why) for making the change you want to make and pay attention to whether it is based around a reward or consequence. Before you lock it in, turn it around and see if you can restate it as the opposite. Give each version time to breathe and then consider which one feels more motivating, calming, satisfying or doable in the long run.Resources: The Savvy Psychologist:  How to Overcome Feelings of Shame.Harvard Business Review:  What Motivates Employees More: Rewards or Punishments? Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, we talk about impulse control and how giving in to unplanned urges can get in the way of achieving lasting change. Not only that, but it can rob us of the pleasure of anticipating and maximizing an indulgence.Main takeaways:It’s not about deprivation. We are not suggesting that we live without pleasure.  In fact, we are suggesting the opposite!Impulse indulgences are usually much less pleasurable than the ones we would plan and choose.Remember the minimum effective dose. You don’t have to blow the entire afternoon off of work, eat the entire pie, drink the whole bottle, purchase everything in your Amazon shopping cart in order to not feel deprived. Interested in having Monica present at your next live or virtual event?  Learn more. ★ Support this podcast ★