Train Don’t Try
Word choice is such an important thing. One word that I always catch my clients on is the word try. I will try to do better in my classes. How? I will try to be more consistent in my discipline. How? I will try to make more time for my husband. How? I’m going to try to get my family to eat better and exercise more? How? Trying to me is both a cop out and a judgment statement waiting to happen. If you only said you would try, when you didn’t do it well you had never promised, so you are off the hook with others. But if you try and fail then it is often followed up by self-hatred for not being able to stick to anything or to accomplish the goals you set out to achieve. So there needs to be a shift from try to train. Training takes effort. It requires a plan. We would never just go try to fly a plane, or do a surgery, or run a marathon. So let’s see how we make a plan to move trying to training.
- Decide the behavior you would like to change
- Write down a clear statement. For example, I want to begin an exercise routine 30 minutes each day three times each week.
- Write down what you have been doing already to meet your goal
- Write down what you think is working about what you are doing right now
- Write down what is not working
- Develop a new plan that is reasonable with specific goals and specific steps to reach those goals
- Develop a weekly plan to evaluate how you are doing, and what you might need to change to be more successful
- Make yourself accountable by having an accountability partner
- Reevaluate weekly until you have been able to reach your goal
