How to Trick Your Brain into Doing Hard Things like Working Out
Have you ever wondered why it’s so easy for some people to be so motivated to exercise, or so driven to make good food choices? On the other hand, why it is so difficult for you to even get out of bed, let alone head to the gym to do a workout for an hour? And even if you managed to do so, only to have your drive dry out within a few days?
If all these sound familiar to you, you’re not alone. You’ve definitely felt frustrated or discouraged when people around you seem to have unlimited determination to achieve their goals, while you just think to yourself, “I’m never going to do this again” whenever you’re faced with something that pushes you to your limits.
But we all know that by staying in your comfort zone, or doing things that are easy, it will not get you far. It is only through discomfort that growth happens. There are surely days that you’re constantly forcing yourself to do the hard things, and it can be challenging. But everyone feels this way from time to time, even successful CEOs. However, what separates them from everyone else isn’t that they like to do difficult tasks, but how they are able to trick their brain into doing hard things even when they don’t feel like it.
And if eating right and working out consistently are hard to you, check out this article to see some of the best ways to trick your brain into doing these hard things to get in shape.
Working out is never easy. But that’s where growth happens
1. Creating Systems / Pre-commitment
Many think that creating better goals is key to achieving them more easily. But in actual fact, creating better systems is more important. The goals have never changed - to get in shape, to lose 5 kg in 3 months, to run 10 km in less than 60 min. It isn’t the goals that will make a difference, but the systems. And how do you create systems? Through pre-commitment. It can seem simple, but it is often overlooked. And when put into practice, they often lead to significant changes.
Let’s take a look at research. There was a study done on 3272 employees. The business wanted their employees to get their annual flu shot. And so they sent them a flyer that says, “You need to get your flu shot.” They also sent another version, saying, “ You need to get your flu shot. Your appointment has been scheduled on April 22. Click here to choose a time.” And what was found that just by selecting a date for them, they were 2.4 times more likely to follow through. But then, they sent a third version, saying “ You need to get your flu shot. You have been scheduled on April 22, 1pm. Click here to change your appointment.” And guess what? These people were 4 times more likely to follow through simply because they were pre-committed.
It seems like if you want to trick your brain into doing hard things, instead of giving yourself more options and flexibility to choose whatever you want to do, you should set yourself certain dates and times of the week to workout. This can be done through pre-committing yourself in certain ways so you will not miss out on your trainings or ditch your healthy meals for unhealthy ones. One way is to get an accountability partner, or an online coach.
Another strategy to pre-commit yourself is called the Sienfeld Strategy. Set a goal that you will commit to doing everyday. Be it training at the gym, taking long walks, or preparing your own meals. Get a big wall calendar where you can see every day of the month, and hang in on a wall. Get a big marker and for each day you complete your task, put a big X. After a few days you’ll have a chain and you’ll see it grow longer and longer. The goal here is not to break the chain. It doesn’t matter if you’re motivated or not, or how you feel. What just matters is if you do not break the chain. After a while, this will build a habit that sticks using this simple yet concrete way. Mastery follows consistency.
Try out the Seinfeld strategy to force yourself to workout or to not eat junk food!
2. The Power of Identity
There was a 23-year study done at Yale University on the psychology of aging. They basically asked participants on their view of aging. One group had a positive view of aging, citing that it is their prime of their life, they would be smarter than they would ever be. The other group had a negative view of aging, citing that their body will wear down, they will get sick more often, and are closer to death. Out of the 660 adults in the study, those that had positive view of aging lived an average of 7.6 years longer, which is very significant. Things like exercise and diet do not even account for 7.6 years in life expectancy.
But why did that happen? The reason was because those with a positive view of aging put in effort to exercise and eat healthy because they were looking forward to old age. On the other hand, those that had a negative view of aging did not bother to exercise or eat right since they thought they were going to get sick and die anyway.
The point here is that there is a deeper level of behavioural change as a result of their identity. This results in actions taken, in this case exercise, which then leads to results, which is longer life expectancy. In simpler terms, identity -> action -> results. Often, people want the better results and outcomes, and so to do that, they go one step up, which is to take actions to achieve those results. But that’s usually where people stop when it comes to behaviour change. Most of our thought process would usually be, “How many times should I workout to lose 5kg?” or, “What should I eat so I will not put on more weight?”. But based on the Yale study, what seems to be more sustainable is to focus on changing your identity, or belief, or mindset. The identity that you hold will drive the action, which will then lead to the results. Referring to the earlier example, the people who had a positive mindset regarding aging. They believe they should take positive action, and thus they get better results in the long run.
Bringing it back to fitness, losing 5kg in 3 months is the results that we want to get. Working out 3 times a week and preparing your meals 5 times a week is the action. But most people stop there. Instead, what you should do is to establish an identity to help you achieve those actions. For example, to be the type of person that will never miss a workout, or someone who wants to be able to eat more whole foods to be healthier. By focusing on your identity, it will ripple out to your actions, followed by your results. A shift in mindset will lead to a shift in daily choices, which will eventually lead to better results in the long run.
Your identity will ripple into your actions, which will eventually produce results.
3. 2-Minutes Rule
There is nothing that we need to work on that takes less than 2 minutes to do. But nearly any habit can be started in under 2 minutes.
Let’s use exercise as an example. Many people return home after a long day at work and just feel too tired to workout. Sometimes it can be difficult thinking of how many sets you have to complete in the gym, or how many kilometers you have to clock during your run. Rather than focusing on the whole thing, just focus on the first 2 minutes of it. And what’s the first 2 minutes of exercise? Putting on your exercise gear, getting out of the door, and walking as far from your house as possible. And if you do just that, you will more likely finish what you intended to do, than to go back and laze around at home.
Another example is eating healthy. Many find it too difficult to prepare meals at home. But instead of thinking about the process of cooking and washing, what you should do instead is to pop by a supermarket and buy groceries for the meal. And if you do that, you will more likely want to cook up your groceries instead of letting them turn bad and go to waste.
We often think that motivation is needed for us to start something. But what actually happens is that motivation will come as a result of doing some small bit of work, and then we can trust that the rest of the process will flow. Most motivation is actually needed at the start, where there is the greatest amount of friction.
Trick your brain into exercising by just focusing on putting on your exercise gear. The rest will flow naturally.
4. Environment Design
A professor in Stanford University loved popcorn but he didn’t want to eat that much of it. So he took the popcorn out of the kitchen, into the garage, climbed on a ladder and put the popcorn on the highest shelf. If he wanted to eat it, he can go out to take it - it’ll only take a few minutes. But he designed it for his laziness - and thus successfully staying away from the popcorn.
The idea here is how can we design the places we live in so that the default action, or the lazy behaviour is a better choice. It is immensely difficult to stick to positive habits in a negative environment - that is fighting the environment that you are in all the time.
Bringing this back to fitness, the food you eat and the activities you do are highly related to the people and social environment you put yourself in. If you’re always with people who only eat at fast food restaurants, or friends who indulge in sedentary hobbies, it can be very difficult to focus on leading active and healthy lifestyles. It might be time to think on how you can put yourself in a better social environment that’ll influence lifestyle changes.
Studies have repeatedly shown that obesity can be contagious. That’s why it’s important to put yourself in the right environment.
Conclusion
We can see how we can trick our brains into doing the hard things. By doing so, it can actually make fitness a more achievable goal. Your next challenge now is to take the first step, and things will flow from there.
P.S. - still need help on doing the hard things? I offer online coaching where I’ll help you step-by-step into achieving your fitness goals. This is done through pre-commitment by setting time of the day to workout, and exactly what to eat (if necessary). To find out more, click on this link and fill up a short form, and I’ll contact you thereafter!
