We think that it’s important to show children that they can become whom they want in life. They can be successful in whatever field they choose and they can have heathy and fit bodies that are working great and are vehicles to help them achieve what they want.
We also think that the best way to show them that is by being examples for them, progressing with our dreams, our goals and staying active in body and mind. Let’s have a healthy body through exercises and good nutrition, and healthy mind through personal development!
But how?
It’s easier said than done and we know it. However, we also know that the clearer we’re about what we want to accomplish the easier it’s to introduce good habits that show our children how to accomplish what we and them want in life.
Kasia is reading a great book on habits by James Clear titled Atomic Habits that talks about the power of daily positive habits. It also talks about motivation to introduce healthy habits and sustain them. It says:
“Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity.”
Here you have it the clarity equals better results. Let’s get deeper…
3 Steps
1. Firstly, let’s see who you want to become as a result of becoming a person your child will look up to in areas of exercising and healthy living. Maybe you want to be a persistent and regular person who walks or run everyday, or maybe you want to be a healthy person who eats whole meals most of the days of the week. It’s your time now to decide, take a few minutes and write down what comes up then come back to read the rest of the blog.
2. Welcome back, did you write the answer to the above question? We hope so because now that you know who you want to become, let’s look into how you can get there. Mr Clear states that small daily improvement are a very effective way to get where you want to go. So plan your week including all workouts and/or preparation of healthy food so you’re ready to start knowing what’s to be done. Write down when would you plan your week?
3. Lastly, to increase the likelihood of becoming the example for your child, you can try implementation intention that’s described in Atomic Habits where 3 groups track their workouts. The first group was just tracking them, the second group tracked them and got to read motivation texts and got lectured on how exercises can help their health, last group did the same as the second one with additional use of following sentence, the implementation intention:
“During the week, I will partake in at least 20 minutes of vigorous exercise on [DAY] at [TIME] in [PLACE].”
It turned that only between 35 to 38 per cent of people from the first and the second group exercises the 20 minutes of vigorous exercise. To compare a smashing 91 per cent of people in the third group exercised. Why? Because they set the day, time and place of the action they wanted to perform! The power of planning at its best!
Take the action
In summary, firstly, get clear on who you want to be for your child. Then make a plan of how you’d like to accomplish your goal, lastly use the implementation intention to increase chances of success. Use below sentence to help you:
I will [BEHAVIOUR] on [DAY] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].
Read more on implementation intention and habits in James Clear’s book Atomic Habits. And as always contact us if you have any questions.
Keep training!
Kasia & Grześ
axeboomboom.org 