Think

I’m just back from the gym, where things didn’t go so well.  I’m eating biscuits instead of fruit but at least I’m only on my first coffee of the day.
 
I read somewhere that the ancient Babylonians started this New Year’s resolution business but they didn’t focus on gym membership, diet or caffeine intake. Their most common resolution was to return all farm equipment that they had borrowed from their neighbours during the year.    Somehow returning the tractor seems a whole lot more achievable than my next workout.  

So how do I join the 63% of people who will have kept their resolutions by February?  

Like many people, my real challenge is avoiding those private “oh blow it!” moments – when all I want in the world is to sit down with a good book and a chocolate biscuit dunked in full fat cappuccino.  Typically, my downfall will occur at the end of a bad day (we all have them), when I’ll be tired and I’ll experience some powerfully self defeating thoughts, which go something like…

“I knew I could never change.  That workout was really pathetic.  People must have been laughing at me.”   Before I know it, I’ve talked myself out of my next gym session and I’m feeling like a failure. 

Recognising and preparing for these danger times is one way to keep on track.  Tackling my faulty thinking is another.   American psychotherapist Aaron Beck helped to develop Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) demonstrating that the negative ways we think about a situation (he called them negative automatic thoughts) affect how we act.  In turn, our actions can determine how we think and feel.  We need to change both the act of thinking (cognition) and behaviour at the same time.

CBT says that we often create our own problems. It is not the situation itself that is making us unhappy, but how we think about it and react to it.  

So I need to rethink my session at the gym today (and the fact that I’m now onto my third cup of coffee).  Beck offers four main questions to help challenge our negative view of things:-

• What is the evidence?  Do the facts of the situation back up what I’m thinking?

I attended the gym today and did only 10 minutes on the treadmill and cut short my weight training.  It’s certainly more than I did last week but less than yesterday.  I also have no idea how people see me at the gym – they are more intent on their own training than on mine.

• What alternative views are there?  How might someone else interpret what has happened?

This is my third time at the gym this week which for anyone is an achievement.  I was also feeling more tired than usual. 

• What is the effect of thinking this way? Is it helpful and how does it influence how I feel and what I do?

What I want is to get fitter and thinking this way is not going to help me with that.  If I put myself down like this I will give up instead.

• What illogical thinking errors am I making?  Am I jumping to conclusions, taking responsibility for things outside my control, over-generalising from a specific event.

Just because I cut my training short today does not mean I am a complete failure. I’m going back to the gym and my performance today does not automatically predict my results in the future.  As for the coffee, a few extra cups do not negate the progress I’ve made so far.  I can reduce my caffeine tomorrow by having a glass of water beside me as I work.

CBT is a scientifically proven approach developed originally to treat major mental health problems which is why most of the books available are geared to that market.  CBT also offers an everyday tool kit for challenging the unhelpful beliefs and attitudes that we all hold at some time in our lives, about ourselves and our capacity to change and grow.  The key elements of CBT include keeping records of behaviours,  thoughts and feelings, challenging the negative automatic thoughts which undermine our success and undertaking “experiments” to test out hypotheses about future behaviours.  In addition, Beck recommended we reward ourselves daily with activities which provide Pleasure and a sense of Mastery to maintain our progress. 

So, in a month’s time how will I be doing with those resolutions?  Chances are I’ll have had a few more setbacks (I’m human) but I’ll be challenging the way I think about these.  The odd slip up won’t mean the end of my progress.  By December I intend to be one of the 12% of people still pursuing their new year’s goals.  And If I find myself falling back into old habits? The secret will be not to beat myself up but pick up where I left off.

 Gill