Behavior plans

I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to try to come up with some behavior plans, because I’m trying to get a lot of major behaviors established and/or re-established all at the same time, here.  So, here we go.

First, let’s identify the behaviors I’m trying to put in place.  Climbing daily.  Biking daily.  Walking daily (or nearly daily).  Dieting as a lifestyle change.  Losing weight.  Keeping appointments.  Sleeping enough.  That’s a lifestyle overhaul!  I told you I was going to do it!!!

Okay, so second, let’s look at these one at a time and choose an easy behavior to begin with – the simplest thing to begin each with and make it a daily habit.

1. Climbing.  Take my climbing gear out to my truck every day.
2. Biking.  Take my bike out of the garage every day.
3. Walking.  Walk to the end of the block every day.
4. Dieting.  Follow the Doc’s diet plan one day at a time.
5. Losing weight.  Weigh myself and write it down.  Do all of the above consistently.
6. Keeping appointments.  Prioritize these first and write them down.  Continue as I have been.
7. Sleeping enough.  Sleep when I’m tired, go to bed at the same time every night.

Third, I need to do these behaviors every day for a week, no excuses.  It doesn’t matter if it’s raining outside, I don’t feel like it, or whatever.  I must do them.  Some, of course, are more troublesome than others.  These are the very basics of what I can do for each on a daily basis to establish the habit.  Ideally, if other people’s schedules weren’t involved and business hours didn’t change (for example, on weekends), I would do each one at the same time every day.  Life happens, though.

So that’s the first week.  The second week might look something like this:

1. Climbing.  Week 1 Behaviors plus driving to the climbing gym.
2. Biking.  Week 1 Behaviors plus riding around the block once.
3. Walking.  Week 1 Behaviors plus walking around the block once.
4. Dieting.  Week 1 Behaviors plus continuing to follow the Doc’s diet plan.  Get back on the diet plan without judgment if I fell off the wagon.
5. Losing weight.  Week 1 Behaviors plus weighing myself and keeping a record each week or each day.
6. Keeping appointments.  Week 1 Behaviors.  This one’s pretty simple.  Work on arranging regular transportation if that’s necessary.
7. Sleeping enough.  Week 1 Behaviors plus working it into a scheduled event.

These are just the bare minimum behaviors.  For example, if I feel like going inside and climbing for a few hours, then I should definitely do that!  If I feel like riding my bike 10 blocks instead of just one, then I should do that!  You get the idea.

Now, on the third week, I should start setting some small goals.  For example, if I’ve been successful with Weeks 1 and 2, then for Week 3, I should plan out a goal for each to push each behavior a little farther and make it a bit more challenging.  It doesn’t have to be a grandiose goal.  You have to work up to these things.  I should definitely start recording my successes for each behavior if I haven’t yet, and implement a rewards system for my behaviors.  With rewards come punishments or withholdings, and I must determine what I’m going to sacrifice if I don’t meet my behavior goals, too.  If there’s no consequence, there’s no rewards system.  Writing down some longer-term goals might be helpful here as well.  If you know where you want to ultimately end up, you have some direction as to what you have to do in order to accomplish those goals.  Remember, though, that big goals happen one step and one day at a time.  Don’t scrap the whole plan just because one day doesn’t work out.  Tomorrow’s a new day.  One day at a time.  One step at a time.  Trust me, I know it can be hard.  Sometimes I take life 10 seconds at a time!!!  You’ll get there, though, if you have good insight and are determined to meet your goals.  Involving an accountability partner isn’t a bad idea if you’ve had a lot of trouble with a certain behavior.  Just don’t give up!!!