Switch
This week, I want to dedicate this section of FitnessMASH to one of the greatest singers of all time: Whitney Houston. Her death and preceding struggle with drug addiction were tragic, but she’ll always be remembered for her incredible range and vocals. This was Whitney 20 years ago:
It’s a shame that the difficulty she faced in changing a destructive behavior led to the end of what could have been an even more prosperous career; still, she’s a legend in the music world and will surely be honored at this evening’s Grammy Awards.
About 90% of fitness success is also determined by your ability to change your behavior. In addition to Whitney’s music, this week we also love what is possibly the best book about behavior change ever written: Switch.
Whether you’re starting a program for the first time or just changing up your training style to reach a new goal, your ability to sustain change is the single most important part of the picture.
Check out THIS CLIP from a recent presentation by John Berardi; he references a bit from the book around the 9:20 mark.
In short, “will power” and self-control are finite, and the rational brain has only so much time before our emotions take over and dictate what we do. In order to create a new habit, we have to train our emotional brains to get on board for the journey… and then we have to make the path less scary and easier to traverse (e.g., by changing our environment).
Not rocket science or anything, but an often overlooked aspect of fitness. It simply isn’t as simple as “follow this program and you’ll reach your goal.”
So if you or someone you know is struggling to change a destructive behavior, check out Switch.
R.I.P. Whitney
Filed under: recommended resources, What We Love This Week
