011: Awareness is Key

This week's blog is written by Resonance Ed's Director of Digital Communications and Positive Psychology Practitioner, Sheila Kennedy.

January 1st signals a new year; a popular time for fresh starts, reflection, and goal setting.

And where there is goal setting, there is often the desire to build or break a habit.

What happens though, after the excitement of a newly filled calendar is taken over by responsibilities of our day-to-day, or we forget to look at the vision board we created? Maybe having that “one word” for the new year has become a different kind of reminder. Perhaps it has become a reminder of what you’re NOT doing instead of motivating you toward taking the necessary action needed toward reaching your goals.

The good news is that at Resonance Ed, our newsletter and blog topics this month have been focused on goal setting, habits, and leveraging our strengths. In last week’s blog, Krista shared about her own progress as she focuses on her word of the year “Stretch.” She wrote about what’s going well and where she is struggling, practicing her SEL skill of awareness.

Ahhh, yes, AWARENESS is key!

Awareness…this concept of directly knowing, feeling, or being cognizant of how we are progressing toward our new year goals or focused intentions, had me thinking about how it shows up differently for different people and the variety of ways we can use this “awareness” to keep us motivated to continue moving forward with our intentions and goals rather than getting stuck (or giving up).

Immediately two strategies came to mind…

One - Use awareness to identify the obstacles AND to create a plan to overcome them!

While working on my  Capstone, “Dreamer to Doer: Transformational Thought Tools for Change and Action,” I came across the work of Gabriele Oettingen dealing with motivation and positive thinking; specifically her research on a concept called mental contrasting and that of her husband’s called implementation intentions. The strategy that emerged, combining both of their research, is known as a “WOOP.” WOOP is an acronym for: wish, outcome, obstacle, and plan. 

By identifying an obstacle AND creating an “If (obstacle), then I will (action to overcome obstacle)” statement, the research shows you are more likely to succeed!

This strategy can be used for adults and children too - win, win.

Habit stacking, created by BJ Fogg, is another helpful strategy that draws on the research of implementation intention. Habit stacking  is part of BJ Fogg’s Tiny Habits program and can be used to connect an already established habit with the habit you are trying to build; the old habit acts as a cue for the new one. Similar to the “If, then I will” statement in WOOP, the habit stacking formula is, “ After/Before (current habit), I will (new habit).” For example, if I was trying to begin a new habit of meditation, I might practice habit stacking by framing it like this: “After returning home from taking my dog outside in the morning, I will meditate for one minute.” In this example, taking my dog outside in the morning acts as a trigger for me to practice my new habit of meditating. James Clear even uses this strategy! 

Two - Celebrate your wins!

Whether it’s through the use of a habit tracker, checking it off your “to do” list, or some other way of recording your progress (and by doing so, bringing awareness to what you have accomplished), be sure to celebrate it - no matter how big or small. 

Even a 1% improvement adds up according to James Clear: “If you get one percent better each day for one year, you'll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.” 

Small wins matter and should be celebrated! Celebrating is a fun activity that  literally changes the state of your body and mind. When you celebrate, endorphins are released. When you share your celebration with others, it has a contagious effect on others’ happiness as well.

My word of the year is “joy” and something I do on a daily basis is #joyspotting…I intentionally look for moments throughout my day that bring me joy; often I will snap a picture to document the moment. I have used the power of awareness, habit stacking, and celebration as a way to help me build a habit of practing gratitude (I had tried gratitude journals in the past and I did not enjoy the writing aspect of it). Now, every Sunday I complete a weekly reflection of the past seven days and post a few joyspotting highlights; in my post I share how the moments filled me with gratitude. By connecting a current habit (joyspotting), with a new habit (practicing gratitude), I have been much more successful. The celebration for me is in the creation of the weekly posts and the sharing of it with others. I invite you to choose more joy and start practicing joyspotting too!

• Do you use a particular strategy for achieving your goals?
• How do you keep track of your progress?
• Do you celebrate your wins - the big and small ones? If so, what do you do to celebrate them?