Here we are at the beginning of a new semester. Whenever we are at the beginning: the beginning of a race, a game, a relationship, a semester… we usually are both optimistic and hopeful about how things will turn out. That’s actually a good thing! It gives us the motivation to start new things. Our brains don’t always like “new” things, as they may feel unfamiliar, uncomfortable and disorienting. And, our brains can imagine a good outcome. We do believe we can grow and we believe in self improvement (why else attend school?) So how can we help achieve that hoped for best semester yet?
Ingredients
So, how can we approach a new semester with the hope and goal of having our best semester yet? In the area of self improvement and human growth, there are some necessary ingredients for change: changing ourselves, our habits, our set point/homeostasis.
Why?
You may have heard the famous TED Talk based on the book by the same name by Simon Sinek: “Start with Why”. Your why is your fuel, your motivation for pushing yourself to reset the norm, the current situation, the familiar.
Observation
This is the part where you put your junior high science skills to work. You learn to stand back and observe what’s happening now. What your habits or patterns or feelings around the particular thing you are interested in changing are right now. Observe what happens when you set the alarm to get up early and work out, but then hit snooze and roll over.
Get Curious
Curiosity about what is currently happening in our lives (our thoughts, our feelings and our behaviors) is the absolute super power for habit change and human growth. (Contrary to common belief that we should just be critical and hard on ourselves.) Curiosity yields WAY more positive possibilities for change than criticism of ourselves ever will. For example, if you were the person who hit snooze in the morning, get curious about that. You might ask yourself, “what went through my mind when I hit snooze?” “What was unappealing about getting out of bed?” “I wonder if there is something I could do differently to either get out of bed or get to the gym…”
Experiment
As a health and life coach I’m a big, big fan of experimentation. (Junior high science class is a great foundation for this stuff.) Try to change one thing and then observe–see what happens. For the morning snooze situation. You could try a couple of different experiments/strategies to get a different outcome for the goal: get to the gym.
- Move your alarm across the room
- Set out your exercise clothes and shoes the night before next to your bed
- Try going to the gym a different time of day
- Arrange to get up and go with a friend (it’s harder to no-show on a friend than yourself!
The whole point is to try something… it can be a small change (One of my favorite sayings in coaching is “Small hinges swing big doors.” Small changes can have a BIG impact.
Secret Ingredient
The last key ingredient to self improvement is probably the least talked about. We actually are more likely to grow and improve ourselves if we connect with people who support that growth. That’s why we created Candid. So UW students could get involved with a group of peers and access a health and life coach for free! We want you to grow. We want you to succeed.
Candid is here for you
Candid offers a number of ways to connect. If you’d like some support and encouragement, you’re welcome to check out Candid workshops and events (https://candiduw.org/events-directory/) or sign up for a free coaching session https://calendly.com/ginger_candiduw/coachtime/.
So, what are you waiting for? Let’s go get it! Let’s have the best semester yet!
Written by Ginger Morgan, PhD
Director of Candid — Health and Life Coach