(2013-04-24) Build Habits In 1000 Steps Our Interview With Buster Benson Coach.me Instant Coaching For Any Goal

Build Habits in 1,000 Steps: Our Interview with Buster Benson - Coach.me - Instant Coaching For Any Goal. Tip: Be patient when learning new habits. Habits are not tiny, they’re large. Building habits requires that you rewire your brain. A habit is not really an extension of your mind as it is an extension of your body in a lot of ways. You’re not just trying to think differently, you’re trying to change the way your brain thinks about things around a whole lot of inputs.

I decided to break that big goal down into 1,000 unidentified steps. I’m starting at 1,000 and counting down. Game mechanics give me the ability to see it as a journey. Also, instead of focusing on a huge goal like becoming a runner, I focus on these small steps.

Going on a run counts, 7 days of eating a salad for lunch counts as a step, having a meditation practice counts because it requires mental strength, and reading books that have something to do with willpower. The great thing about 1,000 steps is that there are so many of them and so many things count. Since I’m training for an identity change (be a healthier person) not a specific goal (run a marathon), there is a lot of flexibility. Ultimately I am trying to train for an identity change rather than a behavior change

When I make goals, I frame them as a sentence, and the sentence is framed in a way that it is true or false on a monthly basis. It has to be framed in such a way that if I fail, I’m disappointed and if i succeed I’m happy.

I have lots of hope for the behavior change space, but I don’t think that I have a strategy for success yet. I don’t know what is going to work.

I really, really want to solve the problem. As far as problems go it’s really the only problem that has any interest to me because it’s the problem underneath all the other things we want to do in our lives.