Flex – Do Something Different!
Having read and reviewed several books from this author before (well one half of the duo) such as Sheconomics and The No Diet (do something different) Diet Book I picked this one up with alacrity. Well, to be totally frank and honest the publishers sent it to me precisely because I had reviewed the other two books, but in all truthfulness I think I would have bought it anyway! It chimes with much of my own beliefs and we all like to have our views confirmed!
It’s a different kind of read to the other two I’ve mentioned being mainly written by Ben, although Karen is a co-author. The premise behind No Diet is that our habits not lack of will power keep us chained to old possibly destructive ways of behaving. Flex takes this further and deeper, suggesting that by changing our habitual way of behaving, we can tap into our full potential and transform our life.
And this book gives you all the science so excellent for psychology students too!
Here’s an extract from Flex so you can get an idea of style:
Page 104: 40 What Does a Do Something Different Intervention Look Like?
We know that when people keep doing the same things it can make life at best boring and at worst troublesome. But habits also narrow our view. They blind us to the many other options that are available to us. Therefore a Do Something Different programme simply suggests different things to do each day. These switch off a person’s auto pilot and put them back in the driving seat of life. By making small daily disruptions to their everyday life they start to steer it down a different track. There’s no struggle, no gritted teeth to maintain their will power – just a grdual loosening of the habit-web that had a stranglehold on the person.
When a person starts to do something different they:
- expand their world
- break free of their comfort zone
- shake off the habits that held them back
- look at things differently
- open up to new possibilities
- see themselves in a new light
- allow new opportunities into their life and
- have different reflections about themselves
And here’s one example of doing things differently suggested by the authors:
- Shift Your Butt Day: Today don’t sit anywhere that you would normally sit. That’s at the dining table, at work, watching TV, or in a meeting.Triggers for unwanted behaviour often exist in our daily routines and the environment around us. Literally changing where we sit can mean we are not triggered to do what we would normally do in that place.
It’s not an especially light read and if I have one small criticism it’s that it occasionally feels like it veers between being a self help book aimed at individuals and a text book for serious student of psychology. Tabloid to broadsheet in one chapter – but that’s not necessarily a bad thing! The advice is sound and it works. You’ll also find lots of quizzes and self examining questionnaires in its pages which are helpful in understanding oneself and great for those who love them!
Overall I recommend this book to anyone interested in making serious changes, or in helping others make changes. It will have a place in my book list when training and be on my ‘useful resources’ table. Don’t expect to pick it up and dip in; it demands more from you than that but a thorough reading will pay dividends.
Flex. Do Something Different. How to use the other 9/10s of your personality, by Professors Ben (C) Fletcher andKaren Pine, published by University of Herefordshire Press ISBN 978-1-907396-54-0 at £8.99 Available from your library, good bookshops and from the University site
How to Give Yourself a Helping Hand!
Our knowledge about how our brains work is increasing all the time. Recently some research into over eating was released which suggest that if we eat with our non dominant hand we can lose weight.
That’s because we’re doing something we do habitually in a different way and thus drawing our attention to it. Because we actually want to lose weight, being mindful of what we’re doing helps us control how much we eat (not to mention throwing a fair bit of food down our fronts!)
Be Different!
Habits are great; if we didn’t do things habitually life could be quite difficult. Knowing how to change gear while having our eyes on the road, avoiding a collision, and taking the right route would be quite difficult if we lost the habits associated with that!
But if we want a quick boost, a jump start in our lives then it’s time to do something differently! So have a do something different day! It may be using your non dominant hand for some mundane tasks, like cleaning your teeth. You may take a new route to a favoured destination. Catch a bus and leave the car behind. The possibilities are endless. Doing some things differently will sharpen your appreciation of life. I’m not promising that you’ll lose weight but you will have a different experience of life for one day!
Do share what you choose to do differently in your life!
Photo credit: Vivek Chugh
Take a Hike!
Sorry, did that sound rude? I mean, try to incorporate a little more walking into your life and see if that makes you feel better. But that’s not a catchy title!
Last year I took part in a charity midnight walk over 13 miles, and in preparation walked most days. One of the side effects of the walking was time to think but it was also helping me in other ways.
The repetitive activity of walking, studies show, triggers the body’s relaxation response and so helps reduce stress; at the same time even a 10-minute walk provides an immediate energy boost and improves mood. Nietzsche wrote, ‘All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking. Research supports him; exercise-induced brain chemicals help people think clearly. I often encourage people to walk during breaks in my courses.
And then the snows came and I lost my habit of walking several times a week. Snuggling down by the wood burner was far more attractive!
Sometimes it seems easier to break habits that are good for you rather than the ones we wish we could lose! I am now resurrecting the walking habit (no snow, lighter evenings, should be a doddle!).
Walking isn’t an option for everyone, but there will be things we can all do to enhance our time to think and quality of life. What good habit would you like to rediscover this week?
Week Two – Lose Weight Without Trying
End of week two on the No Diet (do something different) Diet regime. (Click here to read why I began this small experiment)
It’s been a funny week; I have had visitors so lots of cooking and entertaining but I have tried to follow the spirit of the instructions for this week: basically to try to consciously change facets of your personality in relation to assertiveness, energy levels, group behaviour and so on. The changes are not meant to be permanent; it’s just to see if you can break behavioural habits – the essence of the programme.
Difficult Week
I found this week much more difficult, partly because the instructions (although clear in themselves) were much less obvious and for someone like myself with no set work patterns or routines, quite difficult to put into practice.
For example, there is a direction about group behaviour. Usually when in a group I am in charge and leading it with lots of high energy. But this week I have not been involved in any groups so took the opportunity to try out what the book suggested on another day when I was with a few others. I feel maybe I had to make too many compromises.
I also think second days (or weeks as in this case) can be quite flat to begin with. When I am working with groups over a few months on personal development, as I do in some organisations, the second meeting or seminar tends to begin with low energy from the participants. I think it’s something to do with the excitement and novelty of the first day having receded. People start day one with some feelings of nervousness and trepidation, relax, begin to understand what the course is all about, make friends etc and leave on a high. On day two that initial excitement has gone and the realisation of what is needed to effect change has hit, and people seem to experience a temporary dip. I usually have to work harder on the mornings of day two!
Second Week Blues?
And so it was with this. Week one was quite exciting and energising and fun. Now I’m in week two I often forgot to look first thing to see what I was meant to be doing! However, I did do it! With some interesting results in terms of reactions from colleagues, family & friends..
But I can’t tell you if I lost any weight as my scales have a flat battery, which will be remedied before next week! I promise! I don’t feel any different at all but the book suggests that a loss of a further pound or two would be reasonable. We’ll have to wait until next Monday to find out!
Week One – Lose Weight Easily Without a Diet?
If you read my first post on this book, you’ll know that my interest in it stems from initially reading another book by the author, Sheconomics and being impressed by the ideas contained within. Intrigued by the idea of a No Diet Diet from well respected psychologists I took a look. You can read that first post here.
What is particularly appealing is the notion that changing habits in one area of your life will change your eating habits, without you focussing on food. We all know diets put a huge focus on food so suddenly it’s all we can think of :
Don’t think about cream cakes, banish all thoughts about eating luscious cakes from your mind. Too late, now you have an image of a cream cake floating in your head! It’s like someone saying to you, just as you engage the reverse gear -don’t hit that kerb! There’s a good chance you now will.
Week One Instructions
I’m not going to reveal all the secrets of the book here, but week one does encourage you to change one habit each day as well as two additional tasks. The additional tasks are things like: don’t always sit in your usual chair, try a different newspaper, use a different shop, go watch a film alone, etc.
So how did I do? Well, I more or less did as instructed but my life is so non routine that I sometimes felt I was cheating a little. For example, the very first instruction was not to watch TV (or if you don’t watch TV, stop listening to the radio). That day I was travelling to London and probably wouldn’t have watched TV anyway so I tried that on another day as well (I chose Saturday, the day I watch most TV as am a Strictly addict!)
However, it has had an interesting effect of making me realise how much of my life is just habit. I was training in London over two days and my husband was with me (he goes and plays golf!). At the end of the first day’s training he suggested half heartedly that maybe we could go out, knowing that usually I just flop and read through my material for the next day. That has become a habit. I wrote the course; I rarely need to review the material unless I am adapting it to suit my group.
So, I said yes, and let’s have a meal out while we’re at it. Cue very surprised but happy look from partner of 34 years! And we had a great evening, although I’m not sure if going out for a meal is quite what one should be doing….
Weight Loss?
So that’s great, Jane, I hear you say. You’ve changed a few things but did it make a jot of difference to your weight? Well, in the book the authors suggest that weight loss is small but consistent. Their research shows that most people in the first week lose a pound and that’s exactly what I did.
The author’s point out that week one is not about weight loss but about laying the correct foundations; that phase one simply creates the conditions necessary for change. Phase two puts it into practice.
I’m about to start Phase Two which lasts for one week, so drop by again next Monday and I’ll let you know how it goes. I have visitors most of this week which usually means an excess of all things edible! Watch this space…
And if you’ve been following the book too, please so share how you are getting one!
Get Yourself Habit-Fit!
Habits can be good and habits can be bad. We need them so we can move effortlessly through life and change gear (literally and metaphorically) without too much thought.
But from time to time we all develop habits that are unhelpful to us, and some that are just pointless. Tackling these leaves more room for new and exciting things to emerge!
Review
What habits do you have that are helpful to you? For example, you might have a habit of walking to get the newspaper every day, which helps clear your head and gives you some fresh air exercise. Equally, a period of ill health may mean you had your newspaper delivered for a while and, although you are now recovered, you may not have resumed the habit of walking every day!
As you go through today try and make a mental note of the habits you have that are ‘good‘, that enrich you (or the world at large) in some way, and those that are ‘bad’, that sap your energy and that contribute nothing positive to anyone.
And tomorrow, try to replace that habit with something else! It’s been estimated that it takes about three weeks to change a habit to so you’ll need to keep at it. Start with something small and build your confidence in your ability to change.
Get yourself habit-fit for winter!
