What To Do When You Catch Yourself in a Behavior Change Trap

Yesterday, I finally convinced myself to go swimming.

I've been dealing with a wrist injury, and I knew I needed to find a form of exercise that wasn't going to leave me dependent on ice and ibuprofen after every workout.

So I looked up the schedule at my local gym, stuffed a swimsuit and a towel in my bag, bought a day pass, and flip flopped my way onto the pool deck.

But not before I spent weeks thinking about whether or not I really wanted to do it, whether it was a good idea, whether it was worth getting all chlorine-y, or whether I wanted to commit to swimming 2-3x/week for the rest of my life 🙃

It's so strange to have moments like this as a health coach. I can fully recognize myself oscillating between contemplation and preparation. I can hear my own ambivalence. I can observe myself struggle to build the courage to try something new. I can see myself falling for the classic I-know-I-should-but-I'm-just-not-doing-it trap. I can catch myself making something I haven't done in years into my entire personality before finding out whether I even like it. I can straight up watch myself getting trapped in all or nothing thinking patterns.

I write about all of these things in my newsletter, The Behavior Edit. I see these patterns in my clients and in myself all the time, and I want to give as many people as possible tools and skills for EDIT-ing their own behavior, regardless of whether they ever work with me as a coach.

I was thinking about my newsletter when I opened the door to the pool and found it filled with women and men ages 60-80 getting ready for an Aqua Cardio Fit class.

It turns out I had misread the schedule and the pool was booked for the next hour. I was so disappointed that for a minute, I honestly thought about getting back in my car and going home.

But instead, I took a deep breath, grabbed a noodle and some pool weights, and jumped in the water.

I spent the next hour having more fun exercising than I've had in MONTHS.

An 80-year-old woman high-fived me as we bicycled past each other on our pool noodles. The fitness instructor cheered on my explosive jumps out of the water. The guy next to me accidentally splashed me and we couldn't stop laughing.

After the class, I swam laps alone in the pool while the sunlight streamed in through the windows and thought about how powerful it is to be able to coach myself through moments like that. It would have been so easy to give up and go home, and instead, I did something unexpected and learned a bunch about myself along the way.

So if you're on the fence about trying something new and you can see yourself in the behavior traps I described above, here's your sign to do take the leap and make it happen.

And if you want to learn how to EDIT your behavior, I hope you'll subscribe to The Behavior Edit!