Zugunruhe: Helping great people get [good] things done: Zoog.un.roo.ee

How to Cook a Frog

You’ve probably heard this story--a metaphor really--about how to cook a frog. If you put a live frog directly into a pot of hot water, she’ll jump out. But if you put the frog in comfy, tepid water, she’ll just sit there. Slowly increase the heat and the frog will sit quietly in the pot and get cooked. Sounds horrid, doesn’t it?

Frankly, I’ve always been repulsed by this little story which is used to illustrate how people can become habituated to conditions which gradually do us in, like stress. The reason I bring the frog story up is because this tale has shown up for me on three separate occasions in the span of less than a week. The third time I read it, I caught on that maybe, just maybe, I was supposed to be paying attention. So I put my revulsion aside (the thought of torturing some innocent creature) and asked, “what am I supposed to be learning here?” If I’m the frog, what’s turning up the heat?

One of my shortcomings is that I tend to say yes when new opportunities show up. This week, it almost happened again. An opportunity presented itself, I explored it, and received an invitation to become more involved. Instead of saying yes, I hesitated. And then this metaphor hopped up. The little froggy is sitting placidly in the pot while the steam starts to rise up around her. Is that a nice hot relaxing bath she’s soaking in or is it a kettle about to come to a boil?

The froggy may look comfortable but she’s not. She’s talked herself into ignoring that conditions are no longer habitable. By the time she figures out that she’s in hot water, it’s too late. Frankly, I am in no mood to get cooked. I turned the heat down by turning down the invitation. (And truth be known, I rarely regret the stuff I’ve said no to; it’s the yeses that always seem to get me in the most trouble.)

I’m taking that frog a lot more seriously now. My goal is to put some safeguards around me so I can tell when the water is getting too hot. And if I can’t turn down the heat, I’ve got to make sure to get regular infusions of cooler water in the form of rest, laughter, and time with friends and family.

As you’re looking at the next two months (the holidays are coming!), what can you do for yourself to make sure the water doesn’t get too hot for you? Is there a time when you can slip away and have a few moments to breathe? Take a short stroll around your neighborhood. Drink a cool glass of water. Only you can determine when the pot is getting too hot and it’s time to turn down the heat. Don’t wait until you’re too cooked to realize what you’ve gotten into! What a great gift for yourself in the coming holiday season: a thermometer for your life. Ribbit.

Who’s in charge here?

Priming, the way that unconscious suggestions may affect people’s behavior, has gotten a lot of attention lately. A recent article from the NY Times summarized many of the recent findings in this fascinating area of study.

Researchers from Yale recently reported that even temperature can pay a role. In one study, researchers pretended to be loaded down with several items including either a cup of hot or iced coffee. The subjects were handed the cup in an innocuous way--the researcher asked for some help carrying the items to another location. The folks that carried the cold coffee later rated a nonexistent person that they read about as “less social and more selfish.” People that carried the hot java weren’t so critical.

Here’s one of the key points from the NY Times piece:

"In several studies, researchers have also shown that, once covertly activated, an unconscious goal persists with the same determination that is evident in our conscious pursuits. Study participants primed to be cooperative are assiduous in their teamwork, for instance, helping others and sharing resources in games that last 20 minutes or longer. Ditto for those set up to be aggressive."

The researchers insist that you can’t prime yourself. They say that the suggestions have to seep into your unconscious mind. However, this work suggests that you can set yourself up to meet your goals by planting the right sorts of suggestions around yourself. When the sticky note on your mirror that says “Exercise!” no longer grabs your attention, your unconscious knows its there. Likewise, when your mood suddenly goes sour, you may be responding to a clue you weren’t aware of.

But if you’re wondering who’s in charge, just remember that subconscious or not--it’s you.

Zugunruhe iMix: Tunes to Get You Moving

If you're trying to create new habits, music may be the key to getting your brain to link reward to experience. To learn more, read my earlier post. I've created a special Zugunruhe iMix to help you get started. 

Don't forget, my Getting Things Done: Break Through Procrastination and Resistance teleclass will be offered by phone bridgeline tomorrow: Thursday, January 18 at 7 pm Eastern (4 pm Pacific). Space is limited; reserve your spot now.

Participants in this teleclass will

• Learn how to recognize and differentiate between the symptoms of procrastination, resistance, and block.
• Acquire new skills that allow greater efficiency and effectiveness.

And the winner is...Joseph Greco

The winner of the "one week to fitness" challenge is Joseph Greco. Congratulations! He writes:

I sell heavy equipment such as Bull Dozers and Excavators.  Most of my mornings have been spent at various restaurants in my sales area looking to meet up with clients to see if I could make a sale.  I never had appointments, I just hoped someone would come in for me to speak with.  More often than not, I ate alone or made very few worthy contacts.  All I could really count on was adding unneeded weight from over eating.  I decided it was time to take better care of myself. So, instead of going to restaurants in the mornings I either went for a half hour walk or spent the time at a local fitness center on a tread mill. The results have been great.  I have gone from 245 pounds to 210 and intend to continue.  Also, when I am done with my little workout my attitude is much better and my mind is more clear.

How to Create Healthy Habits

Some habits are ridiculously easy to create. Chocolate, cookies, golf all seem to fall into this category (at least for some of us, any how). But what about those habits that provide us with good health, wellbeing, and success? Habits like exercise, flossing your teeth, and following through on contacts. It seems that those habits are hard to cement into place but once done, they pay huge ROI.

One of the problems with creating habits like exercise is that the reward (e.g., admiration by others, strong heart and lungs, weight loss) is disconnected from the activity itself (walking thirty minutes a day). Likewise, the “punishment” (e.g., high blood pressure, weight gain) is similarly disconnected from the poor lifestyle choices that created them. Brain research (also known as neuroscience) may provide some insight into how to use natural tendencies of your mind to create lasting, helpful habits....

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One week to fitness

Every New Year, most folks resolve to get in shape. But by January 2, a lot of people are already feeling discouraged. But what if there was a simple program to get in shape that took only one week to do? That’s right! One 40 hour work week. Five eight-hour days. No kidding. Not a joke. Not a scam. And it’s free! Would you do it? Of course!

Walk thirty minutes a day. Keep it up for a full 40 hours: a simple work week in half hour increments. Do it and you will see fabulous ROI. Even if you don’t change your eating habits at all, you will burn more calories and that increased calorie burn will burn off fat.

People in study conducted by Duke University lost 1% of their body mass when doing low intensity walking every day over eight months. Compare this to a 1% gain by a similar group that was inactive. (For a 150 pound person, 1% is one and a half pounds.) Want more results? In the same study, people who exercised at high intensity over 30 minutes a day (jogging), lost 3.5% over the same time period (5 pounds for a 150 pound person).

You may be thinking that you don’t have time for 30 minutes a day so here’s the challenge: look at how you’re spending your time right now. What are you doing today? Got five minutes between meetings? Walk around the block. Three minutes early? Park farther away than usual and walk. Going out to get the mail? Keep walking for an extra five minutes before you swing by the mail box.

I’m wiling to bet that you have 30 minutes strewn around your schedule right now that you can put together and turn into thirty minutes of no sweat, easy does it, no-extra-work-on-your-part walking. I’m so willing to bet that here’s my offer. Email me your story about how you fit in walking without actually changing your schedule. I’ll feature the best story on this blog and I’ll give the winner one month--that's four weekly sessions of one hour each--of free coaching to help them achieve whatever other goals they’ve set for the new year.

Sound good? Then get creative, start walking, and email your story to me. I'll post the winner no later than January 15, 2007.