C - Change OR Catalyst

C is obviously for Cookie and that’s good enough for me

But for today, C will be for Change AND Catalyst

What does it take to make a change?

A major component in the art of teaching is figuring out what will get through to someone to imbed that desired change. People may be better with visual learning, tactile, auditory or combinations of these. A lot depends on what it is we are trying to teach.

We can also get into classical conditioning models to modify behavior, negative or positive reinforcement can be great tools. For instance at CrossFit Union Square, I use "punishment," when I catch anyone in "sexy pose" or with their arms crossed they have to do one burpee in front of everyone. My rationale here is to help improve peoples postures and imbalances. This strategy seems to have mild to moderate success in my presence as there are few repeat offenders.

"Sexy pose"

What about those new years goals most people set?

How do we improve our chances of making that change and following up?

What motivates people?

What I offered you $500 if you achieve your goal? Or you have to pay me $500 if you don't achieve it? Or we can escalate it to say your best friend will die if you do not add 50 pounds to your back squat in 6 months - would that change your behavior? Would you start squatting everyday? Why don't you do the same action to accomplish your goals without that threat.

This is a main reason with my one on one clients I always do a values assessment. Understanding what matters to someone helps us understand their motivation. This is how changes can be made.

This is a fascinating subject to me that could be turned into many books and I had trouble sticking to my 5 minute rule on this one. But what motivates you? Is it awesome quotes on instagram? Is it this post :)?

"Get busy living, or get busy dying" -bonus points if you name that very popular movie :)