Five Steps to Overcome the Dwindle Effect

       You made a commitment to walk every evening after work, but you can't remember the last time you did. Work is so stressful, you've decided it's a bad time to quit smoking. Or your New Year's resolution not to drink during the week has long been forgotten. No matter how strong your intentions were in the beginning, life's invariable challenges flare up and make it oh-so-easy to slip back into your old habit. Welcome to the DWINDLE EFFECT.

         So what happened? You were on a roll there for a while with the yoga classes! Well, emotions came up (about you, your weight, your relationship, whatever) and you didn't handle the sadness, anger, or fear physically and constructively. Instead, you went into survival mode and reverted back to the familiar habit that you swore you were going to change.

        How can we fight the dwindle effect? Making a long-term change in life isn't rocket science. To actualize your goals and good intentions, do these five things:

1. At those crucial moments when you're justifying not following through with the new behavior --- make a new choice! Stomp, shiver, or cry to deal with your anger, fear, or sadness. Find a safe place and do it with abandon for just three minutes! Your unexpressed emotions are clouding your ability to choose anything new. I know that sounds radical, but it's not. Emote and then remember your goal (see number #2). 

2.   With awareness, changing old habits IS possible and sustainable. Locate your self-sabotaging thoughts and find contradictions that support you. Remind yourself of the reality when you start to waiver. "I hate looking like this. I want to be more fit. I'm doing this for me."

3.   Make sure the change you desire is doable, specific, and reasonable. Maybe you can't become a gym rat five days a week but you could catch one class two mornings fairly easily. And make sure your goal resonates as what's true for you. 

4.   Get a buddy who also wants to make a change and establish a regular daily, weekly, or in between check-in for support and accountability. Initiate and contact him or her at the appointed time, no matter what. Each person gets two to five minutes of listening (set your own reasonable amount of time). The first one talks of victories and breakdown, and the next specific steps he or she need to take between now and the next check-in, and appreciates themselves. Then switch and listen while the other person talks about how they are doing making with their new behavior.

5.   When you choose for the old habit today, don't give up your good intentions altogether. It really IS okay. Get up and start again fresh tomorrow. It's a brand new day.

        Just remember to deal with whatever emotions are sabotaging your efforts and keep checking in to make sure your steps to your goal are small, reasonable, and doable.

        Keep at it and you'll conquer the dwindle effect and bask in the new life you've created.

My husband is suffering from a bad case of myoclonus-- full body jerks-- that occur mostly during or just preceding sleep.  Drugs don't help much. I'm wondering if you are familiar with this?

To be sure, I am not a doctor...

However, from an Attitude Reconstruction perspective, these body jerks are due to an excessive accumulation of the emotion of fear. I'd suggest doing literally two minutes of intense shivering before hopping into bed so that the energy can dissipate and the body can relax and calm down before drifting off to sleep. 

Read how to effectively shiver.   

Scroll down to "Fear- Shivering Demo" on this LINK to see a video demonstration about how to shiver.

If your husband is game, give it a try -- do it hard, fast, and with abandon while just making sounds, and let me know if it helps.

Just last week I read an article about some research that proclaims that shivering offers some of the same benefits of exercise! Read about it!