Motivation and impulse to action

[sky]

Does anyone have advice on how to spark an impulse to action and start doing something? Perhaps some behavioral techniques to move the self to go outside and exercise when the weather is not nice, for example. Or to go somewhere to be among other people and be social, or even something simple, like organizing things on a table or cleaning up. How do you move from sitting around in dream state to actively doing something you imagine would be a good thing to do?

[mountainFrugal]

Both of these tricks are explained in detail in Atomic Habits by James Clear. It has been a few years since I read it, but the three that helped me the most were:

1) Habit stacking - Tying something you are trying develop a habit for to something that you already do. Flossing following brushing teeth as simple example.
2) Reduce friction for things you want to be able to do (Read more- have books that you want to read placed throughout the house). Increase friction for things you want to avoid doing (Less TV- unplug TV and put in closet).
3) 2 minute starts. Break down the habit to a 2 minute version. Going outside to exercise in the cold is hard. Having your exercise clothes layed out the day before so that the habit (reducing friction) is actually putting on the clothes and getting out the door.

[Mister Imperceptible]

Music always gets me moving

Shocks the monkey to life

[Henry]

Perhaps some behavioral techniques to move the self to go outside and exercise when the weather is not nice, for example.

I think it was Andrew Huberman who said not to assign a particular time to exercise because if you assign a time, and you do not perform at that time, you will feel that the opportunity passed for the day. Real behavioral change is when you can (and do) exercise at any time. This moves it from the "need to" to "want to" column which IMHO is a better place for long term change.

[ertyu]

Here is a relevant clip someone cut out of an Huberman podcast. I assume there's more where that comes from. My advice is, check if there are any relevant episodes -- believe this comes from the episode on dopamine

[sky]

That is very interesting. Apparently you should not focus on some reward after the goal is achieved, but find value/reward in the effort you make toward the goal. When training an animal, frequent rewards are given after the correct behavior. However, with a human, who is self directing the behavior, one should find the reward while doing the work. So instead of climbing a mountain using a reward of a snickers bar at the summit, you should find reward in the fresh air filling your lungs, the blood circulating oxygen to every cell of your body, the sweat cleansing your pores and the burn in your feet and calves causing your muscles to regenerate.

As far as encouraging exercise during bad weather, the advice seems to be:

Prepare as much as possible ahead of time, lay out the appropriate clothes, know what you will wear, what you will take in your pockets, where you will walk.
Have a step by step process that takes you from getting ready starting with the first step, to walking out the door, to exercising.
Make the first step an easy to start action.
Make a habit of completing the steps in a certain order so that it is an almost automatic procedure from start to completion.

When the time for exercise comes, complete the first step and the rest will follow easily.

[Western Red Cedar]

@Sky - I'd check out Atomic Habits if you haven't read it. It is pretty compatible with ERE and systems thinking. There are plenty of great interviews where James Clear talks about these issues if you don't want to read the book, but I think the book is worth the time.

One of the other concepts he talks about is developing identity-based habits. So, if you want to exercise more during inclement weather you might work on an embracing an identity of being an active person, an outdoorsy person, or a resilient person. As you adopt a different inner dialogue and identity you'll find that you enjoy the feeling of being outside in poor weather more than tucked away under a blanket with a cup of tea.

I've also realized that I can overthink this stuff. Sometimes reminding myself that "mood follows action" is enough of an incentive to get up and spur a mindset shift.

[sky]

I watched a presentation by James Clear, very powerful stuff. I will watch some more presentations and already have some good ideas on how to get myself to do the things I want to do.