Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Hi, I'm Dr. Charisse Johnson, a licensed clinical mental health therapist, mindfulness practitioner, and author.
[00:00:08] Welcome to Mindset Matters. I love this opportunity to be with you, and I'm excited about our focus for today. I want to talk about micro momentum and how small wins rewire the brain. Opening quote. To help set the tone. Sustainable change is less of a about force and more about frequency. So small acts repeated become who you are.
[00:00:37] We're going to talk about the science of micro momentum and how those tiny, consistent wins can create big shifts in your mindset in nutrition and in exercise.
[00:00:51] Most people wait for motivation, but science shows us that action comes first, and then motivation will actually follow. So here's why small wins matter.
[00:01:03] Neuroplasticity is the name of the game. It's key. It's what we want when we're trying to make any kind of change in our lives. So each time you repeat a small action, you're strengthening the brain's wiring.
[00:01:18] And as you do that, what happens is it sends a very healthy and appropriate and sustainable amount of dopamine. So completing even a tiny task gives the brain a reward signal that says, do this again.
[00:01:36] And that process of building that neuroplasticity, having that little dose of dopamine, creates what's called a habit loop cue. That means you have some cue, you then have an action. Then. Then there's a reward. So micro actions lower your resistance and keep the loop alive. And when you say lower your resistance or when I say lower your resistance, you might be like, lower my resistance to what? To stress, to quitting, to giving up, to stopping. All together. And so myth versus reality is motivation isn't what gets you started. If there was something that I feel like I could get in, in your head and in your brain, it would be that so many people reach out and say, I don't know how to get motivated. And then I have to go. Today's hard truth, you're not looking for motivation.
[00:02:33] You're looking for action. So you have to exercise the power of choice to get started.
[00:02:40] And then when you have those actions and put those in place repeatedly, motivation will follow because that dopamine continues to grow and build.
[00:02:53] So here's a framework that you can use to help you implement this. And really recognize it is not as complicated as we make it seem. Tiny T I n y. So T is trigger. You want to attach a micro moment, a microhabit to an existing routine.
[00:03:11] I increment. So you keep it laughably small. And when I say laughably small, I mean, to the point that you might think, is this really going to work? Is. Am I really doing enough? Yes, you are.
[00:03:25] One of our biggest issues, just as human as people, we think that it has to be this big, incredible plan that you execute and you've got it all mapped out and if you don't check every box and do it perfectly, you failed and it won't work.
[00:03:41] When in truth, that kind of thinking usually wears you out and is what makes you fearful of change in the first place. Like, let's be honest, how many times have you attempted to make a change in your health habit and said to yourself, well, I'm going to wait until I have more time. I'm going to wait until I can do it the way I used to or the way that I did it before.
[00:04:00] I am here to challenge that thought. I dare you to incorporate this framework.
[00:04:07] So T is trigger, I is increment, N is noticing. Celebrate the completion out loud or in writing or with a fist pump or with a light. Hey, I'm so proud of myself. And then why your safeguard is going to be the minimum version for tough days. So here's an example.
[00:04:30] Let's say you want to incorporate this framework.
[00:04:34] Maybe your trigger, if you want to work on something in nutrition, would be that you would drink water before coffee.
[00:04:42] If you wanted to incorporate this in movement, it would be you're going to do one squat while the microwave runs. That would be like minimum baseline. Or maybe you do five. You decide. And then mindset might be one deep breath before you buckle your seatbelt. Do not sleep on that. A tip. It is so extremely powerful, especially considering many of us are not driving and getting in and out the way we used to. To stop before you buckle your seat belt or unbuckle it, take a breath, signal that parasympathetic nervous system to come in and send you a little rescue before you move on to the next thing. I want to give you an example of a success story that I had with a client that was centered right around this run rep habit. That is a tongue twister one rep habit. So I had someone, they were working on recovery after just kind of being sidelined with grief and loss and some uncertainty. Not only personal loss, job loss, a number of different things. And so they reached out to me and we did a session to help them focus on how to get started. And of course they came in, they were like, I've got all my notes. Want to do all these things. And I was like, is that realistic? Right? So what we did is we went through the course of their day and I got a feel for what a natural day looked like in their life. And we identified things that they do every day. And so two things that they identified always happened every day was one, that they always brush their teeth, and two, they always took a moment to brew their coffee. And so what we did is we attached some specific things to that dynamic. So brushing their teeth, before they brushed their teeth, they decided that they wanted to do five breaths. Five in through the nose, out through the mouth, deep diaphragmatic breaths, because they often woke up with a lot of stress. And then their commitment was to also not look at their phone until after they took those breaths and brushed their teeth. I will say as a side note, the other byproduct of what happened is they slowly but surely spent less and less time on their phone, which dramatically helped their stress level and allowed them to wake up and focus on themselves instead of immediately looking at notifications and emails. And as a result, starting their day doing everything for everybody else. Then they moved on. And their next cue was to brew their coffee. And they were working on reincorporating some movement. So they decided for themselves that while their coffee was brewing, that they wanted to march in place. Didn't have to be vigorous, didn't have to be super, super fast, but they would just create that movement. Long story short, after about two to three weeks of just committing to those micro movements, not adding anything else in, they felt more energized, they felt less stress, and then they were ready to add on. But they felt so successful in those two micro momentum habits that it gave them the courage to continue.
[00:07:51] And we slowly built on until they got back to a place that they felt like was where they wanted to be. But it was one of the first times that they had ever given themselves permission to gradually move to that point. And as a result of that, they also made that their bottom of the barrel baseline. And to this day, I still stay in contact with them. They check in with me once a month.
[00:08:16] They found that it was just a phenomenal way to make sure they just didn't completely fall off. So for that individual, they really broke a cycle of all or nothing.
[00:08:29] So here's what it looks like to incorporate nutrition and movement together in microwinds. For nutrition, it would be like a protein first bite. So you would hydrate first thing and then swap one processed snack so you have some protein before you grab for something that's going to have lower micronutrients, which is going to impact your mind and your gut. Another option would be movement, which is move 95 so a minute every 95 minutes, a sunlight stride in the morning or floor before phone, which could include some stretching. But every 95 minutes you agree to get up and move. But do it in a way that also invites a little bit higher rate in your heart rate. You don't need to go all out, but enough to kind of keep yourself going. And then I want you to really understand these are not about effort.
[00:09:26] That's what you're usually looking for when you want to do those big huge things. They're not about effort, they're about identity. When I show up for these micro habits, I proved to myself I can be consistent. That's what I want you to think. That's the new thought process. I want you to get in your head.
[00:09:45] It's also extremely valuable to make sure that you're incorporating these as we head into a season of seasonal affect. Now, if you're listening to this and it's well beyond seasonal affect season, it's still helpful. But at the time this is being recorded, it's August. So we are right on the cusp of of those shorter days of sunlight. We're starting to feel that shift in our emotions, not wanting to get up, wanting to lay around.
[00:10:13] The days are getting shorter. And seasonal affect is real and will definitely impact you even more if you have a history of anxiety or depression.
[00:10:25] Darker seasons make it harder to sustain momentum. It doesn't matter who you are. So here's kind of a four step SAS stack seasonal effective season first sunlight exposure in the morning is so key.
[00:10:42] It's not only great for your vitamin D, but it's going to help you later produce the melatonin that you need to sleep well a activate with 90 seconds of movement. So maybe that's the first commitment that you make as soon as your feet hit the floor is that you will do 90 seconds of movement. That is one that I incorporate. It is one of my favorites. And naturally once I do that 90 seconds, I'm always encouraged to do more. Even if I wake up and I'm like, oh, I'm not feeling it. It just does something for the body. Then s soothe breath with 46 breathing. So you would inhale four, hold for six and then exhale. That might be too much for some. If you have any heart issues or a history of panic, don't overthink it. You could make it breathe in for four, hold for two and then breathe out. The goal is to hold in that pause a little bit longer than you inhale. But if you just breathe, hold it for a second and breathe out through the mouth, that's going to do the trick. And the breathing out through the mouth is completely different than just taking your breath and putting it back down. So don't skimp on that part. And then P protein plus plus produce at the first meal.
[00:11:58] This will help protect your rhythm.
[00:12:01] So don't chase perfection. I just want you to chase consistency. So I have a little call to action for you. I want to encourage you. If you're just getting started, this is a new framework for you to incorporate a seven day micro momentum practice.
[00:12:21] Pick two habits, one nutrition and one movement and attach them to daily triggers. Daily triggers are not things that make you feel bad, they're things that you already do. Triggers, cues and then just track it with seven simple boxes each day. Just checking off did I do it? And for those of you that love a good checklist, this is going to make you feel amazing. And your minimum version counts. So you don't only count when you do the most you can do in that time. It also counts in if you're doing kind of your baseline. That micro win can also be extremely powerful if you incorporate and include some type of social accountability. Letting someone know this is what I'm working on, or inviting one of your kids or a friend or your mother or whoever you want to to do it with you also adds a lot of accountability. I have a lot of families who will create micro momentum around habits that they're trying to build as a family. So this is also great if you do have children.
[00:13:26] So in closing, tiny acts turn the wheel.
[00:13:31] Keep turning and the wheel will turn you. Consistency is the quiet courage of change. Change does not have to be loud. You not need to make an announcement. You do not need to let the whole world know what you're doing, but whisper to yourself, I am able, I am capable of showing up in small micro ways for myself.
[00:13:58] After you hear something like this, I want you to do a couple things. I want you to look at where you can apply it. I want you to consider what are the different ways that you can challenge yourself Again, challenge not being like, oh my goodness, this is wearing me out. But challenge yourself in very unique and strategic ways to incorporate these tiny habits. And I want to remind you, I don't think this is something that we've talked about before, but I do offer one on one coaching. If you hear topics that you feel like I need a little bit more support I need a little bit more accountability around this. By all means, find me on social media, email me on my website drcherise.com all of the things, and then plan to come and join me so that we can get your life moving in the right direction. As always, I'm so glad that you chose to come and to listen to this. I want to try to make this as concise as possible so that you feel like you know what, this is doable. It does not feel overwhelming. So don't sleep on the fact that what I gave you is simple, because simple works, especially when repeated.
[00:15:06] I hope you are doing as well as you possibly can. Please remember, don't give up on your health and on your health goals. You are so worth it and your body will benefit as well as your mind and your spirit. We will talk again soon. Have a good one.
