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It was never about running… My Behavioural Change Journey

It was never about running… Running was the just the vehicle to facilitate my behavioural change. My behavioural change journey started in early April 2015 with a sore back, a walk, and recognition of enough talk. The fires in me started burning. I had recognised the need for change in myself, my sedentary ways, and my lack of exercise. I am ashamed to say up until this time, the last time I had done any form of exercise was nearly 16 months before in the last 4 months of 2013… and the running at this time had been sporadic to say the least. This had been preceded by another hiatus and then approximately another 4 months of sporadic running from the start of 2013.

Previous attempts at implementing a regular exercise regime as mentioned had been unsuccessful (that was an understatement)! I knew that something had to change. This decision to change caused me to I reflect on what had and had not worked for me previously. I identified my excuses, what habits needed to change and my triggers. The other major problem I had previously was that I had nothing to work towards; I had no goal and no plan. I had talked about it (a lot) but never committed to anything.

Lack of routine and no regular time committed to doing exercise had been a major problem. I do not like to get out of bed (imagine a bear with sore head), so with the exception of weekends when I would try to run in the mornings, during the week I would try to exercise in the evening after my children had gone to bed. But then I always had the excuse of being too tired or there was else I had to do. There was no consistency. Then there was the weather - I live in Melbourne so I always had the excuse of it being too hot, too cold, or too wet or all of the above. So we brought a treadmill – no excuses now… right? Wrong! And then there was the trigger for stopping running all together, illness.

So, what did I do differently this time?

I set a goal and more importantly actually registered for the Mother’s Day 4km Fun Run. I had a plan (I downloaded a training program) which I ticked off and followed to a tee. I made myself accountable – and this is why I had documented my journey on social media. Not so I could get pats on the back or praise or anything else. I needed someone more than myself to be accountable too, and if it helped motivate others – well that was a bonus.

One of those significant changes I have made is the time of day I exercise. So what this meant was getting out of bed early before the rest of the household, stealthing around in the dark like some sort of ninja, getting changed without putting the lights on, then creeping out the door and running as the sun was coming up. The other key ingredient was preparation. I made sure I had my gear out and ready before I went to bed. My motto was rain, hail or shine – and no matter what the weather I got out there and ran. And this commitment was well and truly tested!

I will not say the journey has been easy. I had doubts, I have questioned myself, and I have wanted to throw the alarm at the wall when it went off at 6.15am. But as I progressed towards my goal, I saw more and more positives coming from this behavioural change. I actually wrote an article about the knock on effect during the early days of my journey. Positives that were coming from my behavioural change journey were things that I had not even considered when I started out. What all of this did was motivate me further.

So, in considering making behavioural change for yourself no matter what it is you want to change – you need to firstly make the decision to change. Consider what will happen if you don’t do anything. Identify your barriers and also look at the benefits of change. Then weigh up your options. As Christina Guidotti writes in her book How to Have it All, “The desire to change must be greater than the fear of remaining unchanged”. And if the positives outweigh the negatives, then the next step is to take action.

My behavioural change journey has given me so much more than I could have ever asked for. The new habits are well and truly imbedded. I cannot see myself going back to my old ways. I have been tested with illness and have overcome it. I now have an injury (which means I cannot run and this is killing me) but with doing my rehab exercises, I can see the bigger picture. The goal is to be running better than ever before and I cannot wait for this.

I think above all else, this behavioural change journey has given me something that I could not have ever dreamed of - my old self back, a new sense of self belief and a level of motivation that is through the roof. And for all of that (and more) I am so grateful!

I would love to hear your stories of behavioural change, so join in the conversation. Remember, as W.E. Hickson said “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”. I am proof of that!

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