Landing at a plateau in your wellness journey can be frustrating and demoralizing. Plateauing is the term used to describe being in “a period or state of little or no growth.” For TOPS members, this may be a lack of significant improvement in terms of mobility, weight loss or lowering health risks for certain conditions such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease.
So if you have been feeling stuck for a while, try this cognitive tool to reignite forward momentum toward your goals:
Mental Contrasting
Spending hours making vision boards or simply daydreaming about your future success could start to have the opposite effect of what you are hoping for. This is one reason that Gabriele Oettingen, a professor of psychology at New York University, created the WOOP framework to help people learn how to harness the power of mental contrasting.
More often than one might think, she explains that, only focusing on eventual positive outcomes — rather than the steps one needs to take to get there — “can make our brain think we’ve already accomplished our goal, leaving us ill-equipped to handle obstacles and setbacks along the way.”
However, Oettingen affirms it can be much more effective to visualize “a fitter, more confident you in the mirror” after also imagining yourself exercising or savoring a fresh bowl of fruit on a hot summer day. You mentally combine the desired result with the habits one must cultivate to get there.
Want to give her WOOP method a try? Follow Oettingen’s steps:
Wish: Write down your wish (Make sure your initial goal is reasonable!)
Outcome: Next, notate the specific details on how your life will change for the better if you can bring your wish to life.
Obstacle: Make a list of potential and/or current obstacles you need to overcome.
Plan: Create an “if-then” plan for each one: “If [X obstacle] occurs, I will do [Y action].”
Of course, people can wind up plateauing for a variety of reasons. Thus, here are a few Wellness Wednesday blogs that also address the need to periodically “reset” how we are tending to our fitness, mental health and nutrition needs.
Have you previously felt like you were at a plateau? Share more about what kept you from giving up by leaving a comment below this post.
Make an effort to have a mindful moment (or two) each week before the end of March as well, because inner peace benefits our brains — and bodies!
~Rachel
