This year’s theme for Mental Health Awareness Week is Movement and it got me thinking about how exercise has been a pretty constant feature of my life since my mid-teens.

Now I realise that throughout my mid to late teens, I was struggling with mild anxiety and some loneliness, and I turned to exercises to help me cope. I would take myself off for long cycle rides in the local park or walk to the local swimming baths whilst repeating positive mantras in my head! I didn’t realise it at the time, but exercise was a coping mechanism. I’m lucky I inadvertently chose such a positive one.

As I’ve got older I’ve continued being active with dancing, fitness classes, weight training and walking. When things have been tough, like when my dad had dementia and I was supporting both him and my mum, I was grateful to have this habit which protected my mental health. I’m fortunate that it was an established habit because I know how hard it can be to start new ones when times are hard.

There are many studies about exercise for mental health and the role of physical activity on mental health and wellbeing. These show that exercise reduces anxiety and depression, improves cognitive function and improves sleep quality. And that’s just some of its benefits. In my work as a coach and a facilitator, I find it’s not always the lack of knowledge that is a barrier to moving more, but what many people struggle with is establishing healthy habits that stick. We may have good intentions but how do we ensure these intentions turn into regular practice?

Working as a learning and development professional for over 20 years, habit change has been at the core of how I help people. During this time, I have studied, applied, and trained 1000s of people in many different ways to build long-term habits.

Here are 3 strategies that are grounded in scientific research and if applied, will result in habits that stick.

1.      W.O.O.P your life. W.O.O.P is a mental imagery tool based on 20 years of research into the science of motivation by Gabriele Oettingen, Professor of psychology at New York University. W.O.O.P stands for Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan. In research studies, results included participants doubling their physical activity levels, reducing stress, eating a healthier diet and more. This tool can be used for any kind of habit change you wish to see. One of the key differences with this model is that it encourages us to face the obstacles that stand in our way, rather than ignoring them and simply thinking positively.

To create your W.O.O.P first decide on your specific wish, then visualise the desired outcome, visualise potential obstacles and finally plan how to overcome them. You’ll find resources on how to do this fully on woopmylife.org.

2.      Keep your values in mind. If you’re not sure what’s truly important to you, then get clear on this first. Values help us to make decisions and guide our behaviour. The aim is to build habits that are in line with your values, this will make you more likely to find them satisfying and to stick to them. One of my values is health, so exercising frequently helps me to live to my values, which in turn helps me feel motivated and satisfied.

When you’re having a wobble with a new habit, when you’re tempted to revert to the old ways of behaving, remind yourself of your values, of who you are and want to be. Which actions will take you closer to the person you want to be? Which action will serve your values?

Susan David one of the world’s leading management thinkers and psychologist, has 5 questions you can ask yourself to help you identify your values.

3.      Build in flexibility. Once we have established habits, we tend to build up routines, doing things at a certain time of day, in a certain way, in certain place and so on. So it can be easy to think that when starting a new habit we need to establish these routines early on.

When I started weight training my goal was to work out for an hour, 5 times a week and always after my workday ended. But pre covid, with lots of face-to-face delivery around the country, this was often difficult. I’d find myself trying to work out at 8pm, shattered and unmotivated but determined not to miss the workout. What I realised was that I needed to be more flexible, if it was 20 minutes not 60, that was ok. Or, if I am away without a gym, then body weight exercises would do. This was a real change in mindset for me, and quite liberating! And research shows that deliberately inserting variability and flexibility into your plan can help you to repeat the habit more often.

To maintain or improve our mental health, we just need to move a bit more. It doesn’t have to be an hour in the gym, a fitness class or a long walk. It can be as simple as a few stretches at your desk, having a walking meeting instead of a sit down, or a few steps on the spot while you make a cuppa. So, this Mental Health Awareness week, #moveyourway.  

Fiona Doran-Smith is Director and Lead Consultant at Yellow Tree Wellbeing. Contact us to find out more about how we can help your people create lasting change.