Today at a Glance
“The Anatomy of Change” is a journey through personal transformation.
In this week’s issue, we explore Phase 1 of the complex process of personal change.
And the mechanisms that help us achieve it.
Discover how to overcome the “Status Quo Bias and develop self-awareness.
Whether you’re looking to make a small change or a big one, this article offers insights and tools to help you on your journey.
So, let’s dive in!
Change is hard. Change is scary.
We often stick with what we know, even if it’s bad, rather than stepping forward into uncertainty and trying something new.
This is called the Status Quo Bias.
Let me go a bit deeper here…
How the Status Quo Bias is holding you back
The Status Quo Bias refers to the tendency of individuals to prefer the current state of affairs or the existing condition over potential alternatives.
For instance, I was a heavy smoker and weekend alcoholic for almost 20 years. Young Markus loved to party. Alcohol was an escape from the “ordinary” life everyone lived. It gave me an excuse to be someone else for a couple of hours.
What I didn’t realize…
The only people who liked “Party Animal Markus” were…
You probably guessed it. Me, myself, and I.
There were not many alternatives though. My whole bunch of buddies were the same. It was normal as a student. But I kept the behavior as a professional.
Why?
I better let science do the talking:
The status quo bias is driven by a combination of factors such as aversion to change, inertia, and the perceived effort or risk involved in making a change. The bias can manifest in various domains, including lifestyle choices, personal health, and everyday behavior.
It needed a burnout followed by a year-long getaway (traveling around the globe) to realize that alcohol will ruin my life (and health) in the long run—and also in the short-run btw.
The Anatomy of Change
See, personal change is a complex process that can be influenced by various mechanisms.
We call it “The Anatomy of Change”.
It’s a 9-phase process resulting in transformation:
Phase 1: Self-awareness:
Developing self-awareness is the first step for personal change. In this phase, we begin to understand our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. We recognize patterns and triggers that may need to be addressed.
But it’s nothing automatic. This already requires deliberate inner work.
- Journaling
- Mindfulness
- Meditation
Those are some tools to explore your thoughts and emotions.
Self-awareness allows you to identify areas for improvement and become conscious of the need for change.
Our behaviors on the other hand take place in the physical world.
They’re our actions.
We work as sparring partners for our clients. Not only do they get advice and guidance, they get more… They can experiment and work intentionally with us on their health-based lifestyle design.
beyond Movement as well as our unique approach to nutrition and mindfulness are the perfect incubator to start the process. Awareness of movement patterns and eating behavior are physical launch pads to ignite personal change.
That’s it for today.
Hope you enjoyed it (and learned something new).
This is the start of our big “Change Series”.
Revealing the other 8 phases over the next few weeks.
Stay tuned…
What’s going on in our world
This week we recorded a few videos for the 9 Hacks to BOOST Focus challenge.
Together with a healthy productivity expert, we have put together 9 days containing
- time & productivity,
- mindful movement, and
- intuitive nutrition
hacks that help you boost your focus for day-to-day life and business.
It’s zero cost. Have a look here and join.
We are getting ready and start soon.
You don’t need to be online, you’ll receive all the information in your member’s area.
Travel updates:
This week has been another blessed one of our Mexican journey. We are spending our last few days in Oaxaca, continuing to experiment with our Energy Lab as we work with our wonderful clients toward their goals.
We are considering creating a video showcasing the highlights of our trip and how we are currently learning about lifestyle design while traveling.
We’ll keep you posted.
Have a wonderful weekend and stay active!
Ketty & Markus
