Meaningful Motivation Principle 7

A transformation is, by definition, a flip. But, as tantalizing as that may be, transformations rarely, if ever, happen full tilt. Rather they happen by degrees, through tiny shifts that ultimately lead to larger, lasting change. Past articles in this series have explored how to reinforce those tiny changes. In this edition, we’ll look at how to design for subtle shifts that influence the ways people think, feel and behave. 

Celebrate Adjustment over Overhauls

I worked for over 20 years designing programs and experiences for people who wanted to lose weight. At the start of the journey, hungry for change, these people would be willing to do pretty much anything, no matter how inconvenient or distasteful it might be. Over time, though, their willingness to radically overhaul their habits and deprive themselves of the social and eating patterns they were accustomed to felt increasingly difficult and led to lapsing. Unsurprisingly, program adherence fell off in direct correlation. Overzealous overhauls in the early stages of a journey lead to fatigue and early lapsing. To counter this, normalize the importance of tiny adjustments in your experience designs. How? Begin by acknowledging the allure of the overhaul and validating the importance of tiny adjustments. Help your clients appreciate that they’re more likely to stick with changes, and continue working toward their goals if the changes become integrated into their lives, instead of just temporarily replacing them. Help them understand that little changes decrease the stress level of change, are more sustainable, and more specifically target their individual goals. In short, sell adjustments. It’s a big part of how you’ll help your clients overcome the temptation of the overhaul.

Monitor Mindfulness

When people hire you to help them transform how they relate to their partners, how they save money, or how they search for work, they generally know that something needs to change in their thoughts, feelings, or actions. They’ve hired you to help them figure out what that is. While your app may be able to passively monitor some of their behaviors, it won’t be able to surface all of the patterns that influence their habits. Part of your job is to monitor mindfulness. What’s mindfulness again? The Oxford Dictionary defines Mindfulness as the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something. When it comes to transformational journeys, Mindfulness is about becoming aware of what’s working and what isn’t in our thoughts, feelings and actions. To raise awareness, almost all transformational journeys will require some mindfulness practice, some means of paying attention to what’s happening, so that targeted, specific plans can be made to adjust those behaviors.