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Description: This week, Dr. Boogren explores the 3 S's and how they help us better strategize how we will achieve our collective goal: to live our best lives.
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Transcription: Hi, and welcome to episode 11 of season three of Self-Care for Educators. I'm your host, Tina Boogren. This week's invitation is to kind of bust the myth that some people are motivated and some people are not. Right? We have kind of lies that we tell ourselves around habits really is what it is. That, first of all, that you have to be inspired in order to do good habits, that you should always feel motivated to do them. And, that experts are people that have, I don't know, they got sprinkled the little glitter of motivation and that they're always inspired, and the truth is, motivation is not a permanent thing. In fact, everyone struggles with it. Everyone, myself included, you guys, without a doubt. So, there's this idea from Precision Nutrition, which is where I've received my nutrition certification and habit change certification, and I'm currently working on sleep and recovery and stress reduction certification.
So I learn and have learned a lot from them. And, one of the recent lessons that I was reminded of from them is the idea that motivation is this elusive thing. And so, insteadmit's not about wishing or hoping or white knuckling our way to motivation. Instead, we gotta think differently. And, at Precision Nutrition, what they talk about are the three Ss, and I love these, so structure, systems, and scheduling. The three S's--structure, systems, and scheduling.
So, when it comes to structure, structures are the things and the environments that surround us and the things we put into place to ensure that things get done. So, having a routine, that morning routine that I'm insistent that you have is essential an evening routine. The power of convenience, right? Make sure that if you are looking for a gym. Don't choose the one that's across town. Choose the one that's on your way home from work. Find the park that's on the between school and home that you can go take a loop and take a walk around. Making sure that, that the, the food that makes you feel good, you have easy access to. So, that's structure. So, ask yourself this question: in terms of s structure, what needs to be around me in order to help me achieve my goals? And then, start building those structures.
Number two, systems. So, systems are the processes and the practices that we use to make things happen. For instance, like if you've got this ritual, part of your, your evening routine is packing your gym. Right? Or, packing your lunch for tomorrow, or maybe you do that in the morning, that you have a morning routine or ritual where you make your food for the day, you pack your lunch, and it's just what you do. It's part of your system for this. When it comes to the second S of systems, I want you to ask yourself: what needs to happen for me to be effective? What processes and practices need to be in? And then, do those things.
Okay, so we've got the first S structure, the second S systems, and the third one, which is my favorite, which is scheduling. So, you don't just wait around until you feel like going to the dentist, and then you go, right? You book an appointment. This is where our calendars are sacred. You know, I'm a sucker for a paper calendar. I know many of you are as well. Many of you use digital calendars. Whatever you do, it doesn't matter. You just, you gotta schedule it. So, we don't just wait until inspiration strikes, right? To do some meal planning, or to go for a walk or whatever. The thing is, we have to actually put it in our calendar. If it's in our calendar, we know we're much more likely to make that thing happen. So, you've gotta make it a ... Put it in your calendar, and then stick to it just like you would that dentist appointment or going to pick up your kid from practice. Whatever that thing is, schedule it. You are worth it. Schedule it, schedule it, schedule it, and then follow it.
So those three Ss. What we know really it's about habit change. And you know, I'm big on habit change, and so much of our wellness and self care revolves around building good habits. So, this week I want you to kind of put aside the idea of waiting to get motivated and instead. Let's do something. Let's put some things into place. I want you to think about structure. I want you to think about systems, and I want you to think about scheduling, and maybe it's too much to think about all three of those, but maybe just choose one of those S's and see if you can start implementing that. Can you set up some structures that are gonna be helpful for you? Can you schedule some things on a calendar? Can you schedule things on a calendar where someone else is involved, so you've got that accountability? Can you pause and reflect upon your systems and see if anything needs tweaking? Because again, we know that really those are just the, the three S's are about habit change.
There's this quote, Precision Nutrition shared from Vince Lombardi football coach that says, Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing . So, I want you to think about those S's. How could you make an S, right? Some kind of structure system or scheduling work for you. How can you make winning a habit, especially as we move into this holiday season? So, I want you to take charge. I want you to do something. I want you to review those S's and ask about what do you need in order to be your best self to live your very best life and try some things out this week. Maybe brainstorm with one another, jump over to the Facebook page and share some ideas around those three S's.
You've got this. I'm cheering so hard for you. You are amazing. As always, a huge, huge thank you to Solution Tree Arizona resources for this job I get to do. Thank you to Brooke who makes this happen, and thank you to my bad-ass Self-Care Squad. You. My listeners, I do this all for you, and it makes me so happy when people come up and tell me that they listen, because I kind of, I just record these a lot of times in my home office, or right now I'm sitting in a hotel room by myself just kind of speaking into the void. And, I always think if it helps at least one person, it's totally worth it. And so, I hope that this week, that person is you. I'm cheering so hard for you. Have an amazing week.