We are a society of goal-setters. If you’re not setting and achieving goals, you’re not living your best life. Or so we’re told. And goals do have their place. The thing is that goals (alone) are not enough to really move us forward in the ways that matter most. In order to that, they have to be woven into a larger fabric that also includes our core values. In this episode, we talk about how to do that. Takeaways: A goal often involves achieving a certain result or crossing a certain finish line...
May 06, 2024•13 min•Ep. 138
Why is it sometimes so darned hard to just do the things that we KNOW will make us healthier, happier and more effective in our jobs and lives? Behavioral activation offers us a framework for understanding and responding to that familiar situation of not wanting to do the thing that we know will actually move us forward. Joining me on the show today is Dr. Bethy Campbell, a clinical psychologist, teacher, and coach who regularly stops by the Change Academy to help us make sense of our own brains...
Apr 26, 2024•28 min•Ep. 137
Kurt Nelson and Tim Houlihan are the co-hosts of the Behavioral Grooves podcast and heavy hitters in the behavioral sciences. In this episode, the three of us trade notes on what we've learned from years of podcasting and behavioral coaching and how it impacts our ability to work with our own behavior challenges. (Yup, we still have them!) Key Takeaways Curiosity allows for both open-mindedness and critical thinking. Trusted sources are a valuable short-cut but can't completely replace our own j...
Apr 16, 2024•31 min•Ep. 136
It’s a very natural human tendency to compare ourselves to the people around us–and even to the people we see portrayed in the media. And like so many other behavioral tendencies, this one is a double-edged sword. Looking at what others have achieved can inspire us to greater effort. It can also make us feel like crap. And we don't want that! Today, we're delving into the psychology behind why we are driven to compare ourselves to others, the impact it can have on our mental well-being, and some...
Apr 05, 2024•15 min•Ep. 135
Behavioral economics has given us a lot of insights into how we can influence our own and other’s behavior. But the approach has some serious limitations, especially when applied to promoting health behaviors. Joining me on the podcast is Michelle Segar, a frequent guest here on the Change Academy. Michelle is an NIH-funded researcher at the University of Michigan. She’s also a best-selling author and health coach whose work focuses on fostering behavior change that can survive the complexity an...
Mar 25, 2024•34 min•Ep. 134
What if the pursuit of happiness is NOT the path to greater life satisfaction? What if being more productive and getting more done isn’t actually the way to get ahead? In today’s episode, I’m talking to author Oliver Burkeman about some of the ways in which we might want to re-examine our relationship to goals, happiness, and the things that are most important to us. This is sometimes a bit painful. because so much of it has to do with confronting some of the hard limits that we like to pretend ...
Mar 15, 2024•36 min•Ep. 133
Over the years, I have worked with a lot of people on various aspects of behavior change–mostly having to do with health behaviors. I have witnessed and celebrated some amazing breakthroughs and successes. But I have also seen people stumble and struggle. Regularly. Something happens and they fall back into old habits or patterns that they’d successfully moved away from. It’s disappointing but it’s not a tragedy. Because this is just part of the change process. What I do find tragic–and unnecess...
Mar 05, 2024•12 min•Ep. 132
Is there something in your life that’s been driving you crazy for a while? Some situation at work that you find yourself venting to your spouse about every night at dinner? Or maybe a recurring conflict with your partner or your kids that never seems to be adequately resolved? Do you find yourself ruminating over a problematic situation every time you have a moment alone in the car? In this episode, Dr. Bethy Campbell and I are sharing a 4-step process that can help you exit that complaint loop ...
Feb 26, 2024•36 min•Ep. 131
In this conversation with a recent “graduate” of the Weighless program, Lauren shares some of the key insights that helped her permanently transform her physical and mental health. Lauren is a healthcare professional herself, with a front row seat to some of the consequences of unhealthy habits and lifestyles. She had plenty of motivation to change. And yet, she still needed some support to turn that knowledge into consistent behavior change. As you’ll hear, Lauren was a little surprised at how ...
Feb 15, 2024•23 min•Ep. 130
There’s clearly no shortage of good intentions in the world, and most of them actually have to do with health. People want to get into shape, they want to eat better, they want to lose weight. Unfortunately, very few of these good intentions get converted into reality. Believe it or not, there’s a technical term for this: It’s called the intention behavior gap. And in this episode, I want to share with you some research-based strategies for bridging the gap between good intentions and healthy ha...
Feb 05, 2024•16 min•Ep. 129
Careers are one of the ways that we find meaning and purpose in our lives. Not the only way, of course. But what if you wake up one day and realize that your true purpose might be better fulfilled by doing something other than what you originally trained for. Now what?! Design thinking offers tools and processes that can help us both imagine and then execute big shifts in our lives. Lisa Waltuch and her business partner, Jen Sullivan, are co-founders of Encore Retreats, where they host transform...
Jan 25, 2024•39 min•Ep. 128
I was recently exchanging emails with someone who was struggling to change some unhelpful behaviors. He wrote: “I do really well for a couple of days and then I go totally off the rails again. It’s such a vicious cycle. I just need to be be more disciplined.” And if there is something that you are struggling to change, you’ve probably thought the same thing. But I don’t think summoning up more discipline is necessarily the answer. In this episode, I’m talking with someone who found a better way ...
Jan 15, 2024•27 min•Ep. 127
I’ve decided that my special word for 2024 is Reboot. Much of my last year was consumed by the reboot of the Weighless program–a coaching program that I launched with Brock Armstrong 7 years ago, and which has now been now relaunched in a new format that I think is its best version yet. The Change Academy is not about weight management, per se. My goal in this podcast is to give you tools that you can apply to create positive change in any aspect of your life. But in this episode, I want to talk...
Jan 05, 2024•19 min•Ep. 126
This is the last of a special 5-part Mindset Reset–a little bonus series to help us get our mindset tuned up as we head into the New Year, and into whatever new projects and objectives we’re hoping to tackle. This last mindset reset is really the key to any change you are working on: Remembering that we are all works in progress. Whether or not you're thinking about joining the Weighless Program, I hope you've found this special Mindset Reset series helpful. Our program members often tell us tha...
Dec 30, 2023•6 min•Ep. 125
We have reached the fourth installment our special 5-day Mindset Reset series and this reset is a juicy one. Many of us have learned the unhelpful habit of moralizing our food choices. Here's a more helpful way to think about the choices we make. If you’re interested in learning more about the Weighless Program, from which this series is derived, go to https://weighless.life . We have a new group starting on January 1st and if you could use some support with weight management in the New Year I’d...
Dec 29, 2023•7 min•Ep. 125
This is the third installment our special 5-day Mindset Reset and we're talking about balancing our approach to food as a source of both nourishment and pleasure. As with most of the things we talk about here in the Change Academy (and in the Weighless Program), the real payoff is in the implementation. So, don't just listen. Make sure some rubber is meeting the road. If you’re interested in learning more about the Weighless Program, from which this series is derived, go to https://weighless.lif...
Dec 28, 2023•7 min•Ep. 125
This is Part 2 of our special 5-part Mindset Reset series–a little bonus series to help us get our mindset tuned up as we head into the New Year. In this reset, we're talking about how we recover from setbacks. Because this series was originally developed to accompany the Weighless Program, the examples here focus on typical dieting behaviors and mindsets. But even if that’s not what you’re working on, I bet you can translate these insights into whatever you are working on. If you’re interested ...
Dec 27, 2023•6 min•Ep. 125
For this last week of the calendar year, we're departing from our usual format to bring you a special 5-day series called the Weighless Mindset Reset. The New Year is a time when many people resolve to eat healthier. Unfortunately, those resolutions have typically crashed and burned by the second week of January. By taking a little time to tune up our mindset, I think we can greatly improve our chances of converting our New Year resolutions into more lasting behavior change. This series was orig...
Dec 26, 2023•8 min•Ep. 125
There are apps and devices that help us what we eat, weigh, spend, save, how much water we drink, how many steps we take. But what is all of this tracking doing for us? Are we using these tools and this information to improve our wellbeing or have we succumbed to the tyranny of tracking? Joining me on the podcast is registered dietitian and workplace wellness consultant Cassie Christopher. Tracking is a a topic that comes up a lot for each of us in the coaching work that we do and in this episod...
Dec 15, 2023•41 min•Ep. 125
If anyone is telling you they can guarantee that you will succeed (as long as you follow their method or their strategy or whatever), they are not being upfront with you. Here’s the hard truth: If you want to succeed, you have to be willing to risk failing. In fact, if there is anything that actually does guarantee success, it’s being willing to fail–repeatedly if necessary. But let’s not make this harder than it needs to be. In this episode, I (and a bunch of former clients) talk about how to m...
Dec 05, 2023•16 min•Ep. 124
Today, I’m sharing a bit about my circle of support and inviting you to evaluate your own network. Who are you grateful for? Where might your support network need a little building out? Whose support network are you a part of and how do you support them? Many of us have bigger and more varied support networks than we even realize–or fully take advantage of. And for those whose networks are a little threadbare, I have some ideas on how to shore those up. Key Takeaways - A more effective gratitude...
Nov 23, 2023•13 min•Ep. 123
If you’ve ever taken an introductory psychology class or done some reading on human behavior and development, you’ve probably stumbled across the Transtheoretical Model, better known as the Stages of Change. It offers some insights into how behavior change happens, why it sometimes doesn’t (or seems like it doesn’t) and how we can better support behavior change efforts–both our own and those of people around us. But there are some nuances to this that I think deserve a little more exploration an...
Nov 14, 2023•33 min•Ep. 122
Hedonic self-care involves activities that we find pleasurable. A massage or a nap or time spent with dear friends. Eudaimonic self-care includes those things we do not necessarily because they are pleasurable in the moment, but because they support our goals and objectives. Things like getting our teeth cleaned, or doing meal prep ahead of a busy week, or spending time and money on a therapist or hiring a health coach. You could easily get the impression that eudaimonic self-care is better or m...
Nov 06, 2023•14 min•Ep. 121
Earlier this month, I sat down with Kelly Howard of the Fit is Freedom podcast. You may remember Kelly from a Change Academy episode on how incorporating more fun and adventure can help you be more consistent about your fitness practice. Kelly invited me back to the Fit is Freedom podcast to share some tips with her listeners on how to enjoy the upcoming the holiday season without throwing all of our healthy habits and progress under the bus. I thought you would be interested in hearing this con...
Oct 30, 2023•30 min•Ep. 120
In the previous episode , I talked about some of the things that can go wrong when we put corporations in charge of our wellbeing. In this episode, I share an example of what it looks like when it goes right, and how corporate-sponsored wellbeing programs can actually have a very positive impact on individuals and workers as well as on the company’s bottom line. Lindsey Soroka is a registered dietitian and works as a health promotion specialist for a major national corporation, where she’s in ch...
Oct 26, 2023•20 min•Ep. 120
A lot of employers and health insurers are now offering wellbeing apps and portals. They're obviously hoping that giving people tools to help them manage their health conditions and nudge them toward healthy behaviors will reduce health care costs. I recently checked out the wellbeing app offered by my own health insurance company. I actually think that some of the well-meaning but poorly-conceived prompts could be doing more harm than good. To be fair, figuring out how to nudge people to adopt ...
Oct 16, 2023•18 min•Ep. 119
The theme of treats and rewards is coming up in a lot of my conversations right now…with my coaching clients, with people who have reached out to talk about working together, even with my friends and colleagues. Specifically, using food as a treat or reward. This is something a lot of us have learned to do. And like any highly rewarding behavior, this habit has the potential to do harm…and can be surprisingly hard to break. In this episode, we’re going to talk about cultivating new sources of re...
Oct 05, 2023•19 min•Ep. 118
How we see ourselves has an enormous impact on our mental health and wellbeing, how we function in our relationships, even what sort of goals we set for ourselves. Often, we believe that achieving those goals will improve our self-image and make us feel better about ourselves. But usually, it happens the other way around. Our self-image is often very distorted. Others may barely notice “imperfections” that are all we can see when we look in the mirror. And, by the same token, we can also take st...
Sep 25, 2023•30 min•Ep. 117
If you’ve been listening to the Change Academy for a while, you’ll remember Molly Watts from several previous episodes. But if you’re newer to the Academy, let me quickly tell you who she is. Molly is the host of the top-rated Alcohol Minimalist podcast and author of the book Breaking the Bottle Legacy . Molly’s work focuses on helping people create a more peaceful and sustainable relationship with alcohol. And the approach that Molly takes is very consonant with our philosophy here on the Chang...
Sep 14, 2023•26 min•Ep. 116
All of us occasionally struggle with negative or overwhelming emotional reactions. But few of us have been taught to handle difficult feelings effectively. In this episode, Dr. Bethy Campbell returns to the Change Academy to share techniques for working with our most challenging emotions–enabling us to handle stressful situations with greater resilience and to access healthier emotional responses. Dr. Bethy Campbell is a clinical psychologist, a marriage and family therapist, with special expert...
Sep 05, 2023•36 min•Ep. 115
