1 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:08,039 Speaker 1: What do you have to do today? Maybe a long 2 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: detailed report, whole stack of meetings, make dinner, do laundry, 3 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:20,080 Speaker 1: somehow squeeze in a workout. Ah, I hear you. Between work, family, friendships, 4 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:22,960 Speaker 1: and looking after our health, there's a lot that we 5 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:26,759 Speaker 1: feel like we have to do. But therein lies the 6 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:32,879 Speaker 1: problem thinking about what we have to do make something 7 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: automatically feel like a burden. Your self talk is really powerful, 8 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:42,520 Speaker 1: but thankfully it works both ways, and today we're going 9 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: to find a simple hack to improve your self talk. 10 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:49,840 Speaker 1: My name is doctor Amantha Imba. I'm an organizational psychologist 11 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,599 Speaker 1: and the founder of behavioral science consultancy Inventium. And this 12 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 1: is How I Work, a show about how to help 13 00:00:56,480 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: you do your best work. For the month of October, 14 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 1: every episode of How I Work is going to be 15 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: themed around well being at work, because goodness knows we 16 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:11,479 Speaker 1: need it. So let's get to today's tip around improving 17 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:16,399 Speaker 1: your well being. If you're a morning exerciser like me, 18 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: you probably had many mornings where you've literally had to 19 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 1: drag yourself out of bed, reluctantly, put on your gym 20 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 1: gear and force yourself out the door to go for 21 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: a run. For me. I exercise five mornings a week. 22 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 1: It's become quite habitual, actually, but I definitely have days 23 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: where it's the last thing I want to do. My 24 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: brain tells me it would be so much more enjoyable 25 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 1: to just lie in bed just a little bit longer 26 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: and have a warm shower on a cold morning instead 27 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 1: of lift weights in my freezing cold garage. But I 28 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 1: say to myself, I have to exercise, and begrudgingly I 29 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: go and do it. But could that be a better 30 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 1: way of talking to myself, A method that actually makes 31 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:08,799 Speaker 1: me want to go and exercise rather than have it 32 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:14,639 Speaker 1: feel like a chore. Well, it turns out there is now. 33 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: While competing in one hundred k Ultra Marathon in twenty eleven, 34 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:23,079 Speaker 1: Turia Pitt was caught in a gas fire and suffered 35 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: full thickness burns to sixty five percent of her body. 36 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,640 Speaker 1: But surviving that is the least of her achievements. Turia 37 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: has gone on to become best selling author, a two 38 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: time iron Man, and a humanitarian, and in twenty seventeen 39 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: she gave birth to her first son, hack of I 40 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: that after becoming a mum, Turia told me when I 41 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 1: had her on how I work that she became really 42 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 1: aware of her own self talk around feeling like she 43 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: had to do certain things. She would think to herself, 44 00:02:57,600 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: I have to go and clean his room, or I 45 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:01,359 Speaker 1: have to prepare his food, or I have to wash 46 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:05,080 Speaker 1: his clothes. And when you tell yourself that you have 47 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,919 Speaker 1: to do things, it's really easy to start resenting them 48 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 1: and for them to feel like an obligation and something 49 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: that you don't actually want to do. So after becoming 50 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: aware of the impact her language was having, Turia made 51 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: a simple change. She started saying I get to so 52 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:27,959 Speaker 1: she would say, I get to pick up hack of eye, 53 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: I get to play with hack of eye, I get 54 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: to be around it. I get to watch him as 55 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 1: he grows up. And for Turia, just changing her language 56 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 1: really reminded her that it was an opportunity, like it 57 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: was a choice, and it was something that she got 58 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: to be really grateful for now. Interestingly, Touria also started 59 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: to use this strategy in her professional life. So as 60 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: part of her work, she delivers a lot of keynote presentations, 61 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: and she often gets really nervous beforehand and just stuck 62 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: in her own head. She worries that she won't articulate 63 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: herself clearly, or that people will think she's an idiot. 64 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: So what she does is she really has to stop 65 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: and remind herself before the speech that it's not that 66 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 1: she has to do a speech, but that she gets 67 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 1: to do a speech, and she sees that that's a 68 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 1: pretty awesome opportunity that a room full of people potentially 69 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 1: want to listen to her and what she has to say. 70 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,720 Speaker 1: So the effectiveness of the get to strategy lies in 71 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 1: the fact that it reframes the activity from being mature 72 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: to a gift. It taps into intrinsic motivation instead of extrinsic. Specifically, 73 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: when we feel like we have to do something, it's 74 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: like an external force is telling us to do the activity. 75 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: We don't have a choice. But when we get to 76 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 1: do something, it reframes the activity into one where we 77 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: have control and choiceover we're choosing to exercise, for example. 78 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: It makes our choice feel like it's in line with 79 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 1: our own values and wishes. So maybe your challenge for 80 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:07,719 Speaker 1: this week is to put this strategy into action. So 81 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:09,920 Speaker 1: think about a behavior that you know is good for you, 82 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 1: but that you've got some negative self talk around. Maybe 83 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:15,560 Speaker 1: it's a healthy habit that you're trying to form, such 84 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:18,480 Speaker 1: as eating more vegetables or sticking to an exercise regime. 85 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:20,839 Speaker 1: Or maybe it's about a work task that you've been 86 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: avoiding or procrastinating over because chances are you're telling yourself 87 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:28,920 Speaker 1: that you have to do it, so deliberately rephrase your 88 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: self talk into using language I get to do this task, 89 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:36,160 Speaker 1: and consider how doing the task aligns with what matters 90 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:39,599 Speaker 1: to you, such as being healthy or doing a great 91 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:45,480 Speaker 1: job at work. If you enjoyed today's show, you know 92 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 1: someone that you think might benefit from this little strategy 93 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: for the well being at work, maybe share the episode 94 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 1: with them. And if you're looking for more tips to 95 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: improve the way that you work, I write a short 96 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: fortnightly newsletter that contains three all things that I have 97 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 1: discovered that helped me work better, which range from interesting 98 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: research findings through the gadgets that I'm loving. You can 99 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:12,279 Speaker 1: sign up for that at Howiwork dot co. Howiwork dot 100 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:14,719 Speaker 1: co and there's also a link in the show notes. 101 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: How I Work is produced by Inventium with production support 102 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 1: from Dead Set Studios, and thank you to Martin Nimba 103 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: who does the audio mix and makes everything sound awesome, 104 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 1: See you next time.