Achieving Our Health Goals Through ATOM: A 4-step Self-control Strategy

Come the end of the year, gym and exercise memberships will be flying off the shelves as many people renew their affinity to the “new year, new me mantra”. Having good health will always be a value we cherish greatly. The benefits associated with good health are well publicised; good health allows us to feel great about ourselves and be more productive in our daily lives, among others [1].

What is health?

The World Health Organisation defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” [2]. These are values that we identify with and hope to fully embrace.

What is self-control?

But wait! Why do we then get easily off track and consequently abandon our “new year, new me” health goals even before February arrives? According to the self-control theory, humans are constantly in conflict between choosing immediate gratification and delayed reward [3]. Self-control is the purposeful restraint from an immediately gratifying behaviour, in exchange for a delayed reward [4].

Temptation 101: Fitness class or favourite movie?

Here’s a case study for illustration. Alan wants to lose additional weight. Thus, he signed up for a 30-session fitness class package. He identifies with the delayed reward of going for the fitness classes – it will contribute to his goal of losing weight in the long run. The reward, which is weight loss, will only materialise in the future – hence, the delay.

Alan intends to go for his first fitness class tonight. However, his wife, Stacy, persuades him to watch the premiere of his favourite movie instead. Watching his favourite movie is an immediate gratification for him as it will fulfil his desire at that very moment.

No prizes for guessing which option Alan will likely choose! Immediate gratification is a huge temptation in our daily lives. Hence, there is a need to conscientiously apply self-control strategies to choose delayed reward over immediate gratification.

Strategy for self-control: ATOM

ATOM, the 4-step self-control strategy outlined below, can facilitate the enhancement of our self-control. Let’s continue to use Alan as the case study.

• Activity: Choose an achievable and time-specific activity that will help to meet your long-term health goal.
  • Alan’s long-term goal is to lose 10kg of bodyweight and drop into the acceptable bodyweight category. Alan decides that going for a 5km run twice a week can contribute to achieving his long-term goal. For Alan, the semiweekly 5km run is an achievable activity as he used to be an avid long-distance runner. It is also time-specific; he has indicated that he will perform the activity semiweekly.
• Temptations: Identify and remove the temptations that can prevent you from completing the activity.
  • Alan’s main temptation is binge watching on Netflix. To remove this temptation, Alan got his wife to change his Netflix account password – his wife will not log in for him unless he has completed his 5km runs for the week.
• Opportunities: Incorporate commitment-binding opportunities that reinforce your intention to perform the activity.
  • Alan decides to publicise his training log on his active social media account. This is a commitment-binding opportunity as he must perform the 5km run semiweekly for him to update his training log on social media. His friends and followers on his social media account are now following his training log – he is now bound by this commitment.
• Methods: Explore and incorporate different methods to perform the activity.
  • After doing the 5km runs for a month, Alan is getting bored of running on the same route. He then decides to take a new route, which offers new scenery and a chance for him to explore new surroundings. This change of method to perform the 5km runs has provided Alan with a fresh impetus.

Conclusion

ATOM helps us to purposefully align our behaviour towards our desired long-term goal, which will subsequently lead to its associated delayed reward. Essentially, behavioural control measures such as ATOM aid us in kickstarting and maintaining an activity routine.

Intrinsic motivation is key

However, it is equally imperative that performing the activity is borne out of our own free will and gives us enjoyment. When we are intrinsically motivated, there will be naturally less desires and temptations [5]. We will then be able to fully focus on the activities that fit our long-term goals as well as identity.

References

1. Witmer, J. M., & Sweeney, T. J. (1992). A holistic model for wellness and prevention over the life span. Journal of Counseling & Development, 71(2), 140-148.
2. World Health Organization. (1958). Constitution of the World Health Organization, Annex I. In the first ten years of the World Health Organization. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
3. Woolley, K., & Fishbach, A. (2017). Immediate rewards predict adherence to long-term goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43(2), 151-162.
4. Milyavskaya, M., & Inzlicht, M. (2017). Attentional and motivational mechanisms of self-control. In D. de Ridder, M. Adriaanse, K. Fujita (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Self-control in Health and Well-being (pp. 11-23). London: Routledge.
5. Koestner, R., Powers, T. A., Milyavskaya, M., Carbonneau, N., & Hope, N. (2015). Goal internalization and persistence as a function of autonomous and directive forms of goal support. Journal of Personality, 83(2), 179-190.