It's that time of year when you start to see the Christmas decorations, gifts and chocolates in the shops. Parents are buying letter writing kits for Santa and people are preparing for the office Christmas parties... Welcome to October!
It feels as thought it has come around more quickly this year, although that might be because we've been busy bees writing and publishing a brand new workbook for you. We'd like to introduce you to our new book, hot off the press, "Achieving a Work-Life Balance". See below for more details.
Phrasing Benefits Positively
Have you ever seen or heard a health campaign tell you that unless you change an unhealthy behaviour now, you will be building yourself health problems for the future? They are everywhere. Stop smoking now, be more active now... OR ELSE! Find it persuasive? If you did, you would have been in the minority.
These messages work on the fear factor. We are presented a possible view of the future that is so fearful that we are motivated to work hard to avoid the dreaded scenario from ever happening. It's a bit like paying insurance premiums; we do it because we are scared of what will happen if we don't, but it isn't very pleasant is it? It can motivate us but it doesn't help us enjoy the process.
As well as removing the joy from the process, there are several flaws to using the fear approach. One of these is the 'self-serving bias', a psychological short-cut in which people tend to attribute their successes to their own positive traits while attributing their failures to external factors. Quite simply, if one of your service users achieves a positive lifestyle change, such as quitting smoking, they will (rightly) say that it was because they were motivated, and determined and driven and worked hard to change their habits. If they didn't succeed, they may say it was because of a lack of support, perhaps a chaotic work routine, lack of transport, lack of funds and so on. When we do this we aren't deliberately trying to deceive people, it isn't a conscious thing. It serves to protect our self-esteem.
Projecting this principle into the future, those who suffer poorer health as they grow older, even as the result of a prolonged unhealthy lifestyle are likely not to attribute their situation to their own behaviour. They are more likely to say it's because they are unlucky, or because of the environment where they live or some other external factor.
So my question is... if it doesn't feel nice to be persuaded by fear and we don't tend to attribute poor health when it happens to our own behaviours then why continue to use future poor health risk as an argument for immediate behaviour change? And what kind of messages should we replace them with... Well, ones that offer short-term positive benefits. There are many more reasons for this which will be covered in future newsletters, but for now, take a look at the health messages delivered by your service. Do you angle on the fear factor? And if yes, how can you turn it around to promote more positive and more immediate benefits?
(We cover this and much more in our Psychology of Health Behaviour Workshop - see below for up and coming dates.)
Achieving a Work-Life Balance
Click here to find out more about our "Achieving a Work-Life Balance" book >>> |
We are so happy to announce the publication of our second lifestyle workbook, Achieving a Work-Life Balance. It is for people who want to achieve more in both their personal and work lives through managing stress, improving fitness and using practical techniques to stay motivated.
As well as a great individual book, this is the perfect resource for small groups of colleagues to work through together.
To celebrate the launch of the new book we have a special one-month offer of 40% off RRP at just £6.63 per book plus VAT until 5pm Wednesday 17th November 2010.
40% OFF - Achieving a Work Life Balance just £6.63 +VAT per book.
To purchase your copies you can order online using Paypal. Click here to go to Paypal >>>
Or if you want to order copies and pay by invoice, please download an order form here and either fax it or send it back to us. Click here to download an order form >>> |
New Leisure Centre Partnerships Established with My Weight Loss Workbook
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During the summer we spent a little time exploring opportunities with leisure centres and activity providers for delivering 12-week weight management programmes through their centres.
We are delighted that as of September/October we are now working in partnership with a further 12 leisure centres.
Obviously THE best time of year for setting up weight management services is January, so if you are an activity provider or leisure facility and you would like to work in partnership with us for new programmes starting in January, give us a call.
Click here to find out more about the Community Fit Club Workbook >>> |
New Dates for Psychology of Health Behaviour Workshops
We have more of our Psychology of Health Behaviour Workshops coming up in October and November. If you have already attended one and enjoyed it, please pass this information on to any colleagues you know will also benefit.
We know that with current budget squeezes you need to get the biggest bang for your buck so we also offer in-house versions of this workshop where we come to your organisation and deliver a day for up to 25 colleagues. This is a more cost effective option per person and we really get to drill down into your services.
Christmas Baubles
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Christmas may seem a long way away but it will be here before we know it, and the New Year, which follows right behind. New Year is the favourite time of year to commit to making a healthy new start so we thought we’d share with you our innovative idea for setting healthy resolutions for 2011.
Our Christmas Baubles encourage people to set a New Year’s Resolution, then write it in the triangle on the card, cut and fold it as described and hang up on their Christmas tree inside the bauble provided. Each time they walk past their tree and see it, they will be reminded of the goal they have set. |
New Year’s Day itself can prove to be a tricky day for starting new habits, especially when there’s so much wine, left-over food and snacks around the place (and perhaps a hangover) so we recommend people get started on their new lifestyle goal on the day they take down their Christmas tree.
These baubles will make an excellent addition to any workplace Christmas tree but also will be great resources to give away at any health events you may have before Christmas. We can even go to print just for you, and include your logos and website address. Click here for a price list and information on how to order >>>
Hampson Solutions Ltd, Commodore House, 51 Conway Road, Colwyn Bay, Conwy LL29 7AW
Tel: 01492 530700 | Mobile: 07727 642846 | Fax: 01492 517815
Email: denise@hampsonsolutions.co.uk | Web: www.hampsonsolutions.co.uk
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