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Motivation and New Goals Setting.

Based on Ted article ‘Here is how I finally got myself to start exercising’ by Christine Carter

Article link: https://ideas.ted.com/heres-how-i-finally-got-myself-to-start-exercising/

1. Warm-up

Do you tend to set up new goals every time a new year starts?

Read the article twice and identify the vocabulary below:

When we received the stay-at-home order in March 2020 — I live in California — I came out of the gates
pretty darn hot. 

“Embrace not being so busy,” I wrote. “Take this time at home to get into a new happiness habit.” That
seems hilarious to me now. My pre-pandemic routines fell apart hard and fast. Some days, I would realize at
dinnertime that not only had I not showered or gotten dressed that day, I hadn’t even brushed my teeth.

Even though I have coached people for a long time in a very effective, science-based method of habit
formation, I struggled. Truth be told, for the first few months of the pandemic I more or less refused to
follow my own best advice.

I think this was because I love to set ambitious goals. Adopting little habits is so much less exciting than
embracing a big, juicy goal.

Take exercise, for example. When the pandemic began, I optimistically embraced the idea that I could get
back into running outside. I picked a half marathon to train for and spent a week or so meticulously devising
a detailed daily training plan. However, I stuck to that plan for only a few weeks — all that planning and
preparation led only to a spectacular failure to exercise.

I skipped my training runs despite feeling like the importance of exercise and the good health it brings has
never been more bracingly clear. Despite knowing that it would cut my risk of heart disease in half. Despite
knowing that exercise radically reduces the probability we’ll get cancer or diabetes and that it’s as least as
effective as prescription medication when it comes to reducing depression and anxiety, that it improves our
memory and learning, and that it makes our brains more efficient and more powerful.

Why did I skip exercise despite knowing all this? The truth is our ability to follow through on our intentions
— to get into a new habit like exercise or to change our behavior in any way — actually doesn’t depend on
the reasons that we might do it or on the depth of our convictions to do it. It also doesn’t depend on our
understanding of the benefits of a particular behavior, or even on the strength of our willpower.

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Instead, it depends on our willingness to be bad at our desired behavior. And I hate being bad at stuff. I’m a
“go big or go home” kind of gal. I like being good at things, and I quit exercising because I wasn’t willing to
be bad at it.
Here’s why we need to be willing to be bad. Being good requires that our effort and our motivation need to
be equivalent. In other words, the harder a thing is for us to do, the more motivation we need to do that
thing. And you might have noticed that motivation isn’t something we can always muster on command.
Whether we like it or not, motivation comes and motivation goes. When motivation wanes, plenty of
research shows that we humans tend to follow the law of the least effort and do the easiest thing.

New behaviors require a lot of effort because change is hard. Change can require a lot of motivation, which
we can’t count on having. This is why we often don’t do the things we really intend to do.

To establish an exercise routine, I needed to let myself be bad at it. I needed to stop trying to be an actual
athlete.

I started exercising again by running for only one minute at a time — yes, that’s right, 60 seconds. Every
morning after I brushed my teeth, I changed out of my pajamas and walked out the door, with my only goal
to run for one full minute.

These days, I usually run for 15 or 20 minutes at a stretch. But on the days that I’m totally lacking in
motivation or time, I still do that one minute. And this minimal effort always turns out to be way better than
nothing.

Maybe you relate. Maybe you’ve also failed in one of your attempts to change yourself for the better.
Perhaps you want to use less plastic, meditate more or be a better antiracist. Maybe you want to write a book
or eat more leafy greens. I have great news for you: You can do and be those things, starting right now!

The sole requirement is that you stop trying to be so good. You’ll need to abandon your grand plans, at least
temporarily. You must allow yourself to do something so minuscule that it’s only slightly better than doing
nothing at all.

Ask yourself: How can you strip down that thing you’ve been meaning to do into something so easy you
could do it every day with barely a thought? So if your big objective is to eat lots of leafy greens, maybe you
could start by adding one lettuce leaf to your sandwich at lunch.

Don’t worry: You’ll get to do more. This “better than nothing” behavior isn’t your ultimate goal. But for
now, do something ridiculously easy that you can do even when nothing in your life is going as planned.

On those days, doing some wildly unambitious act is better than doing nothing. A one-minute meditation is
relaxing and restful. A single leaf of romaine lettuce has a half-gram of fiber and important nutrients. A one-
minute walk gets us outside and moving, which our bodies really need.

Try doing one better than nothing behavior. See how it goes. Your goal is repetition, not high achievement.
Let yourself be mediocre at whatever you are trying to do, but be mediocre every day. Take only one step,
but take that step every day. 

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And if your better than nothing habit doesn’t actually seem better to you than doing nothing, remember that
you are getting started at something and that initiating a behavior is often the hardest part.

By getting started, you are establishing a neural pathway in your brain for a new habit. This makes it much
more likely that you’ll succeed with something more ambitious down the line. Once you hardwire a habit
into your brain, you can do it without thinking and, more importantly, without needing much willpower or
effort.
A “better than nothing” habit is easy for you to repeat, again and again, until it’s on autopilot. You can do it
even when you aren’t motivated, even when you’re tired, even when you have no time. Once you start acting
on autopilot, that’s the golden moment that your habit can begin to expand organically.

After a few days of running for one minute, I started feeling a genuine desire to keep running. Not because I
felt like I should exercise more or I had to do more to impress people, but because it felt more natural to
keep running than it felt to stop.

It can be incredibly tempting, especially for the overachievers, to want to do more than our designated
better than nothing habit. So I must warn you: The moment in which you are no longer willing to do
something unambitious is the moment in which you risk everything.

The moment you think you should do more is the moment you introduce difficulty. It’s the moment you
eliminate the possibility that your activity will be easy and even enjoyable. So it’s also the moment that will
require a lot more motivation from you. And if the motivation isn’t there, that’s when you’ll end up checking
your phone instead of doing whatever it is you intended to do or you’ll stay on the couch binge-watching
TikTok videos or Netflix.

The whole idea behind the better than nothing habit is that it doesn’t depend on motivation. It’s not reliant
on having a lot of energy, and you do not have to be good at this. All you need is to be willing to be wildly
unambitious — to settle for doing something that’s just a smidge better than nothing.

I’m happy to report that after months of struggle, I am now a runner. I became one by allowing myself to be
bad at it. While you couldn’t call me an athlete — there are no half marathons in my future — I am
consistent.

To paraphrase the Dalai Lama, our goal is not to be better than other people; it’s just to be better than our
previous selves. And that I definitely am. It turns out that to grow as people, we need only do something
minuscule. When we abandon our grand plans and great ambitions in favor of taking that first teeny-tiny
step, we shift. And, paradoxically, it is in that tiny shift that our grand plans and great ambitions are truly
born.

2. Vocabulary:

Match these words with their definitions and try using some of them in sentences below:

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Verbs
1. To embrace smthg a. To continue smthg according to plan
2. To get into something b. To remove layers
3. To fall apart c. To continue an action until finished
4. To get back into something d. To become interested in something
5. To stick to something e. To disintegrate
6. To follow through on/with f. To accept enthusiastically
7. To wane g. To become weaker
8. To strip smthg down h. To start doing something again

Nouns
1. Willingness a. A very motivated and competitive person
 2. Willpower b. A desire to do something
3. Overachiever c. An ability to control yourself

Going abroad is an amazing opportunity for you, you should _____________ it!
I haven’t been able to _______________ my diet during the holidays at all!
Mary has great ideas but she never __________________ them!
When your motivation ______________, it’s very difficult to complete the task.
All my travel plans ______________ this year!
I think I’ll _________________ swimming next year, I miss it a lot!
When quitting a bad habit, you need a lot of ______________ to control the temptations.

Explain these expressions and idioms in your own words after reading the article:

Muster on command
At a stretch
Down the line
To hardwire a habit into your brain
Just a smidge
Binge+VERB-ING

Use these expressions to create your own sentences.

3. Follow- up questions

1. What happened to the author’s goals during the pandemic?

2. According to the author, why can’t we follow through on our goals?
3. What is “better-than-nothing” habit?
4. How does the author use this habit in her life?
5. What do you think about this approach to setting goals?
6. Is it difficult for you to follow through on new goals?
7. Do you consider yourself an overachiever?

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8. Do you ever allow yourself to binge-do anything?
9. How can you increase your willpower?
10.What are some plans you can never stick to?
11.Would you want to try “better-than-nothing” habit for any of your goals?
12.What new goals would you be setting up for the upcoming year?

4. Grammar: Inverted sentences structures:

Study the chart and complete the practice exercise below:

After negative After “Only” After “Little” After “So” and Conditional
adverbs (never, expressions “Such” forms
seldom, etc.)
Hardly Only then We use “Little” “So+ To make
Never Only after in a negative adjective… that” conditionals
Seldom Not only… but sense in combines with more formal
Rarely Only later inversion to the verb to be
No sooner Only in this way stress that
Scarcely something hasn’t “Such+ to
Nowhere been understood be+noun…
In no way completely (that)”
On no account

Hardly had I Only then/ after/ Little did he So scary was the Had he
entered the later did I understand the situation that I understood the
house when the understand the situation. couldn’t sleep. problem, he
phone rang. importance of wouldn’t have
my experience. Little did So difficult is made those
Never had I seen imagine the the exam that the mistakes!
such beautiful Not only does he problems I students need a
landscape! have a terrible would have with month to prepare Had I known
diet but he also him in the for it. about this
Seldom do we never does sport. future. situation, I
get to see this So expensive would have
type of Only in this way Little was she was the show helped her!
performance! could Tom earn aware that Tom that we couldn’t
enough money was in town. afford it. Should you
Rarely will you for his new car. decide to make
have such Little have I read Such are the the purchase,
opportunities! about the new days of our please let me
vaccine. lives! know!
No sooner had
he arrived than Such is the Had I arrived
the boss asked silence that I can sooner, I could
him to stop by hear my own have prevented
the office. breath! this tragedy!
Scarcely had I
bought the
tickets when the
price went up
drastically.

Nowhere had I
ever experienced
such rude
treatment!

In no way do I
agree with your
idea!
On no account
should you let
your daughter go
to this party!

Change the normal sentences below into the inverted ones:

Mary had never visited such a beautiful town before.

I in no way want to be associated with this idea.

I had scarcely finished my project when they asked me to present it.

I seldom leave work before 7pm.

We would understand what had happened to her only later.

He understood little about the situation.

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The children should on no account be left alone.

If Mary had understood the situation, she would have done something.

I couldn’t sleep because of the loud noise. (SO)

5. Speaking- Idioms

Answer the questions containing idiomatic expressions below (you can find the definitions
under the questions):

Do you ever go the extra mile at work/ school?

What would you like to get your teeth into in the New Year?
Do you have a bee in your bonnet about anything?
Do you always explore all avenues before making a decision?
What new project would you like to buckle down on in the upcoming year?
Do you always lay the foundations before attempting any goal?

1. To prepare and get everything ready

2. To be obsessed about something
3. To do your research and understand the goals clearly
4. To get to work and start something
 5. To put a lot of effort into something
6. To do more than you’re required to do

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TEACHER’S COPY (ANSWERS)

Vocabulary:

Match these words with their definitions and try using some of them in sentences below:

Verbs
1. To embrace smthg f.
2. To get into something d.
3. To fall apart e.
4. To get back into something
5. To stick to something a.
6. To follow through on/with c.
7. To wane g.
8. To strip smthg down b.
a. To continue smthg according to plan
b. To remove layers
c. To continue an action until finished
h. d. To become interested in something
e. To disintegrate
f. To accept enthusiastically
g. To become weaker
h. To start doing something again

Nouns
4. Willingness b. a. A very motivated and competitive person
5. Willpower c. b. A desire to do something
6. Overachiever a. c. An ability to control yourself

Going abroad is an amazing opportunity for you, you should ___embrace___ it!
I haven’t been able to ___stick to___ my diet during the holidays at all!
Mary has great ideas but she never __follows through on____ them!
When your motivation __wanes__, it’s very difficult to complete the task.
All my travel plans ___fell apart__ this year!
I think I’ll __get back into___ swimming next year, I miss it a lot!
When quitting a bad habit, you need a lot of __willpower__ to control the temptations.

Explain these expressions and idioms in your own words after reading the article:

Muster on command – to summon something based on your desire

At a stretch – at a time, in one continuous period
Down the line – at a further or unspecified point
To hardwire a habit into your brain – to implement it in a permanent way
Just a smidge – just a little
Binge+VERB-ING – doing something in excess

Grammar: Inverted sentences structures:

Mary had never visited such a beautiful town before.

Never had Mary visited such a beautiful town before.
I in no way want to be associated with this idea.
In no way do I want to be associated with this idea.
I had scarcely finished my project when they asked me to present it.
Scarcely had I finished my project when they asked me to present it.
I seldom leave work before 7pm.
Seldom do I leave work before 7pm.
We would understand what had happened to her only later.
Only later would we understand what had happened to her.
He understood little about the situation.
Little did he understand about the situation.
The children should on no account be left alone.
On no account should the children be left alone.
If Mary had understood the situation, she would have done something.
Had Mary understood the situation, she would have done something.
I couldn’t sleep because of the loud noise. (SO)
So loud was the noise that I couldn’t sleep.

Speaking- Idioms

Answer the questions containing idiomatic expressions below (you can find the definitions
under the questions):

Do you ever go the extra mile 6 at work/ school?

What would you like to get your teeth into 5 in the New Year?
Do you have a bee in your bonnet 2 about anything?
Do you always explore all avenues 3 before making a decision?
What new project would you like to buckle down on 4 in the upcoming year?
Do you always lay the foundations 1 before attempting any goal?
1. To prepare and get everything ready
2. To be obsessed about something
3. To do your research and understand the goals clearly
4. To get to work and start something
5. To put a lot of effort into something
6. To do more than you’re required to do