#IHRSA2015: Kelly McGonigal Could Reshape the Fitness Industry – part I
Thanks to #Connections2015 partners, My Zone, as scientist from Stanford University explained to the industry how to get people motivated and adhere to exercise.
Here is a summary of Kelly McGonigal’s presentation, based on my Tweets.
Willpower is a limited resource. Like a muscle, your-self-control system in the brain gets tired with use, but the good news is that, also like a muscle, your-self-control system can be exercised to make it stronger, so it can last longer.
Do the things you need the most willpower for in the morning or after exercise.
Extended use of your willpower also depletes your physical strength. So the more fit you are, the more willpower you will have.
Ask your members, ‘why do you exercise?’ This information will help you market your product, position your product and serve your product, as we probably assume we know the answers!
In a study to identify what motivates people, the #1 door hanger had people ACT and do something but they did not find the message motivating.
People honestly believe that the ‘future self’ will be better than current self. We wrongly and persistently, expect to make different decisions tomorrow, than we do today. We expect to act differently than our history show us we have routinely acted in the past. We are overly optimistic about our future ability.
67% of people who predicted their future behaviours, in an experiment, predicted that they would act more virtuously than they actually did act when the time came.
So when you ask them if they can see themselves exercising 3 times a week, of course they can! This is because the future self has greater motivation to exercise. McGonigal called this outsourcing the motivation to the future self.
For REAL success, we have to define the behaviour change we can do TODAY!
When people are in a negative mood they will eat or drink something bad. Immediately before they consume it, their positive mood peaks. It is at the greatest level. The moment they then consume the drink or food, their mood plummets as they feel guilty. But people remember the positive feeling, so they repeat the behaviour.
What we know in the fitness industry is that people’s mood consistently gets better and lasts longer when they exercise. Problem is they don’t remember that feeling! If we can add gamification, ie the positive mood people get from playing games, then we have more chance of getting people to remember the good feeling.
Celebrate people’s success with a chance to win something (gamification) and then public acknowledgement.
A ‘mastery climate’ in your club where effort is rewarded and personalised saw people come back and work out more often.
You may like to purchase her book: The Will Power Instinct or follow Kelly on Twitter @KellyMcGonical or check out www.KellyMcGonical.com
Read all the #IHRSA2015 Blogs:
#IHRSA2015: The Interesting, The Cool & The Weird
#IHRSA2015: Profound Statement From Brent Darden
#IHRSA2015: Bill McBride Shares Under Armour Possible Strategy
#IHRSA2015: Kelly McGonigal Could Reshape the Fitness Industry – part I
#IHRSA2015: Kelly McGonigal Could Reshape the Fitness Industry – part II
#IHRSA2015: Adam Bryant Shared Powerful Gold Nuggets for Business #GROWTH
#IHRSA2015: Adam Bryant Shared 14 Interview Questions That CEO’s ask.
#IHRSA2015: Patience, Passion & Persistence Lead to #GROWTH – Part I
#IHRSA2015: Patience, Passion & Persistence Lead to Success– Part II
Justin is the Managing Director of Active Management, which he began January 2004. He offers coaching to businesses worldwide in everything from start up and design to marketing and sales systems. Justin also facilitates four Australian and New Zealand ‘fitness industry roundtables’ events, which allows him to see a huge cross section of business models.