No literate or electronically-connected 21st century human can pretend not to know the importance of a healthful lifestyle. If anything, many people might complain that they are inundated with irritating, preachy lifestyle messages from those intent on selling them some device or service.
So, for purposes of this blog posting, I assume that we all, more or less, accept the importance of healthful diet, exercise, stress reduction, and so forth. I further presume that virtually all of us intend to behave healthfully. Since many factors contribute to our acting or failing to act upon good intentions, in the interest of time, I have chosen to focus on merely one-- action readiness.
Research endorses the critical role of “action readiness” that Gaurav Sur and associates (2015) define as “the ease with which an action may be initiated given the preaction launch state of the individual.” Action readiness influences the costs-benefits associated with a behavior. Persons in a high action readiness condition tend to act even when the payoff seems meager, whereas those in a low action readiness condition tend to refrain from acting even when the payoff is substantial. In colloquial terms, those in a high readiness condition are prepared, willing, and able to act with little provocation.
The action readiness concept, therefore, begs the question: what can we do to become action ready for health-enhancing behaviors. Among other things, we can think deliberately and comprehensively about the short- and long-term consequences of healthful vs unhealthful behaviors. Quite often, even most often, the short-term "benefits" of unhealthful behaviors are the more attractive. A third glass of wine or helping of dessert provides immediate satisfaction. So we need somehow to project ourselves beyond the moment to recognize the self-defeating nature of our unhealthful choice.
To think "long-term," obviously, requires one to project her- or him-self into the future. And the more authentic and believable the projection, the more effective it will be. An especially useful strategy for authentic, believable projection is to employ "constructive episodic simulation" by which we retrieve and incorporate recollections of past experiences into future expectations (Schacter & Addis, 2007). That is, we cull real bits and pieces from our past negative lifestyle choices, to anticipate the future negative consequences of our current choices. The more precise and detailed this effort, the more likely it is to influence our health. For instance, you remember instances wherein you felt either sick or incapacitated at work after over-drinking or over-eating the previous night, and you incorporate those recollections into your evaluation of current, on-line expectations.
Hal E. Hershfield and colleagues (2011) used a variation of constructive episodic simulation to investigate the value of the method for promoting retirement savings. They achieved especially authentic and believable projections by age-progressing photos of their subjects to help them to imagine themselves as elderly, viewing very credible pictures of their future selves. In that manner, the subjects could better contrast how they had been living their lives in the recent past with obvious implications for the quality of their live when aged. The Hershfield group concluded that “In all cases, those who interacted with virtual future selves exhibited an increased tendency to accept later monetary rewards over immediate ones.”
The take-away lesson is that one must create a favorable pre-action launch state in order to translate healthful intentions into healthful actions. If you can vividly and realistically project yourself beyond an immediate gratification situation, whether through constructive episodic simulations or otherwise, you can gain the time and space you need to make more healthful choices. You will be action ready.
References
Hershfield, H., et al. (2011). Increasing saving behavior through age-progressed renderings of the future self. J Mark Res. 2011 Nov; 48: S23–S37.
Schacter DL, Addis DR. The cognitive neuroscience of constructive memory: remembering the past and imagining the future. Phil Trans R Soc B. 2007;362:773–786.
Suri, G, et al. (2015) The Role of Action Readiness in Motivated Behavior. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Oct 5 , 2015, No Pagination Specified. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000114.
So, for purposes of this blog posting, I assume that we all, more or less, accept the importance of healthful diet, exercise, stress reduction, and so forth. I further presume that virtually all of us intend to behave healthfully. Since many factors contribute to our acting or failing to act upon good intentions, in the interest of time, I have chosen to focus on merely one-- action readiness.
Research endorses the critical role of “action readiness” that Gaurav Sur and associates (2015) define as “the ease with which an action may be initiated given the preaction launch state of the individual.” Action readiness influences the costs-benefits associated with a behavior. Persons in a high action readiness condition tend to act even when the payoff seems meager, whereas those in a low action readiness condition tend to refrain from acting even when the payoff is substantial. In colloquial terms, those in a high readiness condition are prepared, willing, and able to act with little provocation.
The action readiness concept, therefore, begs the question: what can we do to become action ready for health-enhancing behaviors. Among other things, we can think deliberately and comprehensively about the short- and long-term consequences of healthful vs unhealthful behaviors. Quite often, even most often, the short-term "benefits" of unhealthful behaviors are the more attractive. A third glass of wine or helping of dessert provides immediate satisfaction. So we need somehow to project ourselves beyond the moment to recognize the self-defeating nature of our unhealthful choice.
To think "long-term," obviously, requires one to project her- or him-self into the future. And the more authentic and believable the projection, the more effective it will be. An especially useful strategy for authentic, believable projection is to employ "constructive episodic simulation" by which we retrieve and incorporate recollections of past experiences into future expectations (Schacter & Addis, 2007). That is, we cull real bits and pieces from our past negative lifestyle choices, to anticipate the future negative consequences of our current choices. The more precise and detailed this effort, the more likely it is to influence our health. For instance, you remember instances wherein you felt either sick or incapacitated at work after over-drinking or over-eating the previous night, and you incorporate those recollections into your evaluation of current, on-line expectations.
Hal E. Hershfield and colleagues (2011) used a variation of constructive episodic simulation to investigate the value of the method for promoting retirement savings. They achieved especially authentic and believable projections by age-progressing photos of their subjects to help them to imagine themselves as elderly, viewing very credible pictures of their future selves. In that manner, the subjects could better contrast how they had been living their lives in the recent past with obvious implications for the quality of their live when aged. The Hershfield group concluded that “In all cases, those who interacted with virtual future selves exhibited an increased tendency to accept later monetary rewards over immediate ones.”
The take-away lesson is that one must create a favorable pre-action launch state in order to translate healthful intentions into healthful actions. If you can vividly and realistically project yourself beyond an immediate gratification situation, whether through constructive episodic simulations or otherwise, you can gain the time and space you need to make more healthful choices. You will be action ready.
References
Hershfield, H., et al. (2011). Increasing saving behavior through age-progressed renderings of the future self. J Mark Res. 2011 Nov; 48: S23–S37.
Schacter DL, Addis DR. The cognitive neuroscience of constructive memory: remembering the past and imagining the future. Phil Trans R Soc B. 2007;362:773–786.
Suri, G, et al. (2015) The Role of Action Readiness in Motivated Behavior. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Oct 5 , 2015, No Pagination Specified. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000114.
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