The power of repetition: stick with it
Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2024 7:27 am
Our tip for the app makers: provide real-time feedback while walking. The Nike+ app already does this: runners receive encouraging words while running. It's nice to hear how far you've come and that you're doing well via your headphones, instead of having to open the app yourself to check your progress.
If you want to change behavior in a sustainable way, it is advisable to stimulate repetition. If we want to make certain behavior our own, we have to repeat that behavior. It is just like mastering a language or a sport. The more we perform the behavior over and over again, the more that behavior becomes second nature to us. The behavior is internalized. And that can only happen through repeated repetition. But the problem is that few people like repetition. Very few. Because most people get bored quickly when they have to do something repeatedly. We have a short attention span and little discipline. It is not in our nature 'to stick with it'. How do we make sure that we do succeed?
The answer could be: make it a habit. If we make a habit of walking, it no longer depends on our fleeting motivation or discipline whether we go for a walk. Instead, the behavior becomes automatic. According to the transtheoretical model of behavior change, it takes three to six months to learn a new habit. So just persevere and keep walking!
9. Let the games begin!
Where are you on the leaderboard? Chances are you enjoy watching yourself climb the leaderboard (and overtake that popular colleague). Most people enjoy games and competition. This is often used to make people perform certain behaviors. Apps like Strava keep entire tribes of people running and cycling by constantly kuwait telegram data fueling the mutual competition! De Volkskrant wrote about the Strava phenomenon earlier this year. NOS presenter Herman van der Zandt says in the article : “Strava is a cycling diary, a personal history, but it is also a monkey rock.”
Screenshot of the app.
The Ommetje app also makes eager use of the competitive element. On the homepage of the app you can see the leaderboard that shows how well you are doing compared to others. Research shows that competition can increase motivation, which means we continue to use a product or service for longer. However: this only works if we can compare ourselves to others who are important to us . Whether you have run more walks than a professional runner from America probably doesn't matter to you. But seeing how your family members, friends or colleagues are doing is extremely interesting. Because it is of course a real bummer if you see that your brother is doing just a little bit better than you.
Final note : the competitive element probably works better in teams that are not too big. If you are competing against hundreds of others, it quickly becomes an impossible task to come first. And then competition, meant to increase motivation, has the opposite effect.
10. Walking to be seen
Your walking behavior is visible to others. After all, others can see how many points you have scored (the more points – the more walking). Because our behavior is visible, we can signal our identity through our behavior. And that is what we humans like to do, convey an identity to others. Suppose you identify yourself as someone who is very concerned with health. Then, according to the identity consistency model, you will display behavior that matches someone who is very concerned with health.
If you want to change behavior in a sustainable way, it is advisable to stimulate repetition. If we want to make certain behavior our own, we have to repeat that behavior. It is just like mastering a language or a sport. The more we perform the behavior over and over again, the more that behavior becomes second nature to us. The behavior is internalized. And that can only happen through repeated repetition. But the problem is that few people like repetition. Very few. Because most people get bored quickly when they have to do something repeatedly. We have a short attention span and little discipline. It is not in our nature 'to stick with it'. How do we make sure that we do succeed?
The answer could be: make it a habit. If we make a habit of walking, it no longer depends on our fleeting motivation or discipline whether we go for a walk. Instead, the behavior becomes automatic. According to the transtheoretical model of behavior change, it takes three to six months to learn a new habit. So just persevere and keep walking!
9. Let the games begin!
Where are you on the leaderboard? Chances are you enjoy watching yourself climb the leaderboard (and overtake that popular colleague). Most people enjoy games and competition. This is often used to make people perform certain behaviors. Apps like Strava keep entire tribes of people running and cycling by constantly kuwait telegram data fueling the mutual competition! De Volkskrant wrote about the Strava phenomenon earlier this year. NOS presenter Herman van der Zandt says in the article : “Strava is a cycling diary, a personal history, but it is also a monkey rock.”
Screenshot of the app.
The Ommetje app also makes eager use of the competitive element. On the homepage of the app you can see the leaderboard that shows how well you are doing compared to others. Research shows that competition can increase motivation, which means we continue to use a product or service for longer. However: this only works if we can compare ourselves to others who are important to us . Whether you have run more walks than a professional runner from America probably doesn't matter to you. But seeing how your family members, friends or colleagues are doing is extremely interesting. Because it is of course a real bummer if you see that your brother is doing just a little bit better than you.
Final note : the competitive element probably works better in teams that are not too big. If you are competing against hundreds of others, it quickly becomes an impossible task to come first. And then competition, meant to increase motivation, has the opposite effect.
10. Walking to be seen
Your walking behavior is visible to others. After all, others can see how many points you have scored (the more points – the more walking). Because our behavior is visible, we can signal our identity through our behavior. And that is what we humans like to do, convey an identity to others. Suppose you identify yourself as someone who is very concerned with health. Then, according to the identity consistency model, you will display behavior that matches someone who is very concerned with health.