Tiny Leaps, Big Changes

By Gregg ClunisHealth & Fitness Mental Health

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Tiny Leaps, Big Changes episodes

September 14, 2021746 - Do Push Notifications Work?
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In this episode, we ask a question: Do push notifications even work? Get excited, because this is Tiny Leaps, Big Changes.
Welcome to another episode of Tiny Leaps, Big Changes where I share research-backed strategies you can use, to get more out of your life. My name is Gregg Clunis.
The Research:
Tom St. Quinton, Ben Morris, Martin J. Barwood, and Mark Conner published a study titled “Promoting physical activity through text messages: the impact of attitude and goal priority messages”.
The purpose of this study was to understand why, “physical activity is an important health behavior for young adults to undertake and research has established participation in physical activity to be influenced by the attitude construct. Research has also identified a gap between intention and behavior and the goal priority strategy has demonstrated success in strengthening the intention-behavior relationship. Despite this, as far as we are aware, no study has targeted participation in physical activity using text messages manipulating attitude and goal priority. Thus, the purpose of the study was to test the effectiveness of attitude and goal priority text messages in promoting students’ participation in physical activity”.
What They Found:
“The study examined the effectiveness of attitude and goal priority SMS in changing key psychological mechanisms and physical activity. Attitude messages successfully influenced attitude, intention and behavior, and changes in behavior were mediated by changes in attitude and intention, with attitude influencing intention. The study therefore supports the TPB’s causal mechanisms through which interventions exert influence on behavior and suggests attitude to be a prominent driver of intention and subsequent physical activity behavior change. The study did not manage to manipulate goal priority”
Key Takeaways:
Push notifications are extremely effective in reminding you to complete something.

Day to day use of push notifications are valuable.

Attitude only push notifications had the greatest impact on participants compared to the other groups.

Goal priority push notifications had no impact on research participants.

This study indicates that attitudes impact behavior, so changing your attitude to be more positive can improve your behavior to help you reach your health goal.
Sponsored By:
Blinkist: http://blinkist.com/tinyleaps
Try Quince: https://onequince.com | TINY10
Hosted By: Gregg Clunis | https://www.instagram.com/greggclunis/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/tinyleaps
Twitter: http://twitter.com/tinyleaps
Website: http://tlbc.co/tiny-leaps-big-changes
Reading: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21642850.2021.1891073
22 min
September 08, 2021745 - Does Tracking Your Goals Help?
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In this episode, we ask a question: Does tracking your goals actually help? Get excited, because this is Tiny Leaps, Big Changes.
Welcome to another episode of Tiny Leaps, Big Changes where I share research-backed strategies you can use, to get more out of your life. My name is Gregg Clunis.
The Research:
In 2016, Benjamin Harkin, Thomas L. Webb, Betty Chang, Andrew Prestwich, Mark Conner, Ian Kellar, Yael Benn, and Paschal Sheeran published a study titled “Does Monitoring Goal Progress Promote Goal Attainment? A Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Evidence”.
The researchers wanted to understand why, “Control theory and other frameworks for understanding self-regulation suggest that monitoring goal progress is a crucial process that intervenes between setting and attaining a goal, and helps to ensure that goals are translated into action. However, the impact of progress monitoring interventions on rates of behavioral performance and goal attainment has yet to be quantified.”
What They Found:
They found, “The present review of 138 interventions designed to promote progress monitoring suggests that (a) it is possible to engender large increases in the frequency of progress monitoring, and (b) increasing progress monitoring engenders a meaningful improvement in rates of behavioral performance and goal attainment. Our conclusion is that progress monitoring has a robust effect on goal attainment and constitutes a key component of effective self regulation”.
Key Takeaways:
We have the choice to take control of this part of our process.

By taking more action, you have a higher chance of achieving the goal.

You have control.

Moving is what is important, not the time it takes.

You can start tracking your progress immediately.

Best methods of tracking include: pen and paper, spreadsheets, or apps.
Sponsored By:
Blinkist: http://blinkist.com/tinyleaps
Try Quince: https://onequince.com | TINY10
Hosted By: Gregg Clunis | https://www.instagram.com/greggclunis/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/tinyleaps
Twitter: http://twitter.com/tinyleaps
Website: http://tlbc.co/tiny-leaps-big-changes
Reading: Does Monitoring Goal Progress Promote Goal Attainment? (apa.org)
19 min
September 06, 2021744 - I'm Not That Smart
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In this episode, we look at how the internet makes us think we are smarter than we actually are. Get excited, because this is Tiny Leaps, Big Changes.
Welcome to another episode of Tiny Leaps, Big Changes where I share research-backed strategies you can use, to get more out of your life. My name is Gregg Clunis.
The Research:
Matthew Fisher, Mariel K. Goddu, and Frank C. Keil published a paper in 2015 titled, "Searching for Explanations: How the Internet Inflates Estimates of Internal Knowledge”.
What They Found:
The researchers indicated that, “A growing body of theoretical and empirical work suggests that transactive memory systems can be technological as well as social. Though these systems are typically thought to be composed of human minds, our reliance on technology, like the Internet, may form a system bearing many similarities to knowledge dependencies in the social world. The Internet is the largest repository of human knowledge and makes vast amounts of interconnected information easily available to human minds. People quickly become accustomed to outsourcing cognitive tasks to the Internet. They remember where to find information and rely on the Internet to store the actual information. This evidence suggests that the Internet can become a part of transactive memory; people rely on information they know they can find online and thus track external memory (who knows the answer), but do not retain internal memory (the actual answer)”.
The researchers found that “searching for answers online leads to an illusion such that externally accessible information is conflated with knowledge “in the head”. This holds true even when controlling for time, content, and search autonomy during the task. Furthermore, participants who used the Internet to access explanations expected to have increased brain activity, corresponding to higher quality explanations while answering unrelated questions. The results of these experiments suggest that searching the Internet may cause a systematic failure to recognize the extent to which we rely on outsourced knowledge. Searching for explanations on the Internet inflates self-assessed knowledge in unrelated domains. Our results provide further evidence for the growing body of research suggesting that the Internet may function as a transactive memory partner”.
Key Takeaways:
We are outsourcing our responsibility to memorize things to technology.

Instead of memorizing, we are knowing where to access the information.

The knowledge we have access to isn’t our knowledge.

Transactive memory can be a valuable way to store information.

Recognize the individuals who have domain knowledge on the topic.

Having access to knowledge allows our species to grow.
Try Quince: https://onequince.com | TINY10
Hosted By: Gregg Clunis | https://www.instagram.com/greggclunis/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/tinyleaps
Twitter: http://twitter.com/tinyleaps
Website: http://tlbc.co/tiny-leaps-big-changes
Reading: Searching for Explanations: How the Internet Inflates Estimates of Internal Knowledge (apa.org)
23 min
September 04, 2021743 - Set Realistic Goals
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In this episode, we look at how setting goals that are too big can do damage. Get excited, because this is Tiny Leaps, Big Changes.
Welcome to another episode of Tiny Leaps, Big Changes where I share research-backed strategies you can use, to get more out of your life. My name is Gregg Clunis.
The Research:
Masayuki Suzuki, Stephanie Lictenfield, and Herbert W. Marsh published a study titled Don’t Aim Too High for Your Kids: Parental Overaspiration Undermines Students’ Learning in Mathematics back in 2015 where they looked at the effects of parental expectations on their children’s results.
What They Found:
This study aimed to test this idea of it being a positive thing to see whether or not negative effects could be seen.
Here’s how they put it:
“...in contrast to the large body of literature showing positive links between parental aspiration and children’s academic performance, there is a surprising lack of research that has examined possible adverse effects of parental aspiration. Parents with high aspirations for their children’s academic attainment are likely to be committed to and highly involved with, their children, which will typically enhance children’s academic achievement. However, excessively high parental aspiration that exceeds realistic expectations of the children’s performance (i.e., parental over aspiration) may lead to overinvolvement, excessive pressure to achieve, and high levels of control over a child’s behavior.”
Key Takeaways:
What does this mean for our own lives?
Excessively high aspiration that exceeds realistic expectations

Excessive pressure to achieve

High levels of control over behavior

This study specifically looked at the effects of a parent putting these things on their child...but what about the effects on themselves?

Our culture tends to prioritize overachieving, shooting for the stars, and pushing ourselves hard

When we fail we blame it on lack of discipline or laziness or worse, we tighten our control on ourselves...get more extreme with our diets, savings...etc

The study didn’t look at this but if these are the effects we put on our children, and that has been shown to create negative outcomes then why would we treat ourselves that way and expect anything different?
Try Quince: https://onequince.com | TINY10
Hosted By: Gregg Clunis | https://www.instagram.com/greggclunis/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/tinyleaps
Twitter: http://twitter.com/tinyleaps
Website: http://tlbc.co/tiny-leaps-big-changes
Readings:
https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-pspp0000079.pdf
21 min
September 01, 2021742 - The Truth About Decision Making
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In this episode, we look at the various factors that go into making a decision. Get excited, because this is Tiny Leaps, Big Changes.
Welcome to another episode of Tiny Leaps, Big Changes where I share research-backed strategies you can use, to get more out of your life. My name is Gregg Clunis.
The Research:
George Loewenstein, Ted O’Donoghue, and Sudeep Bhatia published a paper in 2015 titled, "Modeling the Interplay Between Affect and Deliberation”.
What They Found:
The researchers developed a model “in which a person’s behavior is determined by an interaction between deliberative processes that assess options with a broad, goal-based perspective, and affective processes that encompass emotions and other motivational states”.
The results indicated that “there is a great deal of evidence that people’s decisions are influenced by both affective and deliberative processes. Whereas standard consequentialist models focus, for the most part, on deliberative processes, our main contribution in this article has been to develop a formal model to incorporate affective processes. In particular, we have modeled the impact of affective processes using a motivation function that is myopic, that displays loss aversion and is insensitive to probabilities, and that is influenced by sympathy and empathy concerns”.
The study shows that we not only use deliberative processes to make decisions, but also affective processes.

The information found in this article reinforces things that we already know about decision making.

Our emotional responses can have more of an effect on our decision making than we initially thought.

Most decisions are not logical and our emotional biases hold more weight on our decision making process.
Key Takeaways:
Decisions are made using both logical and emotional processes.

Our sympathy and empathy towards others can influence our decisions we make.

The decisions we make on a day to day basis matter.

Decisions no matter how big or small can influence our experience later in life.

Add time to your decision making. Time will take some of the emotional factor out, and help you make a more logical decision.
Join The Beta: https://tlbc.co/beta
Hosted By: Gregg Clunis | https://www.instagram.com/greggclunis/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/tinyleaps
Twitter: http://twitter.com/tinyleaps
Website: http://tlbc.co/tiny-leaps-big-changes
Readings:
Modeling the interplay between affect and deliberation. - PsycNET (apa.org)
16 min
August 31, 2021 The Beta Link
Join now: http://tlbc.co/beta

2 min
August 30, 2021741 - How Stress Affects Your Memory
Get this episode ad-free when you join TLBC+ today: https://tlbc.co/join
In this episode, we look at how stress affects your memory. Get excited, because this is Tiny Leaps, Big Changes.
Welcome to another episode of Tiny Leaps, Big Changes where I share research-backed strategies you can use, to get more out of your life. My name is Gregg Clunis.
The Research:
Martina Piefke and Katharina Glienke published a paper in 2017 titled The Effects of Stress on Prospective Memory: A Systematic Review where they look at the effects of stress on what’s called prospective memory.
Prospective memory is defined as the ability to remember to carry out intended actions in the future

So basically…
What They Found:
“The present review demonstrates that a short acute stressor may have enhancing effects on PM in healthy humans, depending on the characteristics of the stressor and the type of PM.”
According to the study, time-based PM, that is, things that you have a limited amount of time to carry out, are more vulnerable to the negative effects of stress.

Event-based PM is less vulnerable.

They believe this may be due to the increased cognitive load required for time-based PM.

It’s worth noting that they found the opposite reaction in people suffering from PTSD

So what’s the point here?

Well, this study shows that there can be positive effects of acute stressors in life.

This particular study shows that short-lived acute stress can improve memory in relationship to the future, but it implies that there are even more benefits to it
Key Takeaways:
Don’t be afraid of stress

Don’t give in to the flight part of the fight or flight response

Stress can be beneficial in the right circumstances and leaning in to it can actually improve your results and performance

Maybe there is an argument to be made to use stress as a superpower at times

Obviously chronic stress and extreme stress are different subjects. Like all things, stress isn’t always good or bad. Try embracing it from time to time.
Join The Beta: https://tlbc.co/beta
Hosted By: Gregg Clunis | https://www.instagram.com/greggclunis/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/tinyleaps
Twitter: http://twitter.com/tinyleaps
Website: http://tlbc.co/tiny-leaps-big-changes
Readings:
https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/pne-pne0000102.pdf
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/prospective-memory
15 min
August 28, 2021HB: Bully Grief
Bully Grief? How in the world could this...make our brain...happy?
Instagram: http://instagram.com/happybrainfm

Heather's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherparady/

Website: http://tlbc.co/happy-brain
RESOURCES:
https://www.jnicolejones.com/

https://www.jnicolejones.com/podcast

https://www.instagram.com/i_am_jnicole/

Kübler-Ross model: https://www.healthline.com/health/stages-of-grief

Dr. Tonkin’s Grief Model: https://whatsyourgrief.com/growing-around-grief/
13 min
August 26, 2021[Repost] 644 - How Fear Is Used to Control You
In this episode, we look at how fear is used as a tool to influence your decisions and what you can do about it.
Sponsor: http://neuyear.net/tinyleaps coupon: tinyleaps
The Problem
Human beings are weak both emotionally and physically

As a species we started out at the bottom of the heap

Through the continued development of our brain we were able to get stronger

Now we rule the planet, but the fear is still there

That fear can be harnessed to create environments where control is easier
Digging Deeper
The amygdala is the part of the brain that handles fear responses. It also handles the fight or flight response.

Logical thinking and processing happens in higher levels of the brain

It’s said that before we can think about something logically, we first have to process it emotionally.

That processing determines if we are in danger or not, if the information is relevant or not...etc.

So when something triggers a fear response, we often don’t ever get to the logical thinking piece of the equation. We just react.

This creates an opportunity for those who may want us to act in certain ways. Vote in certain ways.

This is why so much of politics is fear based
The other party is trying to take something away from you

The other guy isn’t going to protect you

The other group is out to get you

This is also why so much of politics is identity based
We are Americans, we don’t take handouts

We work hard for everything we have

This is why advertising is often fear based as well
That problem you’re dealing with is actually worse than you think

It could lead to this unless you pay us

The core of the message is always the same “some kind of harm is coming for you or your loved ones and the only way out is to do what we say”

It’s the same strategy that the mafia uses in movies to sell their insurance. “What a nice place, it’d be a shame if something happened to it”

So what can we do?
The Solution
The answer is always to slow down our response

More information is useless, the problem isn’t that we don’t have access to information, it’s that we aren’t processing information correctly.

The fear response is immediate and comes before the logical response.

Appealing to logic or reason isn’t going to change the reaction

Instead we have to add time to the situation

Create an environment where we can have the initial fear response, but then take time to allow our logic centers to catch up

This is the value of things like the 24 hour rule. Where if you want to buy something nom-essential you should wait 24 hours before making the decision.

Those 24 hours gives your logic centers time to catch up so that you don’t make a decision emotionally

The same can be done with fear. When you receive a message from someone (a brand, a politician, a friend...etc) that appeals to fear responses, take it in, experience your fear response, but make no decisions until you’ve had time to catch up logically and apply critical thinking.

If you can do this, you’ll be able to make better decisions for your life
15 min
August 23, 2021740 - How Accountability Groups Work
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In this episode, we look at how social control theory can help you take more positive action. Get excited, because this is Tiny Leaps, Big Changes.
Welcome to another episode of Tiny Leaps, Big Changes where I share research-backed strategies you can use, to get more out of your life. My name is Gregg Clunis.
From Wikipedia:
In criminology, social control theory proposes that exploiting the process of socialization and social learning builds self-control and reduces the inclination to indulge in behavior recognized as antisocial. It derives from functionalist theories of crime and was developed by Ivan Nye (1958), who proposed that there were three types of control:
Direct: by which punishment is threatened or applied for wrongful behavior, and compliance is rewarded by parents, family, and authority figures.

Indirect: by identification with those who influence behavior, say because his or her delinquent act might cause pain and disappointment to parents and others with whom he or she has close relationships.

Internal: by which a youth refrains from delinquency through the conscience or superego.
It goes on to say:
The theory seeks to understand the ways in which it is possible to reduce the likelihood of criminality developing in individuals. It does not consider motivational issues, simply stating that human beings may choose to engage in a wide range of activities, unless the range is limited by the processes of socialization and social learning.
Key Takeaways:
Connection to a community of some kind matters

This plays a role in criminal activity but how does it affect behavior in general?

The more deeply you are connected with the people around you, the less likely you are to do things that go against the social contract

You don’t want to lose connection with those people

Comes from our need for tribes
Hosted By: Gregg Clunis | https://www.instagram.com/greggclunis/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/tinyleaps
Twitter: http://twitter.com/tinyleaps
Website: http://tlbc.co/tiny-leaps-big-changes
13 min

About Tiny Leaps, Big Changes

From the publisher's feed

Tiny Leaps, Big Changes is a personal development podcast focused on exploring the day-to-day behaviors we all engage in that determine the results we gain in our lives. Hosted by Gregg Clunis, the…