Have You Heard About the BUNDLE?

My daughter is a certified personal trainer. She doesn’t have any health and fitness New Year’s Resolutions, because she stays fit all year round. Did I mention that she is an “extreme sports enthusiast?” She is one of those crazy people who like to get dirty,?while running, jumping over things in between?running?episodes, and doing all kinds of crazy obstacles along a?running?path, that allows her to push her body to the limits of what it can do.

Ever seen “American Ninja Warrior” on TV? What my daughter does is build and supervise races that are on a very primitive version of that obstacle course…but outdoors. It is a sport known as OCR: Obstacle Course Racing. Insane, right?

Why? Why? Why does anyone have to make running in a race more difficult by planting obstacles, hills, mud, water, and other nasty stuff on the course? Because they can! And for athletes like my daughter, this is a true test of physical capabilities as well as mind over matter. For others, it might just mean that you lost a bet, or agreed to do something crazy while you were out drinking with friends). After all, you do get a free beer once you cross that finish line.

One. Free. Beer.

That is not enough of a reward to get me to train for such a race…but apparently it is enough for thousands, or even tens of thousands to register and pay good money to have their physical weaknesses made apparent to them, while?running?a race. Oh, and there is a PRO circuit, so perhaps there is prize money involved; if you are the best!!!

My daughter’s own training program is ingrained in her daily routine. Second nature. No real thinking before she goes to the gym, she just goes. In fact, she gets very angry when the local gym is closed for any reason and she can’t work out. There are days that she has had to do home exercises that sub for gym exercises, to work each group of muscles. These home exercises hold great interest for me, since I don’t belong to a gym currently, but am interested in getting stronger, and being more adventurous. Or maybe, I’m just interested in aging gracefully.

Theresa taught me a cool trick that I could do at home, that would help to strengthen my quads (the large muscle on the upper front part of your legs). I believe wholeheartedly in increasing quad strength, since strong quads help support the knees which for me, are headed in the direction of needing replacements. When I asked her to give me a quad exercise that I could do with no equipment, she told me to get up and down from a chair without using the arms of the chair, or my arms. “This will function as a quad squat for you," she said. Then she told me I could increase my repetitions if I got up and down multiple times every time I was on the toilet!

Yes, other people pay her for this type of advice.

However, I started with some chair exercises, and soon, I began to do quad squats getting up from a chair, the couch, the toilet and even the driver’s seat of my car.

Doing quad exercises was something I?wanted?to do. Getting up from the toilet is something I?had?to do. Getting up from the couch is something I?needed?to do. Getting up from my desk chair is something I both?WANT?and?NEED?to do. So why not bundle the two things together?

Tools for Making a Behavior into a Successful Habit

Temptation bundling?is the tool I am talking about, and it means putting something that you?need?to do, together with something that you?want?to do. It is linking the new behavior, with something you already enjoy. Desire is what really drives behavior, so it makes sense to link something that is less rewarding with something you really want. This action: bundling, will make the new habit more attractive, more rewarding.

In fact, the offer of “One Free Beer” at the finish line, is a perfect example of temptation bundling by the Obstacle Course Race Directors. For all those crazy non-athletes, that lost a bet and have to run the race, an offer of alcohol at the end of the race might be just the temptation that pushes them to the finish line. Even the anticipation of that beer is reward enough to keep those weekend warriors in the race until the end.

Would it do it for me? Absolutely not…I’m more of a Cosmo girl myself?

Other examples include putting something not so enjoyable, that you?need?to do for your business, with something you?want?to do personally. Such as, I will ask for recommendations on LinkedIn, only?after?leaving 3 recommendations for others. I will make 3 sales calls on Friday, and only when done, will I call a girlfriend to catch up. Once I plan a week of social media posts about my new offer, I will spend 20 minutes just scrolling on the social media platform of my choice.

Temptation bundling is about the easiest tool we have in our arsenal to make a new behavior stick. So think about some of the marketing plans and programs you want to turn into habits. Take a challenging one, and bundle it with something else you enjoy doing, and do regularly. Then your more challenging item is likely to become a habit, because you are motivate to pursue the rewarding behavior.

Here’s one: I will write a review for another business, and then I will ask for a review from my clients (this was the Day 2 habit in the Marketing Habits Challenge 21 in ’22, and something you should try to do every week).

Here’s another: I will do some vacation planning after I complete this week’s newsletter.

What do you need to get done, habitually? What can you bundle that with, that you already enjoy?

I’d love to hear about some of your “business task” bundling, especially if you think it can help other readers. Hit reply, and let me know your thoughts.

Ciao,

Diane

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Diane Spadola has 18 years of experience as a face painter and body artist. She founded her party entertainment company, Bella Faccia Painting, after 16 years in corporate marketing and business development. Diane helps marketing-challenged soloprenenurs get more, and better, clients, through simple, easy relationship marketing habits.

She makes marketing fun for business owners who like fun more than marketing!