IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Speaker Marta Rozgoni faces the camera and smiles. Her blond hair is pulled back in a ponytail and she is wearing a light blue top. Next to her, is BIST Board Member Emily Doyle. Emily is also facing the camera. She has medium length red hair and is wearing a floral top.
BY: JORGE DAZA
At May’s Community Meeting, behaviour designer, mental health advocate, spoonie, brain health enthusiast career, and communication and leadership coach Marta Rozgoni gave a presentation, ‘The Truth About Habits: Explore the Habit Myths & Legends that are keeping you stuck and learn strategies how to break free from limiting habit patterns‘.
Marta shared her story and experiences, and offered an account of how her recommendations worked in her own life. She asked questions about our goals in order to suit the lecture and gave feedback on our needs; for instance, some attendees mentioned that their goals were going to the gym or improving concentration.
Marta explained that Brain Injury is associated with losing habits like healthy sleeping or physical activity. In response, health professionals, family, and friends recommend incorporating healthy habits. However, changing behaviour is not that easy, and people should not feel shame if they cannot do it at first or a in short period. Moreover, we should rely on something other than motivation to improve habits. Thus, we should consider that learning a habit is a process that must suit our unique self, and we should implement the right strategies to integrate them into our daily lives.
At this point, Marta gave us two recommendations: celebrate small achievements and reflect on the deeper why. Let’s take the example she gave, flossing our teeth. People tend to forget about it, yet we can cheer ourselves up when we do it to build momentum. However, more important than that is recalling its benefits, like having healthy teeth and avoiding visits to the dentist.
5 Steps to Design a Habit
SET A CLEAR AND MEANINGFUL GOAL: It is not advised to solve everything at once; instead, establish a primary goal and break it into smaller behaviours. Some examples are improving focus or reducing emotional stress.
GENERATE MANY OPTIONS: This could be achieved by brainstorming, searching the Internet, and asking others. For example, improving focus could be achieved by reading a book while taking breaks, hiring an occupational therapist, or getting earplugs to avoid external noise.
ALIGN WITH GOLDEN BEHAVIOUR: From the proposed options, select the ones that help more with your goal, the ones you feel more motivated to do, and the ones that are easiest to accomplish. The options intersecting two or three of these criteria are the best.
MAKE IT (SUPER) EASY: This is done by reducing the number of steps required to perform the task and by starting small. For example, when reading a book, prepare in advance an appropriate setting with the correct illumination, read for a short period of time, and then rest.
MAKE IT ENJOYABLE: Associate pleasant situations to the task, such as listening to your favorite music while exercising.
In the end, we moved to a more informal meeting where Marta and some attendees continued the conversation. During this time, they had the chance to share their stories, struggles, and strategies for managing brain injury-associated consequences. In conclusion, we had an enjoyable and fruitful evening in which we learned, socialized, and got to know each other better.
Read the Handout from this presentation 
Marta will give Part 2 of her Talk at Freaky Friday!
Join us Friday, July 19 – 3 PM – Register and Learn More, HERE