Strengthen Your Connection Between Knowledge and Action

How to give ourselves a fighting chance

Posted By: TeamTKN

Every Science, New Studies

The Oxford Method

It probably comes as no surprise to you that our friendly neighborhood biochemist LOVES science.

And not in the “I love using science-y words to prop myself up” way.

Or even in the “I love whipping out isolated science stuff to bolster my point” way.

No, our good doctor LIVES the scientific method.

If you have experienced the “Kashey Method,” you know that it is a fiercely individualized program where we

Gather information
Learn stuff
Use what we learned to learn more stuff

Seem familiar?

While I first learned to apply this process to food, it’s basically how I approach everything now.

How do I become a better parent? Gather information, learn stuff, use what I’ve learned to learn more.
How do I become a better boss? Gather information, learn stuff, use what I’ve learned to learn more.
How do I become better with money management? Well, you get the picture.

If you initially came to Dr. Kashey expecting to get lots of hot takes on the “latest” in scientific discoveries, you may have been disappointed. While he digests information at a pace that often confuses me, he is more likely to be found reading a textbook than the latest “truth bomb” on fitness.wellnessciencetips4life.com (99% percent sure that isn’t a real site, but I could be 100% wrong)

I believe his motto is something like: The Fundamentals make all that is shiny dull again.

So when the good doctor sites science, you better believe it is drawn from a well of peer-reviewed, reliable sources that take into account the body of literature on the subject.

And THAT is why it is SO exciting when a NEW study comes out that DOES catch his eye.

In this episode of #coffeewithkashey, Dr. Kashey addresses a recent study out of Oxford that explores the relationship between keeping tabs on yourself and producing change.

I highly recommend that you give it a listen. And if you like to read AND you like having a way to use science to improve your life, look no further. Dr. Kashey has created this guide just for you. (You really want to check it out)

Click here to get a copy of THE OXFORD METHOD guide.

But if you’re just looking for some quick highlights you can use to apply to your own process, we got you covered too.

The study set out to explore if simply gathering information was enough to promote progress.

Here are some key elements that were present in the study group that got the best results:

Gathering Information

Keeping tabs on yourself leads to more productivity, indirect markers of happiness, higher levels of fitness and faster, more permanent fat loss. Seems intuitive enough. After all, “what gets measured gets managed.” It’s even a foundational part of the Kashey Method.

Where we tend to get in trouble is when we gather information and act like the job is done. We become data hoarders, collecting copious information:

What is my heart rate?
What phase of sleep am I in?
What is my blood sugar?
How long can I hold my breath?

I personally think that all of this is a ton of fun. I like to look at the info and arrange it, and rearrange it like a kid curating a room full of stuffed animals. I find all the information comforting, but most of the time I take in my beautiful display and then wander off, with little change to my actions or my life.

It is true that gathering information can help us make progress on accident. Simply paying attention changes the way we act. But if we really want an edge, that involves…

Linking Information to Action

The groups with the difference between the groups that saw the most change was the thoughts they associated with their gathering of data.

For serious results, it is not enough just to measure information. We need to act ON purpose WITH purpose. That means the information we gather first needs context. Then it needs connection.

First, the information we gather requires the context for how it relates to itself over time.

How is the information trending?

Second, the information trends need context for how it relates to your behavior.

What did I do that that caused it to trend in a particular direction?

Finally, the information needs to be proactively used to direct future behavior.

#goals

Once we can take the information we gather, give it context and connect it to action, we need one more element to set us up to win.

Acting with Autonomy

We have all seen enough “perfect” meal plans out there to feed us for 5 lifetimes. You can google anything you would like to change, and there is a talking head that knows exactly what you need to do to fix it.

With all these plans at our fingertips, we should all be strutting around in our sparkling Adonis bodies. Why aren’t we?

Because for a plan to be perfect, it has to be perfect for you. And YOU are an incredible composite of countless experiences and ideas.

On top of that, you have a will.

All of that matters.

When we try to contort ourselves into someone else’s wonderful plan for our lives, we will likely just get a cramp, grow weary, and give up.

In the study, the participants were able to select what activities they would focus on each day, thus building a repository of helpful skills AND learning how to self-direct using the information they gathered.

Having autonomy over HOW we move closer to where we want to be gives us a fighting chance.

Questions for the Road

So here are 3 questions to help get you started:

What measurement tool are you using to keep track of your progress?
What is a modest-but-effective behavior you can choose to work on for TODAY?
How are you taking that information and condensing it into useful feedback–guiding your next steps in the direction YOU want to go?

Answering (and acting) on these questions will certainly start you on your way.

But remember, Dr. Kashey has your back, and he developed an entire resource to help you apply this study specifically and practically.

Check it out HERE

The Kashey Method

Gather information
Learn stuff
Use what we learned to learn more stuff

About Jacquelyn Laporte

Jacquelyn LaPorte has had the privilege of working with TKN since 2018. The journey has been a wild one, but it has ushered her into the driver’s seat of her own life. She learned how to ask questions, answer them honestly and act on the answers. She has used this process to become a better parent to her 3 kids, a better wife, a better boss, a better learner, a better human. She believes that no experience is wasted, (not even majoring in a dead language with no career plan😊 or starting a business with 0 entrepreneurial spirit). Each experience gives the gift of new eyes. Perfect choices are not required, and that makes her free to choose.

“There are a thousand thousand reasons to live this life, and every one of them sufficient.”

-Marilynne Robinson-