April 14, 2023

Observable And Measurable

By Barry Rudesill
I was reading an article recently and it had an interesting definition of “behaviors” that I would like to share with you:
 
Behavior is generally considered what someone does. Behavior includes what the person does that is observable and measurable. It is common to define behavior by identifying what actions the person has displayed or what actions the teacher decides that the individual should begin to display. (PsychCentral, 2000)
 
What I really like about this definition is that behavior must meet two criteria: it must be observable and measurable. But what does that mean when we talk about changing or replacing a behavior in The Trek? Well, let’s dig into that:
 
“Observable” means that we can see the change when it takes place. A lot of us – myself included – tend to set vague, fuzzy goals for change. Let me give you an example: I want to drop some weight that I put on this winter. Is it better to say, “I will lose some weight!” or “I will walk on my treadmill for 15 minutes a day!”?
 
If I leave the goal fuzzy, then there’s no objective and no observable way to know if I’ve even begun to change, let alone to reach my goal. Can anyone look at me and know that I’m working on changing if I can’t simply define my action steps? Nope. Can I look at my life and know that I’m changing if I don’t have any benchmark to compare it to? Nope. All I have is this vague idea of what I need to do with no realistic way of reaching it!
 
The first thing you need to do if you want to change a behavior, especially a stubborn one that you’ve been wrestling with for a while! – is to set some actions steps that can be viewed by both you and anyone that you have chosen to hold you accountable.
 
By the way, these don’t have to be “overwhelming” action steps. If I decide to lose weight by going out tomorrow and running a marathon, then I’m doomed to failure. Be sure the action steps are simple to explain, easy to observe, and that begin the process of moving you in the direction you want to go.
 
“Measurable” was the other word that the article used. It went on to say that measurable means that the behavior can be evaluated in terms of:
 
Frequency – How many times the behavior occurred.
Rate – How many times in a given period the behavior occurred.
Duration – How long the behavior occurred.
Latency – How long between the initial instruction/trigger and the behavior.
Magnitude – The intensity of the behavior. (PsychCentral, 2000)
 
When you set goals for yourself, be sure to evaluate how well you’re doing. I know a man who struggles with addiction and who lives with shame when he relapses. In talking with him, though, he has gone from needing his addiction daily, to needing it weekly, to needing it infrequently. When the craving comes, he also fights the addiction by following the action steps he’s already coming up with.
 
Does he fail? Sometimes. However, the frequency for needing to meet the addiction is less, the rate is less, the duration of the behavior is less, the latency is less, and the magnitude of the behavior is much less!
 
Is it still a problem in his life? Yes. Is there room for improvement? Yes. But is he making progress in changing his behavior? Absolutely yes!
 
Today, think about the behaviors in your life that you don’t like; the ones that are stubborn and won’t seem to go away. Take some time to write out a simple goal that you can easily explain to yourself and to others that represents the change you want to see. Next, write out the action steps that will get you to your goal; again, as you write them, be sure that they are measurable so you can know if you’re making progress.
 
Finally, take time every week or every month (or both) to evaluate the change in your life. If you’re not seeing any change, you may need to adjust the action steps. On the other hand, you may be surprised at how far the little observable and measurable steps have taken you!
 
And speaking of steps, I hear my treadmill calling!
 
We hope you enjoy your journey!
 
- The Trek

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