Appointment for Yourself

Scene from my daily run in Yamanashi

When I was on faculty at Hopkins School in New Haven, CT, I worked with a guy called Dean Nicholson. He was an avid NORBA Masters class racer and 15 years later probably still is. At the tender age of 24 he taught me to schedule an appointment with myself every day. I still remember him giving me an overview of the strategy.

Think about it, he said. If people call up and ask if they can meet you at 1pm and you have a conflicting appointment, it is easily accepted when tell them you aren’t available – after all you have a conflicting appointment. The same thing doesn’t hold if you tell them, ‘sorry I can’t make it, I’m going cycling, running, or climbing’ take your pick. None of those reasons fly. People take offense to being turned down so you can work out. Why is that so? Why are we any less important than other people? The solution is to schedule in an immovable appointment with yourself.

Don’t tell anyone what you’re doing and honor it as if it were an appointment with the dean of faculty from Yale University. You wouldn’t miss an appointment with an administrator from Yale and why are they any more important than you are.

Dean was a very fit and very wise man. I haven’t forgotten his words and in this self-change project I have taken “the appointment with yourself idea” further with Prestwich, Perugini, and Hurling’s (2009) smart-phone reminders.

Everyday I get a message on my phone thanks to google calendar and google sync for blackberry that corresponds to an open block of time. Depending on the time availability and location I either do a simple workplace stretch or a more full-blown flexibility workout. Also included in these messages are various motivational phrases such as Tommy Lasorda’s

“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.”

Dean gave me an easy to implement tip on facilitating determination. Google Calendar and Blackberry makes is easy to remember and even lets me know if I try to schedule something over one of my workouts with the simple phrase, “Conflict with another appointment on this calendar”. This is every bit as matter of fact and firm as Dean would have loved to see. I’d like to write more on the topic but I have another appointment.

Prestwich, A., Perugini, M., & Hurling, R. (2009). Can the effects of implementation intentions on exercise be enhanced using text messages?.

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