Changing behavior can be tough but a little guidance can make achieving that fitness goal, saving money, or making meditation a part of your daily routine much easier. We sat down with top Grokker expert Kara Mohr, PhD, to discuss the science of behavior change and how she tailors her content to help Grokker members with their goals.
What can you tell us about the science of behavior change?
Often, the way people approach behavior change is all wrong. We love a big, magic story like on Biggest Loser because it shows radical change in the shortest time possible. But when it comes to the science of behavior change, we know that small, consistent changes end up being way more sustainable and healthier, and you actually can figure out how it works within your lifestyle. Selling small, consistent wins is harder, but the success rate is far higher. Celebrating those small wins is helpful to reinforcing behavior change, and it also feels really good.
Does failure play a role in behavior change?
Yes, in two ways. When we fail, as we're likely to do when we set big, unrealistic goals and don't meet them, there's a part of the brain that lights up and actually decreases motivation. That's another reason to work toward smaller but consistent changes.
Also, when we fail, we can gain insights about what doesn't work if we will sit with the failure and see what we can learn. If we just shut down and say "I failed," we lose the opportunity to figure out how a behavior change could fit into our lives and lifestyle.
When something doesn't work, there's a reason. Maybe it was too intense. Maybe we tried to do it at the wrong time of day. Maybe it doesn't work in this season, when kids are out of school or going back to school. All of these are useful pieces of information that can help us say, "Oh, maybe I can just change this a little bit, or I can try something new."
You began your career in exercise physiology. How did you pivot to working in the behavior change arena?
My undergraduate degree is in psychology, and even in my PhD program, I was always trying to understand the psychology of why we do what we do. At that time, my focus was related to exercise adoption or how we're feeling when we're exercising and how that translates to confidence.
Following a one-year teaching position, I had a two-year research position. In that role, I was working with behavioral psychologists who were trying to understand long-term weight-management behaviors and how much exercise was necessary for weight loss.
That's where it all clicked for me, that it was all about how we get people to adopt any behavior, whether that's related to exercising or changing their eating or getting more sleep.
What brings you joy in your work?
Seeing people see the possibilities and believe that they can achieve something that they want to do. And what that goal should be is practicing the behavior, not only the final, end result, because practicing the behavior to develop a habit is a win.
ABOUT KARA MOHR, PhD
A performance coach and keynote speaker, Kara Mohr helps people with behavior change, exercise, and motivation, to inspire them to become fully alive using mindset, fitness, and nutrition strategies as fuel to engage their best selves.
A Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and an ACSM-certified personal trainer, Kara earned a BS in psychology from Pennsylvania State University and an MS and PhD in exercise physiology from the University of Pittsburgh.
Kara began her career in academics, holding faculty positions at the University of Louisville, the University of Pittsburgh, and Eastern Michigan University. At the University of Pittsburgh, she also served as the assistant director of the Physical Activity & Weight Management Research Center, an NIH-funded research center focused on the role of exercise in the prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity.
Kara lives in Louisville, KY, where she co-owns Mohr Results, Inc. with her husband. In her free time, you can find her cooking with him and having kitchen dance parties with her two daughters.
