Like weight loss, CBT-i is a behavioral treatment that means you have to do the work. It’s not something you can take, it’s not something reactive that will just happen in a night. It’s something that requires consistent behaviour change and like weight loss, it is a very scientific process.
We know that if you do it it works but look at the diet industry. There are thousands if not millions of diet plans, books, videos, all trying to help us lose that extra bit of weight.
Managing expectations
It’s not because the science isn’t clear. It’s because we have a hard time sticking to similar behaviours to see results. Our willpower can sometimes get quite low, as soon as it gets a bit tough we don’t want to do it anymore, we want to give up.
It’s at that point that we find it tough but you need to keep going because you’re about to see the reward and the results.
“Unfortunately, being human, we rely heavily on our expectations and often they let us down because our expectations are not based on any science.”
We sort of say to ourselves ‘well if I don’t see differences in two weeks then I know I’ve tried my hardest and I’ll give up.’
Why are you giving up after two weeks because your expectations told you to? They weren’t actually based in any science whatsoever.
Why didn’t you carry on for a little bit longer? We definitely do things based on our expectations which is sometimes a hindrance to us.