Like most people I gained the Covid-19. Actually 20. Pounds. During the Coronavirus. But I’ve been lucky enough to have a friend, Dave, who joined Weight Watchers in London, and he’s helped me lose it all again. That’s my “Matt’s Fat” chart on the fridge, tracking the numbers over the last few weeks. I’m really proud of our achievement!
I didn’t believe I could do it when we started. And you’ll be unsurprised to hear, I’m sure, that what Dave and I learned during our weight loss challenge is also useful in strategic communications. Here goes:
1. Consistently tracking the data avoids magical thinking. Every Friday morning, now, we both do a “weigh-in.” Dave’s in London so he does his a little earlier, but when I wake up, I hop on the scales and shoot him a WhatsApp with the number. I also write it on the fridge. Tracking our data at the same time every week makes allowances for ups and downs. It’s the patterns one is looking for. In the world of communications, it’s the same. Whether one is tracking press coverage or social media engagement, email open-rate, or fundraising, it’s so important to measure one’s press hits, retweets, click-throughs and donations, and to hold oneself accountable to those numbers. Otherwise one gets susceptible to the groupthink that too often says, “we’re doing great!”. But: Where’s the evidence? Without looking at the numbers, how can one be sure if one is making any headway?
2. It’s the regular, consistent habits that help. Not the big pushes. This is a big one. I found that as long as I did regular exercise and avoided snacking in the evenings after dinner, and didn’t eat sugar during the week, that the number kept going down. The numbers weren’t terribly affected by the odd big dinner, the odd marathon squash session, or even the odd slip. It was remembering to do the right thing on a daily basis, and in a sustainable way. I feel like communication, particularly when you’re campaigning towards a goal, is similar. Focusing on the goal and doing the right thing each day tends to get more long-term results than the epic press pushes or the phone blitzes. And there’s the added bonus of avoiding burnout.
3. It’s easier to hit a goal when you have a supportive accountability partner. Maybe it’s insecurity, maybe it’s competitiveness, but the fact that I knew Dave and I were both trying to lose weight at the same time really helped. If one of us got discouraged by a plateau, for example, the other would remind us that it goes like that before a breakthrough. Or when we gained weight despite doing everything right, the other would say, “you know, sometimes, that’s just the way it goes.” And we’d move on. I really enjoy consulting with partners and holding ourselves accountable to collective goals for the same reason. You know there are other people in it with you, and it’s nice to share the sense of achievement and satisfaction.
4. It’s important to be kind to oneself occasionally. This is a huge one. Every week we have a cheat day after weigh in, when we’re allowed to eat whatever we want. In communications, particularly in social justice spaces, there’s a performative martyrdom that fetishizes overwork and self-denial to extremes. I get it, the causes we’re working for are about social justice. But I’m also a vehement believer in the idea that we aren’t fighting a war, here. And that the best way for any of us to get to where we’re going is to do so at a pace that means we’re in it for the long term. Next time somebody tells me they worked all weekend I swear I’m going to tell them they’re setting a bad example not just for themselves but for all of us. And insist they go buy themselves a box of doughnuts and have a long lie down.
Meanwhile, I hope your January is going well.
M
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