Be it trying to lose some weight, sticking to an exercise regime, taking your vitamins, quitting smoking, or any other goal, if it is something that goes against your usual routine, adopting a new habit is going to be met with some resistance.
You can reframe the problem (it’s about building NEW habits, not destroying OLD ones) and explain the problem (it’s about the gap between short term happiness and long term-fulfillment), and yet you would not be anywhere closer to resolving it.
I think the key concept is here: Everyone is Different.
Sure, You Are Not Different when it comes to certain parameters like metabolic rate (which is what the linked article talks about) [1]. But you are different in many other ways.
The fact that you rise every morning and see your running shoes, reminding you of your commitment to the morning is something that makes you different.
The fact that you keep your supplements in the same place as you brush your teeth every morning could potentially increase the rate which you take your supplements. [2]
Even the fact that your college lecture theatres are located miles away from each other (it happens) makes you different, and increases your energy expenditure as such.
From this very informative talk from Rory Sutherland, remember this: The Interface fundamentally determines the behaviour.
I’m a big Tim Ferriss fan, and for a period of time, he worked strictly while listening to a particular type of music at 3am in the morning, sitting in the exact same spot with the Bourne Identity running on a large screen TV behind him with the volume muted. All of that just to create the work environment where he could work the most productively.
Irrational, yes. But problems with bingeing, smoking and any other impulsive activity happen so often because of little triggers in the environment which affect us subconsciously, and are by definition, irrational. That box of cookies sitting on the counter-top may not look appetising today, but just wait 7 days.
I’m sure that many people know intellectually that they need to lose weight, but simply cannot muster the willpower to adopt the necessary change. Perhaps then we should try to give willpower a little hand by manipulating the interface.
The key lies in constantly questioning; to look under the couch for the remote, and that big red button that you’ve spent all this time sitting on.
—
Notes:
[1] It is worth mentioning that metabolic rates typically vary within a +- 15% range. Thus the person with the lowest metabolic rate will have it quite a bit lower than the person with the highest metabolic rate.
[2] For an old lady who only needs 2 tablets – a Vitamin D boost and a Calcium/Magnesium supplement – this is going to make a huge difference in long term health.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
