If you want to get better at something, you have to be committed.  One of the hardest things about committing to change or committing to a new habit is... well... staying committed.  

I recently read Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness written by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein. In this book they define a nudge as "any small feature of the environment that attracts people's attention and alters their behavior".  They go into a lot of detail, on a lot of subjects. The biggest take-away for me was the idea of creating "nudges" in my own environment that can change things for the positive.  Often, small changes in your life can have a dramatic long term effects.  


For example, let's say that you would like to start enjoying thebenefits of drinking cold water first thing in the morning before you reach for that cup of coffee.  One of the problems with the morning is that you don't have your full mental capacities yet... your brain is still not awake and decision-making is not going to be a strong skill.  

So you design a nudge.  Successful nudges need to interrupt current habits.
If your current habit is to stumble downstairs and reach for the coffee cup, then a great nudge would be to keep one drinking glass, preferably the same drinking glass everyday, in the same cupboard as the coffee cups.  Keep it right up in front of your favorite cup.  Now when your groggy self reaches for that cup of coffee in the morning... you will see your glass and remember "Oh yeah! water first."

Jerry Seinfeld has a productivity secret that incorporates nudges.  He credits his success to diligent and consistent writing everyday.  He cemented this habit by creating a nudge that he would he would see everyday and have a vested interest in continuing.  He would take a wall calendar and big red marker to help him commit to writing everyday.  Everyday after writing he would make a big red X on the calendar.  The calendar would look at him everyday and he would look at the calendar everyday.  As the days went by, the X's would pile up and then he was committed.  He could see the progress and it would be about keeping it going.  Seinfeld's strategy is even better as it also serves as a checklist and creates a strong commitment quickly.  I will write more on using checklists and their power later.

If you want to change something, start with small "designed" nudges to help you along.  Put something in your way.  Tie a string to your toothbrush, put a sticker on your steering wheel, put a mirror on the fridge so you see your self before you open the door.  Figure out something that you want to change, decide and design the change.




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