Struggling to Break a Bad Habit? Science Says You Should Do This By Marie Forleo
Good Habits, Bad Habits by Wendy Wood
There
just isn’t no love. We just get right into it, don't we? What is love? Now, if
you’ve got some bad habits that just keep derailing your success and you are ready
to break them for good, this Article, my friend, is a must Read. Now, here’s
why we’re talking about this. A few weeks ago during a company meeting someone
asked for some ideas to break a late night cookies and ice cream habit. This
person said, and I quote, “It’s like I turn into a child at 9 PM and I have to have
my cookies and my ice cream before bed. This needs to stop.” And, I mean, I
could relate. I don't think that there’s any human on the planet who, at any
given time, doesn’t have at least one habit that really needs to get kicked to
the curb. Well, it turns out that there’s a simple two word fix that can
dramatically increase our ability to resist temptation and it gives us a better
chance to make a better choice.
Now,
this is based on research done by Dr. Vanessa Patrick. She’s a professor of marketing
at the University of Houston who published her findings on the power of self-talk
in the journal of Consumer Research. She found that when participants framed a
refusal as “I don't,” for instance, “I don't eat chocolate cake” or “I don't
eat sugar,” instead of “I can’t,” they were more successful at resisting the
desire to eat unhealthy foods or skip the gym. In fact, they found that when it
came to deciding whether to eat certain foods, saying “I don’t” was nearly
three times as effective as saying “no” about eight times more effective than
saying “I can’t.” Very interesting, right? I don’t versus I can’t. Two teeny
tiny words that can make a ginormous difference. And here’s why. When we say “I
don’t,” we are empowered. We’re determined. We are at choice. It’s a tough,
strong phrase like, end of story. But when we say “I can’t,” we dis-empower ourselves. It sounds like we’re not allowed to do something by some outside
force.
You
know what? We make ourselves feel deprived when we say “I can’t.” And in
essence, we make ourselves weak, whiny little bitches like, “What!!, I can’t
have the cookie.” Now, what’s even cooler though is we can tuck this little
trick into every corner of our lives. We can start making some clear, strong
declarations, like this. I don’t eat Skinny Pop every night. I don’t look at my
phone during dinner. I don't necessarily tune the Marie TV set. I don’t put the
toilet seat down. I don't refer to everyone whose name I don't immediately
remember as Chimichanga. I don't show up to the set of Marie TV nude starting
tomorrow. I don't stay up until 3 AM watching bear attack videos rubbing fried
chicken all over my thighs. I don't say no to new experiences. I don't shave. Pretty
awesome, right? And if you ever forget about this little two word miracle I
want you to power up this tweetable. When you need the strength to resist a bad
habit, I don't is stronger than I can’t. Now I would love to hear from you. Okay,
what’s the one habit that, if you’re super duper honest with yourself, is
derailing your success or your happiness? Is it eating a certain food, is it
checking social media when you should be writing or creating? Is it binge
watching some just dumb stuff on Netflix all night long? No matter what it is,
in the comments below tell me what, as of this moment, you will no longer do
using the phrase “I don’t.” The jiggle gets to settle. I don't even know the
meaning of the word no.
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