Change Anything

Key Takeaways

1. Escape the willpower trap: Change requires more than just motivation

When people believe that their ability to make good choices stems from nothing more than their willpower—and that willpower is a quality they're either born with or they're not—they eventually stop trying altogether.

Willpower is not enough. The willpower trap leads people to believe that personal change is solely a matter of motivation. This oversimplified view ignores the multiple sources of influence working for and against us. Research shows that successful change requires addressing six key sources of influence:

1. Personal Motivation
2. Personal Ability
3. Social Motivation
4. Social Ability
5. Structural Motivation
6. Structural Ability

By recognizing and harnessing these sources, individuals can create a more comprehensive and effective change strategy. This approach increases the likelihood of success by addressing not just motivation, but also skills, social support, and environmental factors that impact behavior.

2. Be both scientist and subject in your personal change journey

Good change scientists don't just thrash about trying every idea that makes the front cover of a popular magazine. Instead, they use a specialized form of scientific inquiry.

Scientific approach to change. To effectively change, one must adopt a scientific mindset, treating oneself as both the researcher and the subject. This approach involves:

• Identifying crucial moments: Recognize specific situations where you're most likely to engage in unwanted behavior
• Creating vital behaviors: Develop specific actions to take during these crucial moments
• Engaging all six sources of influence: Systematically apply strategies from each source to support your change efforts

By continuously observing, experimenting, and adjusting your approach, you can tailor your change plan to your unique circumstances and challenges. This iterative process allows for more effective and sustainable personal transformation.

3. Harness personal motivation by loving what you hate

If we could only convert our dislikes into likes, we'd be unstoppable.

Transform your perspective. To increase personal motivation, it's crucial to change how you feel about the behaviors you're trying to adopt or avoid. Strategies to achieve this include:

• Visiting your default future: Vividly imagine the consequences of not changing
• Telling the whole vivid story: Use specific, descriptive language to highlight the impact of your choices
• Using value words: Connect your actions to your core values and principles
• Making it a game: Set short-term goals and track progress to make the process more engaging
• Creating a personal motivation statement: Develop a powerful reminder of your reasons for change

By reframing your perspective and connecting your actions to deeper motivations, you can cultivate a genuine desire for change, making the process more sustainable and enjoyable.

4. Develop skills to do what you currently can't

Changing persistent and resistant habits always involves learning new skills.

Skill development is key. Personal change often requires acquiring new abilities. To enhance your personal ability:

1. Start with a skill scan: Identify the specific skills you need to develop
2. Employ deliberate practice: Break skills into small components and practice with immediate feedback
3. Learn the will skill: Develop techniques to resist temptation and delay gratification

By focusing on skill development, you address the capability gap that often hinders change efforts. This approach shifts the focus from relying solely on willpower to equipping yourself with the necessary tools for success.

5. Transform accomplices into friends for lasting change

Every time you transform an accomplice into a friend, you win twice. You remove the influence of someone who is pulling against you while adding someone who is pulling for you.

Leverage social support. The people around us significantly influence our behavior. To harness social motivation and ability:

• Identify friends and accomplices: Recognize who supports your change efforts and who enables old habits
• Redefine "normal": Challenge unhealthy social norms that perpetuate bad habits
• Hold transformation conversations: Communicate your goals and ask for support from others
• Add new friends: Seek out individuals who share your goals or can offer support
• Distance yourself from unwilling accomplices: Limit exposure to those who consistently undermine your efforts

By actively shaping your social environment, you create a support system that reinforces your change efforts and makes success more likely.

6. Invert the economy: Use incentives to your advantage

When used in isolation, one tactic is likely to be insufficient to either motivate or enable change.

Harness the power of incentives. To leverage structural motivation:

• Use both carrots and the threat of losing carrots: Employ rewards and loss aversion
• Apply incentives in moderation and combination: Use small, meaningful rewards alongside other sources of influence
• Reward small wins: Celebrate progress on vital behaviors rather than just end results

By carefully designing and implementing incentives, you can create an environment that naturally encourages desired behaviors and discourages unwanted ones.

7. Control your space to make change inevitable

When you transform your environment from foe into friend, you can make the changes that sometimes feel impossible practically inevitable.

Environment shapes behavior. To utilize structural ability:

• Build fences: Create barriers that prevent unwanted behaviors and facilitate desired ones
• Manage distance: Keep positive influences close and temptations far away
• Change cues: Introduce reminders that prompt desired behaviors
• Engage your autopilot: Set up defaults that make positive choices easier
• Use tools: Leverage technology and other resources to support your change efforts

By intentionally shaping your physical environment, you can reduce the effort required to maintain new habits and make relapse into old patterns more difficult.

8. Apply the science of personal success to your career

Individuals who are singled out by their colleagues as the go-to folks in the company are also widely known across their teams and sometimes even their entire organizations.

Career advancement strategies. To excel in your career:

1. Know your stuff: Continuously develop expertise in your field
2. Focus on the right stuff: Contribute to tasks essential to your organization's success
3. Build a reputation for being helpful: Become known as a generous expert

By applying these principles and using the six sources of influence, you can overcome career obstacles and achieve professional success. This approach helps you align your efforts with organizational priorities and build valuable relationships.

9. Create sustainable habits for weight loss and fitness

Any approach that causes you to eat less and exercise more will lead to weight loss and improved fitness.

Sustainable lifestyle changes. To achieve lasting weight loss and fitness:

• Identify crucial moments that lead to unhealthy choices
• Create vital behaviors that support your health goals
• Apply the six sources of influence to support your new habits

Key strategies include finding enjoyable healthy foods and exercises, developing skills to resist temptation, leveraging social support, and creating an environment that promotes healthy choices. By focusing on sustainable lifestyle changes rather than short-term diets, you can achieve long-term success in weight management and fitness.

10. Achieve financial fitness through behavioral change

Winning at money is 80 percent behavior and 20 percent head knowledge... Most of us know what to do, but we just don't do it.

Change financial behaviors. To improve your financial situation:

• Track everything: Increase awareness of your spending habits
• Know before you go: Plan purchases in advance to avoid impulse buying
• Save before you spend: Automatically allocate a portion of income to savings
• Hold weekly wealth reviews: Regularly assess your financial progress and habits

By applying the six sources of influence to your financial behaviors, you can develop habits that lead to long-term financial stability and success. This approach addresses the root causes of financial problems rather than just treating symptoms.

11. Overcome addictions by aligning all sources of influence

Changes require you to overcome powerful urges stimulated from deep within the brain, and this takes time. It will also take several tactics.

Comprehensive addiction recovery. To overcome addictions:

• Recognize that recovery is possible and common
• Identify crucial moments that trigger addictive behaviors
• Create vital behaviors to replace addictive habits
• Apply all six sources of influence to support your recovery efforts

Key strategies include developing personal motivation, acquiring new skills, leveraging social support, creating incentives, and modifying your environment to support sobriety. By addressing all aspects of addiction, you can create a robust recovery plan that leads to lasting change.

12. Improve relationships by changing yourself first

Changes in her own behavior might substantially affect the relationship.

Self-focused relationship improvement. To enhance your relationships:

• Identify crucial moments in your interactions that lead to conflict
• Develop vital behaviors to improve your communication and responsiveness
• Apply the six sources of influence to support positive relationship habits

Key strategies include reframing your perspective on your partner's behavior, developing communication skills, seeking support from relationship-positive friends, and creating an environment that fosters connection. By focusing on changing your own behavior first, you can often catalyze positive changes in your relationship dynamics.

Last updated: January 24, 2025

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