We all want to be healthy. We all want to have more patience with our kids. We all want to feel fulfilled by our work. And our desire to achieve these aspirations is enduring. Or at least it doesn’t change quickly. This seems like a good thing, right? Yes, it is. An aspiration is an excellent starting point for changing your life. Millions of people genuinely aspire to live healthier, less stressful, and more fulfilling lives. But here’s the problem: People often believe that motivating themselves toward an aspiration will lead to lasting change. So people focus on aspirations. And they focus on motivation. And that combo doesn’t produce results. This misleading idea is pervasive. You’ve probably seen a well-meaning public-health poster in the doctor’s office that shows lots of colorful vegetables with the headline: eat the rainbow! At first glance, you think: Yes, I need to eat better food. But then you’re not sure what practical steps to take. How much green and how much red? That means salad and apples, right? It can’t mean mint ice cream and red licorice, can it? You are motivated to ‘eat the rainbow,’ but maybe you don’t know how. You may feel frustrated and end up being a little hard on yourself. Dreams and aspirations are good things. So are public-health campaigns. But investing time and energy to motivate ourselves — or other people — toward an abstraction is the wrong move. Let’s say your aspiration is to eat more fruit, and the behavior you brainstormed is to put blueberries in your oatmeal. Don’t imagine the Fantasy-You getting up early to fix oatmeal each day. Instead, think of Real-You rolling out of bed twenty minutes before dashing out the door. Daily blueberries in oatmeal is probably not realistic. How about putting an apple in your purse instead?
stem: bj fogg
perspectief: the real-you rolling out of bed twenty minutes before dashing out the door wants things to be easy
titel: motivating toward an abstraction doesn’t yield results
tags: gedragsverandering, fantasy-you, real-you, b=map
bron: tiny habits, the small changes that change everyting (2020)
mopw: meerstemmige encyclopedie / appel