To Change a Habit, Do the Opposite

Take a positive approach to shedding those negative behaviours

We all set off with the best of intentions to procrastinate less, or not be so grumpy, or eat less junk food. So many of our attempts to break bad habits involve doing less of something. More often than not we fail. Doing less of something isn’t very concrete. It is far too easy to slip and rationalize that next time we’ll not do it.

One solution of course is to stop altogether - any slip ups are obvious. That might work for stopping eating sweets or something fairly easy to quantify. For other things - the sort of character issues that are so important in the workplace it is not so simple. To ask yourself to never procrastinate, or never snap at a coworker is all but impossible.

What works far better - and gives an immediate result is to do the opposite of the habit you are trying to break. If you want to procrastinate less - do a task you might normally avoid, right away. Don’t just try not to snap at a coworker - walk in an compliment them for no particular reason. Do you want to spend less time at home checking your work email - shut off the computer, put the Blackberry in a drawer and go out for a walk with your family. You will be rewarded too - you’ll feel less stress when the tough job gets done early, you’ll enjoy the surprised smile from your colleague, or you’ll enjoy some very happy time with your family.

In each case you will not only avoid the behavior that you are trying to change, you will make a positive change that will reward you and reinforce the good behavior that you are trying to focus on improving.

What positive action are you going to take today?

Thanks to Jennifer Rensel for the photo via Flickr - check out her photostream.

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