Summary

The article suggests that shaping one's environment is more effective for developing good habits than relying solely on willpower.

Abstract

The article argues that the environment significantly influences our ability to stick to new habits, such as avoiding processed sugar. It illustrates this through a personal anecdote where the presence of cookies in the kitchen led to the breaking of a promise to quit processed sugar. The author posits that if healthier options like apples or bananas were available instead, the outcome would have been more favorable. The article emphasizes that our decisions are often a product of our surroundings, and we tend to choose the easiest and most obvious options. It further suggests that by optimizing our environment to make good choices effortless and bad choices difficult, we can foster new, positive habits without conscious resistance. For instance, replacing TV time with playing the guitar or reading books can lead to the development of beneficial habits. The author concludes by advising readers to make good behaviors convenient and bad behaviors challenging to facilitate habit change.

Opinions

Willpower alone is insufficient for maintaining good habits; the environment plays a crucial role.
The ease of access to certain items influences our choices more than we realize.
Disciplined individuals are adept at arranging their environment to support their goals.
The availability of healthy food options at home can prevent unhealthy eating.
Removing or reducing access to distractions like TV and video games can decrease their use.
Placing tempting but unhealthy items out of reach can reduce their consumption.
Making positive activities (like reading or playing an instrument) more accessible can encourage the development of good habits.
The environment can subtly guide our behavior, making it possible to develop good habits without conscious effort.

There’s a Better Way Than Willpower to Develop Good Habits

Your environment plays a vital role

Consider the following situation…

One day I read an article on the web about all the harmful effects of processed sugar on the human body.

From that very day, I decided to quit eating all the products that contain processed sugar.

The next day I went to the gym, got fully exhausted, came back home, went to the kitchen where a bowl full of cookies was waiting for me. I decided not to touch them and cook my own healthy and tasty meal.

But while I was cooking, I was feeling so hungry that I can’t resist my temptation and ate almost half of the cookies that were there in the bowl.

So, how many days did I take to break my promise? Just one, that too incomplete.

What do you think was the problem? My willpower? Yes, you can say, but don’t you think that the environment played a much bigger role in breaking my promise?

What would have been the result if there were apples or bananas in the bowl instead of cookies. I was definitely tired and hungry and wanted something to eat desperately, so wouldn’t I’ve eaten them. I would have definitely jumped onto them and have eaten them.

That would have been a much healthier option, and I would have kept my promise alive too.

You see, our environment is one of the invisible forces that continuously shapes human behavior.

We often think that the decisions we’re making are solely our choice, and neglect the fact that this thought is coming from analyzing the environment and going for the easiest and obvious options.

Let’s take another example…

Suppose you are feeling very thirsty and want to drink something. You open the fridge and suppose there are cold drinks and water both in your fridge. You would instantly pick up a bottle of cold drink, at least I would have done that, as it is tastier than water.

But what if there were no cold drinks and only water left in the fridge, plus the store is 2 km away from your house? What would you do in that situation? Would you go to the store just for a cold drink? At least I wouldn’t have done that. And end up drinking water instead of a cold drink.

So why did I chose water? Obviously, it is a healthier option, but that’s not the reason, it was the easier option and no energy was needed to be expended to grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator. You won’t go two kilometers away just for a can of soda. I mean, water is just within arms reach and will do the same task, i.e., quench your thirst.

Research has shown that disciplined people are not different from normal people, they’re just too good at optimizing their environment for a better result.

For example, how would you eat healthily if your house is full of junk foods? How can’t you get distracted by TV and video games if they’re always available to you? And why would you drink that tasteless water if you have cans of soda always in your fridge?

Disciplined people don’t avoid their temptation, they just avoid unhealthy situations. How would you eat unhealthy every time if you keep healthy food items in your house? How would you spend time watching TV and video games if you don’t have access to them? And how would you drink a cold drink or a soda if you have no can of soda in your fridge?

What if instead of TV you have a guitar and instead of video games you have books? You would always stumble upon either of the two. If you play the guitar, great, you are learning a new skill. If you are reading books, great, you are acquiring a lot of information.

And boom, you just started to develop two new good habits without even knowing about it. And you see, that’s how you can develop some new good habits without even having to resist the temptation.

Just try to make your good behaviors as easy as possible and your bad behaviors as difficult as possible. And this simple trick will change your life forever.

Let’s say you want to develop a habit of reading books and cut down the TV consumption because let’s admit it’s not possible to throw away our TVs from our houses, what you can do is you can place a book on your couch where you sit to watch TV and hide the remote somewhere far away from the couch.

This would help you to expose yourself to the book more often and in turn, you’ll read them as you don’t want to go and search your remote because now, reading is an easier task than finding the remote.

So that’s how we can develop new habits just by optimizing our environment. I hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading!!