Sure, self-discipline is an asset. Plenty of successful people evidently benefit from having truckloads of it. However, strengthening willpower may not always be easy for the rest of us.
You can increase productivity and contentment simply by altering your environment. Make it easier for you (and others in your life) to confront temptation and adopt the habits you want.
Use stimulus control to shift your behavior:
- Want to stop taking on more debt? Freeze your credit cards.
- Can’t stop checking your phone for likes, comments, texts, tweets, and game requests? Disable the apps.
- Want your household to be more organized? Establish routines and make things easy to put away with clearly labeled receptacles.
- Want to switch to healthier snacking choices? Splurge on pre-washed, pre-cut, grab-and-go vegetables.
You’re more likely to start change when you put the stimulus for action into your environment.
Idea for Impact: Don’t get bogged down by thinking that lifestyle changes are entirely about willpower. In a world so heavily baited with pervasive cues and craving-inducing stimuli, the more you can tweak your environment to better condition yourself into your desired habits, the more likely you are to meet your goals.