A model for behaviour change

“Why do you eat cheesecake?” my dad asked. “I thought you are one of those vegans.”

Silence on my side. 

It’s not just me who doesn’t do what she wants to do. It is part of the human condition. The knowledge-behavior-gap, the gap between what we “should” do and what we actually do, is what can keep me up all night. I have come across hundreds of models and philosophies to make change happen. Each one claiming it is THE one. I tried most of them and I haven’t found THE one. Yet, here is by Fogg that I found exceptionally useful. According to Fogg there are only three things we can do that will create lasting change: Have an epiphany, change our environment, or change our habits in tiny ways. He suggests starting tiny to decrease resistance and make it as easy as possible. Because to do the new behavior it has to be super easy or you have to be super mega motivated. Motivation is not very reliable though and fluctuates, so making it easy is key. 

Whenever motivation and ability meet above the action line, I make the change. 

Whenever motivation and ability meet below the action line, I don’t make the change. 

I could either constantly be super motivated to not eat cheesecake (which I am not) or I could have healthy options handy that make it more likely that I don’t choose the cake.