Make Change As Easy As Possible

So I’m one week into my self-improvement experiment and have already made some decent progress. On most days, I’ve managed to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables. I’m also listening more attentively during meetings at work. I only managed to call my parents once, but I’m figuring out how to make two calls part of my weekly routine. I think I’ve been able to make these small changes largely because of how easy they are.

This probably shouldn’t be a surprise, since one of the best predictors of whether we change our behavior is simply the effort required to do so. As you’ve probably guessed, when the effort required goes up, the likelihood of success goes down.

Keeping that in mind, I’m trying to make small changes that create minimal disruption in my daily routine. As an example, for my long-term goal of lowering my cholesterol, I’ve set the modest initial goal of eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. To make the change even easier, I’m making it a point to eat fruits and vegetables that I actually like. This means I’m not forcing myself to eat broccoli or cauliflower, which to me are only edible when covered in either Thousand Island or ranch dressing. Instead, I’m eating carrots, grape tomatoes, and strawberries, all of which I like. Each morning, I pack an assortment of them and then snack throughout the day. Also to make things easier on myself, I’m allowing a full 30 days to focus on my initial goal. This should help not try to change too much too soon.

Once eating five servings of fruits and vegetables becomes automatic – meaning it requires almost no thought or effort on my part – I’ll move on to another modest goal that also will help lower my cholesterol. I’ll take the same gradual approach to becoming a better listener at work and to devoting more time to my family.

The key take away is pretty straightforward: when trying to change your behavior, make it as easy on yourself as possible. If you set small goals that require minimal effort, you’ll dramatically increase your chances for long-term success.