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I've found two approaches that seem to work quite well, especially when both are exercised. 1. Brainwash yourself. Taking the cookie example this would mean br
by jgilias 6y ago
I've found two approaches that seem to work quite well, especially when both are exercised.
1. Brainwash yourself. Taking the cookie example this would mean brainwashing yourself about the evils of sugar to the point that you really don't want the cookies anymore. This has to be consistent though, we're very good at forgetting uncomfortable things.
2. Building beneficial habits. If there's something that takes willpower to do, try building a habit of doing it. Takes around 40 days to achieve, and there are plenty of apps that can help. Once a habit is set though, the activity takes no willpower whatsoever. It's just something you do.
- mettamage 6y agoI agree with 1. that works for me as well. With regards to 2. that has never worked for me by itself, unfortunately. What I do instead is to find a way to be intrinsically motivated. For example, with exercise I notice that the gain in alertness feels like drinking coffee. So I now tell myself to drink coffee (and by that I mean exercise), that really works well in my particular case and makes me intrinsically motivated to exercise as the alertness gained by exercise is its own reward. Though, I do need the right setup for this, I'm currently house sitting and I'm not exercising because I don't have my weights. So how habit formation for me does help is that the more I practice a routine, the easier it is to execute. Which is why I'm not exercizing right now as I'd need to do body weight exercises and I'm used to weight exercises.
- agumonkey 6y agoAnd related, a sense of benefit. You have to listen to the right parts of your mind.
- tlb 6y agoHow do you avoid side-effects of brainwashing yourself? Like being more vulnerable to believing other things that aren’t true? Or increased tendency to see issues as black and white?