I started listening to How to Change by Katy Milkman during my run this morning — a book about habits and behavior change. I take all books like this with a grain of salt (productivity culture is inherently flawed), but I like the nuggets of motivation that I get from the genre.
I’m not very far into the text, but one point she made early on that I like: we have to be like Mary Poppins and use a spoon full of sugar to help the medicine go down. So much of habit building and behavior change focuses on long-term outcomes — which are important and the ultimate goal — but we often overestimate our own willpower in the short term. Put another way, if we hate doing the thing that will help us down the road, it’s going to be really, really hard to do the thing. It’s worth taking time to think about the sugar — how can we enjoy and reward our good habits?
Pairing works well here. For instance, only listen to a compelling audiobook when you’re working out. As a personal example, I don’t let myself have a Diet Coke (my morning caffeine choice) until I’m sitting down at my desk and starting my workday.
It makes me think about this balance we have to do in life — we want to invest in our futures. We want to save for retirement and take care of our bodies and all that good stuff. But we also want to enjoy our lives now. I don’t think it’s one or the other. After all, force yourself to live so frugally (whether that be in what you eat, what you spend time on, or financially) and you still might die tomorrow. On the other hand, if you’re careless and too present-minded you can really hurt your future self. Moderation.
Again, my takeaway so far: find the sugar that helps you accomplish your long-term goals.
With Love,
Natalie