WAWs or Wayward M: How to SHOW change is afoot?

[Maybell]

In The Power of Habit there is a suggestion for how to alter a pattern to a healthier one. The author used to go down to the cafeteria for a cookie every afternoon at 3:00. He wanted to break the habit so he tried some experiments.

He tried to see what would happen if he went and got the cookie at a different time. He discovered he didn't the cookie at any time other than 3:00.

So then he tried bringing a cookie to the office and eating it at 3:00. But he didn't want the cookie, he wanted to go to the cafeteria.

So then he tried going to the cafeteria at 3:00 and getting a tea instead. He found he was OK with not getting the cookie when he did that.

So then he tried going to the cafeteria at 3:00 and getting nothing.

That was how he discovered that the need he was satisfying with his cookie habit was the need to get up and stretch his legs and talk to other people at a certain point in his day.

Once he realized that, he turned the habit into a walk around the outside of the building with a colleague or two. He lost 15 pounds that way, if memory serves.

And he still got his needs met.

So watch what your brain is doing when you think about your ex, or when you write to your ex. See if you can turn that habit into something healthier, a step at a time.