In our last +1, we alchemized an Enervator into an Energizer and did some fancy new math:

-1 → +1 = +3 for the win!

I mentioned the Enervator I wanted to address: Online news.

Now, this isn’t a super-bad habit (like it used to be) but, frankly, I just don’t need to download the craziness in our world via an instantaneous, fire hydrant of (bad) online news. I’m going back to my weekly offline copy of The Economist—choosing to play my role well and to serve profoundly by getting to the bottom of things rather than trying to stay on top of every little thing.

So…

Behavior Design wise, the first thing to know about deleting a behavior, as we recently discussed, is to REMOVE the prompt.

No Prompt/Trigger, no behavior.

But…

What if you can’t remove the Prompt per se? What if the Prompt is a voice in your head telling you to do something?

Well…

Then we move on to the second part of the habit-deletion process and we find a way to make that undesired behavior HARDER to do.

I recently shared the simple hack I used for our smartphone—taking it out of the kitchen drawer and walking the couple dozen feet down the hall to put it in the linen closet.

That worked like a charm. Why? Because I made it harder.

So…

Back to me and my online news issues. (lol)

I made it slightly harder for myself by installing a Chrome extension to block the handful of sites I tend to visit.

But…

I’d just open up an incognito browser and feast on news that way. (HAH! Take that site-blocker.) (Ummm… Yah.)

So…

I’m like: “There HAS to be a way to block that in incognito.”

Enter: Google search.

There is.

It’s now set up.

That should make it Harder for me to do the behavior. (Wish me luck!)

But, that’s more than enough about me.

Today’s +1 is about YOU.

What’s a behavior you want to Delete?

Step 1. How’s your Prompt? Can you get rid of it?

Step 2. If it’s tough to get rid of the Prompt, how can you make it HARDER to do?

Let’s do that.

And…

LET’S DO THIS!!!

Today.

How to Delete a Bad Habit (Again!) #1233

One Way: Make It Harder

Listen

This +1 Inspired by:

Tiny Habits

Unlock this Heroic +1 (and over 1,000 more)!

This +1 Inspired by:

Tiny Habits