Jan-System Check

Or- What in the Weltanschauung?

This month has been about habits. January is the month for committing to the new, to learning, and improving.

Unfortunately, most people don’t make it beyond ‘Quitter’s Day’— January 12th.

This month, we’ve talked about the idea that we are probably our own worst enemy when it comes to change. We talked about deciphering the EMPCOA or the enemy’s (our) most probable course of action and planning to defeat it.

We’ve talked about establishing Tasks, Conditions, and Standards to keep us on track.

We’ve talked about Dr. B.J. Fogg’s model of B=MAP or Behavior = Motivation, Ability, and Prompts.

And, last week we hit on James Clear’s Cue—Craving—Response— Reward model.

The problem is that all of the things we have talked about simply aren’t enough for most people.

Everyone knows the behaviors that they need to change.

Everyone starts off motivated.

Everyone commits to making the changes that will improve their lives.

Everyone knows to clean the pantry of junk food, and put the book they want to read near the bed, and lay out their gym clothes to make it easier to go in the morning.

So why do ninety-one out of every one hundred people fail to keep the promises that they made to themselves or their loved ones?

9 out of 100

It’s easy to beat up the 91 and blame them for not having grit or willpower or determination or discipline or endurance.

And, there is some truth in that.

But I’m not here to beat you up or blame you. Blame will only serve to solidify the strongly held opinion of the ninety-one that they are incapable of change —The fixed mindset that keeps us stuck in the same rut.

The answer is relatively simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

Most resolutions/ goals are set at some future point and achieving them requires us to become the sort of person who can achieve them. This means that the goal can not be achieved by the you that established it.

As James Clear has said, “When you’re working toward a goal, you are essentially saying, “I’m not good enough yet, but I will be when I reach my goal.”

Failed goals also often have the characteristic of being poorly defined. As our man Epictetus said,

“It’s time to stop being vague. If you wish to be an extraordinary person, if you wish to be wise, then you should explicitly identify the kind of person you aspire to become.”

So how do we go from the pack of ninety-one to the nine?

The first step is one that we have already talked about, The goal has to be a checkpoint, not an endpoint.

The second is that we have to start thinking in systems.