AVOIDING THE NEED FOR MOTIVATION

I was driving with my kids at Safari, when we noticed a lion sitting on a rock on top of a hill, in a perfect view.

My daughter asked me  "how do they get him to stay in that exact spot?"

 

Several years ago I was reading Peter Bregman's books about management technics. I remember a story about a family who moved to Georgia from NYC to enjoy outdoor living. The first piece they bought was an outdoor table. They placed it in their garden and their plan was to eat every meal there. But the plan failed. Somehow, they always chose to eat in the kitchen, where all the foods and drinks were. The idea of eating outside was amazing but the reality was too much effort.

Until one day, the father had a brainstorm. He moved the table from the garden to the deck right outside the kitchen. As far as I remember the difference was about 10 meters. And after that  they end up eating every single meal outside. Once the family changed the form, every member of the family started having their meals at the deck next to the garden. Those people were not walking 10 meters to the table all year long. The solution is not to explain to people why they should take the walk or force them to take the walk. The solution is far simplier; Move the table.

A recent study published in Journal of Public Health found that the closer teens live to places where alcohol is sold, the greater likely they will drink and drive. Even parents tell not to drink, schools tell not to drink, advertisements tell not to drink, if the alcohol stores and bars are within walking distance of where teens live, they will more likely to drink and drive drunk. It was stated that the close environment dictates teens actions.

We may think that we make our own choices and follow through on them without being too influenced by things around us, but all we need to do is to realize just how much our actions are determined by our environment. Let me give you an example from my diet experience before running the Barcelona marathon. I experienced that if I use a big spoon I eat more. If I use a big plate I am served more and eat more. If my kids put their chocolate box next to my notebook, I end up eating at least half of the box. So what I have learned is, sometimes we should not fight with ourselves to change our behaviour in the center of wrong environment, we should just change the environment. In the case of food, using a small salad plate instead of a big dinner plate was all the diet I need. It worked for me.

Let's come back to my daughter's question about a lion that sat so royally on the rock at the top of the hill for all visitors to see. It turns out that the rock he sat on was temperature controlled. It was warm on cold days, cool on hot days. No need to train the lion or to tie him to the rock or hope he likes the view. Just make the rock a place he wants to sit. 

Create an environment that naturally compels you to do the things you want to do.