Thread by @rout_satyajit

Done with the resolutions for 2022 but worried that you may flake out? Understand the concept of activation energy and make it work for you.

Here I share 7 behavioral-science-backed ways curated from experts to lower the activation energy for positive change. Read on 🧵

After getting married, my wife and I moved to a rented place that had a hole in the wall for a picture-tube television 📺 It could only fit the smallest television. Upon becoming home owners a few years later, the first thing we did was mount a big flatscreen facing the couch.

How did it matter? At the rental with the basic entertainment set-up we spent more time having friends over or trying out recipes in the kitchen. At our own place, we were glued to the couch. We had drastically lowered the activation energy to binge-watch. 💑

Activation energy is a chemistry concept that refers to the energy required to start a chemical reaction. This energy barrier is needed so that, for example, no flammable material spontaneously combusts. Wrt habit change, it is the gap between our current and desired avatars.

Lowering the activation energy is key to positive change (and increasing it saves us from the unproductive bits about ourselves).

Here are seven ways to do so 👇

1/ MAKE USE OF FRESH STARTS: This is when our brains naturally reset. New year, birthdays, career change, going to university--these are all opportunities to wipe the slate clean and start afresh. Make use of them. @katy_milkman

2/ MAKE RULES, DONT DECIDE IN THE MOMENT: Our in-the-moment decision-making tends to succumb to peer pressure and temptations. Rules free up your mind, plus people argue less @ShaneAParrish

3/ USE ENVIRONMENT AS CATALYST: We tend to adopt the path of least resistance, so litter the path with the good stuff—fruits on the counter, gym shoes at eye level. @JamesClear

4/ MAKE A PUBLIC COMMITMENT: Tracking your goals publicly, like solopreneur @JustinSaaS does, makes you work to save face.

https://twitter.com/JustinSaaS/status/1478071293803171841

5/ BUNDLE TEMPTATIONS: Pair an indulgence with something you need to do. Do the treadmill while listening to true-crime audiobooks or watch a show while folding laundry. We aced this during the pandemic. @Katy_Milkman

6/ DO CATEGORY CLEANING: Identify inter-connected behaviors and tackle them together to an over-compensation loop. Quit smoking and drinking if you tend to do one with the other.

7/ DROP A CHANGE IF UNSUSTAINABLE: Crash diets tend to crash quickly. If the activation energy is too high, you will buckle. To avoid regression, make changes you can sustain. @Naval is a strong advocate for this.

We may be unaware of the activation energy needed to get our lives on track. But reminding ourselves that the start is always the hardest helps kickstart the process of change.

If you got value from this thread, would you RT it so that more can benefit from it? I'd be so🙏

https://twitter.com/rout_satyajit/status/1479281325093928966

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