Guitar dey under one bed, inside im case, four months don pass. Di person wey own am no dey lie when e talk say e wan play more. E buy am on purpose, e like how e take feel for hand, and e still fit picture di kind person wey go dey play well well two years from now. Di want na real thing and di plan no bad. Na just say di guitar dey eleven steps and one zip away, and eleven steps far pass how e sound for nine o'clock for night.
Dis one na di cheapest fix for di whole discipline matter, and na almost fully physical thing. Discipline na mostly location. Move di object and di behaviour go follow am. Di person wey dey practise every day usually get better shelf, no be better character. Nothing for down here dey ask you make you want am more, because you don already want am.
How many steps suppose dey between me and di habit?
Three or less, and count am honestly from where you actually dey sidon reach di first real action. Once e pass three, di habit go need fresh decision every single time, and na decision dey cost pass.
Count am well well, right now, with your mouth. Standing up na one. Waka go bedroom na two. Kneel down, pull di case comot, open di zip, carry di guitar comot, find pick, tune am: dat habit dey behind eight steps. Now compare am to guitar wey dey for stand near di chair wey you don already dey sidon, e don tune, and di pick dey for di arm of di chair. Same person, same want, same evening, but di chance change completely.
Write di number down for every habit wey matter to you. Di number na di diagnosis. Anything wey be four or more no be motivation problem wey dey wait better mood. Na logistics problem wey dey wait ten minutes of rearranging, and ten minutes na price wey you fit pay tonight.
Do di same count for di other side too, for whatever dey currently win. Phone dey for zero steps, because e dey your hand. Television dey for two. Di thing wey you keep dey plan to do dey for eight. Nobody dey choose between dem on merit for end of one long day. Dem dey choose di one wey near dem, den dem go later explain di choice give demsef with character talk.
Why moving one object go change wetin I dey do?
Because for ordinary day, wetin dey near you dey beat wetin you plan. One 2019 Cochrane review wey look 24 trials find say when dem put food far, people chop am less, and di people wey write am rate di certainty of dat evidence as low.
Read am as show of how di mechanism dey work, no be as promise about your own guitar. Every one of dose trials happen for shop, canteen or lab, no be inside parlour, and every one na about food, because di reviewers no see any useful trial on anoda thing. But di lever wey dem test na still di same one you dey pull. Anoda review, on wetin dem call micro-environments, argue say where object sit dey work on behaviour mostly through automatic process, without asking di person make e even think about am.
Dat one na good news, because di same force dey run for whichever direction you point am. Di version of you for seven o'clock for morning no fit win argument against closed case wey dey under bed. But dat same version of you go definitely pick up guitar wey don already dey near im hand.
Wetin I suppose move first?
Move di object wey you wan use, den remove di obstacle wey stand for im front. For dat order, because di first one na one minute work and e go buy most of di result.
Shoe for door, no be inside wardrobe. Water bottle wey you fill last night dey stand for counter. Kettlebell for corner of room wey you dey pass, no be for garage. Book for pillow. Guitar for stand. Notebook open with pen wey lie on top am. Storage na where habit dey go forget, and case, drawer or high shelf na storage no matter how neat e look.
Den finish di small chores before time. Tune di guitar tonight. Charge di watch. Pack di bag and put am where your leg go land. None of dis one impressive, and na exactly why e dey work, because none of am dey require you to be different person tomorrow morning.
How I go make di thing wey I wan do less hard to reach?
Put one step of wahala for im front, and if you fit, put real object between you and am. One step usually do, because di same arithmetic wey dey stop you from picking di guitar go stop you from picking di phone.
Charge di phone for anoda room for night. Log out from di account. Comot di app from di home screen so opening am go cost you search. Put di snack for high shelf and put fruit for eye level. None of dis one na willpower and none of am na punishment. E just move di cost from di moment of temptation, where you weak pass, go one calm evening, where you no weak.
One finding worth to sabi here. For one 2023 study, 42 students score lower for basic attention test when dem own phone wey dem don off lie for di desk beside dem, pass when di phone no dey there at all. Putting di phone for anoda place no be act of holiness. Na step of wahala wey dey buy back small piece of your attention for di hour wey you dey try protect.
Wetin if my space small or na me and person dey share am?
Den use container instead of room, and claim one square foot instead of full corner. Bag wey you don pack near door, shoebox for shelf, tray for table: habit need place, and di place fit small well well.
For house wey plenty people dey, talk di arrangement out loud so e go survive oda people. Di guitar stand go dey here. Di mat go live under dis chair. Dis hook na for gym bag. Location na di part wey dey quietly move back within one month, and e dey move back fastest when nobody else sabi say e be decision from di start.
If you dey travel, di rule fit follow you. Di object go enter bag first, no be last: resistance band, paperback, notebook, di small version of di thing. Di habit wey dey survive trip na di one wey get place inside di box before di trip start.
Location dey hold you for di days wey motivation no dey
You don already want dis thing. Person wey don carry real goal for months no need anoda speech about wanting am, and dis article no go give dem one. Wetin dem need na make di good thing be di easiest thing for di room, so dat di ordinary Tuesday version of dem, tired, eight hours inside one hard day, go still do am and e no go even notice say e decide.
Do di rearranging once, tonight, for like ten minutes. Den make di room carry am for di next one year, and put your energy where e suppose dey, wey be inside di practice, no be inside argument about whether to practise. Na so person dey go harder and last longer, and e dey start with taking one object comot from one case.
Sources
- Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (via PubMed Central), Altering the availability or proximity of food, alcohol, and tobacco products to change their selection and consumption
- BMC Public Health (via PubMed Central), Altering micro-environments to change population health behaviour: towards an evidence base for choice architecture interventions
- Scientific Reports (via PubMed Central), The mere presence of a smartphone reduces basal attentional performance