1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:06,160 Speaker 1: Welcome to How I Work, a show about the tactics 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:08,600 Speaker 1: used by leading innovators to get so much out of 3 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:11,720 Speaker 1: their day. I'm your host, doctor Emmatha Imbert. I'm an 4 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: organizational psychologist, the CEO of Inventing, and I'm obsessed with 5 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:19,920 Speaker 1: finding ways to optimize my work day. Normally, on this show, 6 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: I speak to world class innovators and entrepreneurs about how 7 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: they structure their day. But I thought i'd try something 8 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:30,040 Speaker 1: new today. So through my work, I spend literally hours 9 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,520 Speaker 1: every week reading through new research that's coming out about 10 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:36,800 Speaker 1: how to improve the way we work. So I thought 11 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: i'd share something interesting that I learned recently, and it's 12 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: all about behavior change. So every day, millions of people 13 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: worldwide try to change their behavior. They try to eat 14 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:50,960 Speaker 1: less young food, try to stick to an exercise regime, 15 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: or try to check Facebook less often and so on. 16 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: But the thing about changing behavior is that it's hard. 17 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: It's why most of us continue to make unhealthy food choices, 18 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 1: grow to bed late, and for a sleep in over 19 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: a morning run. But here's the thing, because what I 20 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: found is that there's actually a magic word that you 21 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 1: can use that will make you fifty percent more likely 22 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:19,679 Speaker 1: to stick to any kind of change that you want 23 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:24,400 Speaker 1: to make in your life, and that word is don't. 24 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: So when we learn new ways of working or new 25 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: rules and have to leave behind old behavior, we tend 26 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: to default to the word can't. So, for example, when 27 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 1: trying a new diet, we tell ourselves and other people 28 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: that we can't eat chocolate, or we can't eat white food, 29 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:46,319 Speaker 1: or we can't eat food beginning with a letter beat 30 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: or whatever kind of regime you're on. But thankfully, Marketing 31 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 1: professor Vanessa Patrick investigated the impact of the word can't 32 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:01,000 Speaker 1: and swapping just the first two letters out for D 33 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 1: and O, so swapping can't don't. She suspected that the 34 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 1: way we talk to ourselves and others actually impacts our 35 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: ability to say no to temptation. And let's face it, 36 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: temptations are a big reason why changing behavior is so hard. 37 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:18,840 Speaker 1: It's just so tempting to do things the way that 38 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 1: we've always done them. So in one of Patrick's experiments, 39 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,440 Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty university students were recruited and asked 40 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: about how relevant setting goals around healthy eating was to them, 41 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: and then participants were taught about a strategy for managing 42 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: unhealthy food temptations. So one group was taught to say 43 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: I can't eat X when presented with an unhealthy snack, 44 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: and the other group was taught to say I don't 45 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 1: eat X. Participants were then asked to turn their attention 46 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 1: to a completely different and irrelevant task, but when they 47 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:57,680 Speaker 1: got up to leave the room, the crux of the 48 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: experiment happened. They were offered a choice of two snacks. 49 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: One was a chocolate bar and the other was a 50 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: healthy granola bar. The experimenters then quietly noted which participants 51 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,959 Speaker 1: picked which bar. It turns out there was a really 52 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: big difference between the strategy that people were taught and 53 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:24,240 Speaker 1: the bar that they picked. Thirty nine percent of those 54 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: who were taught to say I can't eat X when 55 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:32,200 Speaker 1: presented with the temptation, chose the healthy granola bar, But 56 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 1: in contrast, sixty four percent of those in the I 57 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: don't eat X group picked the granola bar. So, in 58 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: other words, changing one simple word increased the chance of 59 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: selecting the healthy snack by over fifty percent. And when 60 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 1: the researchers delved deeper into this very significant effect, the 61 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: reason they uncovered for the huge shift in behavior was 62 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: that those in the idea group felt more empowered to 63 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:06,320 Speaker 1: say no. So saying you don't do something sounds like 64 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: you're the one in control of your choices, whereas saying 65 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: you can't do something sounds like someone else is calling 66 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: the shots. So, when you're thinking about making a change 67 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:17,960 Speaker 1: to your life or the way you work, the language 68 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 1: that you use when talking to yourself is critical. So 69 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 1: become a don't person instead of a can't person, and 70 00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 1: you'll be well on your way to making some positive 71 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: changes to your life. Hey. There, that's it for today's episode. 72 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:34,159 Speaker 1: If you liked it, there are plenty of others that 73 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: you might also enjoy, such as my chat with Matt Mullenweg, 74 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: co founder of WordPress, where we talk about how he 75 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:43,359 Speaker 1: organizes his phone to create healthy habits, and my conversation 76 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:45,720 Speaker 1: with Adam Grant, where we talk about the two things 77 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:47,640 Speaker 1: he does at the start of every week to make 78 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,839 Speaker 1: sure he stays on track with what really matters. Finally, 79 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: it's great getting feedback from listeners such as yourself, so 80 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:57,040 Speaker 1: feel free to give this podcast or review in iTunes 81 00:04:57,120 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your podcasts. And if you 82 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 1: like this episod, make sure you hit the subscribe button 83 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:04,479 Speaker 1: so you can be alerted when new episodes are released. 84 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: See you next time.