"I know how to change" - this statement is false

[Jon]

I had an insight recently...

I am sure we all say this to ourselves: "I want to achieve XYZ. I know what to do." This statement is false. Here's why.

When we say we know what to do, we are essentially saying we know what technical steps are required. But that is different to knowing what to do. Getting yourself to do what you know you should do is one of the most difficult things in the world. So, my insight is that the technical steps are 1/10th of knowing what to do - 9/10ths of the equation is knowing how to get yourself to do what you should be doing. That is a whole different ballgame.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Actually, putting things off has always been easy. Step #1 has to be motivation.

 

[Bee]

Rubbish.

If I say I know what to do, I mean that I know both what to do AND how to do it. I thought everyone did?

 

[Jon]

Exactly Doc. My insight came partially from my recent dieting. Saying, "I know how to lose weight", for many people is, "just eat less!" But that is not true. Those are the technical steps.

In fact, a more accurate picture is:

• Know the technical steps (i.e. eat less)
• Overcome procrastination
• Motivation to continue and stay on the waggon
• How to deal with falling off the waggon
• Review feedback loops to improve the process, while you are discovering better ways to do things
• Modify your approach based on those feedback loops
• Keep track of progress
• Increase activity to burn more calories
• And so on

Knowing the technical steps is often the easy part. The rest can be for many people (including myself), a process of self-discovery. It is not at all obvious what is required. I had a look at lots of research on how to get myself to do things. Not so much self-help books but more scientific research. For example, I am half way through a book called, "Self-directed Behavior: Self-modification for Personal Adjustment". It is a textbook by David Watson and Roland G. Tharp. The material is dense with references to scientific research and it is almost like every paragraph has a reference or two. Great book.

The truth is, change is behaviour modification. It is not the steps.