+1 #45: Bright Lines

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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optymyze one. Now, I dropped out of law school.

Before a semester was over, but.

But I do remember one big idea from contracts class. Lawyers like to say that a contract is a good one when there are bright lines, when it's super obvious what everyone is agreeing to. Fuzzy lines, not so good. We want super crisp, obvious bright lines. Research scientists borrowed that phrase to describe one of the key attributes of creating good deals with yourself as you architect your ideal life. They tell us that when we're building new habits, we want to have very bright lines about what is and what is not acceptable behavior. For example, when I wanted to quit eating fast food over a decade ago, the fuzzy line I had of eat at McDonald's less often wasn't particularly helpful. Every time I drive by that McDonald's on the way home, I'd have to ask myself, is today the day I get to go there? And when did I go on the days when I was feeling the worst?

Of course.

Then one day, I got bright with my lines. I decided I would Never eat at McDonald's again. Period. Now, of course, I broke that commitment a few times before it stuck, but and this is an important distinction, at least now I knew I was breaking a contract with myself. Eventually, I dialed it in and kicked the fast food habit. I did the same thing with ESPN and Google News and the iPhone in bed and countless other things. Fuzzy didn't help 100% Bright worked like a charm. So how about you? What's the number one bad habit you'd like to get rid of? How can you move from fuzzy to super bright? Think about that and get on it.

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