The Vanishing American Adult by Ben Sasse

Author:Ben Sasse
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2017-03-22T04:00:00+00:00

Stepping Stones to Consuming Less

Make Logs and Lists

If you want to consume less (less junk food, for example), it is helpful—before you try to change your behavior—to first know what your behavior actually is.

One baby step is to write down every single bit of junk food you eat every single day for a month (or for whatever time period you choose). Even without resolving yet to change your junk-food intake, the act of being honest with yourself usually leads to improved behavior. Typically, we have been fooling ourselves into pretending that our habits are not as bad as they really are. Beginning to create a full record for ourselves—and perhaps to share with an accountability partner—compels a new level of honesty with ourselves, and thus a new seriousness about changing our behavior. Step two is then the concrete goal-setting (for example, a maximum of three servings of dessert per week for the next month). Step three is . . . the willpower.

This simple strategy can be useful for a broad range of behavior you want to reduce, such as:

hours spent playing video games

dollars spent on nonessential items

glasses of alcohol consumed

hours spent watching screens

words spoken in anger or impatience to your spouse or kids

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