Tiny Habits - Chapter 2 Flashcards
What is important to remember when using motivation to change a behavior?
You must understand its role and its limitations, then pick behaviors that don’t rely on such a fickle friend.
What is motivation?
Motivation is a desire to do a specific behavior (eat spinach tonight) or a general class of behaviors (eat vegetables and other healthy foods each night).
What are the three sources of motivation?
- Yourself (what you already want).
- A benefit or punishment you would receive by doing the action (the carrot and stick).
- Your context (for example, the motivation that comes from all your friends are doing it).
To help you visualize this, I created a model called the PAC (Person, Action, and Context) Person. Person, Action, and Context are fundamental for understanding human behavior.
When is motivation a factor?
Always. Maybe your motivations are moving you toward an action, or maybe they are moving you away. But motivations are always there, pushing you up and down—above the Action Line or below—depending on their strength at any given moment.
What are Competing Motivations?
Sandra and Adrian had competing motivations. They wanted to take a rest and enjoy their newly scrubbed house, but they also wanted to tackle the backyard and cross that project off their list. These competing motivations were driving them toward DIFFERENT behaviors.
What are Conflicting Motivations?
Conflicting motivations are opposing drives related to the SAME behavior. Conflicting motivations can be a source of psychic pain— “I want to eliminate refined sugar from my diet but, man, I want that chocolate cupcake.” These conflicts can leave us feeling like we’re on a seesaw, depending on what’s happening around us.
