neigette's blog

Flossing was not a habit engrained in me as a child and it's taken many years before I could make it one.  Originally, I had tried marking my progress every day similar to what's suggested by the X effect. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep steady progress for longer than a month, especially after January when my resolutions faded.  I was finally able to build a stronger habit by making two changes.  1) [Make it simple and less of a chore] Placing the floss in my shower so I could save time and effort. Previously, I flossed right before brushing my teeth but often skipped it because it felt like a tedious step.  2) [Find a method that increases your motivation] Changing up my scorecard to use stamps instead of drawing a pattern or highlighting. The stamps gave me extra motivation as they had a cute design and made me happy to see :) In the end, after 6 months of the "revised" system, I was able to build up the habit and no longer needed the scorecard to keep track. 

If we think of skills as being comprised of an intrinsic component + practiced/developed component, then intellect is a skill too. Skills would be made up of a unique proportion of intrinsic to practiced components, and the amount filled would be determined by the individual. For example, playing an instrument is a skill that would have a higher percentage from its practiced component than intellect.  ____________________________________ Desire (or anticipation) is often more intense and long lived than the fulfillment you feel after satisfying it.  A common example is shopping - you desire the item and possibly a status that comes with it. But after you get it, it may only take a few uses for you to not use the item anymore.  That's not to say desire can't fade or be muted. One way that I've managed to reduce it is by thinking of the "after". Can I envision myself using something for a long time? Since the answer is often "no", even if the desire is sti