I used BJ
Fogg’s habit change model to change the way I drink. I used to be a heavy drinker but with the
model I’m now a moderate drinker. The
change for the most part was easy.
I was the
kind of drinker that couldn’t stop once I had started. Once I had one drink, I would continue for at
least another four or five. Sometimes I woke
up and couldn’t remember what had happened the night before. More often I would
lose my weekends through feeling rotten and unmotivated. I did this for 25
years.
Now
Sometimes I
don’t have a drink for a week or so. Not
through avoidance, I just simply don’t have the urge. When I do drink, most times I have just one
or two glasses. When I’m out in a pub or a restaurant, quite often I start with
a non-alcoholic beer. If I’m there for a
while, I’ll have water while I have an alcoholic drink. I say ‘No’ most times when I don’t want to
drink anymore.
Abilities
|
||
Note place on my wine bottles
|
||
Gain more quality time
|
Drink soft drinks with alcohol
|
Celebrate ‘stopping’ after one glass
|
Get healthier
|
Say no to alcohol, when I don’t want
it.
|
|
Understand my motivation to drink. Can they be changed?
|
||
Always drink a soft drink with an
alcoholic one, when I’m in a pub.
|
How BJ Fogg’s
Habit Change Model helped me
The model helped me ask a better
question.
- Before - when I wanted to change, I would either stop for a short time or drink less frequently but it didn’t change the way I drank.
- After – I asked ‘What do moderate drinkers do that I don’t’. This gave me the ‘abilities’ of a moderate drinker. I then focused on building these habits.
The model moved the focus on to ‘abilities’
(what action to take) from motivation.
- Sometimes you can go backwards with habit change. I did, in January I was on holiday for two weeks and I drank like my old self. If I was relying on my motivation I would’ve probably thrown in the towel. But luckily, I revisited my ‘abilities’ list and worked on ‘Saying No to a drink’ and ‘always having a soft drink with an alcoholic one’. I didn’t blame myself. I focused on building change instead.
‘Abilities’ really helped me take
action, because it made action specific.
- ‘Stop after one glass’ was an easy action to implement at home. It was clear, there was no wiggle room and it allowed me to use a trigger that worked every time. I knew when I had achieved this and this allowed me to ‘celebrate’ the new habit too.
Clear ‘abilities’ make it easier to
use triggers.
Triggers allow you to be consistent. Consistency changes habits.
- What’s a trigger? Classic ones; When you sit on your sofa (this triggers), you then turn on the TV. When you see a red light, you start to slow down and then stop. And from the world of drinking, when your glass is empty, you fill it up.
- ‘Stop after one glass’ – I placed a notice on my wine bottle ‘only one glass’. I saw it every time I started drinking and it got me to think, WHY? Why, just one glass (no hangovers, feel great tomorrow and won’t be drunk tonight)? This got me to do the new habit. It got to think at the right time and it send my motivation sky-high, also at the right time.
- This trigger made it so easy, that it felt like I was cheating. Remember, I hadn't been able to do this for 25 years.
Overall
If you want
to change a habit; stop, start or modify one, this model makes it easier. It's action focused and it helps make those
actions clearer. It moves the focus away
from motivation (a very inconsistent quality and one that can lead to
self-blame) to action. It also promotes
the use of triggers, which gets you to do new actions consistency. Use the model. It works.
Other links;
Do you drink too much; answer this question - how many times have you been drunk in your life?
Other links;
Do you drink too much; answer this question - how many times have you been drunk in your life?
