Just Seven Things

Nudge Yourself To Change

Back to the game playing idea, I read an interesting article in the Times loosely based around Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s book Nudge.

Thaler and Sunstein ‘demonstrate how thoughtful “choice architecture” can be established to nudge us in beneficial directions without restricting freedom of choice’. They suggest how accepting our ‘peopleness’ and suggesting rather than telling will lead to greater success in change.

They show that by knowing how people think, ‘we can design choice environments that make it easier for people to choose what is best for themselves, their families, and their society’

With my focus on the self, I was struck by how similar this was to observations about how game playing offered a simple route for the brain to accept change, or enter into a routine without an adverse reaction. The game or scorecard. The simple tallying and framing of it as a competition rather than a ‘must-do’. These are just simple nudges into a new habit or routine.

What fascinates me though is the why? Do we have an over-inflated sense of the complexity of our own consciousnesses? Simple methods are the easiest.

Or do we have an in-built independence and reaction to being told what we should do? Whether by a third party, or by our conscious telling our other-than-conscious.