The Bowl Of Halloween Candy

A few weeks ago I experienced an interesting situation with an ending I’m proud of. In preparation for Halloween, my fiance Irene put out a big bowl of candy. It sat on the kitchen counter for weeks before and after the holiday came and went. 

Having an extra focus on my health recently and making good nutritional choices, this big orange bowl caught my attention every time I walked into the kitchen. The allure of a piece of candy was always there, all ready to go and prepared in a bite-sized serving, but not even once did I feel even the slightest urge to have any candy and I’d like to share the reasons why.

First, when Irene put the candy out, I told her right away “I’m not going to have a single piece of it.” This served as a pre-commitment and decision that I had already made. So any time that voice came to mind convincing  me to have a  sugary snack, my answer was easy and it quieted quickly. Robert Cialdini, the author of “Influence” would say that I leveraged ‘commitment and consistency’ to unconsciously drive healthy behavior.

On top of that, I had undeniable accountability to my decision and intention. Every single evening I fill out my Self Improvement Scorecard and complete my high-performance tracking routine. With eating less sugar being one of the focuses of my personal development right now, this means that every day I reflect on my choices. Knowing that I’d have to answer to myself if I did choose to indulge and have a piece of candy, it created a real consequence that kept me from even considering it.

And last, also through my nightly Scorecard routine and otherwise, I’ve cultivated a mindset of being self-disciplined. This allows me to be above my impulses so that I can consistently make the decision that is in alignment with my best self. And since it’s identity driven, rejecting sweets doesn’t require will-power because my subconscious mind has been trained to prefer practicing self-discipline over giving into temptation.

I share all of this to give you a real example of how the concepts we talk about actually play out in real life, and how effective they can be when you implement them for yourself. If you want to create more self-discipline, and a reflex to make the right choices more consistently, I’d love to help you install the exact same accountability systems and structure I use to become the best version of myself.

If I can do it you can too, and instead of it taking you a decade like it did for me we can get things really working for you in just 21 days.