Many years ago, I worked for a direct marketing company called TMA Direct. We helped clients with their direct mail, email marketing, and other direct response marketing efforts.
One day, I noticed a large stack of thick catalogs on a table in one of our executives’ offices.
The stack was about three feet high. It was the only pile in his office. It definitely stood out, so I asked him about it.
He told me that he was on the mailing list for a well-known retail company. Over the last few months, this organization had sent him more than a dozen catalogs.
Each was full-color, over 100 pages long, and several inches thick. Each weighed 2-3 pounds.
He was going to keep all their catalogs until the pile was at least five feet high. Then, he planned to mail them back to the retailer in one large package, along with a letter requesting a meeting.
This retailer was wasting a ton of money on these catalogs. My colleague knew he could help them increase their marketing ROI dramatically.
Rather than cold calling them, he figured sending them a 50-pound package of their recent catalogs would be more likely to get their attention.
I left TMA before he executed his plan, so I unfortunately don’t know the outcome. However, this example stuck with me and became the inspiration for a strategy that I now refer to as the Habit Math Method.
I have used this method to change many habits. Let me share a quick example.
During my twenties, I rarely recycled. While this is embarrassing to me now, everyone has some bad habits. Throwing out recyclable material was one of mine.
When I moved into a new apartment around my thirtieth birthday, the trash room in my new building had a large sign and a separate receptacle that encouraged us to recycle. I knew it was the right thing to do, so I decided to give it a try.
I placed a big brown paper bag from the supermarket in a corner of my kitchen. When it came time to throw out something recyclable, I started placing the item in that bag, instead of the garbage.
In less than three days, the bag was full of cans, cardboard containers, plastic, and glass bottles. It was eye-opening. If I could fill up a bag in a couple of days, how much recyclable material had I irresponsibly thrown away in the past?
Immediately, I was inspired to make recycling a habit. Many years later, this habit is still going strong.
My prior failure to recycle was obviously not due to a desire to harm the environment. It was just a mindless habit.
Some estimates report that over 40% of our daily behaviors are habitual. Chances are that you have many mindless bad habits as well.
Maybe you eat more junk food than you realize. Maybe you watch more television than you realize. Maybe you waste more time on social media than you realize.
In the moment, it might seem like you are only eating one cookie, watching one show, or spending a few minutes on Instagram.
However, it’s not just one behavior. It’s one behavior that you repeat over and over.
An isolated behavior might not seem like a big deal. However, it adds up quickly.
Using the Habit Math Method can ignite your motivation to break a bad habit or make a good habit last. It can spark an epiphany that a change must happen now.
If you want to break a habit, calculate the long-term costs of repeating the behavior for a month, a year, or longer. If you want to make a habit, calculate the long-term value of repeating the behavior for a month, a year, or longer.
It’s even better if you can add a visual component, as my colleague did with his catalog stack and as I did with several days of recycling.
Even calculating the impact in your head can be highly motivating, though.
Identify one behavior that you would like to stop or start doing. Then, calculate the long-term consequences or benefits of repeating this behavior for a month, a year, or longer. By identifying the long-term impact, a change will feel much more important. You will be much more likely to make it last.
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About the Author
Pete Leibman is a speaker and author who helps consultants, lawyers, and advisors build the energy, focus, and resilience to sustain high performance. He delivers keynotes, workshops, and webinars for leading consulting firms, law firms, and financial services firms. Pete is the author of three books and more than 300 articles on high performance. His latest book is Stronger Advisor: High-Performance Habits for Consultants, Lawyers, and Advisors.
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