ORDER YOUR COPY

Changing Habits Successfully: Pro Tip—Approach versus Avoid

When it comes to changing habits, the key is to focus on what you want to approach rather than what you want to avoid. If you keep thinking about stopping smoking, you'll likely find yourself smoking more. If you try to avoid eating "the cookie," you might end up eating everything in the fridge. Why? Because focusing on what you want to avoid only gives it more energy.

The trick is to shift your focus entirely to something positive you want to approach. It's not about choosing between "this or that"—because even thinking about the unwanted habit, like alcohol, ice cream, or your ex's name, continues to feed it energy. To effectively change a habit, you need to starve the unwanted thought of energy.

How do you starve a thought? You stop feeding it. Thoughts consume energy, so if you cut off their supply, they wither away. Find something new, positive, and compelling to focus on instead. By redirecting your energy toward what you do want, the old habit loses its power over you.

ORDER YOUR COPY