Daily Behavior Hacks to help you Live a Healthy and Happy Lifestyle.

We engage in hundreds of behaviors every day. Some are habit, some are intentional, some are good and some, well; not so good. Think of the number of choices we make each day. We choose when we  wake up, what we will have for breakfast, if we have breakfast, how we respond to the people in our life, the type of mood we will stay in, etc. What if I told you it was possible to change your own behavior? And best of all, it is easily done with a few simple “behavior hacks”.

As a board-certified behavior analyst, I look at what is called the A-B-C’s of behavior. The A is the antecedent or what happens before we engage in a behavior. The B is the actual behavior and the C is the consequence, or what happens immediately following the behavior. I am sure we all have a behavior (or two or three) that we know is not beneficial or notcongruent with the person we intend to be. Many of the behaviors we engage in daily are a result of habit. Yep, pure and simple habit. Have you ever heard of the quote, “It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen”. -John Wooden

There is a reason the “Wizard of Westwood” earned that title. He knew what he was talking about.

I challenge you to pick three behaviors that you want to increase or decrease. You can adjust the likelihood of completing or reducing those behaviors by setting up simple “behavior hacks”.

It is as easy as placing your gym bag in the car, making it more likely that you will go the gym. Or purchasing a bottle of wine to have after work, making it more likely that you will have a drink or two and miss out on that Peloton workout you had planned on completing. I think you know which is the better behavior. If not, call me…we have some work to do.

If we adjust our antecedents (what happens before we engage in a behavior), we can, in turn, make it easier to change our own behavior and obtain the results or consequences we intend to obtain.

Let’s start off with something easy. If you’re reading this now, I want you to fill up a bottle with water for the day. Everyone needs to drink more water, right? The full water bottle is your antecedent (or reminder) to drink your water (the behavior), which will in turn result in being a bit healthier and feeling good about your accomplishment for the day(consequence). If you want to do a bit more, write down that one (maybe not so little thing you do) that you consistently regret the next day. It can also be something you DID NOT do…and think of a simple reminder you could add to your day, to make it a bit easier to complete or resist.

And now, I am going to let you in on one last secret…besides changing your own behavior, you can change the behavior of others as well. --Don’t tell my husband or my kids-ha! --You know what they say, “Happiness is contagious. Be a carrier”. -Robert Orben, Well, that is true, as well. If you smile (Antecedent), it is likely the person seeing your smile, will smile (their Behavior) and you BOTH will feel happier (Consequence).

Make someone smile, or at the very least, make yourself proud. So, go out there and be on your BEST BEHAVIOR!