Choosing Better New Behaviors Over Less Effective Habits
The only reason why anyone would choose less effective behaviors over better behaviors is because they have habits they can’t break. This is also the reason why some people don’t get better with experience. Subsequently, it’s not only bad habits that stop people from getting better. It’s also having a habit of refusing to change.
In other words, some people don’t get better because they do things a certain way because that’s the way they have always done it. Moreover, they make this choice even when they know a more effective alternative is available.
This is obviously a mental mistake. One so prevalent that psychologist have given it a fancy name: inhibitory control. Inhibitory control describes one’s ability to keep themselves from choosing their default behavior when a better behavior is available.
To Get Better You Must Choose to Do Better
Obviously, to get better you must do better. Consequently, you must develop inhibitory control to get better. So, if you aren’t getting better, you must ask why you aren’t choosing behaviors that facilitate the process of getting better. Furthermore, for your behaviors to facilitate the process of getting better, you must learn to question your habits.
People who get better learn how to choose better, non-instinctive behaviors over less effective instinctive behaviors. There is always a temptation to select the instinctive, obvious behavior. Especially when you have done something a certain way multiple times in the past.
Therefore, learning how to exhibit inhibitory control is a skill not a talent. In other words, no one is born with a talent that makes them automatically good at inhibitory control. It’s something you must develop through practice, and this practice starts with questioning your habits using the strategic mindset.
This starts with asking yourself metacognition questions such as:
- What are the things I do because that’s the way it’s always been done?
- Is there a way to make a small change so I can do it even better?
- How else can I do this by taking a completely different approach?
- How can I be more effective in my preparation before I even start?
- How can I keep track of how effective my approach is going forward?
These questions are only examples of metacognition questions, as there are many others you can ask yourself. The point of a metacognition question is to force yourself to think about how you think and then use what you learn to improve your thinking. This is the best way to help yourself choose new better behaviors over less effective habits.