+44 (0) 7973 953586 paul@impro.org.uk

When I was giving up sweets, biscuits and chocolates, (more than 3 months ago), I opted to treat myself – any time I felt the urge – with other foods that tasted nice to me. Fruit and cream was top of the list. I knew I could enjoy a bite of toast and cheese  mid-afternoon. And how about Nuts as an evening snack?

I felt that if giving up was going to be a test of my will power, then I should help out my notoriously weak will with arrangements that would give it (me!) optimum support, with minimum effort.

And so I took a few small actions.  I bought a bag of assorted nuts and put them on the table. I banished the chocs and biscuits from sight: First into the cupboard, in case I wanted to retrieve them, then after a week or so, into the bin.

As a supplemental scaffold, I divided every day into 3 phases, each posing a slightly different challenge, so that I could treat each period on its merits as it arrived. I actually discovered that it took only a couple of weeks for that scaffolding to become redundant and fall away from my conscious thinking.

What will you put in place to make it easier to enjoy the changes you want in your life?