Triggers: how to change in three not so easy steps

Triggers: Creating behavior that lasts – becoming the person you want to be by Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter is a rather more straightforward and readable book than its clunky double-subtitled name might make you fear.

It really makes three simple points.

First, that changing your habits is hard. Really hard. So expect failure and expect it to require a lot of work, not just one magic trick.

Second, your environment makes a huge difference. You need to create triggers that encourage the change you want and avoid triggers that hinder it. Think replacing a packet of biscuits with a bowl of fruit in your kitchen. But think much more broadly too, such as the combination of events which leads to the sort of mindset you might be trying to move away from.

Third, a great way of self-enforcing change is to write out physically every evening your own answers to a series of questions selected to capture the change(s) you want. The very act of making yourself write it down enforces a clarity about how you really did and helps encourage you to do better next time.

There is plenty of colour and detail in the 234 pages of the book though not really that much more of substance. That makes the book very actionable – how much extra detail would you really remember and act on? – if also a little bit of a light read.

Buy Triggers: Creating behavior that lasts by Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter here.

If you like this, you might also be interested in The Power of Habit or Think Like a Rocket Scientist.