Changing Behavior with the Help of Science—Or Something Like Tha

In the past seven years, I’ve made some interesting and, according to some, incredible changes in my life. From an obese guy who loved drinking and smoking, I turned into a man who is fit and viceless. An incredible transformation! Still, the best part is that every one of you can make similar changes.  How have I managed to do all that? Through a method, but before we discuss it further, I do wish to highlight certain attitudes regarding change. For example, many smokers ask me about quitting tobacco. They want a shortcut. They want to find that secret formula for quitting smoking. What they don’t want to hear is how I managed it. The same goes for drinking. I’ve been accused of drinking in my own private home, far away from the judging eyes of others. How do I convince such people that change is real? Nobody wants to understand that behavior change is a scientific—or at least somewhat scientific —process.   Less than one century ago, in the United States, a psychologist named B. E. Skinner came up with a theory about behavior change. He called it Behaviorism, and it’s his legacy to human knowledge. Although many don’t consider it scientific, its practical success can still help people make changes.   When I decided to change my life, I did not use Skinner’s approaches. I knew who he was. I knew what Behaviorism entails. But I did not give it much thought. Throughout the years, I realized that what I was doing was behavior change using Skinner’s theories.   Do you want to know what stands behind any successful change in life? Do you want to understand why some can quit smoking while others cannot? The answer is simple: positive reinforcement. Let’s clarify what that means.  Skinner wrote that to change a behavior, one needs to change the outcomes. This may be counterintuitive at first; it may not even make sense. Does it make sense to you? Let’s be clear about what it actually means.    Suppose that you are trying to quit smoking. This requires you, in principle, to make one simple adjustment to your behavior: not lighting another cigarette. Simple, right? Well, if you have already tried quitting smoking, you know all too well that things aren't as simple as we may want.   The idea of quitting smoking terrifies you. Sitting at home, a couple of hours after your last cigarette, you feel impatient. You want to smoke a cigarette. You just realized that you had a thought regarding smoking. With time, the sensation amplifies. After a couple of days of not smoking, you cave in. You head down, buy a pack, and light a cigarette. Something deep inside you feels calm now, yet you are frustrated for not keeping an important promise to yourself.   What happened? Your mind was still thinking of smoking. It viewed the act as something normal. Take it away, and the outcomes are negative, a combination of negative feelings that you don’t want to feel. Your mind couldn’t take it anymore; hence, you lit a cigarette.   The outcomes are the problem. Your outcomes are a state of stress and deprivation. For the mind, this is something unbearable. It’s something that you need to act against. In this case, not smoking caused too much distress.  What Does Changing Outcomes Look Like?   You decide one more time to quit smoking. This time, you are highly motivated. You tell your friends that you will do it this time. You read books on the subject. You feel it deep inside that you are going to make it. You already view yourself as a nonsmoker.   The moment you put out the last cigarette comes. Instead of feeling terrified, you feel confident. Do you see how this time you have changed the outcomes? The outcome now is something positive—Skinner called it ‘positive reinforcement’—not the doom and gloom that made you stressed out after a cigarette.   After three days of not smoking, you feel the urge. Nicotine still sits in your blood vessels, and it is your duty to get rid of it. But again, you don’t panic. You are aware of what is happening in your body, and you are happy knowing that you are going through the process. You are positive about the situation—again, positive reinforcement is doing its job.   How did I quit smoking? By changing the outcomes. Once I saw the positive outcomes, I did positive reinforcement, reminding myself all the time where I was heading.   Behavior is changed only by changing the outcomes. Otherwise, your brain will fight to maintain the status quo of your life.