The Human Mind (VII) - Guiding structure

• Guiding Structure means the structure of your Environment is the largest determinant of your behavior.
• If you want to successfully change a behavior, change the structure that influences or supports the behavior first, and the behavior will follow.
• Don’t try to change your behavior directly, that requires a lot more willpower. It’s easier to focus on the Environment.

For three years, Kelsey and I experimented with a vegan diet—no animal products whatsoever. No meat, no eggs, no cheese, no milk. Most of our friends and family had two responses: “Are you crazy?” and “That must be very difficult—I could never do that.” It was such a drastic lifestyle change that people marveled at our willpower. I’d like to make a confession: it wasn’t difficult at all. There was very little effort or willpower involved. Here’s the secret: instead of relying on willpower to resist the urge to cook a steak or order a pepperoni pizza, we changed the structure of our Environment to support our choices. We threw out all of the food we didn’t want to eat and replaced it with healthier options that still tasted good. We changed where we shopped—instead of going to the supermarket, we went to a small natural food store. We stopped going to steakhouses and started going to restaurants that specialized in serving vegetarian/vegan food. As a result, we didn’t have to use much willpower to act consistently with our choice. When I got hungry, I ate an apple or carrots and hummus—that’s what was in the refrigerator. Ordering a pizza or buying and cooking a steak took more effort, so I didn’t do it. By changing the structure of our Environment, Kelsey and I made it easier to act the way we had decided to act.

The Personal MBA, Master the Art of Business - Josh Kaufman