In my previous post, “The Positivity Revolution”, we discovered how to breakthrough to the happiness and success you desire, by learning simple and quick scientifically proven techniques.
Of course we all know that even when you know what can make you happier or more successful, but you don’t actually do those things, nothing will change for you. What we’re talking about here is not about a lack of knowledge. You can be provided with information, but information alone won’t transform your life.
You can read gobs of books, on “self-help”, for example, and know a LOT about self-help, ways to improve yourself, your quality of life, etc.; but without taking action, without DOING the things you know to do from those books, you’ll never experience the benefits of putting into action what you learned.
The purpose of this post today is to go from KNOWING what to do — to actually DOING it. And we all know that often when it comes to overcoming large obstacles, something inevitably gets in the way. We’re going to cover that “something” here today.
In the video below, Harvard Psychology Professor Shawn Achor discusses the challenge of “Activation Energy,” and how it is key for us to do the things we actually want to do, to get the results we want.
I’ve included my own thoughts and experiences on this topic that I feel will provide perspective for you in understanding this clearly, however, in my effort to maintain accuracy (since we will be talking a little “science” here), I have also included much of what is shared in the video).
Activation Energy is the energy it takes to start a task. In chemistry, it is referred to as the energy it takes to start a chain reaction. Once you’ve got that energy started, the rest of the formula can continue.
The same is true for us. If you want to start a new chain reaction of change in your life (to become happier, more successful, physically fit, etc.), it will require an initial investment of energy at the highest point at the beginning of the formula. (Just think about how challenging it is when you haven’t been to the gym in a couple weeks, months, or ever…and then trying to get a new routine started!)
Activation Energy is the reason we procrastinate. We wait for our stress level to crest up higher than the energy it takes to start the task.
Years ago I used to believe, for example, that for someone to really make a breakthrough (in any area of their life), that they had to hit a real low point in their life, that there had to be a lot of pain. I realize now that this is both true and false. Let me explain and you’ll see exactly what I mean!
Since we can agree that it takes more mental energy to start a task than to actually do it, now we can get to the exciting part.
If you slightly change the Activation Energy, you can make it significantly easier to stop negative habits and start positive habits.
For example, Shawn talks about how for years he would come home from work tired, and it was very easy for him to plop down on the sofa, grab the
remote for the t.v., and with low activation energy he would push a button, and burn away the evening watching T.V. All the while he knew he had plenty of other things he could be doing, and would rather be doing with that time.
So he took the batteries out of the remote and moved them 20 seconds away to his bedroom. Over the next few days when he came home from work, he (habitually) sat down on the couch, grabbed the remote, pushed the button (of course the T.V. didn’t turn on), and got frustrated. In response, his brain said to him, “Why not just go get the batteries and we can start watching T.V.?” And then it answered, “No, it takes forever to go get those batteries. Let’s do something else.”
What he did was increase the Activation Energy it took to turn on the T.V., and suddenly because it wasn’t so easy, his brain didn’t want to do it
anymore. The path of least resistance led him away from the T.V. and towards things closer and easier. He put work that he needed to get done on one side of the sofa, a book he always wanted to read on a shelf nearby, and his journal and guitar within reach. This made it easier to do the things he actually wanted to do.
What we’re talking about here is consciously manipulating energy by changing your environment.
Years ago in my productivity consulting business, I used to teach my clients the concept of “Leading a Horse to Water”, or the “Salami Concept,” which I touched on in a book I co-authored. I didn’t realize at the time what was behind the reason it was so effective when, for example, I’d tell my clients to just commit to filing away 5 items (or take just 5 minutes) each day, and after they did that, they could be done with that huge filing project for the day.
And usually, they found that after they filed away the 5 things, or completed their five minutes of filing, that they would keep going and do more than what they committed to. Understanding Activation Energy, we know that the energy was lowered, and now that they were into the task, the activation part (the hardest part) was out of the way, so it made it easy to continue on.
Just by making something slightly easier (like moving your gym shoes next to your bed, saving you 20 seconds from going to get them from the closet), is enough for your brain to start tipping toward doing those positive habits that you know you want to do…to become the person you want to be…to have the happiness and success you desire.
You don’t have to wait for your life to become so hard and painful for you before you change your Activation Energy to start changing your life today. And actually, I’d like to urge you now, please don’t wait for it to get so hard for you to begin! Just change the Activation Energy!
So this is not just a matter of knowing what causes you to be happy or successful, but HOW you can actually do these things that make you happy or
successful.
So, are you ready to start moving your life forward today toward the happiness and success you desire?
I’m so glad 
My challenge to you today is to look around at your life. Think about the things you KNOW would make you happier and more successful, and find some way of making it easier to do those things, and harder to do the negative habits.
When you do this, you are changing your environment to WORK FOR YOU, to get you the results you want.
Today I’ll end with this profound thought…
You’ve probably heard the saying, “Knowledge is power.”
After what you’ve just learned here, I’m sure you’ll agree that’s not quite true.
Knowledge can’t simply equal power on it’s own. You can know WHAT to do and not do it, and it’s just the same as not knowing what to do. I’m sure you’ve heard before that doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results — is insanity.
The greatest separator between super-achievers and those who are not, is not that they don’t know the same things…but that the super-achievers DO and ACT on what they KNOW.
Got thoughts?
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Great article CK! Just having the understanding of how “activation energy” is the barrier between “knowing something you should do” and actually “DOING it” is a critical distinction. Makes total sense. Great article… love it! Thanks!