Why avoiding temptation is better than resisting it

☀️ It’s Thursday, and we’re 41.07% of our way through 2024
Issue #87: ignoring experts, wine snobbery, and work logs
By Harris Sockel

Lately, I’ve been trying to start an early-morning running habit. My goal isn’t to go particularly fast or long, just to get out there and move every day. I know the benefits of doing this (sun! air! exercise!) will probably compound over time.

It can take anywhere between a few weeks to a few months to form a new habit (depending on the habit). Some scientists call this “self-directed neuroplasticity” because we’re intentionally creating a new set of cues, actions, and rewards for ourselves.

On Medium, user researcher Riikka Iivanainen explains that people who can effectively build and break habits usually have high levels of baseline self-control, which is correlated with good things like deeper, richer relationships and a general sense of well-being. The interesting thing, though, is how these high self-controllers deal with temptations. This quote stood out to me: “People with high levels of trait self-control are good at avoiding temptation — not resisting it.”

Counterintuitively, several studies point to the fact that people with the highest levels of self-control are actually more likely to be tempted by everything they’re trying to resist (in my case, sleeping in). They know that about themselves, though! So, perhaps without realizing why, they intentionally set up their lives in such a way that they’ll avoid all the things that tempt them… usually through building routines that make their best behaviors feel automatic.

“The people who seem good at self-control are probably just good at anticipating potential self-control failure and doing things to prevent it,” concludes Iivanainen. “They’re acing meta-self-control.”

What else we’re reading

• I was fascinated by this story about why we hire professionals (lawyers, therapists, accountants) to give us advice… and then promptly ignore it. Former attorney Steven Toews, JD, MBA thinks it boils down to trust: Many experts are terrible at establishing trust with their clients. They rely on the letters after their name instead of building a personal rapport with the people who need them most — so when they end up delivering valuable yet hard-to-hear advice, we reject it.
• Sommelier Charlie Brown enumerates everything she wishes people would stop doing in her wine bar. One of the things: Don’t pretend to be a wine snob. “You don’t need to act like a wine dictionary. Tell me what you think in your own unique way and I’ll understand.”

Your daily dose of practical wisdom: about keeping track of your work

Benoit Ruiz, a software engineer at Datadog, recommends something I’ve started at various points in my career but haven’t done a great job of sticking with: keeping a work log. At least once a week, record what you accomplished at work. Be as specific as possible. Note any business metrics you had an impact on. You’ll thank yourself when you’re looking for a job later.

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