How prospect theory will help to strengthen habits and achieve the desired

Imagine that you were offered a deal:

• A: 90 percent chance to win 10 000 rubles.
• B: a guaranteed opportunity to win 8000 rubles.

What would you choose? Most people choose the safest option B, although the expected benefits in the first variant more.

Or another example:

• A: 85 percent chance to lose 10 000 rubles.
• B: a guaranteed loss of 8,000 rubles.

Still opt in? Often choose the first option, although the amount of probable losses in it more - 10 000 instead of 8000. When there is a high probability of losing money, people would rather go to the risk.

Psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman brought these laws, and explained to them in their prospect theory. It describes our attitude toward risk and losses. If absolutely simplified: losses afflict us more than win pleases, even when they are the same size.

Such an attitude to risk affects all the decisions that we take. If you use it properly, you can facilitate their progress towards the objectives and the development of new habits. To rephrase this goal or habit in terms of potential losses, rather than the potential gains. this advice

shared blogger Sandilya Kunal (Kunal Shandilya).

For example, you want every day to meditate for 10 minutes. This is your old approach, focused on the benefits that you will receive. Instead, specify the purpose as: every day do not miss meditation for 10 minutes.

In the first case, your natural state - not to meditate, and you want to change it. In the second starting point, on the contrary, it is the habit of daily meditation.

So you ask yourself a high standard, which is going to stick.

This is an important part of the methodology. If you do not have this high bar, and it will not be possible lossThat should be avoided.

If you want to check whether this approach to you, run a two-week experiment habits. During the first week of work on the two habits, as always, that is, focusing on winning. And on the second reformulate one of the habits, focusing on the loss. Every day fix, how you got to stick to both habits. At the end of the second week compare the results and draw your own conclusions.

see also

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