I’ve learned a lot of great life hacks from How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams. One of them, a framing trick, involves focusing on positive things to do instead of negative things to avoid. Adams uses food as an example. If you’re trying to eat healthier, focus on eating healthy foods that you enjoy and find ways to make food you don’t enjoy taste better. This greatly improves your chances of succeeding and works much better than making yourself feel deprived by trying to avoid certain foods.
Another example I’ve heard Adams mention outside of the book pertains to phrasing. If you regularly buy things with a credit or debit card, you’re probably used to inserting the card into a machine and waiting. Shortly thereafter you’ll see a message on the screen that says “Do not remove card”. Some people, myself included, occasionally misread that as “Remove card” and mess up the transaction by taking the card out too early. Adams suggests changing the message to “Keep card inserted”, which I’ve actually seen at least once during a shopping trip. That makes it easier for me to know what to do and reduces my chances of making a mistake. This approach also works well when I’m talking to other people. For instance, instead of telling someone what I don’t want to do, I’ll tell them something that I would like to do. That’s much clearer and, after some practice, easier to do than framing things in terms of what I don’t want.
I like that this framing trick works equally well when I’m doing something by myself or interacting with other people. In addition to improving my communication skills, I think this has also made it easier for me to successfully navigate a variety of situations. Maintaining an optimistic outlook while staying present and looking for positive things to do has gradually trained me to see possibilities that I’d otherwise miss. If this sounds interesting to you, give it a try and see how it works for you. I think you’ll enjoy it and find it does you a lot of good.