Loophole #4 - Do you fall into this category when trying to form a new habit?

When we’re trying to form and keep habits, we often search, sometimes unconsciously, for loopholes. We look for justifications that will excuse us from keeping this particular habit in this particular situation. However, if we recognize this behavior and catch ourselves in the act of loophole-seeking, we can avoid using the loophole, and improve our chances of keeping the habit.

There are many kinds of loopholes. Ten kinds, in fact. So every few days we will be posting about a category of loophole, to help with the Strategy of Loophole-Spotting.

Loophole Category #4: Lack of Control Loophole

We argue that we don’t have control over the situation, and circumstances have forced us to break a habit. However, usually we have more control than we admit.

Weirdly, people often have an illusion of control over things they can’t control—“If I spend a lot of time worrying, the plane is less likely to crash” “If I play my lucky numbers, I’ll win the lottery eventually” — but deny control over things they can control — “If there are free donuts in the break room, I can’t resist eating them.”

·         The dog ate my homework.

·         Someone brought bagels to the meeting.

·         I’m too stressed to deal with this now.

·         I travel all the time.

·         I’d had a few beers.

·         It’s impossible to give up sugar.

·         The subway always makes me late.

·         My favorite trainer quit.

·         My kids take up all my time.

·         We opened a bottle of wine, so we have to finish it.

·         Someone else chose this restaurant.

·         I’ve never been able to resist this.

·         I started without realizing what I was doing.

The Lack of Control Loophole is closely tied to another popular loophole…the Apparently Irrelevant Decision loophole. We’ll post that next.

Reference: “Which of These 10 Categories of Loopholes Do You Invoke?” by Gretchen Rubin, February 5, 2014.