Temptation Bundling

Have you heard of Temptation bundling?As a counselor, one of our primary roles is to help bring change in someone’s life. This is a great privilege— witnessing a client move from depression to hope, anxiety to peace, and from shame to acceptance.CHANGE can be difficult. As an attempt to avoid change, someone once said to me, “if it’s different it it’s wrong!”  But change is a natural part of life, and at times, is necessary.Right about now those New Year’s resolutions are turning into good intentions instead of changed behaviors. Sometimes these intentions fail because they were fueled with willpower.But willpower is not enough. Research has shown that willpower is an exhaustible resource, the more you lean on it the faster it goes away.If we want change to stick, we need to find a better method. Recently, I heard a behavioral economist suggest we may be able to improve our ability to change with something called, temptation bundling. This idea combines 1) an activity you want to accomplish with 2) something that you want to do. For example, you could watch your favorite TV shows while working out; clean the house while listening to your favorite music; or scheduling time with the in-laws at your burger joint. By combing a challenging activity with one you like you may be more likely to accomplish the goal.What do you want to change? Temptation bundling may not be the lone magical quick fix. But if you consider temptation bundling when trying to change, you may just see your goals accomplished a little easier.