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41 " Knowledge does not change behavior,” he said. “We have all encountered crazy shrinks and obese doctors and divorced marriage counselors.” He knew that telling the mothers about nutrition wouldn’t change their behavior. They’d have to practice it. "
― Chip Heath , Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
42 " Solutions-focused therapists learn to focus their patients on the first hints of the miracle—“What’s the first small sign you’d see that would make you think the problem was gone”—because they want to avoid answers that are overly grand and unattainable: "
43 " Big problems are rarely solved with commensurately big solutions. "
44 " What’s working and how can we do more of it?” That’s the bright-spot philosophy in a single question. "
45 " When you’re at the beginning, don’t obsess about the middle, because the middle is going to look different once you get there. Just look for a strong beginning and a strong ending and get moving. "
46 " (Buckingham has a fine series of books on making the most of your strengths rather than obsessing about your weaknesses.) "
47 " (We cut back on expenses today to yield a better balance sheet next year. We avoid ice cream today for a better body next year.) "
48 " Make the change small enough that they can’t help but score a victory. "
49 " Any new quest, even one that is ultimately successful, is going to involve failure. "
50 " If you want a reluctant Elephant to get moving, you need to shrink the change. "
51 " The other advantage of scaling the miracle is that it demystifies the journey. Let "
52 " The value of the miracle scale is that it focuses attention on small milestones that are attainable and visible rather than on the eventual destination, which may seem very remote. "
53 " The old pattern is powerful, so make sure to script the critical moves, because ambiguity is the enemy. "
54 " Everything can look like a failure in the middle.” A similar sentiment is expressed by marriage therapist Michele Weiner-Davis, who says that “real change, the kind that sticks, is often three steps forward and two steps back.” If failure is a necessary part of change, then the way people understand failure is critical. "
55 " marry your long-term goal with short-term critical moves. "
56 " Finding bright spots, then, solves many different problems at once. That’s no surprise; successful change efforts involve connecting all three parts of the framework: Rider, Elephant, and Path. "
57 " The growth mindset, then, is a buffer against defeatism. It reframes failure as a natural part of the change process. And that’s critical, because people will persevere only if they perceive falling down as learning rather than as failing. "
58 " If you’re worried about the possibility of rationalization at home or at work, you need to squeeze out the ambiguity from your goal. You need a black-and-white (B&W) goal. A B&W goal is an all-or-nothing goal, and it’s useful in times when you worry about backsliding. "
59 " SMART goals presume the emotion; they don’t generate it. "
60 " Habits are behavioral autopilot, and that’s why they’re such a critical tool for leaders. Leaders who can instill habits that reinforce their teams’ goals are essentially making progress for free. They’ve changed behavior in a way that doesn’t draw down the Rider’s reserves of self-control. "