“I can’t” vs “I don’t”

You can’t escape habits.

Good ones, bad ones—doesn’t matter.  You are a creature of habit.

Instead of fighting to stop a bad habit, it’s possible to design behaviors in a way that replace bad habits with, well, good ones.

For example:

If you are to say, “I can’t eat marshmallows.” The “I can’t” isn’t an empowering behavior.

By contrast, you could say, “I don’t eat marshmallows.” That’s a choice. One you can make each time.

That simple switch is effective enough to make change happen. Telling a better story can make all the difference.

[Of course, this isn’t really about marshmallows.]