Kicking But

One of the exercises Dan Pink recommends in his book A Whole New Mind seems to fit well with January being a time for focusing on the new year, new goals, new resolutions for improving our lives. The exercise is this: make a list of changes you'd like to make and what's keeping you from making them. The word "but" tends to make less important what is in front of it, while putting all the emphasis on what follows--thus you focus on the obstacle. By replacing "but" with "and," you put an equal emphasis on both sides--thus it's easier to focus on how to make both parts of the sentence doable. Therefore, I want everyone to get closer to their goals, and it's impossible for me to be there to help all of you. So, I'm going to blog about this in order to give you a tool for helping yourselves. Happy New Year!

Example: I want to exercise more but I work too much.
Now replace the but with an and.

Example: I want to exercise more AND I work too much. Now follow that up with a specific idea for how to make the two work together.

Example: I want to exercise more and I work too much. So...I am going to find an exercise program that works with my busy schedule.