Changing a Habit

Step One: In the winter, we drive with the windows up. One day I noticed that closing the truck door caused a pressure wave that was unpleasant on the ears. It wasn’t painful but I could feel a strong compression of the air within the truck cab and upon my ears as the closing door pushed and trapped more air within the small cab.

Step Two: I started noticing this more often. At some point, I thought that this unpleasantness could be eliminated by rolling the window down a bit before I closed the door.

Step Three: I would get into the truck and close the door. I’d feel the compression and remember, “oh, I should have rolled the window down a bit first.” I can get stuck in Step Three a long time because it is the completion of the old habit that reminds me of the change I want to make but then it is too late to do it right (ie, the door is now closed and the unpleasant compression is past).  What follows is the wisdom I’ve learned to shortcut this.

Step Four: The first time I grow aware that I am in Step Three (“Oh, I just closed the door again without rolling the window down a bit. When will I ever learn…”), I stop my forward momentum and take the time to go back and do the action the new way. I open the door again, roll the window down a bit, and close the door. “Yep, that feels nicer.” The habit changes fairly quickly after that. The key is using the moment of “oops” awareness to go back and redo the action in the newly intended way.