How to Have a Good Day: Harness the Power of Behavioral Science to Transform Your Working Life pdfdrive com

REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT
As kids, we worked hard at learning to ride a bike; when we fell off, we got back
on again, until it became second nature to us. But when we try something novel
in our adult lives we’ll typically make just one attempt before judging whether
it’s worked. If we don’t quite pull it off the first time, or if it feels a little

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awkward, we’ll tell ourselves it wasn’t a success rather than giving it another
shot.
That’s a shame, because repetition is central to the process of rewiring our
brains. Consider the idea that your brain has a network of neurons that will
connect with each other whenever you remember to use a brain-friendly
feedback technique. Those connections aren’t very reliable at first, which may
make your first efforts a little hit-and-miss. You might remember one of the
steps involved, and not the others. But I mentioned in 
Chapter 3
that
neuroscientists have a saying: “neurons that fire together, wire together.” In
other words, repetition of an action strengthens the connections between the
neurons involved in that action. That means the more times you try using that
new feedback technique, the more easily it will come to you when you need it.
So it’s worth channeling some of your childhood perseverance when trying
something new. Remind yourself that it’s okay if your first attempts aren’t
perfect; each try is still worthwhile, because it helps to strengthen a useful new
pattern of connections in your brain. And eventually, that “new” technique will
be the first thing that naturally comes to mind when you need it.
Finally, I’d encourage you to try everything in the book at least once until you
find the techniques that most resonate with you. As Ros, the healthcare
executive, puts it: “You can intellectually know that something is a good idea,
but the point at which you really learn is when you try it out for real. And
understanding that it takes time for new approaches to get imprinted on your
brain has freed me from worrying about getting it right the first time.” Doug, our
retailer, concludes: “It takes some trial and error to see what works best for you,
so it helps to experiment. Then, if you keep the skills fresh by using them
regularly, I’ve found you’re in better and better shape to handle things well—
whatever the day throws your way.” And that seems a very fine note to end on.

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