Category Archives: Choosing Behaviour

Reality Check: Time to Double Down?

Not so long ago, in a place not so far away, a government with the very best intentions wanted to encourage kids to eat in a healthy way. A commendable goal. The question: how might one do this? A program … Continue reading

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Reality Check: Habit-Forming

It’s commonly said that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. It’s tempting to believe that if you rigidly adhere to a new behaviour for a set number of days, then it magically becomes engrained in you. You … Continue reading

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Reality Check: The Worry-Weed Patch

Even if you’ve never gardened, you’ve probably noticed that a patch of bare ground doesn’t stay bare for long. Nature doesn’t like empty space. What fills that space? Weeds, of course. Lambs-quarters take up residence in the garden; plantain plants … Continue reading

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Reality Check: Scorekeeping and Self-Evaluation

Scorekeeping. We’re all familiar with it. Whether your experience is on the soccer field or at the card table, you know that keeping score can add value to the game. If it didn’t, we wouldn’t keep doing it, right? Fundamentally, … Continue reading

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Reality Check: The Choice Not Taken

After we’ve made a choice, the option we’ve chosen seems to become our focus. For example, you make a choice in a restaurant: “I’ll have the fish and chips, please.” When your fish arrives, it’s your focus. You might be … Continue reading

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Reality Check: Information in Action

Recently, I came across a near-magical convergence of two of my interests (that’s quality assurance and choice theory, of course.) The weekly quote on my favourite quality assurance website was a choice theory quote from Dr. Wm. Glasser! Glasser said, … Continue reading

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Reality Check: The Angry Stance

Do you have an automatic mode? That is, do you wake up feeling pretty much the same every day? Is your first reaction to a situation more or less the same, despite whether the situation is positive or negative? Some … Continue reading

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Reality Check: Smart Praise

I have previously suggested that supportive behaviours, such as encouraging and offering recognition, are helpful for building strong relationships. How about praise? Is it an effective way to recognize and encourage? When little Joey started elementary school, he’d already had … Continue reading

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Reality Check: To Choose or Not to Choose?

In recent public service ads, a teenager says something like, “My parents didn’t tell me that driving while high was a bad idea, so it must be ok.” One logical response is, “If your parents didn’t tell you it’s a … Continue reading

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Reality Check: When Positive Thinking Meets External Control

Last post, I suggested that positive thinking can be helpful, but with a caveat—to be effective, it needs to be paired with positive action. So, if positive thinking is good, then shouldn’t everybody get on board? You know, “Turn that … Continue reading

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