Holding the door open causes a hustle!

Have you ever been out in a public setting and a stranger ahead of you noticed you are going towards a door. They reach the door first, and then proceed to hold it open for you. This small act of kindness elicits a fantastically funny dilemma. Your need to be polite and not delay the stranger encourages you move quickly. You also don’t want that stranger to think you are slow. You feel obligated to move quickly to show appreciation for the gesture. This happened to me today. I am not an athletic or quick moving individual at all. I also wasn’t blessed vertically which means I take incredibly tiny little steps. So the lovely stranger is holding the door open, I now have to react, I say thank you and do an awkward half jog, half quick walk.
This whole situation got me thinking about how a stranger just had complete control over my speed and focus, if only for 30 seconds. How did she just do that to me !?
Let’s break it down! So first she knew where I was going. I wouldn’t run towards just any door held open. Secondly, she was already ahead of me. And third and arguably the most vital step here, she used a non verbal cue. If she had of spoke to me, asked if she could get the door for me, I would of politely said no thank you and the whole forced aerobics could have been avoided. So her cue triggered a formed habit. This habit was formed because there is a reward. In this case the reward is not feeling guilty for delaying her and also showing her I valued the gesture and her time.
Now here’s the exciting part. You have a goal in mind. You want to get to that goal as fast as possible and with excellent results. So we’re going to take what we just learned and apply a habit to that goal. Let’s use reading as your goal. The goal is to read 30 pages a day. You will use the calendar on your phone to set the “event” to read at a time you know it is possible. This is your cue. Trigger- go to a space that is quiet and not distracting. Reward- you do an enjoyable activity directly after finishing all 30 pages. In this way the whole process of reading the pages becomes entwined with positivity. Message your brain recieves- reading leads to reward.
Try setting a helpful habit to achieve a goal and leave a comment about your experience!