Behaviour Change Works

At the beginning of 2021, I posted a blog post, saying that I will set no resolution for 2021. Instead, I focused on the experiment of behaviour change, starting from my own personal weight loss. It worked. My weight was 83.7 KG on the 1st of Jan 2021, and 69 kg on the 31st of Dec 2021. There is a weight loss of 14.7KG in a year.

It worked because of everyday actions/behaviour changes, which does have good impacts in the long term. The actions are simple to take, as long as I keep them.

• Eat mostly corn and sweet potatoes for the dinner.
• Walk/jogging every week.

This is considered a successful experiment. This year, I plan to take the same approach to fix some of my personal issues and professional works.

Honestly, my personal mental status was pretty bad last year, with pressures from both personal/family and the work during the endemic. One generic bad habit I have to make changes: Easy to get distracted while working on tasks. When switching between roles and tasks, it was difficult to focus on getting one thing done before moving to another. This is causing serious issues. Some of the changeable behaviours include:

1. Do not pick up phones while working on dedicated tasks. 

2. If it is an appointment, focus to get it done at that limited time. Otherwise, it will take even more time or double work.

Personal/Family:

1. Make fewer calls at home. Inform wife about the meetings/calls if there are any.

2. Walk/sit straight, heads up.

Work:

1. Try to go to the office to work, say three times+ a week.

2. Use less WeChat for work-related tasks.

There is a very important skill that I failed miserably as a leader. I don't prioritise tasks well.  It may be difficult to fix quickly. The fundamental problem is that I did not pay enough time planning, and thinking.

Translate into behaviour change:

1. Spend at least 15 mins+ daily thinking and planning every morning and evening.

2. List the tasks daily and get the top priority tasks done first. 

For complicated tasks, it may take more than 1-2 hours to finish, I will need to divide them into smaller tasks, and plan them for a longer period of time. This sounds obvious but could be difficult to execute. I may need to experiment further and find out the right way to solve the problem.

Wish the family and friends/colleagues a happy and fulfilling 2022!