Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Want to Break Habits? Make Some

Coming out of a habit is not an easy task. All of us have habits that we want to get away from - but its hard! I was listening to an HBR ideacast few days ago and really liked some thoughts. The idea behind the whole thing was that its not as important to feel bad about your habit and convince yourself that "I will not do it". But, it is important to train yourself on "This is what I will do" when I am about to become the victim of my habit. So, if you want to quit cigarette  - don't convince yourself again and again on "I wont smoke next time". But, tell yourself what will you do when you want to smoke - i.e. train yourself on "I will chew a gum" next time I want to smoke. This trains the mind that the right sequence to follow is not to smoke but to chew a gum. Soon, you mind will be asking for gum and not smoke.

So, break the bad sequence by training yourself on an alternate sequence and not by simply stopping to do the old one.
Using Social Media for Sending Wishes

I got up in the morning thinking that because I will have have more time this year, why not start the year by hand-picking people and sending them a "twitter" like (super short - less than a sentence) personal note to wish them on new year. We all know that nothing parallels hand written note. But, still, people these days understand that it will be hard to write and mail 100 cards on every event. However, did you ever try posting on your linkedin or facebook "Happy New Year" and watch how many people respond back to you. I tried that shortcut over the last couple of months and was surprised that I seldom get a response from people! However, today, the response rate was almost 60-70% ( I gave benefit of doubt to some others who must still be on vacation or are on a different time zone).

This painted a picture for me. It feels like using so called "Social Media" to say "Happy New Year" resembles something we all probably did at some point in our lives. I still remember putting up a string with weaved paper alphabets that collectively meant "HAPPY DIWALI" right above the front door of my house. In retrospect, hanging that string in front of my door did not automatically mean anything to people. Infact family/friends who did not visit me that day (or for the next 2 days) did not even see that sign because it was gone by then. So, if I wanted to wish someone, I had to visit them or atleast call them. I feel putting that "sign" against your Social Media handles is exactly like that. It does not mean anything to anyone - except that is shows you are happy - only to people who visit your page before that sign is buried under other updates. There is no personal touch to it and hence you hardly get a response. So, while social channels are good push medium for us in general (we update and others get to know) it certainly does not act that way when we want to push wishes. 

So, I think a short simple email is definitely much more personal and should be used - instead of putting up signs on social media.