Page 257 - The Power to Change Anything

246 INFLUENCER

who don’t. In order to get to drugs, residents would now have
to go to much greater lengths and distances than ever before.
And all of this happens because Dr. Silbert understands the
importance of making the wrong behavior hard, and the right
behavior easy—or at least easier.
If you’re not a drug addict and don’t have worms, what can
this simple principle do for you? Or maybe for our friend
Henry? Here’s some more good news on the diet front. Brian
Wansink has shown that if you make good eating choices a lit-
tle easier and bad ones a little harder, you can make a substan-
tial dent in your waistline.
For example, Brian Wansink found that plate size affects
the amount of food a person will eat during a meal before
deciding that he or she is satisfied. Smaller plates left people
satisfied with smaller portions. If you want to eat fewer calo-
ries, change the dishes sitting in your cupboard. He also learned
that the positioning of snacks and whether packaging is clear
or opaque can increase or decrease consumption by 50 percent
or more. A candy jar placed on a desk rather than a few feet
away on a bookshelf can double the amount of candy con-
sumed—once again, propinquity at work. Ice cream with a
clear top in the freezer is much more likely to be eaten than
the same treat in a cardboard box.
And when it comes to using your exercise equipment, you
can bet that distance also takes its toll. Move your exercise bike
from your TV room to your basement, and you’ve just dramat-
ically cut your chances of using it. Travel to a gym for your
routine cardiovascular exercise (as opposed to using a piece
of home equipment), and this too will lessen your chances
substantially.
So, if you’re one who struggles to maintain a healthy
lifestyle, do a quick inventory of things that affect your behav-
ior. Take a count of how many bad food choices are within your
reach at each hour of a typical day. Then take a count of how
many good choices are within the same distance. Look at how
difficult it is for you to exercise. Do you have to walk to a dis-