Moving Past An Extinction Burst (Pod #480)

2020-09-25

You have been there before. You're trying to make a positive change in your life, such as giving up sweets. The first day is hard. The second is harder. The third day, for some unknown reason, is really easy. You feel awesome. You are making progress. Real change is happening! But then along comes day four… You come home from work and find yourself eating one little piece of candy. You think, “This is no big deal. It is only one piece.” Before you know it, one piece turns into two, then ...

You have been there before. You're trying to make a positive change in your life, such as giving up sweets.

The first day is hard. The second is harder. The third day, for some unknown reason, is really easy. You feel awesome. You are making progress. Real change is happening!

But then along comes day four…

You come home from work and find yourself eating one little piece of candy. You think, “This is no big deal. It is only one piece.”

Before you know it, one piece turns into two, then four, and then the bag is empty and you think, “Screw it! It’s too late and I've totally messed up!” and you devour every sweet in the house plus some potato chips for good measure.

Within moments you’re filled with shame and self-loathing. You wake up the next morning feeling defeated.

What you have just experienced is an “extinction burst”. I think David McRaney described extinction burst perfectly when he writes: “a predictable and common blast of defiance from the recesses of a brain denied familiar rewards.”

In this week's podcast I share with you:

why extinction bursts happen how they can undermine our progress and our willingness to tap how to get past an extinction burst to create healthier habits

This is a concept that is key to understand to be able to heal and move forward.

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