How Pretending to Sleep or Be Fit Can Shape Your Habits

If you have an early flight in the morning and you know you

need to sleep, it might cause you to try to fall

asleep. Now, the more you try, the more alert your brain

gets, which keeps you awake. But if you just

pretend you're already sleeping, close your eyes,

slow your breathing, lie still, eventually you would

actually drift off. And this is how we normally fall

asleep, by pretending we already are.

Now, let's say you want to get fit. If you keep telling yourself,

"I need to get fit," it feels like a chore.

You'll start and stop over and over.

But if you just pretend you're already a fit person, well,

you'll start making the choices a fit person makes.

You'll pick the water over the soda.

You'll go for the walk instead of scrolling.

Not because you're forcing yourself, but because that's just what a

fit person does. And if you pretend long enough,

well, it might just stop being pretend.