How do you get from "should do" to "have done"?

[Poindexter]

I thought about making a poll, but I really want the story, and I probably would leave out your favorite poll choice anyway.

Given the website, how did you get from "I should burn dry wood" to "I am burning dry wood"? The other one in my job in healthcare, how do people get from "I should stop smoking" to "I did stop smoking."

But you can see they are different questions yes? It is possible to have a year or two as a new burner struggling to get drier wood without needing chemotherapy and a Hospice admission.

So how to you get there? There are enough books and journal articles about motivation theory to fill several libraries, but what gives you the impetus to make an actual behavior change?

 

[Poindexter]

For me I can attribute both personal experience and the observed experiences of others. I can get to "have done" a lot faster with personal experience, but I do get there eventually observing others experiences.

Again, my thanks for your participation.

 

[peakbagger]

Ideally you need to have actually lived burning dry wood for a period of time to realize how bad burning wet wood is. If that takes buying a truly kiln dried cord of wood at a premium so be it. Once you have lived with good wood and then have to deal with marginal wood, its great motivation to get ahead on wood.

 

[stoveliker]

For me, conviction that it is the right thing to do. In general, fairness, the right thing, integrity, are important to me. For wood that translates into doing it with the minimum of harm to the planet and my fellow humans.

That is the motivation for burning dry wood for me. Turns out it's much more enjoyable to burn dry wood too.

 

[peakbagger]

BTW, once someone has heated for season with dry wood and realized that they needed to process far less wood, its a major motivator. As a boiler owner I have to relight every burn as my boiler does not retain coals (most do not). I go through a lot of kindling that I need to process and store, I need far less with dry wood, thus another motivator. The irony is once you get ahead on wood, keeping ahead does not require extra effort, you are just cutting and processing a season's worth of wood every year, its just that you are pulling the actual wood you are burning from the prior years stacks.

 

[Sawset]

Every decision made is based on level of intolerance and level of aptitude. I could do it, but I can't tolerate it. I can tolerate it, but not for long because my mind is incapable or starts to wander.
Pick a topic - apply the constraints - and I then witness the result.
Picture listening to music. You're in an environment that is very satisfying and pleasing. You hear some rhythm, and - goosebumps. What's up with that. Goosebumps. They are from head to toe, instantaneous, elicited by sensory input from all 5 senses plus the processing of memories, and the gut nervous system (involuntary, primal). The mind says "I like it", signals go out to the appropriate cells and bingo, a shot of adrenaline, or serotonin, or whatever. Then it's gone. My guess is, that that process happens, at all times, in all situations, for everyone.
The things and situations that I surround myself with are based on the above. The moment by moment actions, or very long term decisions that I make, stem from this constant feedback loop. That's what I believe anyway.

 

[Ashful]

Maybe I'm not following you, Poindexter. Burning dry wood? You've set the bar awful low, no? Even at my burn rate, it really only took two or three years to get 3 years ahead, as in 30 cords split and stacked. Not exactly moving heaven and earth, I wouldn't list it very high on my (or hopefully anyone's) list of accomplishments.

Hey, how about that stubborn guy in Newark NJ who invented the lightbulb, with no clue as to basic chemistry, and really very little understanding of what he was doing? Dude tried everything from cat gut to pubic hair as a filament, and everything from farts to argon as atmosphere. Three thousand failed experiments... that's perseverance!

A few cords of dry wood is hardly a good example of getting from "should do" to "have done", unless I'm missing some higher meaning.

 

[Poindexter]

Feel free to explain the lightbulb. He got from "I should invent a lightbulb" to "I did invent a lightbulb."

I see a two step process, first finding the will to start, and then finding the will to continue, Thos Edison displaying notable tenacity at the latter.

I agree dry wood has a fairly quick benefit horizon. I have, I dunno, half a dozen times loaded up 2-3 fireboxes worth of dry cordwood and delivered them to someone who didn't really know what they were missing. Even 24 hours burning dry wood can be convincing.

 

[Ashful]

I see some people who are happy to sit still, watch a movie on a perfectly useful sunny day, or otherwise procrastinate. I've never had that problem, I really hate sitting still and watching sports or television.

I have a to-do list easily three pages long, that gets updated several times per week. Weekends are spent just plugging my way through those items. It's sometimes surprising to see how much you can get done on a Saturday, when you take a few minutes on Friday evening sorting and organizing your to-do list for priority and optimization. My own list is broken into a few categories:

1. Weekly tasks
2. Immediate / urgent
3. Warm weather jobs
4. Cold weather jobs
5. Rain day jobs

So how do you get from "should" to "done"? There's no secret in that, just get out there and do it. Get your list written down during the week, and sorted before your day off, so you're ready to pick those jobs off when the free time appears. Unless your job requires it (as in the one I work all week), don't let yourself sit down until you're too exhausted to stand, and ready to climb between the sheets.

 

[EbS-P]

At the most basic we are talking about behavioral changes. We are assuming that it is understood that the changes are beneficial. So one needs to be provided sufficient information and persuasion so they arrive at the conclusion they need to take action. Once at this point one must have sufficient resources and support to see the process to completion and continued resources and support until new habits are formed. . Much research has been done on effective ways to overcome chemical dependency. So I do believe that there does exists best practices.

Burning dry wood. That just comes down to insufficient knowledge motivation and or resources. It takes time effort and space and money, to procure, process and store 3 years worth of wood. If you said to someone if you help me build your wood shed I will pay for materials and we will fill it with wood. I bet better than 50% of the the people would have an empty woodshed after 3 years. You did not put in place a system of continued accountability/assistance. Now if you had a group, that once a month got together to procure process and stack and held each other accountable. I bet the recidivism rate would be much lower.

Invention is a different process than changing personal behaviors.