How I Broke my Monstrous Cookie Habit

Three days after the Girl Scout cookies arrived, I couldn’t find them.

I searched all over the kitchen. 

In the snack cabinet? Nope.

The freezer? Not there. 

That tiny never-used space above the fridge that requires a step ladder to reach? Not there, either. 

As I stepped down from the ladder, I yelled for my wife. 

“Melissa! Where are the Thin Mints?” I bellowed. 

“They’re in the basement,” she said. “And they’re not for YOU. I’m saving them for parties this summer.” 

“But…” I began to protest. 

She cut me off at the pass. 

“You’ve had plenty,” she said. 

And, bless her heart, she was right. 

When the cookies were sitting in the kitchen, I grabbed one or two (or three or 10) every time I strolled past. 

I devoured an entire sleeve of Thin Mints while watching an episode of Jeopardy. 

That’s many, many Thin Mints. Too many. 

Melissa was helping me break my monstrous cookie habit. 

Standing there at the foot of the step ladder, I craved a cookie.

But I didn’t want to march down to the basement, tear open the cookie vault, and defy dear Melissa. 

So the craving passed. 

And now the cookies are out of sight, out of mind.

I haven’t had a Girl Scout cookie in weeks. 

Bad habit broken. 

I didn’t break the cookie habit by summoning some hidden pile of willpower. 

Nope. I broke the habit because Melissa put the cookies where I wouldn’t bump into them. 

In the Mastermind Book Club this month, we’re reading Atomic Habits by James Clear. 

It’s all about how to break bad habits and establish good ones. 

Want to break a bad habit?
Change the environment
that triggers the habit. 

Want to avoid eating a sleeve of Thin Mints in one sitting?

Clear the cookies from the kitchen counter. 

Tired of procrastinating by checking email, browsing social media, or playing games on your phone? 

Lock the phone in your desk drawer. 

Trying to break a drinking habit? 

Stop hanging out in the places where you used to drink. 

Many think breaking a bad habit is not about “willpower.” 

Atomic Habits debunks that myth: 

“…’disciplined’ people are better at structuring their lives in a way that does not require heroic willpower and self-control. In other words, they spend less time in tempting situations. The people with the best self control are typically the ones who need to use it the least.” 

What bad habits are you trying to break? Any good habits you’re trying to establish? 

Join us in the Book Club and weigh in. 

Each month, Ted Prodromou and I choose a great business book for the Club.

Read the book if you want to. But that’s not required. 

In the MBC community, Ted and I will share short videos, blog posts, and other conversation-starters. 

You can comment and participate in any conversation you choose…

…or you can start your post/conversation. 

The idea: 

Share insights drawn from the book.

Discuss how to apply those insights to improve your business.

Celebrate success as you or other members implement 

The key word above: IMPLEMENT. 

Click the button to join the club. It’s free….