The Power of Three
I heard about Brian Wansink’s the Power of Three theory in an issue of O: The Oprah Magazine last year sometime. I cut out the article because I was so impressed that for one of the habits he was going to change was to only eat new candy i.e. instead of any old candy that came across his sugar radar. Then, later, I bought Wansink’s book. Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More than We Think is brilliant. The fact that the book is funny and fascinating just adds to its charm.
Mindless Eating is one of those books, kind of like Freakonomics, that I find endlessly fascinating due, in part, I think to the human behavior aspect. Why do we do what we do? Wansink contends that we weigh what we weigh (some of unhappily so) because too often we are mindlessly eating (considering ourselves full when the plate is empty or eating in front of the television). Wansink introduces his power of three theory in the last chapter of the book. The idea is to start building the right habits, slowly. The gist is that you track your three intended changes over a 28 day period. At the end of each day, give yourself a check mark for the change that you kept to. You can use the power of three with anything–not just food. 
I like this idea because it is simple and easily sets up the participant for success. You can practice the power of three with confidence building too. Imagine that your three intended changes are: taking more risks; speaking your truth; and meeting new people. Each of these activities enable you to become more confident so the trick then is to turn them into habit. Et voila! 28 days later, you have formed newer, more Authentic Self supporting habits and have become more confident.
What are three intended changes you can make for yourself?