In the early part of last century, a man called Edward Thorndike took to putting cats in boxes.
He wasn’t cray cray though – he was conducting experiments.
The boxes were set up so that if the cat did a certain combination of actions (pull a string, step on a lever then flick a catch in one case) a door opened and s/he could get to some food on the outside.
In one particular study, one cat (we’ll call him Mr. Mistoffelees) recorded the following times (in seconds) for escaping on subsequent attempts:
160, 30, 90, 60, 15, 28, 20, 30, 22, 11, 15, 20, 12, 10, 14, 10, 8, 8, 5, 10, 8, 6, 6, 7.
As you can see he learned over time the quickest, most efficient way to do it.
Not a straight line with each one being fast than the previous attempt, but a definite movement in that direction.
And these results have been shown time and time again in similar experiments.
Animals get progressively faster at tasks .
They start out not really knowing what to do and learn as they go.
Until it just becomes a habit they don’t have to think about.
Consistent 6 to 7 second escapes in this case.
And, despite us being considerably more intelligent and less hairy (mostly) than our four legged brethren……….
We are much the same.
Start slow, confused, not really sure what to do and it’s all a bit of a pain in the arse.
Keep doing it and, eventually, it becomes a habit we can do relatively quickly and easily.
Not straight forward, consistent improvements of the same amount every time.
But a definitely general movement in that direction.
Exercise, healthy eating, relaxation techniques, sleep aiding routines, hydration and so on.
All stuff we’ll get better and find easier to do…………
Just by doing it.
That doing it regularly enough is key.
Them cats would’ve never have got any better by being locked in a box once a month.
Or by doing it for a couple of weeks every January (check myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting if that’s been you so far this year and you’re ready to try something that’s helped hundreds finally form those lasting habits – the find out more meeting is TONIGHT).
They had to stick with it while it was still a pain.
In order for it to get easier.
And so do we 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘Bagpuss’ Hall and Matt ‘Crookshanks’ Nicholson
