Transcription
So if you are finding yourself in a situation where you don't feel like doing anything, ask yourself what your options really are. If you give human beings options, they are more likely to act. A really good example of this is when you have a young kid, pediatricians will do some counseling for new parents and they'll say like, "Okay, if you're having trouble getting your kid out of the house, ask them which one they want to do first. Do you want to put on your jacket first or do you want to put on your shoes first?" Human beings are more likely to engage in behaviors if we give them options.
So, dating apps figured this out. Grocery stores figured this out. If we give people options, they're more likely to do stuff. Now, what do we see in today's world? A whole scale perception of a lack of options. You may say, "Hold on a second, doctor. Didn't you just say dating apps and Amazon and grocery stores give us tons of options?" Yeah, but you don't feel like you have options in life. You have to go to work every day. Oh my god. I have to deal with this person at work. Oh my god. I have to deal with customers at work. Oh my god. And it's so simple. This is why it's so easy to shop online but so hard to go to work because you don't have a perception of options.
So in motivational interviewing, we'll sort of when someone is developing a plan for sobriety. We don't tell them, "Hey, you've got to go to meetings and you've got to do this and you've got to do this," and people don't listen. Instead, we ask them, "Where do you want to start? Would going to meetings work better? Do you want to do psychotherapy with me? Do you want to try a medication?" Let's give people options because people like options.