Change is Hard

You can’t force people to change.

Changing behavior is extremely difficult. Habits burn pathways in the brain, making it very easy to continue the habit without actually thinking about the mechanical processes involved.

When you see someone else exhibiting bad behaviors, it can be very challenging to convince them to change. One can’t simply demand a change and expect a satisfactory result to occur instantly. People are complicated.

New habits take time and practice. There needs to be a strong motivation to replace an old habit with a new one. Then the person needs to practice the new habit every day for a period of weeks until the new habit has fully replaced the old one. Because this requires a lot of conscious effort, and the old habit does not, people very often fall back into their old habits.

While you can’t force a person to make this change, you can show them a better way of doing things and help them with the new habits. The more positive reinforcement there is of the new habit, the more likely it will be able to stick.