Stop Lying

Many of you who have gotten to this section of the book may feel like you do more than most: You work harder than other people in your office, you produce good results, but yet you seem to never get ahead. All of this may be true, but you may be missing a few things. Maybe you are, in fact, 5 percent better in many aspects, but not all aspects of your personal and professional life.

A friend of mine is a senior-level sales manager at a Fortune 500 company. He has worked very hard to get where he is today. He wasn't able to go to college so he literally had to do more than everyone else in order to move up. He has been with this company for close to 20 years, and just recently he posted on a social media site that he was feeling unappreciated and that he couldn't believe how his employer was treating him. I called him and asked what happened, and he told me how he was up for a promotion but another manager got it. He explained to me how hard he worked and how dedicated he was. He told me that the other candidate was definitely worthy and was also a hard worker, but my friend felt like he was really a better fit. My friend told me how the other candidate was always happy and upbeat in the office. He told me how much this annoyed him as he told me no one could possibly be that happy and upbeat all the time. He told me how they were at work and being that happy just wasn't realistic. I then told him that is what set him apart and that is why the other guy got the promotion. My friend defended himself and said how he was upbeat too, not all the time, but most of the time. The other candidate and my friend were neck and neck for the position, but the other candidate got the position. For a position that requires motivational skills, the other candidate was just a little bit better than my friend.

What I mean by “stop lying” in this section is that if you aren't getting ahead, if you aren't getting results, step back and objectively look at what you are doing and how you are doing it; ask a friend or even a colleague to give you honest feedback and make the subtle changes you need to in order to accomplish your goals.

A Little Change Science

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.

—George Bernard Shaw

As a salesperson and a marketer and a lawyer, part of my training has been to learn about what makes people do what they do. How can I convince someone to do something? How can we persuade them to buy something as a company? As a result, I have had the opportunity to study human psychology in an effort to be a better marketer and motivator. I had a sales manager who used to always say, “The only thing that is constant is change.”

Most people hate change; they avoid and resist change and get stuck in their ways. That is why so many people fall short of their goals and dreams in life. People think just jumping in and making drastic, sweeping changes will work. Sometimes they do, but most eventually fail. They don't understand that resistance to change is something that is engrained in us physically and mentally. Both are really one and the same. Our physical thoughts are a result of a chemical reaction or hormonal response. So, since we as humans are very resistant to change, I have the unfortunate news to break to you that 5 Percent More is about change. The good news is that it works and they are small changes that will lead to long-term, big results.

In order for you to make a change you need to understand that there will be barriers, there will be setbacks, but first you must be willing to make a change in order to achieve your goals. In the late 1970s, two researchers named James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente introduced the Stages of Change Model. They introduced this model when they were trying to find a solution to help people quit smoking and overcome addiction as a whole, which we have also discussed. In this model they determined that change occurs gradually; early on, people resist, but over time it gets easier and change happens.

Their model identifies six stages of change. The first is Precontemplation, where basically you haven't even begun to think about making a change. Contemplation is when you have begun to think about making a change, but are still a little wary. Determination is the stage where you have made up your mind that change is needed. Action, then, is when you take steps and have put a plan in place. For most of you, just from reading this book you have leapfrogged ahead to the action phase.

The next stage is Maintenance, where you are trying to stay on track but understand you may get off track and it is going to take time. This is where I also see so many people suffer permanent setbacks. If you are dieting and you happen to have an ice cream, it isn't an excuse or a reason to just give up; you have already come so far. Understand that setbacks happen even with the small 5 percent changes, but recognize you haven't lost and won't lose.

Finally, in the Termination stage, you have achieved your goal. The Stages of Change Model is still used today to help people understand what needs to be done to kick an addiction or a destructive habit. This model is also being used to help people make the everyday changes they need to make, not just in addiction.

Now that you understand that change really has stages, it is easier to see how small changes make more sense. As I have said earlier and will continue to say throughout, regardless of the science and our understanding of the human psyche, anybody can do anything 5 Percent More, 5 percent better, or 5 percent less.

And remember, again, you are already in the Action stage of change just by reading this book!

Quit Smoking in 20 Days

Now, I am not an addiction counselor, nor would I ever claim to be one. And so I am not going to be so bold as to specifically address the many very serious addictions that multitudes of Americans are challenged by, from drugs to alcohol to video games, sex, the Internet, pornography, the list goes on and on in our country and the world. But I can pretty much guarantee that the 5 Percent More approach will help you in dealing with any of those if you take into account the thoughts I shared earlier in this book and in this chapter.

That's because it is my belief that anybody can do anything 5 Percent More or 5 Percent Less and achieve the results they are looking for. The research supports my premise of 5 Percent Less, or tapering off, with respect to addiction to benzodiazepine, a highly addictive drug. In a three-month randomized study published in The British Journal of Psychiatry, 180 patients addicted to benzodiazepine were recruited and tapered off their amount of benzodiazepine each week for three months. In this study, the reduction was 25 percent per week with the option to spread out the last two weeks to 12.5 percent. Tapering off over time had a much better success rate versus the control group: Sixty-two percent of the tapering patients were able to kick the habit versus the control group, which saw only a 21 percent quit rate.¹

I know you are saying, “Well, that's not 5 percent a day.” However, in the Buprenorphine tapering schedule and illicit opioid use, this study found that there is no difference between a 28-day tapering schedule and a seven-day schedule when coming off of an opioid replacement drug—meaning that if it is easier for you to gradually taper off over time you will have the same success rate. In fact, most clinicians prefer a longer, gradual taper (quoted in the study). The study did conclude that there is no benefit to a long-term taper, but if you have seen drug addiction like I have, a gradual, longer taper seems easier on the addicts.²

However, when it comes to specific addictions, I am going to spend some time talking about cigarette addiction. And that's because smoking kills more Americans than guns, car accidents, prescription drugs, and illicit drug use combined.³

Some experts say that quitting smoking is harder than quitting heroin. I've actually visited several addiction treatment centers and all of them have recovering addicts out in front of the facility puffing on cigarettes like it was their last one. Doesn't that seem odd to you? Practically all addiction centers allow smoking. Why?

Well, I asked the director of a facility in Oklahoma and he said, “If we didn't allow smoking, we would never get people to quit the ‘real’ drug.” My grandmother and great-grandfather died of emphysema and lung cancer, respectively. My mother smokes and my father, despite a recent heart attack, still smokes even though he kicked a cocaine addiction in the nineties. They have both tried to quit several times, so this section I have written is for them.

If you smoke or know someone who smokes, do you think reducing the amount by 5 percent each day is achievable? One cigarette? Of course it is. Let's assume you smoke a pack a day; that is 20 cigarettes. Reducing that amount by just 5 percent a day, you will be smoke-free in less than a month. To help you quit, think about this fact: for every cigarette you smoke, you reduce your life expectancy by 11 minutes.⁴

Now let's assume you smoke every day. You are reducing your time on the planet by 54 days every year. Smoke for six years and you will die a year earlier than your counterpart nonsmoker. Five Percent Less for only 20 days will give you more time on this planet with your loved ones. It's that simple. Anybody, including you, can do 5 Percent More, or in this case 5 Percent Less.

What about the cost of smoking? In a study recently published on www.wallethub.com, you could not only save your life but increase your net worth. If you were to quit smoking versus a life-long habit, you will increase your net worth by close to $2 million. From reduced earnings to the cost of tobacco, you can become a millionaire if you are a smoker right now. Reduce by just 5 percent a day and you will live longer and earn more. The following chart shows you the cost per state.