In today’s newsletter, Dylan Fitzgerald talked about how he changed his behavior thanks to a single sentence.
Let me quote Dylan:
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I became a consistent flosser with a single passing sentence from a dental assistant:
“Just remember to only floss the teeth you want to keep!”
Oooof. That landed heavy: the flipped framing cut through years of semiconsciously shrugging off similar but ultimately ineffective advice.
Why? What’s so much more effective in this structure and framing?
- There’s no “should”. No blame, no shame, no judgment.
- The consequences are clearly laid out—not to induce fear, but not avoided, either.
- There’s a little bit of cheek.
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Dylan knew he should floss his teeth because that’s good for his health.
Yet he didn’t start doing it unless the assistant phrased it a certain way.
His story inspired me to reframe the assistant’s sentence and share some advice with you.
So if I were to give you one advice, I would say:
“Just remember to only describe the processes you want to work well!”