The Transformational Potential of Brushing Your Teeth
The first time I noticed there was something interesting about brushing my teeth was when I noticed I kept thinking of my friend Phil every time my toothbrush was in my mouth.
I could vaguely remember how it started: a business idea or creative project that he and I had talked about, or some reflection he had made that had sparked things for me had been in my mind when I was brushing my teeth.
Brushing my teeth - as for many people - occupies a strange place in my life: one of the very few essentially optional things (i.e. it’s not food or water or sleep) that I do literally every day.
And what had happened was somehow that thinking about Phil had been fused with brushing my teeth.
This was fun at first: I can’t remember what the thing was, but it was fun to think about. And then after a while… it was a bit annoying that I basically couldn’t help thinking about Phil once a day or so. (It didn’t happen literally every time I brushed my teeth, but it happened a lot!) Now, I don’t mind thinking about Phil, but, I thought, what else could I be thinking about?
The second time I realised there was something interesting about brushing my teeth was when I was deeply immersed in the 12-Minute Method. The books were coming out, I was appearing on podcasts all the time, and talking about the power of repeatable habits was everywhere.
One of the beauties of the 12-Minute Method (do something every week, for 12 minutes, and you’ll be amazed at what you create over three years) is that it is really hard to argue with. Some people might make a case they don’t have 12 minutes each day, but everyone has 12 minutes in a week. Or can create it.
And so the objection that I heard that hit me hardest - in a way the saddest objection - was basically: it’s alright for Robbie to do that, but I’m just not built that way. I can’t create that kind of consistency.
And yet: does the person who says that brush their teeth every day?
If they do, then they clearly are the kind of person who can create that kind of consistency.
As I’ve written before, proof by exception - breaking the certainty people have about a belief they hold - can be a powerful way to create a more expansive worldview; creating a belief that more accurately captures the reality of the world.
In this case, it removes certainty in the fixed-mindset idea that ‘Robbie can create a consistent practice but I can’t.’
And of course, the truth is: Robbie got really got at creating consistent practices by practice.
We can all practice things. We can all get better. And if we brush our teeth every day, we know that we can be consistent.
And so if we brush our teeth every day, and if we can accidentally fuse a thought pattern to a behaviour, as I had with Phil, then brushing our teeth becomes one of the most powerful things in our lives for behaviour change.
Most of us never forget to brush our teeth.
And so, if there’s something else we want to never forget to do, we can use that.
I’ve struggled with injuries and pain to my knees and ankles from running for more than a decade.
About five years ago, I sought advice, and was given some exercises designed to strengthen the small muscles and tendons in those joints.
And I did them… a bit… for a while.
Recently, I somewhat foolhardily signed up for a bigger, tougher run than I’ve ever done before. And then I started to panic (about many parts of it… this is my standard response to something like this… it’s why I need a powerful way to break down a task into manageable chunks).
One part of my panic was: will my joints stand up to this? It’s a team event, so if they don’t, I’ll be letting my friends down.
And then I saw my wife doing something weird. She was balancing on one foot, moving her other foot around her a little like a dance, while brushing her teeth.
This, it turns out, was a physio exercise given to her to help with damaged ankle ligaments.
And there we go: that’s how to do it.
Tie the exercise I’m avoiding and forgetting to a thing I never avoid or forget.
It’s only been three days so far, but I have done more knee and ankle strengthening exercises in those three days than I had in the previous six months.
In the literature, I think they call this habit stacking: taking a thing you always do and attaching your new habit to that:
Gratitude at lunchtime.
Meditation before a coaching session.
Exercise while brushing my teeth.
So the questions for you are:
What habit do you most want to create?
And how can you attach it to brushing your teeth?
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PS If you want to take charge of being who you want to be, and avoid being dragged away from it a moment at a time, you might be interested in my latest long-read article. It’s about Mohamed Al-Fayed, Enron and Omar Little from The Wire. It’s called A Man Got to Have a Code: https://www.robbieswale.com/writing/2024/10/11/a-man-got-to-have-a-code-leading-with-honour-iii
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This is the latest in a series of articles written using the 12-Minute Method: write for twelve minutes, proof read once with tiny edits and then post online.