It would seem, what is the difference between the promises to oneself: “I plan to lose weight by 3 kg per month” and “I plan to lose weight by 2–4 kg”? Does it matter if the tutor says to the child: “Learn 8 English words every day”, or “… 7–9 words”? The differences are small, but it turns out that the determination to complete the task depends on them.
As scientific experiments show, it is much easier for us to keep striving for a goal for a long time if it is expressed not by an exact, but by an indefinite number. And here is another example of an important trifle: it will be easier for a mathematics teacher to explain a complex problem if the students do not bury themselves in notebooks or textbooks, but look at the blackboard. Because the physical distance between a person and the problem they are facing affects the perception of difficulties. Behavioral psychologists have long been studying these subtleties of behavior and perception. Summarizing the results of many such studies, writer Steve Martin and psychologists Noah Goldstein and Robert Cialdini told in their book about 52 important little things.
Peter, 288 p.