Benefits of habit “Stop attempts to change someone’s opinion”

✓ Reduces stress and anxiety
✓ Improves relationships
✓ Improves communication
✓ Reduces negative social experiences

First step:

Once a week

Progress:

1. This week, when you find yourself in a situation where you fervently try to change someone’s opinion, consciously end the conversation and either leave or completely change the topic to something innocuous.
2. Next week, do this again with more people if this behavior from you happens more often.
3. Keep it up until you don’t even start the conversation that you know will lead to conflict.

Helpful tips to make it a habit:

✓ Trigger your mind. Always carry a physical reminder it’s not your place to change someone else’s opinion if they’re dead set on it. We recommend a stress ball you can grip whenever you feel the need to argue.
✓ Let the app help. Set a reminder on this app to ring every morning, reminding you that not every opinion can or should be changed.
✓ Reward yourself. Once you’ve gone a full month of no pointless, opinionated arguments, reward yourself by hanging out with people whose opinion is similar to yours. Find a group around similar interests and enjoy the general agreement.

Tips for beginners:

✓ What drives you? What makes you start the discussion altogether and how does it end up in a place of conflict over someone else’s opinion? Do you feel defensive and are looking for allies? Or do you just feel there’s a wrong that should be righted? Work out what drives you and see what could be done about this urge.
✓ Debating. Constructive argument is an actual activity that can be learned, used and experienced. If you’re really bent on changing someone else’s point of view with concrete, structural arguments, join a debate team and learn how to do it semi-professionally.
✓ Acceptance. Most of all, it’s important to accept that other people make different choices, have lived different lives and have different perspectives and solutions to same problems. Even if they offend you or are detrimental to people that hold them, you cannot make a choice for them. It will be easier to stop arguing after you’ve accepted this for a fact.