Teaching Lock · also called the articulation effect
why does it feel different once I’ve explained it to someone
A teaching lock is the way explaining a rule or standard out loud to another person commits you to it harder than any private resolution does — not because they are checking on you, but because you cannot casually lower a standard you just heard yourself state plainly. The lock is in the saying, not in their attention.
You weren’t teaching them the rule. You were welding yourself to it.
What to do about it
Pick one standard you keep quietly softening and explain it out loud, in plain terms, to one real person today.
Books that work on this
Each is a 90-day programme. Start with the first — later books assume the work in the earlier ones.
The Iron Routine$6.99
Lose Loud Once$6.99
The Elite BlueprintComing soon
Average Is DiseaseComing soon
The Top TaxComing soon
Habit ArchitectureComing soon
Sharpen Or ShelveComing soon
Raise The FloorComing soonPart of the Discipline series.
How people say it
Nobody looks this up by its clinical name. These are the ways it actually gets said.
- I hold myself to something more once I’ve said it out loud
- explaining my rule to someone else makes it feel real
- I can’t fudge it once I’ve told someone what I actually do
- saying it to another person locks me in somehow
- why does it feel different once I’ve explained it to someone
- I never break my own rule once I’ve stated it out loud
- talking it through with someone makes me actually follow it
Written by Brian Spiker, who has run Spiker Carpet and Tile Care since 2013 — the receipts. More terms in the encyclopedia.