How to Become More Conscientious

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A large-scale synthesis of studies on conscientiousness, covering more than 100 years of research, merged the findings of 92 separate meta-evaluations covering 2,500 studies, with a combined n of 1.1 million. It identified ten ways that conscientiousness manifests.

To make it easier to implement its findings, I’ve merged the ten manifestations into five. For each, I offer a suggestion for how you might make it part of your life.

1. Being motivated to achieve goals

Not surprisingly, people lose conscientiousness when the goal is too ambitious. When facing a goal, try to be honest with yourself: Is it not overly challenging? Before rejecting it or procrastinating, think about whether it might be a doable challenge if you boned up or got help.

2. Accepting predictable environments

Conscientious people don’t need excessive novelty to perform. Less conscientious people may invoke a need for novelty to hide their fear of trying to get more than skin-deep on a topic or project.

For example, if you’re a psychotherapist, perhaps you say you're bored with your specialty and are tempted to find a different one. Of course, even conscientious people change. but they first ask themselves if the temptation to find some new bright and shiny object isn't so much a craving for novelty but a fear that gaining additional expertise would be hard and/or less interesting than learning something brand new. It’s easier to say, “I’m bored” and move on to something new. That’s ironic in that you’re more likely to help clients if you’ve taken the time to become expert, even at the risk of sacrificing the fun of the novel.

3. Responsibility for shared goals

We may mouth, “We not me” but privately, many people care mainly about Number One. A form of conscientiousness is the willingness to act on, if not fully believe in, "We not me.”

4. Commitment and perseverance

It’s harder to stay conscientious on a long-term project, but that's sometimes required. Be aware of the tendency for conscientiousness on a project to fade.

5. Restraint to avoid counterproductive activity

We’re all tempted to play rather than work. So it's no surprise that the meta-evaluation found that a key manifestation of conscientiousness is the willingness to resist pleasant activities in favor of more important ones.

To ease that decision, different people use different tactics. One person might say, “I’ll set a timer for 30 minutes and then give myself a 10-minute break.” Other people might remind themselves of the benefits of getting the task done to them and to others and the liabilities if the task isn't done. A third person might commit to burning a $20 bill every day s/he doesn't spend at least an hour on that project.

The Takeaway

Do you want to try at least one of the aforementioned tactics? That may be particularly important because conscientiousness is foundational to most professional success, personal happiness, and yes, making the world better.

I read this aloud on YouTube.