Life Skills and Leadership Manual - Peace Corps

Life Skills & Leadership: Unit 4, Session 3: My Leadership Role (Optional) | Page 35 of 91

Instructional Sequence

I. Motivation ( 5 minutes)
Materials:
(None)

A. Crossed and Uncrossed

Participants are introduced to the concept that doing something differently may be uncomfortable

until the new behavior is learned and fully assimilated.

1. Introduce the activity. Say:

“Please sit comfortably. Fold your hands together with your fingers interlaced so the fingers of one

hand alternate with the fingers of the other hand. Rest them on your lap.

“Now look at your hands and notice which thumb is on top. Switch your fingers so the other thumb

is on top and the rest of your fingers are still alternating. How does this feel differently than the first

time you did it?“

Note: You can also ask people to cross their arms in front of their chest and note which hand is on top, then switch.

Similarly, people can cross their legs or do both arms and legs at the same time. Whatever you ask people to do, have

them hold the position for a while so you can emphasize the point that it’s not easy to sustain a new “position” for a

long time. It’s easy to fall back into old habits.

Note: Adapt the task for the context and culture. For example, crossing one’s legs in public is not polite in some

cultures.

2. Pause for responses, such as “It feels uncomfortable,” or “It feels awkward or strange.” Ask:

“This new position feels uncomfortable or maybe even sort of fun for a while. But how long could

you keep your hands this way without switching back to your old way? If you pull your hands apart

and I ask you to fold your hands together again, which way would you do it?”

3. Listen to some answers, then ask a few more discussion questions:

Note: Among the discussion questions, those in BOLD are the most important.

When have you experienced something like this where you made a change at first but

couldn’t keep it going?

Why is it so hard to make a change and make it stick for a long time? (Possible answers: Old

habits are hard to break. The new way is too uncomfortable. Others might not approve of the

change.)

What has to happen for a change to become more permanent? (Possible answers: Practicing

new skills. Support to make new changes a habit.)

What advice would you give someone who wanted to make a permanent change?