Change and Success from an Artist / ABA Therapist Perspective

Trust, perseverance, will, risk, dreams, discipline, and opportunity. These abstract nouns describe personal qualities and values. We hear them all the time as the ingredients people say it takes to be successful. Entire industries and businesses exist to coach you toward success, fame, and financial gain. You would be hard-pressed not to come across something on social media outlining steps to becoming successful.

Why? That’s a good question.

From a behavioral standpoint, reinforcement is key. Reinforcement both shapes and sustains goal-directed behavior: successes that yield positive consequences—social praise, attention, tokens, access to preferred activities, or money—serve as reinforcers, increasing the likelihood that the behaviors which produced those outcomes will occur again. But I am also a painter so…..

Lets take Painting as an example:

From an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) perspective, your drive to finish a painting—and to make it great—is not random. It’s shaped by reinforcement, history, and environment.

Reinforcement in action:
Every time you step back and feel that moment—“this part works”—that feeling acts as automatic reinforcement. If someone later praises the piece or it gets exhibited, that’s social reinforcement, strengthening the behaviors (brush strokes, color choices, persistence) that led to that outcome.

Motivating operations (MOs):
That internal pull to create—whether it’s emotional expression, unfinished ideas, or even restlessness—functions as an MO. It increases the value of completing the painting and makes you more likely to engage in the behavior (painting longer, refining details).

Antecedents and environment:
Your studio, music, time of day, even the smell of paint—all act as discriminative stimuli (SDs). They signal: this is the place where art happens. They set the occasion for the behavior of painting.

Shaping and layering:
A finished painting isn’t one behavior—it’s a chain of behaviors. You sketch, block colors, layer textures, adjust composition. Each small success is reinforced, gradually shaping the final product—just like shaping complex behavior in ABA.

Persistence through difficulty (negative reinforcement):
Sometimes you keep working not because it feels good—but because stopping feels worse. That tension, that unfinished canvas, is an aversive condition. Finishing or improving the painting removes that discomfort, reinforcing continued effort.

Modeling and influence:
Artists like Mark Rothko or Joan Mitchell serve as models. Seeing their work reinforced (fame, exhibitions, impact) influences your own behavior through vicarious reinforcement.

You don’t just want to succeed in painting—you’ve been conditioned to keep creating because:

• It has been reinforced (internally and externally)

• Your environment cues it

• Your history strengthens it

• And your behavior has been shaped over time into something more refined

Success on the canvas is behavior built, reinforced, and repeated.

So how does this apply to life? 5 takeaways

It applies to life in a very practical, moment-to-moment way—because your life is not built in big, dramatic moments… it’s built through repeated behaviors that get reinforced over time.

From an ABA perspective, everything comes down to this:

What you do, and what happens after, determines what you’ll keep doing.

So in real life:

1. Your habits = your reinforcement history
If you wake up early, go to the gym, or study—and you feel accomplished, less stressed, or receive praise—that behavior is reinforced. You’re more likely to repeat it, and as those actions accumulate, they gradually shape how you see yourself. Over time, those repeated choices become your identity: disciplined, consistent, and reliable.

2. What you tolerate, you reinforce
If you procrastinate and still meet deadlines… you just reinforced procrastination.
If you stay in situations that drain you… you reinforce staying stuck.
Life doesn’t just reward good behavior—it reinforces whatever works, even if it’s not helping you long-term.

3. Motivation isn’t the starting point—behavior is
People wait to “feel ready,” but in ABA, action comes first.
You take a small step → you contact reinforcement → motivation builds.
That’s how momentum is created.

4. Your environment is shaping you (whether you notice it or not)
The people around you, your routine, your workspace—these are all antecedents.
They either make success easier… or harder.
If you change your environment, you change your behavior.

5. Success is shaped, not sudden
No one wakes up successful.
It’s built like your paintings—layer by layer.
Small wins → reinforced → repeated → refined.

What is the The Real Application

If you want to change your life, don’t start with “Who do I want to be?”
Start with:

What behavior do I need to repeat today?
What reinforcement will keep it going?

Because at the end of the day:
Your life is simply the result of what you consistently reinforce.

So be intentional.

Reinforce the discipline.
Reinforce the effort.
Reinforce the version of you you’re trying to become.

Everything else will follow.

Best Life Forward,
Tony