How to Change—for Good

I want to ask just a really basic question to make sure that we've got the right terms here and to see which are interchangeable.

Are behaviors and habits the same thing, at least the way that you talk about them in the book? And what are the obstacles that make them so hard to change?

I would say that habits are distinct from behaviors.

And the way that they're distinct is that habits are repeated behaviors that have begun to feel automatic, that we engage in without necessarily deliberating on, you know, do I want to bite my nail right now? Is that the right thing to do? Do I really need to take another step? bite of this snack or sip of this coffee.

When we are doing something without a lot of conscious deliberation, just because we've done it before, and it's the natural progression of things, that looks like a habit.

But behaviors are any action we take, whether they've been deliberated on extensively, or result from this sort of automaticity that habits tend to have.

And so why are they so hard to change, whether they're a habit or not?

Yes, both are hard to change.

Habits are particularly hard to change because we're literally not thinking about them.

And so we have to re alert ourselves to the fact that this is a decision point.

And I might not want to take this action that is self destructive in some way.

So habits are particularly hard to change.

But behaviors are writ large tend to be hard to change for quite a number of reasons.

And really, the central thesis of my book is there's no one answer to that question.

In fact, there are several different answers.

And figuring out which one is holding you back is critical to employing the right scientific tools to help you succeed.

So a common barrier, though, and one that I actually really first discovered and helped me fall in love with behavioral science by taking classes as a graduate student at Harvard is present bias.

Present bias is our tendency to care much more about whatever we can get right now in the present moment than anything we'll have to wait to get, any delayed rewards.

I care much more about how good it'll feel to eat the pizza right now than all the long-term implications of having had an unhealthy meal.

I care much more about how great it will feel to skip the gym right now than how good it'll feel in the long run if I stay in shape.

So that's present bias.

It's a major barrier to taking steps that are good for us in the long run and making the kinds of decisions that we generally prefer to make if we're thinking globally, but we often don't make when we're focused narrowly on the here and now.

Um, there's also just the motivation we need to get started on something new and figuring out, you know, how do I convince myself that now is a good time to make an adjustment or make a change because we're inertial.

We like to sort of keep doing what we've been doing.

And so getting that sort of escape velocity for making a change itself is a barrier because we can always put off it until tomorrow.

I want to ask just a really basic question to make sure that we've got the right terms here and to see which are interchangeable.

Are behaviors and habits the same thing, at least the way that you talk about them in the book? And what are the obstacles that make them so hard to change?

I would say that habits are distinct from behaviors.

And the way that they're distinct is that habits are repeated behaviors that have begun to feel automatic, that we engage in without necessarily deliberating on, you know, do I want to bite my nail right now? Is that the right thing to do? Do I really need to take another step? bite of this snack or sip of this coffee.

When we are doing something without a lot of conscious deliberation, just because we've done it before, and it's the natural progression of things, that looks like a habit.

But behaviors are any action we take, whether they've been deliberated on extensively, or result from this sort of automaticity that habits tend to have.

And so why are they so hard to change, whether they're a habit or not?

Yes, both are hard to change.

Habits are particularly hard to change because we're literally not thinking about them.

And so we have to re alert ourselves to the fact that this is a decision point.

And I might not want to take this action that is self destructive in some way.

So habits are particularly hard to change.

But behaviors are writ large tend to be hard to change for quite a number of reasons.

And really, the central thesis of my book is there's no one answer to that question.

In fact, there are several different answers.

And figuring out which one is holding you back is critical to employing the right scientific tools to help you succeed.

So a common barrier, though, and one that I actually really first discovered and helped me fall in love with behavioral science by taking classes as a graduate student at Harvard is present bias.

Present bias is our tendency to care much more about whatever we can get right now in the present moment than anything we'll have to wait to get, any delayed rewards.

I care much more about how good it'll feel to eat the pizza right now than all the long-term implications of having had an unhealthy meal.

I care much more about how great it will feel to skip the gym right now than how good it'll feel in the long run if I stay in shape.

So that's present bias.

It's a major barrier to taking steps that are good for us in the long run and making the kinds of decisions that we generally prefer to make if we're thinking globally, but we often don't make when we're focused narrowly on the here and now.

Um, there's also just the motivation we need to get started on something new and figuring out, you know, how do I convince myself that now is a good time to make an adjustment or make a change because we're inertial.

We like to sort of keep doing what we've been doing.

And so getting that sort of escape velocity for making a change itself is a barrier because we can always put off it until tomorrow.