When pursuing long-term goals, focus on making the process enjoyable rather than maximally efficient, as people who find joy in their goals are more likely to persist and achieve them.
Reduce reliance on willpower, which is unreliable, by designing your environment and choices so that desired long-term behaviors are either automatic or inherently appealing.
Create formal incentive structures, such as putting money on the line with a referee, that restrict future choices and impose a cost for failing to achieve a goal.
Link an activity you dread but know is good for you with an alluring indulgence you enjoy, allowing you to look forward to the beneficial activity.
Incorporate ’emergency reserves’ or ‘mulligans’ into your ambitious goals, allowing for a limited number of slip-ups without abandoning your overall objective.
Structure your routines with flexibility and fallback plans, so if your primary schedule is disrupted, you have alternative times or methods to complete the habit, making it more robust.
Initiate new goals or changes during ‘fresh start’ periods like New Year’s, birthdays, or the start of a new week/month, as these times naturally foster a ’new me’ mindset.
Focus on one or two clear goals at a time, rather than attempting to tackle too many simultaneously, to prevent overwhelm and demotivation.
Attach a new desired habit directly onto an existing, well-established routine to make it easier to remember and consistently perform.
Boost your own motivation and self-efficacy by giving advice to others who are struggling with similar goals, which encourages introspection and reinforces your commitment.
View failures and setbacks as valuable feedback and opportunities for learning and growth, rather than as fixed indicators of your capabilities.
Recognize yourself as a ‘work in progress’ rather than a fixed ‘good’ or ‘bad’ person, which fosters greater opportunity for continuous improvement.
To encourage change in others, strategically expose them to positive role models and peer groups who embody the desired behaviors, leveraging social influence.
Leverage multiple behavior change techniques simultaneously (e.g., making it fun and using commitment devices) to address various barriers and maximize your chances of success.
Use streak tracking to provide a self-rewarding system for consistent behavior, but include ’emergency reserves’ to prevent demotivation if a streak is broken.
Utilize gamification to make goal pursuit more enjoyable, but ensure it’s a game you genuinely want to play or that others opt into, as forced gamification can backfire.
After a successful behavior change, articulate and rehearse what went well, focusing on specific triggers and positive responses, to solidify learning and prepare for future similar situations.
Understand that fresh starts provide initial motivation but are not sufficient for sustained change; additional strategies are needed to overcome ongoing obstacles.
To combat bias and promote diversity, prioritize advocating for structural changes in organizational policies (e.g., hiring, promotion) and actively mentor underrepresented groups, rather than solely relying on individual attitude adjustments.
When trying to encourage change in others, first identify the specific barrier preventing the change (e.g., confidence, habit, forgetfulness) and then apply tailored solutions.