Do not rely on willpower to change behavior because it is self-defeating; thinking about what you don’t want to do gives it energy to re-emerge.
Set up situations around you to make it easy to repeat desired behaviors, allowing them to become automatic without relying on willpower.
Consciously increase friction to make bad habits harder to perform, and reduce friction to make good habits easier to adopt.
Use your conscious mind to control the context you are in, as changing your environment can shift bad behaviors to desired ones.
Make small, scientifically-backed changes in your environment (e.g., at home or work) to provide cues that promote desired behaviors.
Place desired items (e.g., healthy food) closer and less desired items further away, as proximity significantly influences automatic behavior.
Plan your shopping trips or other activities to actively avoid environments or aisles that trigger undesirable behaviors (e.g., the candy aisle).
To make early morning exercise easier, reduce friction by preparing the night before, such as sleeping in your running clothes.
Delete social media or other distracting apps from your phone to increase friction and prevent compulsive checking.
Download apps for desired habits (e.g., gratitude) and place them front and center on your phone to make them easily accessible and visible.
Set a photo of someone you want to call more often as your screensaver to serve as a visual cue for that desired behavior.
Place important lists, like a ’time windfall list,’ somewhere easily visible to serve as a constant reminder and cue for desired actions.