If-then plans

Deciding when and where in advance makes it far more likely you act.

Starting · 1 min read

Specific beats "do your best"

A clear target gets more done than a general intention to try hard.

Starting · 1 min read

The planning fallacy

People reliably underestimate how long their own tasks will take.

Starting · 1 min read

Picture the obstacle too

Imagining the goal and then the thing most likely to stop you works better than imagining the goal alone.

Starting · 1 min read

The fresh start effect

New beginnings — a Monday, a month, a birthday — make people more likely to start.

Starting · 1 min read

Habits take longer than 21 days

Daily actions became automatic after about two months on average — with huge differences between people.

Keeping going · 1 min read

Cues and friction

Habits run on the situation around you more than on willpower.

Keeping going · 1 min read

Temptation bundling

Saving something you enjoy for only while you do the hard thing can pull you toward it.

Keeping going · 1 min read

Stuck in the middle

Effort tends to rise near the end of a goal — and the middle is where it sags.

Keeping going · 1 min read

Small wins

Making progress — even small progress — was the most common feature of people's best days.

Keeping going · 1 min read

Attention residue

Part of your mind stays on the last task when you switch — especially an unfinished one.

Keeping going · 1 min read

The miss loop

After a slip, it's the "I've blown it anyway" thought that turns one miss into many.

After a miss · 1 min read

Kindness after failing

Being kind to yourself after a failure made people try harder to improve, not less.

After a miss · 1 min read

Confidence is built from doing

Belief that you can do something grows most from having done it.

After a miss · 1 min read

Reframing

Changing how you read a situation changes how it feels — more than pushing the feeling down.

In your head · 1 min read