6 Concrete Ways to Rewire Your Brain for Successful Habit Change
We all know the grim stats about how many New Year’s resolutions fail. It’s not because making resolutions is hokey or people are inherently lazy. It’s because most resolutions come down to one of two things: adopting new (good) habits or breaking old (bad) habits, and habit change is hard . People struggle at every step, from picking the right goals—ones that are motivating and achievable—through the implementation process. The trick is to be strategic and intentional about changing your habits. Rather than relying on willpower and wishes, get good systems in place. As James Clear, author of Atomic Habits , says, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” What Are Habits, and How Do You Change Them? Successful habit change is the process of taking a behavior that currently requires cognitive effort and making it automatic. “Automatic” is a word psychologists use to describe behaviors that don’t require a lot of cognitive attention or pr