Change Your Habits by Changing Your Environment

Between a third and a half of what people do each day is repeated almost daily in the same place, often while they think about something else. That is why a habit you set out to change keeps coming back.

Most habit advice asks for more effort at the moment of temptation, and that moment arrives when you are tired, busy or distracted. The people who look most disciplined meet fewer of those moments, because their surroundings and routines keep temptation out of the way.

This course works on the surroundings. You remove steps in front of the behavior you want, put steps in front of the one you want less of, set defaults that decide for you, and launch on a date that makes starting easier. Each change is small, and they add up when they point the same way.

You walk away with: a four-step plan for one real behavior, set up and run for two weeks, that you can run again on any habit.

Who it's for

People who keep restarting: have tried streaks, apps and motivation, and want a change that holds on the bad days.

Builders of routines: want a repeatable way to set up a home, a desk or a phone so the right action takes the least effort.

The self-blamers: read every slip as a character flaw and want something practical to change instead.