The Science of Good Habits
NEW YEAR, NEW YOU?
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STARTING SMALL
One of the main reasons New Year’s resolutions fail is that we set overly ambitious goals. But science shows that lasting change starts with incremental improvement.
We tend to be a bit optimistic when we set new goals, but the truth is that the person you were on December 31st isn’t that different from who you are on January 1st. We consistently overestimate what our future selves will be capable of.
WHY STICKING WITH IT IS SO HARD
When we make New Year’s resolutions, we’re not really planning for ourselves... We’re planning for a fictional future version of ourselves, full of discipline and willpower.
Psychologists call this the planning fallacy: we systematically underestimate how difficult new habits are to form and how messy real life is.
We imagine "I will go to bed early, work out 4 mornings a week, eat clean, and take care of my skin every day" but we don't simulate "I worked late, it's freezing, the kids need a ride to practice, I'm exhausted."
The solution? You don't have to lower your ambitious, but starting small helps. Instead you need to plan for the inevitable lapse or failure. Forgot to moisturize two nights in a row? Don't spiral, throw on a LE FIX emergency sheet mask and sleep with BEACH GRASS for intense recovery. Ate junkfood all weekend? Slept through a morning workout? Try fitting in a lunch cardio sessions. Forming habits take time, don't aim for perfection strive for progress.
WTF HABIT STACKING?
It’s easier for your brain to add new steps to an existing routine than to create a brand-new one.
Scientists have found that our brains remember chains better than isolated tasks. So if one of your goals this year is skincare (to pick a random example…), attach it to something you already do every day.
Find areas in your life where you already have solid routines. You brush your teeth morning and night (hopefully). Try cleansing and moisturizing at the same time. Eventually, leaving the house without moisturizer will feel just as wrong as leaving without brushing.
Another popular technique is temptation bundling: pairing a good habit with something indulgent. A classic example is only allowing yourself to watch Netflix while doing cardio. But our favorite might be the guy who only put on nicotine patches while running… and ended up running four marathons.
Creativity can take you far.
