June 2, 2025
How to Make Your Change More Effective: Scientific Methods for Lasting Growth
1. Quantify Your Attempts to Break Habitual Inertia When you decide to change a behavior or habit, many people find that they don’t immediately “get better” but instead struggle repeatedly with old habits. This is because our brains form “neural pathways” for habits—these pathways act like highways in the brain that let us repeat established behaviors without thinking. For example, if you always take the same route to work every day, even if one day you want to try a new route, your brain will automatically guide you back to the old route when you aren’t focused. This is the