Supritha S

Similarly, if you adopt a bunch of new behaviors you can't sustain, that's not habit creep. In other words, the key is to avoid the trap of trying to grow too fast. Lifestyle creep happens so slowly that it is almost imperceptible. Habit creep should be the same way. Your goal is to nudge your behaviors along in very small ways.

In other words, bad habits address certain needs in your life. And for that reason, it's better to replace your bad habits with a healthier behavior that addresses that same need. If you expect yourself to simply cut out bad habits without replacing them, then you'll have certain needs that will be unmet and it's going to be hard to stick to a... See more

Thomas Thwaites set out to build a toaster from scratch. The Toaster Project, as it came to be known, ended up looking more like a melted cake.

There wasn't a magical moment when the animal kingdom said, “Let's start from scratch and create an animal that can fly.” The development of flying birds was a gradual process of iterating and expanding upon ideas that already worked.

Iterate, don't originate.

Well, here is one of the most robust findings from psychology research on how to actually follow through on your goals:Research has shown that you are 2x to 3x more likely to stick with your habits if you make a specific plan for when, where, and how you will perform the behavior. For example, in one study scientists asked people to fill out this... See more

That is exactly the gentle ramp’s strength: you can live on it. You’re not trying to just get through it.The gentle ramp demands things of you that the boot camp doesn’t. Staying on it requires you to develop certain aspects of character. You have to accept, for example, that when you’re on a sustainable trajectory, improvement takes time, and that... See more

My argument is this:If you design for default in your life, rather than accepting whatever is handed to you, then it will be easier to live a better life.

But why? What’s so wrong with trying to learn new things? Here’s what Maya Angelou — herself a polymath (poet, journalist, dancer) — has to say about the saying:“It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Angelou said to the Smithsonian. “I think you can be a jack-of-all-trades and a mistress-of-all-trades. If you study it, and you put reasonable... See more