Rotman Management – April 2019

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WHILE WE SELDOM THINK ABOUT IT, our life outcomes are powerfully
determined by seemingly trivial, repeated acts. Our health, for
example, depends on thousands of daily choices — to eat well
and exercise regularly, to avoid smoking, and to take medica-
tions as prescribed. And yet, 40 per cent of premature deaths
each year result from suboptimal behaviour in this domain:
Tobacco is responsible for 435,000 of those deaths, while poor
diet and physical inactivity account for 400,000. Cardiovascu-
lar disease — the leading cause of mortality — is largely treat-
able with anti-hypertensive medicines; but just one year after
receiving a prescription, only about half of patients are still tak-
ing their medication as directed.
Our bad habits run the gamit from health to personal fi-
nances. One in three American families has no savings at all,
and 52 per cent are under-saving, even though most would
need to save just 15 per cent of their earnings to prepare for
the future. Academic success requires an array of good habits

at any age: attending classes, studying and engaging with chal-

lenge on countless occasions. Yet tellingly, 23 per cent of high

schoolers and 49 per cent of college students drop out before

earning diplomas. Sadly, all of these challenges to life outcomes

disproportionately harm disadvantaged members of society.

In recent years, behavioural scientists have learned a great

deal about the underlying situational and psychological factors

that determine our daily decisions, leading to many success-

ful and scalable interventions to change short-term behaviour.

The problem is this: behaviour change rarely endures. In this

article, we will review a small but growing body of research sug-

gesting the most promising approaches to changing behaviour

— for good.

The Power of Habits

Perhaps the most promising avenue for making behaviour

change ‘stick’ is by changing our habits. Habits are automatic,

GOOD

Creating new habits might just be the most promising avenue

for making behaviour change stick.

by Angela Duckworth and Katherine Milkman