Changing Habits the Easy Way (Podcast 51)

With New Year’s resolutions upon us, the inevitable question looms… What habits do you want to change? I’ve thought about this question every year for well over 10 years now. And every year I make a list of behaviors I’d like to change in the coming months.

Of course, as soon as I pick a new habit to change the little voices in my head start peppering me with questions like…

Is it even possible to achieve this change?

Is it worth trying?

How can it be done successfully?

It should be simple – 365 days to change ONE thing. But it’s not because the statistics say 88% of people fail on average. (1) Count me as part of that 88% on several occasions, but other years I have beaten those odds. So, what made me fail most of the time and yet succeed on several other occasions?

Enter Dan Pardi, currently a sleep researcher and entrepreneur who dreamed up Dansplan.com. Starting with a background in exercise science, Dan has been active in the health improvement world for a long time. But after failing to get his Dad to change some of his health behaviors, Dan went on a personal quest to understand habits, behaviors and brain science.

It wasn’t that Dan lacked health knowledge that could help his dad but that his dad didn’t do as Dan had asked him to. And Dan wanted to understand this. What he uncovered formed his current thoughts on our national health problems and how using this same info can reverse our unhealthy patterns.

On Today’s Show with Dan Pardi:

5:29 What environmental factors influence our behavior?
9:41 Changing the behaviors of those around us… is it possible?
16:42 Big Mistake: Not defining the problem and source correctly
20:12 The Default option is unhealthy for the first time in history
25:30 Lowering the cost of behavior change
39:43 Use the Habit Loop Theory for creating easy habits
46:38 Brain Science Primer the “Fire together – Wire together“ phenomenon
59:18 Using Dansplan.com to create new exercise habits

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Big thanks to Dan for coming on our show and talking with me about habits, behavior and the brain. If you enjoyed today’s show topic or guest, let me know in the comments. And let us know who else you’d like us to interview.

-Steve

P.S. – If you can’t see the audio player below, download the MP3 here. Don’t forget to subscribe on iTunes and leave a review – thanks!

(1) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703478704574612052322122442.html