Margen
'I'm going to work out more.' 'I'm going to eat better.' Good resolutions fail because they're vague: they never tell your brain when or where to act.
Psychologist Peter Gollwitzer found a remarkably simple fix: turn the intention into an 'if… then' plan. Instead of 'I'll exercise', you write 'if it's Monday, Wednesday or Friday at eight, I go for a run'. By fixing the time and place, you create an automatic trigger: when the moment arrives, the action fires almost on its own.
In a classic study, people who wrote down exactly when and where they'd exercise followed through more than twice as often as those relying on willpower alone. And the trick works for studying, taking medication, even recycling.
So don't resolve to be better. Decide the when and the where in advance, and let the situation pull you along.