3965: The Behavioral Economics Diet: The Science of Killing a Bad Habit by Nir Eyal of Nir And Far on Breaking Bad Habits

Optimal Living Daily - Personal Development and Self-Improvement

Optimal Living Daily LLC

Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Education, Self-improvement

4.6 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 1 April 2026

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 3965: Nir Eyal explores how traditional dieting fails and reveals a more effective approach rooted in behavioral economics, using high-stakes commitments to break bad habits. By leveraging loss aversion, identity-based language, and accountability, he shows how lasting change becomes far more achievable. This perspective offers a powerful framework for anyone struggling to finally stick to their goals. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.nirandfar.com/2015/05/behavioral-economics-diet-the-science-of-killing-a-bad-habit.html Quotes to ponder: "People are typically more motivated to avoid losses than to seek gains." "Commitment contracts have proven to be effective at changing behavior because they make us accountable to our future selves." "People are notoriously bad at predicting their behavior due to a phenomenon called “time inconsistency.”" Episode references: Nudge - Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness: https://www.amazon.com/Nudge-Improving-Decisions-Health-Happiness/dp/014311526X stickK: https://www.stickk.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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1:01.2	Quince.com slash O-L-D.
1:04.9	This is Optimal Living Daily, the Behavioral Economics Diet,
1:09.3	The Science of Killing a Bad Habit by
1:12.2	Neerayal of Neeranfar.com. And I'm Justin Mollick. We're going to jump right into today's post
1:18.0	as we optimize your life.
1:23.7	The Behavioral Economics Diet, the Science of Killing a Bad Habit by NereA.all of
1:30.0	near and far.com. D diets don't work. Studies show that temporary fixes to old habits actually make
1:38.8	people gain weight. Essentially, the dieter's brain is trained to gorge when off the diet, and inevitably the weight returns.
1:46.8	In my previous essay, I shared the story of my father's struggle with bad eating habits.
1:51.2	He had put on weight over the last few decades, and despite several attempts, he had trouble
1:55.8	taking it off.
	...

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