This is the 10% happier podcast.

I'm Dan Harris.

Hey gang, we're almost at that time of year where we contemplate making and then

often ultimately breaking New Year's resolutions.

So we wanted to re-run a conversation I initially had back in May about the blazingly obvious

fact that creating healthy habits can be infernally difficult.

But why?

And what are the best strategies for getting around this?

My guest has spent nearly two decades researching these questions.

Her name is Katie Milkman.

She's a behavioral scientist and professor at the Wharton School at the University of

Pennsylvania.

She hosts a podcast called Choiceology and has written a book called How to Change.

In this conversation we talk about why will power is such an unreliable inner resource

while making habit change fun is such a powerful technique.

And key strategies from her quiver such as the fresh start effect, temptation bundling,

commitment devices, piggybacking, and giving yourself a mulligan.

We also talk about the potentially sensitive subject of getting other people to change

their habits.

As I said, we're replaying this conversation now because habit change is very much top

of mind.

And because we thought it would be a great way to tee up a massive series of episodes

...