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Life Kit

Need To Make A Change? Behavioral Science Can Help

Life Kit

NPR

Business, Kids & Family, Health & Fitness, Education, Self-improvement

4.54.9K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2021

⏱️ 19 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When's the best time to start a new habit? And what makes some stick while others fall by the wayside? Behavioral scientist Katy Milkman's new book, How to Change, breaks down the research about how to leverage human nature instead of working against it to achieve your goals.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

This is NPR's Life Kit, I'm Elise Hugh.

0:05.2

We are finally, fitfully, emerging from a year of pandemic lockdowns.

0:10.4

Our lives and conditions have already changed drastically.

0:14.8

But what about us?

0:16.0

What if we want to take this moment to change our behaviors and change ourselves?

0:20.5

Behavioral science can help.

0:23.1

Research-backed ways exist to help us stop procrastinating,

0:26.8

get closer to our goals and better show up for our loved ones.

0:30.3

Katie Milkman is a behavioral scientist.

0:32.7

She has spent years learning about ways to live better

0:35.7

and didn't want those lessons to collect dust in a scientific journal.

0:39.5

Because she says some of what she's learned from the field of behavioral science

0:43.6

has the power to save lives.

0:46.3

About 10 years ago, I went to a seminar at the medical school and

0:51.9

somebody put a graph up on a slide that I had never seen before.

0:56.1

It was like completely mind-boggling.

0:58.0

The graph was a breakdown of the percentage of premature deaths in the US

1:02.0

that are caused by different factors.

1:04.6

And it turned out the biggest wedge in that graph,

1:07.1

40% of premature deaths, are due to behaviors that can be changed.

1:12.0

40% connected to behaviors we can change.

1:15.8

That's wild.

...

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