Need to make a change in your life? Behavioral science can help

Life Kit

NPR

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

4.5 • 4.9K Ratings

🗓️ 17 January 2022

⏱️ 18 minutes

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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. (This episode originally aired in May 2021.)

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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	Research-backed ways exist to help us stop procrastinating, get closer to our goals,
0:10.1	and better show up for our loved ones.
0:12.3	Katie Milkman is a behavioral scientist.
0:14.8	She has spent years learning about ways to live better and didn't want those lessons to
0:19.2	collect dust in a scientific journal.
0:21.6	Because she says some of what she's learned from the field of behavioral science has
0:26.0	the power to save lives.
0:28.3	About 10 years ago, I went to a seminar at the medical school and somebody put a graph
0:35.0	up on a slide that I had never seen before.
0:38.2	And it was like completely mind-boggling.
0:40.1	The graph was a breakdown of the percentage of premature deaths in the US that are caused
0:44.7	by different factors.
0:46.9	And it turned out the biggest wedge in that graph, 40% of premature deaths, are due to
0:51.5	behaviors that could be changed.
0:53.7	40% connected to behaviors we can change.
0:57.9	That's wild.
0:58.9	So Milkman wrote a book called How to Change.
1:01.8	She says it's for anyone who has a goal and wants to do better, or managers and mentors
1:06.4	who want to help their employees achieve what they set out to do.
1:11.6	Making change and what a time to be doing this.
1:22.7	The book itself is all about habits and goals and trying to get roadblocks out of the
	...

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