You're listening to TED Talks Daily. I'm Elise Hume. Today's talk is going to be relatable for any of you who started out really ambitious about how productive you'd be in 2020 and then let reality set in. I've been there. And so has sociologist Christine Carter. In her talk from TEDx Marin in 2020,

she gives us the key to why behavioral change is so tough, even when we have strong convictions.

By the end, you'll have a new approach to forming habits for the new year that's a lot more

doable.

I don't know about you, but when our family got the stay-at-home order in March of 2020,

I came out of the gates pretty darn hot.

Embrace not being so busy, I wrote.

Take this time at home to get into a new happiness habit. That seems hilarious to me now.

My pre-coronavirus routines fell apart hard and fast. Some days I would realize at dinner time,

but not only had I not showered or gotten dressed that day, but I hadn't even brushed my teeth.

Even though I've coached people for a very long time in an effective science-based method of habit formation, I struggled. Truth be told, for the first few months of the pandemic, I more or less refuse to follow my own

best advice. This is because I love to set ambitious goals. Getting into a good little habit,

it's just so much less exciting to me than embracing a big, juicy, audacious goal.

Take exercise, for example.

When the coronavirus hit, I optimistically embraced the idea that I could get back into running

outside.

I picked a half marathon to train for and spent a week or so meticulously devising a very detailed training plan.

But then I actually only stuck to my ambitious training schedule for a few weeks.

All that planning and preparation led only to a spectacular failure to exercise.

I skip my training runs despite feeling like the importance of exercise

and the good health that it brings has never been more bracingly clear.

The truth is that our ability to follow through on our best intentions to get into a new

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