WEBVTT - Episode 19: 7 Economics Tricks To Help Keep Resolutions 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:05.720 Sweating. The sweat calculation is an interesting one, but like 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:08.920 it would go up when I'm in dance presence, Sweet 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:15.920 sweet sweat, sweat, sweat. This episode is brought to you 0:00:15.920 --> 0:00:19.520 by Nadex, the Binary Options Exchange. Binary Options let you 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:22.079 let me your risk and trade stock in disese commodities 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:25.040 for x and more from a single account. Nat X 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:29.080 is a CFTC regulated exchange with transparency, free market data, 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:32.680 and fairness guaranteed. The future of trading is here now 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:36.000 at n A d e x, dot com futures options 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:38.479 and spots. Trading involves risk and may not be appropriate 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:47.360 for all investors. Hi, and welcome back to Bloomberg Benchmark, 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:51.200 a podcast about the global economy. It is Thursday, January seven, 0:00:51.320 --> 0:00:54.440 and I'm Tory Stillwell and economics reporter with Bloomberg News 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:56.640 in d C. And I am joined by my co 0:00:56.800 --> 0:01:04.720 host Ao Today, our editor for Benchmark in Sanford, Cisco. Happy, Happy, 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:07.679 say pretty solid. I was in Atlanta. I got all 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:10.319 fancy for a wedding. Did it up real big? What 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:13.880 about you? I went skiing over Christmas, which was really fun. 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:17.440 We've been getting almost record snow I think in Tahoe. 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:22.640 So yeah, it was amazing. Um when we drove up there, 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:26.440 it was right after a big storm, so it was 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:28.319 some of the best skiing I've done in a long time. 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:37.080 Well with it being New Year's uh, I personally love resolutions. Yes, 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:40.120 I think that they're so much fun, even though I 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:43.520 don't really keep them all the time. They're nice, a 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:46.880 nice way to like center yourself into the new year. 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:49.200 But some people are like really cynical about them and 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:53.720 think they're a total waste of time. I'm usually in 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:56.720 that camp. Um, what's your what's your new New Year's 0:01:56.760 --> 0:02:02.080 resolution this year? So? Uh, I like in years past, 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:04.400 I would always the first day just like make a 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:08.280 list of ten resolutions. But last year I took a 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:12.000 different tack that I'm also replicating again this year. And 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:15.600 that's where I like give up a bad habit or 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:18.080 something that I want to tweak a little bit every 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:24.200 single month. So this month is uh, sober January. I 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:30.400 will be giving up alcohol. It has been pretty miserable 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:36.520 so far, the one week that we've enjoyed so far 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:40.480 of January. Yeah, exactly. At least it's not February, which 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:43.880 is giving up Chipotle, which is a pretty sad month. 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:47.400 And also like the shortest month, so give myself a 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:49.880 little bit of a break there. What about you, what 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:54.680 are you doing for? What are your resolutions? Well, um, 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:59.720 this makes me sound like a complete lame San Francisco hippie, 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:03.400 but it is to meditate seven times a week. Um. 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:06.280 I used to meditate a lot more, but I've recently 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:08.679 kind of fallen out of the habit, so I want 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:11.440 to redevelop this habit again. It's like one of those things, 0:03:11.440 --> 0:03:14.240 you know, like running or anything else that's good for you. 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:16.760 I know it's good for me in the long run. Um, 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:18.520 and I'm really glad I did it once I did it, 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:21.840 but it's kind of hard for me to get myself 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:26.200 to do it beforehand. Yeah. Well, Twitter actually put out 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:30.120 a list this week of the most tweeted resolutions for 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:33.880 and let's see if any of ours made the list. 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:38.320 They are to get in shape is number one. Number 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:42.600 to eat healthier, three, be a better person, four, be nicer, 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:45.920 which seems kind of similar to number three. Number five, 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:51.880 learned something new, six, drink more water, seven be happy, Hey, 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:57.040 quit smoking, and I drink less alcohol. And to save money. Yeah, 0:03:57.360 --> 0:04:00.520 so a little bit of overlap there, But as we 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:04.760 both know and have witnessed in our own lives. Resolutions 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:07.080 are pretty hard to keep, and when we fail, it 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:10.960 can be sometimes be expensive. Let's take that top resolution, 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:14.040 for example, to get in shape. So if we walk 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:15.440 through it. You want to get in shape, so you 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:18.000 get a gym membership, and that's roughly fifty dollars a 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:21.039 month more in some cities less than others. Uh. And 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:23.279 then you decide you also need to get a fresh 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:26.159 pair of kicks, so you spend like a hundred dollars 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:28.480 on a new pair of running shoes. You get new 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:31.560 workout clothes another hundred dollars. Maybe you want a fitbit 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:34.919 like you have, so that's another hundred dollars. Or do 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:37.520 you have an Apple Watch? Now have you upgraded? I 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:41.279 have a fit Bit and um, what's called the Basis 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:44.440 watch that tracks not just your continuous heart rate, but 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:50.080 also how much you're sweating and your surface body temperature sweating. 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:55.360 The sweat calculation is an interesting one. Yeah, it would 0:04:55.360 --> 0:05:01.919 go up when I'm in dance presence sweat sweat, sweet sweat. Anyways, Okay, 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:04.599 so we we've we've we've spent all of our stuff 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:07.800 on getting in shape. But then say, we do all that, 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:09.720 and after a week or two, we get bored with 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:12.280 working out, We hate going to the the gym, a treadmill 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:15.320 is awful, and our commitment to the resolution fades and 0:05:15.360 --> 0:05:16.440 we don't do it for the rest of the year. 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:19.279 That's like a thousand dollars over the course of a 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:22.719 year that we've wasted. Once you add all those things together, 0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:25.679 and when you multiply that by all the thousands, probably 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:29.279 millions of people that this happens to, you've got quite 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:33.080 a big cost of society there. Yeah. Well, you know, 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:35.920 lucky for us, there's now a growing body of research 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:38.920 in economics of all things, that helps you stick to 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:42.520 your resolutions. That's right, and beyond keeping us all from 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:46.720 needlessly blowing lots of money, Let's walk through what economics 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:49.560 has to do with keeping our resolutions and making you 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:55.200 meditate every day hockey. Well, you know, economics traditionally thought 0:05:55.240 --> 0:06:00.560 about people as these rational, disciplined asians constantly per suing 0:06:00.600 --> 0:06:04.479 their self interest, kind of like robots, and in that universe, 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:08.080 everyone would deliver on their New year's resolutions. Right, But 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:11.360 we all know that these resolutions are incredibly hard to keep, 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:14.160 even if we want to stick to them, even if 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:17.960 we know in our heads that exercising more, or meditating more, 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:20.640 or calling our parents more is good for us in 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:24.880 the long run. So there's this rising part of economics 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:30.000 called behavioral economics that recognizes us for the irrational and 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:33.880 often undisciplined humans that we are. And they are now 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:37.960 all these researchers who study how our behavior deviates from 0:06:38.040 --> 0:06:41.240 what would be the rational thing to do, and by 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:44.000 understanding all those quirks, we can come up with ways 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:48.560 to save us from ourselves. Exactly. For today's show, we 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:52.680 are going to distill the best research into seven different tricks, 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:55.640 and we have a great expert to guide us along 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:58.919 the way. Katie Milkman is a professor from the University 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:01.919 of Pennsylvania is Wharton Business School, and she is on 0:07:01.960 --> 0:07:06.760 the frontier of this research on self control failures. Hello, Katie, Hi, 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:09.560 thank you so much for joining us. It's my pleasure 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:12.120 to be here. Thanks for having me, Katy. I. I 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:16.080 always thought New Year's resolutions were kind of this arbitrary thing, 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:19.760 but apparently there's actual evidence that the start of the 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:22.640 year is a great time to set these goals. Um, 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:26.480 can you tell us about your research into fresh starts. Absolutely. 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:30.040 I've spent some time with a couple of wonderful collaborators, 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:33.480 hanschen Die at Washington University in St. Louis and Jason 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:36.640 Reese's here with me at Wharton, thinking about fresh starts 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:39.480 and studying them. And what we found is that there 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:42.920 are these moments in our lives that feel like new beginnings, 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:45.280 and New Year's is one of them, but there are 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:47.160 lots of others. So the start of a new week, 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:50.400 or the beginning of a new month, or following a 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:55.960 birthday or holiday, a new baby that's right, having a 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:59.760 new baby, um, getting married or getting engaged, starting a 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:02.360 new jobs, starting at a new school would be other 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:04.480 moments that feel like the beginning of new cycles. And 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:06.320 at all of those times, we feel like we have 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.640 a clean slate and it's a great opportunity for us 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:12.360 to make changes in our lives. We have extra motivation. 0:08:12.720 --> 0:08:15.400 And we've seen this play out in lots of different settings. 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:18.480 But a couple of my favorites are Google searches for 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:21.760 the term diet spike at these fresh chart moments, and 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:23.760 you can you can imagine why. In some cases it 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:26.880 might be that we behave badly before these fresh start 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:29.520 moments in some cases, but we see it also with 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:33.040 gym attendance and with goal setting. People set more goals 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:36.360 and that's in health relevant context and health irrelevant ones 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:40.840 like goals around finance and education at these fresh dart moments. Interesting. 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:45.440 Interesting is it that we set these goals at these 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:49.000 fresh start moments um more frequently or is it that 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:52.400 they're actually effective when we set these goals at these 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:56.400 particular times. It's a fantastic question. So our research is 0:08:56.440 --> 0:08:59.480 focused on showing that people are more motivated, and so 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:02.000 we set the goals, but we also go to the 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:05.920 gym and so um, so people are executing more and 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:09.880 they're also planning more. So it seems to be a combination. 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:11.960 And of course, if you don't have a goal, and 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:14.600 if you don't start, you can't be effective. You gotta 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:19.840 start somewhere exactly. So that was our first strategy, to 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:24.360 use these memorable occasions as time to set new goals. UM. 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:30.160 Our second strategy here is what you have called temptation bundling. UM. 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:33.240 Can you talk to our listeners about what this is? 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:36.080 Absolutely this is one of my favorite tricks and I 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:39.440 devised it to trick myself actually, so I realized I 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:42.520 had two problems. Um, at the end of a long day, 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:44.920 I found that I really wasn't motivated enough to get 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:47.440 myself to the gym. It just sounded like a horrible 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:49.560 way to spend time, even though I knew I should 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:51.240 do it. And at the end of a long day, 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:54.040 I also found myself wanting to waste time binge watching 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:59.400 junk TV shows and reading what was your worst guilty 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:02.360 pleasure t V show? Oh? No, well, now I have 0:10:02.400 --> 0:10:07.880 to insult someone, some producer. Um, let's see when I 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:10.000 struggle with. Now is scandal? I had a lot of 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:17.600 trouble with loss. Oh I love these shows. Gossip Girls 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:21.600 another one I've struggled with. But I should probably be 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:25.520 writing my next paper, working on on grading students or 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:28.920 helping doctoral students develop, rather than spending time watching these 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:31.360 TV shows at a rapid pace. So I have these 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:34.360 two problems, and I realized that perhaps I could actually 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:37.439 solve them simultaneously. What if I, for instance, only let 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:40.320 myself watch the next episode of my favorite low brow 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:43.480 TV show while I was exercising at the gym, I'd 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:46.760 stop wasting time at home watching those shows, and I'd 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:48.520 start craving trips to the gym to find out what 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:51.240 happened next. So I've done some research on this concept. 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:53.360 I call it temptation bundling. I've done it actually with 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:56.839 audio novels which I personally use. My favorite one ever 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:59.959 is The Hunger Games, which bundles beautifully with exercise. That's 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:04.360 great trilogy, lots of um cliffhangers which keep you coming 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:07.160 back for more craving the next trip to the gym. 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:09.679 And we found that not only is it an effective 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:12.720 means of increasing gym attendants to give people access to 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:15.160 tempting audio novels that they can only listen to when 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:19.120 working out, as opposed to giving them other equally valuable gifts, 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:22.400 but people actually value it. So one amazing thing that 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:24.400 we found is that at the end of our study, 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:28.319 people are actually willing to pay us for temptation bundling devices. 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:32.719 That's what we call them. So people who owned iPods 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:36.719 that were loaded with tempting audio novels would actually pay 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:40.000 us to take away those iPods their own possessions unlock 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:42.400 them at the gym so they could only access the 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:46.160 tempting content while they were exercising. Wow, that's amazing and 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:50.080 that's not what traditional economics would predict, right, for people 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:53.760 to pay someone else to restrict their future options, that's right. 0:11:53.760 --> 0:11:56.480 Traditional economic theory would say people shouldn't pay for that 0:11:56.600 --> 0:11:59.040 kind of restriction, but we found about sixty percent of 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:02.160 people would pay for this type of restriction. Let's uh, 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:07.079 let's go ahead and talked about our third strategy, which 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:09.960 is is related here is putting money on the line. 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:16.040 And you mentioned commitment devices. Act. I feel like you 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:19.040 told me about your experience with something along these lines 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:21.120 not too long ago, when you were here visiting me 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:24.640 in d C. Yeah, that's right. So about two years ago, 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:28.320 I was using this app that used a GPS tracker 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:31.240 to let you check into a gym or track your 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:34.880 runs outside. And so you you set this goal of 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:38.080 exercising let's say three times a week, and every week 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:41.079 you made your goal, you earned this small amount of money, 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:44.280 and every week you didn't make your goal, they automatically 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:48.240 deducted ten dollars from your bank account. So the fear 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:50.640 of losing this money really kept me going for a while. 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:54.480 It's a fantastic example of a commitment device, and there's 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:56.640 a lot of research showing that these are highly effective. 0:12:56.840 --> 0:13:00.440 So any any situation where you're able to put money 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:02.520 on the line that you'll forfeit if you fail to 0:13:02.559 --> 0:13:05.560 achieve your goal is called the commitment device. And this 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:08.240 is another situation where traditional economics would say, who would 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:10.400 ever do that? Why would you ever put money on 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:12.480 the line, Why would you want to punish yourself? But 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:15.960 self flagellation turns out to be really motivating, and so 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:19.520 there's some studies that have shown it is effective for 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:21.920 helping people lose weight if they can put money on 0:13:21.920 --> 0:13:24.040 the line that they'll forfeit if they fail to lose weight. 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:26.600 In fact, one of my co authors and colleagues here 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:30.480 at Wharton, Kevin Volpe, has led one particularly impactful study 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.120 on that. There's also work showing it helps with smoking cessation. 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:35.679 So if you give people the opportunity to create an 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:38.240 account where they can put money that they'll forfeit if 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:41.800 they haven't successfully quit smoking in six months, that significantly 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:44.680 increases smoking cessation rates. So those are a couple of 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:46.920 important settings where it's been studied. And there's a great 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:49.800 website that I like to promote because I think it's 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:52.720 so fun and so effective called um stick dot com 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:56.880 S t I c K K two ks dot com 0:13:57.040 --> 0:13:59.680 and you can go there and actually set up commitment 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:02.080 contract acts around any kind of goal that you hope 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:04.040 to achieve. You can put money on the line and 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:06.560 choose a referee who will report back to the site 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:08.839 about whether or not you've actually stuck to your guns 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:11.040 and achieved the goal, and you can do fun things 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:14.160 with the money. For instance, they have anti charities, so 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:18.200 they have charities that are on either side of contentious issues, like, 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:23.360 for instance, um the National Rifle Association versus a gun 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:27.680 control charitable organization. You can pick your poison which of 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:30.360 those would make you angrier to donate to, and then 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:35.040 so you'd allocate your money to whichever of those painful 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:38.680 and punishing. Well, let's take a short break for now 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:40.720 for a word from our sponsor, and when we get 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:42.880 back we'll go through smart strategies for how to keep 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:49.840 your New Year's resolutions. What do traders want to limit risk? 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:52.880 Access every opportunity and trade on a level playing field. 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:55.680 Nate x binary options let you set your maximum profit 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:58.480 and loss before the trade, so your risk is always limited. 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:01.960 Find opportunities in multip markets, stock in dissees, commodities, for 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:05.600 US even economic numbers and bitcoin, all from one account 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:10.120 and platform. Nat X is a CSTC regulated exchange with transparency, 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:14.400 free market data, and fairness guaranteed innovations of financial industry 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:17.440 needs and nat X already has. That's why we think 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:20.440 binary options are the future of trading, and it's here 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:23.480 now at n A d e X dot com futures 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:25.560 options and swaps. Trading involves risk and may not be 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:33.480 appropriate for all investors. So, Katie, our fourth strategy is 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:36.880 actually planned out the specifics of how you're going to 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:41.000 implement your plan. Can you tell us about this? Yeah? Absolutely. 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:44.479 There's some really fantastic research out there on the importance 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:47.560 of having concrete if then plans to help you follow 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:49.960 throwing your goals. And really the leader in this work 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:52.480 as as someone named Peter Goldwitzer at n y U. 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:55.560 He's done dozens of studies showing how important it is 0:15:55.600 --> 0:15:58.800 to have those if then plans. UM. But I've done 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:00.680 some follow up work my self on this, and so 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:02.320 I'll tell you about one of my own studies because 0:16:02.360 --> 0:16:05.120 it's near and dear to me and also close to 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:08.040 top of mind UM right now. And that is a 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:11.160 study we did where We show that simply encouraging people 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:13.440 to write down the date and time when they intended 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:16.760 to engage in a healthy behavior. We looked at this 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:20.280 in the context of getting a flu shot was incredibly 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:23.840 effective at increasing follow through rates. And the idea here 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:25.760 is that when you have that kind of an if 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:28.240 then plan, you've thought through exactly the date and time 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:30.920 when you intend to follow through. First, you've made a 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:33.480 commitment to yourself, and and that is something that it's 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:36.520 uncomfortable to break. Lots of research has shown it's uncomfortable. 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:39.680 Not to follow through when we make commitments makes us 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:43.280 feel like flip floppers. Um. Second, you've thought more deeply 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:46.280 about it, so it's embedded more deeply in memory. And 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:49.160 you you've also associated a queue with follow through. So 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:51.360 if you've chosen a date and time, for instance, when 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:53.840 you'll get a flu shot, now, if you look at 0:16:53.840 --> 0:16:55.960 your calendar and look at your watch and realize it's 0:16:56.000 --> 0:16:58.520 that date and time, you're more likely to remember this 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:00.480 is what I said, I'd i'd follow through and get 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:02.880 my flu shot, for instance. It can also help us 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:06.040 anticipate obstacles along the way. So, for instance, if I 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:07.960 realized I want to get a flu shot on Friday 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:10.520 at noon, I might think, well, I better line up 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:13.560 childcare and come up with a transportation strategy and so 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:16.560 those things won't trip me up when Friday comes around 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:18.600 and I want to get that flu shot. I feel 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:21.240 like I'm really seeing the benefits of this one specifically. 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:24.200 So I'm running the Paris Marathon in April, and this 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:26.040 is my second marathon. I want to do better than 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:28.719 the first one, and I had a training plan for 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.760 the first one, but I didn't adhere to it very 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:35.240 well and only ended up running like thirteen miles before 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:38.440 the marathon. So that was kind of a tragedy. But 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:45.280 did you make it? I did somehow. That's impressive. But 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:48.639 this time I obviously want to do a lot better. 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:52.720 So um, I am using the Nike Running app and 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:55.920 it has planned out every single day what I should 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:59.560 be doing up until the day of the marathon. And 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:01.680 it's been really nice because I get like a check 0:18:01.760 --> 0:18:05.080 mark every single time it tracks a run. And I know, 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:07.520 like when I was thinking about what I was going 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:09.680 to do when I went home for Christmas and New Years, 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:11.960 for example, I knew it's going to be much harder 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:13.680 because I was going to be on a loser schedule, 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:17.040 but it was great to have those specific distances on 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:19.560 the specific days that I could just plan my whole 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:23.160 day around, even a week or two in advance. Yeah, 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:25.520 that's fantastic, And that sounds like that app is not 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:28.840 only taking advantages of advantage of the benefits of planning, 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:31.160 but also how powerful it can be to set goals 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:35.600 and have concrete, achievable but challenging goals that you set 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:38.320 up for yourself, and and having plans about how to 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:42.080 achieve those as them of critical importance as well. Well. 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:46.119 I think our fifth strategy here is related to what 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:49.120 not to do, which is to set up a backup plan. 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:52.320 Why can't we have a plan? B Katie. That's a 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:55.119 great question, and I wouldn't always say you shouldn't. Sometimes 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:57.879 you actually do want to plan. It's important to have 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:01.040 those in some contexts. But I've done some research with 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:04.480 a wonderful collaborator named g Haitian at the University of 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:07.000 Wisconsin who thought a lot about this when she was 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.520 uh finishing her doctoral program and she was thinking about 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:12.440 what she would do if she didn't get an academic 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:16.280 job and realized that if she made a backup plan 0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:18.639 for herself. For instance, if she told herself, you know 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:21.520 it's gonna be okay, I'll just go work in industry 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:24.320 and I'll start looking for jobs at companies that might 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:28.159 be exciting, that might actually diminish her motivation to really 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:31.960 tackle all the things she needed to do to succeed 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:35.400 on the academic job market. So having a backup plan 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:38.840 or a fallback strategy in case your plan A fails 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:42.720 or go south. While it may reduce uncertainty and make 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:45.760 you feel better, it also may reduce your motivation to 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:48.119 achieve your primary goals. And we've shown that in a 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:51.880 bunch of our research together. That's right, So just thinking 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:56.000 about failure increases your chances of failure. It's not just 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:59.680 thinking about failure, it's just thinking about an alternative strategy 0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:03.800 you would deploy in case of failure and doing that, 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:07.520 giving yourself that backup plan, giving yourself that cushion makes 0:20:07.520 --> 0:20:11.920 you less motivated to tackle your primary goal. Amazing um. 0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:16.199 Our sixth strategy here is to post your nears resolution 0:20:16.520 --> 0:20:19.959 on Twitter like we talked about earlier Tory, or on Facebook. 0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:24.400 Katie tell us why this is effective, Absolutely well, it's 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:28.160 it's simply a shaming strategy, right, So that turns out 0:20:28.200 --> 0:20:31.280 making your goals public makes you feel a lot worse 0:20:31.320 --> 0:20:34.320 about not following through. And there's some great work by 0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:38.080 um Holland Beck and collaborators actually from the showing how 0:20:38.080 --> 0:20:40.760 important it is to make your goals public and how 0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:43.760 that motivates us to work harder. So if you put 0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:45.560 it on Twitter, if you put it on Facebook, if 0:20:45.560 --> 0:20:47.919 you tell your boss, someone who you really care about 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:51.879 thinking highly of you, and then know that they're going 0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:53.600 to check up on you, you're much more likely to 0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:57.280 follow through. That really increases motivation. And Katie, if all 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:00.679 these tricks still don't keep you on track and we 0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:03.879 end up veering off, let's say around maybe mid March 0:21:04.600 --> 0:21:07.440 is all hope lost? All hope is not lost. This 0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:09.679 work we've done on the fresh start effects, as you 0:21:09.720 --> 0:21:13.000 can find a new fresh start opportunity and start again. 0:21:13.119 --> 0:21:16.000 And in fact, you might even think about reminding yourself 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:18.520 or your loved ones of dates that I feel like 0:21:18.560 --> 0:21:20.560 fresh arts that they might have forgotten about. So we've 0:21:20.560 --> 0:21:24.040 shown that reminding people, for instance, that March is the 0:21:24.080 --> 0:21:29.560 first day of spring inspires renewed motivation and and encourages 0:21:29.600 --> 0:21:32.160 people to start tackling their roles anew on that date. 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:35.280 So is that our seventh strategy. Seventh strategy is to 0:21:35.320 --> 0:21:40.199 go back to the first strategy when in doubt, start again, right, 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:44.000 start all over. Wonder I love it well, I'm setting 0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:47.560 my calendar reminders now, Kitty, do you have any last 0:21:47.640 --> 0:21:50.560 words of advice for listeners who are about to go 0:21:50.640 --> 0:21:53.600 and implement all these tricks. One one piece of advice 0:21:53.680 --> 0:21:56.720 is not to be disheartened for sure if you if 0:21:56.760 --> 0:22:00.119 you fail. I think that almost all of us el 0:22:00.200 --> 0:22:03.199 to achieve our goals, whether they're resolutions, made it New 0:22:03.240 --> 0:22:05.280 Year's or some other time of year when we set 0:22:05.359 --> 0:22:08.520 ambitious schools. But that's just part of the journey. And 0:22:08.680 --> 0:22:11.280 you have to pick yourself up and try again, recognize 0:22:11.320 --> 0:22:14.840 that there are new opportunities at every corner, and and 0:22:14.920 --> 0:22:17.920