Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that knowing what you need to do is
Speaker 1: not enough. It also takes smart planning to make progress
Speaker 1: toward your goals. Psychologist Laurie Santos and philosopher and cognitive
Speaker 1: scientist Tamar Jindler have written about what they call the
Speaker 1: Gi Joe fallacy. Listeners of a certain age may be
Speaker 1: able to guess what this is. Each episode of the
Speaker 1: nineteen eighties cartoon Gi Joe ended with a public service
Speaker 1: announcement providing a tip for making good choices, things like
Speaker 1: don't give a stranger your address or don't tell anyone
Speaker 1: you're home alone. Now I know, the informed child would say,
Speaker 1: and knowing is half the battle, the PSA would conclude.
Speaker 1: It turns out Gijo is wrong. According to these experts,
Speaker 1: in a lot of domains, knowing is actually less than
Speaker 1: half the battle. Hence the fallacy. Knowledge alone isn't enough
Speaker 1: to make good choices. We are more influenced by the
Speaker 1: situation and our habits and emotions. I think if you
Speaker 1: think about it, this will seem pretty clear. Most people
Speaker 1: know that to lose weight. We are supposed to eat
Speaker 1: well in exercise, but that doesn't mean we do it.
Speaker 1: We know that we are supposed to save for a
Speaker 1: rainy day or for retirement. I don't think a lot
Speaker 1: of people didn't know that saving money was a good thing.
Speaker 1: It's just that in the moment, there are often other
Speaker 1: things to spend money on. Knowing is part of the battle,
Speaker 1: but probably not half of it. Instead, we can set
Speaker 1: ourselves up for success by shaping our environments. If you
Speaker 1: don't want to drink alcohol, don't have it in the house.
Speaker 1: If you don't want to eat junk food, don't keep
Speaker 1: it around. Stock your pantry with healthy snacks so they're
Speaker 1: right in front of you. If you want to spend
Speaker 1: less time on social media, delete the social media apps
Speaker 1: from your phone. If you want to save money, create
Speaker 1: an automatic transfer from your paycheck to your investment accounts
Speaker 1: so you never even see the cash. You might also
Speaker 1: try making a plan. You may intend not to drink
Speaker 1: at a party because you know you have a big
Speaker 1: workout planned in the morning, but if you don't have
Speaker 1: a plan for what you'll say when someone offers you
Speaker 1: a glass of wine. Knowing that you will feel better
Speaker 1: if you don't drink. Isn't going to be enough? Instead,
Speaker 1: maybe you decide in advance that you will say, Oh,
Speaker 1: I'd love a Seltzer, let me go glab that the
Speaker 1: gido fallacy confirms what we have probably realized from experience,
Speaker 1: knowing what we need to do isn't enough, It isn't
Speaker 1: how the battle. Instead, we are wise to also shape
Speaker 1: our environment, build habits, and plan to set ourselves up
Speaker 1: for success. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.