Psychology for Life · Book 8
The Science of Habits in the Modern World
By A.N. Archer · Published by Freyja Publishing
We try to change by trying harder — and the modern world is built to pull us the other way.
Change Your Behaviour translates the behavioural science of habits — Phillippa Lally’s research on how habits form, Wendy Wood on automaticity, and BJ Fogg’s work on tiny behaviours — into a practical system for change.
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About Change Your Behaviour
You don’t have a discipline problem. You have a design problem. Most of us try to change by trying harder, while the modern world is built to pull us the other way.
Change Your Behaviour translates the behavioural science of habits into a practical system. It draws on Phillippa Lally’s research on how habits form, Wendy Wood’s work on automaticity and BJ Fogg’s work on tiny behaviours.
What you’ll explore
How long habits take. Lally’s study of people forming new daily habits found a median of about 66 days for a behaviour to become automatic, with a wide range between individuals. The book explains what that means in practice.
Cues and environment. Wood’s research shows that much everyday behaviour runs on autopilot, triggered by context. Changing the cues often matters more than motivation.
If-then plans. Implementation intentions, deciding in advance when and where you will act, make follow-through more likely.
Breaking habits. How to stop unwanted habits without relying on white-knuckle willpower.
Designing your surroundings. Making the right choice the easy one.
Making it automatic. Fogg’s work on starting with very small behaviours shows how new routines can become automatic and stay that way.
The book’s message is that behaviour change is not about wanting it more; it is about setting it up right.
Who this book is for
Anyone who has tried to build a habit, or break one, and found that good intentions weren’t enough.
At a glance
- Series: Psychology for Life, Book 8 of 20
- Author: A.N. Archer
- Publisher: Freyja Publishing
- Length: about 200 pages
- Formats: Kindle eBook, paperback and hardcover
- Kindle edition included with Kindle Unlimited
If you enjoy this book
Each title in the Psychology for Life series stands on its own. Readers of this book often go on to:
- Built To Last (Book 15)
- Small Changes, Big Lives (Book 19)
- Live Well Every Day (Book 2)