Meta | How to change

Make a plan and test it by betting money on it.

Change is hard. I see myself falling back into the same patterns over and over again. In my last job as a manager I would try to work with people to change their behaviors and it was even harder. But not all hope is lost! We went through the literature on behavior change and there are best practices that actually work!

The key insights

To start a new habit, plan ahead

Most people, me included, just resolve to “I’ll do more of x” without thinking much about how. This time, try to sit down for thirty minutes and make a game plan, following these steps

1. Want the change: What does success look like? Why are you doing this?

2. Start fresh: At the beginning of a week, or any other restart moment.

3. Set realistic goals: If you aim too high you won’t believe it’s possible

4. Automate: Some things you don’t even have to do. Does this apply here?

5. Make it easy: How can you already now remove barriers?

6. Make the opposite hard: What will you most likely do instead? Make it hard.

7. Remember: With your calendar, a notification, anything else.

8. Involve others: Learn from others trying to do the same. Do it together.

9. Experiment: Plan a time to check in and see if you want to change things.

This is a quick summary of our in-depth guide on behavior change.

For me the first point is actually the most important one. If I have a strong motivation, the rest is much easier. Starting with motivation first also sometimes leads me to realize that I actually want other things more right now, saving me the effort to guilt myself for not doing things I anyway don’t want to do.

Christoph

Stake your money to test your plan

It’s easy to convince yourself you have a good plan while at the same time deep down knowing that it won’t work. How can you find that deep down knowledge? Bet money on it.

• Test your commitment: How much would you stake for doing the thing? If you’re really sure about it, $50 shouldn’t be a problem. Feels like a lot? Why is that? Why do you think your plan will fail? Can you change that?

• Get extra motivation: Monetary commitment contracts increase your goal achievement by 60 percentage points. That’s unheard of for behavior change interventions. Give it a try.

• You can finally support effective charities: Many people skipped on staking their money because you either had to support random SF startups or charities that aren’t as effective as the gold standard. We fixed this. Don’t worry: if you set the money high enough, it’ll work just as well as donating to your political enemy.

Learn more about our app on our commitment page.

One of the most effective study periods of my life was when I made a bet with a friend that I would study for at least two hours a day. If either of us failed to post evidence, including a screenshot from a tracking app showing we had studied that long, we had to pay the other a £100 penalty. You can adjust the amount up or down depending on what would most effectively change your behaviour. And I can tell you this worked: apart from one or two exceptions, I studied for two hours every day during that period, and passed my modules with flying colours!

Cameron

To get better, practice deliberately

I have been cooking for many years, somehow I don’t get better. Same for my ability to remember names. Once we reach a “good enough” plateau, our brain gets lazy. So how can you make sure you get the most “bang for your habit-buck”?

• Have a clear measurable goal: Think “remember 5 names at a party”, not “get better with names”

• Learn from experts: Coaches, youtube videos, people who are best at what they are doing and good at teaching

• Move outside your comfort zone: Focus on action, not knowledge.

• Have clear feedback: This can be from a coach, an AI, a friend, or yourself

• Schedule dedicated time: Practice makes perfect. Use the habit guide.

This is a quick summary of our in-depth guide on growth.

Invest five minutes now

• What’s something you wanted to start or get better at, but it never quite worked?

• Visualize: How will it look like and feel like when I achieved this? Take a minute.

• Feeling hyped? Block time in your calendar to go through this full process.

• Already now stake some money to make sure future you will follow through.

• Want to go deeper? Check our in-depth guide on habit building and skill building.