Say you want to walk more. Which goal would you set?
A. Hit my step target five days a week.
B. Hit it every day, with two skips I can use if I need them.
Both ask for five days of walking. But when researchers at UCLA tested it, people with goal B walked 4 days a week, and people with goal A managed about 3. The people with the skips were 33% more successful!
(A third group was told “every day, no skips.” They did worst, at 2.8 days.)
You should use this psychological trick when you decide your own habits. For example: you want to read every night before bed. Make it every night, with two skips a week. On a tired Tuesday, you’ll ask yourself whether tonight is worth a skip, and often it isn’t.
