Download How to Change by Katy Milkman Pdf book free online. Katy Milkman, a Wharton professor and host of the Choiceology podcast, has dedicated her career to the study of behavior modification. With a foreword by psychologist Angela Duckworth, the best-selling author of Grit, Milkman outlines a proven path that may take you from where you are to where you want to be in this ground-breaking book. GET FREE AUDIOBOOK
When you know what’s standing in your way of success and customize your solution to that impediment, change is easier. Downloading a goal-setting software won’t assist you if you want to exercise more but find it difficult and monotonous. But what if you turned your workouts into a source of pleasure rather than a chore? The secret to success is turning an uphill battle into a downhill one.
How to Change presents strategic approaches for detecting and overcoming typical hurdles to change, such as impulsivity, procrastination, and forgetfulness, based on Milkman’s original research and the work of her world-renowned scientific associates. You’ll learn the following through case studies and fascinating stories:
• How to convert temptation and lethargy into assets
Whether you’re a manager, coach, or teacher trying to help others change for the better or struggling to change yourself, How to Change provides a useful, science-based roadmap for reaching your objectives once and for all.
Summary of How to Change by Katy Milkman Pdf
Lesson 1: Starting over can make change easier.
Have you ever made a resolution for the New Year? Some may make light of the fact that many people utilize the New Year to make significant changes. Why would a fresh year make goals seem more achievable?
However, there are certain advantages to starting in the new year. It’s not because January is special in comparison to other months, but because of what it represents: a new beginning. A birthday, a new semester, or simply a Monday can all be considered fresh starts.
When the author and her colleagues looked at data from college fitness centers, they observed this. So, what makes a new beginning so special?
A new beginning provides you a fresh perspective. It creates a barrier between prior goals you didn’t achieve and the current ones you want to achieve.
Fresh starts, on the other hand, aren’t always a panacea for transformation. Breaks created a major disturbance in students’ new, healthy routines, according to two studies that looked at college students’ gym participation during the school year. The breaks could be viewed as a fresh start, but not one that is beneficial to goals.
If you want to start altering, the author suggests keeping an eye out for new fresh starts and making sure they don’t interfere with your development.
Lesson 2: You can use a few simple tactics to combat impulsive and procrastination.
So, let’s assume you’ve begun your goals with a clean slate and are anxious to make changes, but you’re having trouble resisting impulses. You reach for chips instead of an apple, or you’re preoccupied with social media rather than studying.
Present bias is another term for impulsivity. Impulsive behavior prioritizes immediate gratification over long-term objectives. It causes you to seek quick gratification while ignoring the long-term benefits of sticking to your objectives.
One of the author’s methods for combating impulsivity is what she refers to as temptation bundling. This is when you combine a fun activity with a difficult one to make it more enticing. Watching your favorite TV while exercising on a treadmill is one example of this.
Another strategy is gamification, which involves integrating elements of a game to real-world work, such as keeping score or giving prizes. A step counter that rewards you with badges when you accomplish a walking goal is an example of this.
Procrastination is another prevalent issue that can sabotage your goal-setting efforts. It’s something we all do. It can, however, be overcome. You can use a commitment device as one of your options. This is a system that limits your freedom in order to assist you in resisting temptation. Blocking distracting apps on your phone during work hours is an example of this.
Making a public vow is another tried and true method. This is when you inform your friends, family, or anyone else about your goals, and it’s a powerful tool for achieving them. After all, who wants others to see them fail at something they claimed they’d accomplish publicly?
Lesson 3: Watch who you spend your time with.
There are people you spend time with who can make achieving your goals more difficult, but there are also those who can assist you. This is why you should be on the lookout for a supportive friend group.
Because we humans are so susceptible to social pressure, our peers have such a powerful influence on us. Many people see this as a negative. When you were younger, do you recall hearing about peer pressure?
It can, however, be beneficial to you. When Scott Carnell was a freshman at the United States Air Force Academy, he was taken aback by the fact that his identical brother looked to be performing considerably better academically than him. Scott received superior marks in high school.
He began to suspect it was the diligent group of Academy classmates with whom he had become acquainted. So he crunched the data of cadets in the academy and examined the academic achievement of nearly 3,000 of them.
He discovered that for every 100 points higher in a squadron’s average verbal SAT score, the cadet’s individual GPA increased by 0.4. The difference between straight Bs and straight As could be this.
About the Author
Katy Milkman is a behavioral scientist and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. She has advised or worked with hundreds of companies on how to support positive change throughout the course of her career, including Google, the US Department of Defense, the American Red Cross, and Morningstar. Major media outlets such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and NPR often publish her findings. She presently co-directs the University of Pennsylvania’s Behavior Change for Good Initiative and broadcasts Choiceology, a famous Charles Schwab podcast about behavioral economics.