February Newsletter- Competing Commitments: An Immunity to Change

It doesn't matter whether your goal is to lose 5 or 50 pounds, quit smoking or stop drinking. New Year's resolutions and other goals are hard to keep beyond the first month.

Why? Because the brain is tricky! No matter how sincerely we want to break a habit, we have an inherent immunity to change. This means we're physiologically "lured" into doing what we've always done, no matter how strong our intentions. And yet, some people do succeed. We all know ex-smokers, ex-drinkers and former fatties.

You cannot fix an adaptive problem with a technical solution. A diet, for example, is a technical solution to being overweight: To lose weight, eat less and exercise more. But the problem is much more complex. Unless you change your mindset (an adaptive solution), you won't sustain new habits.

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