Narrator: In 1994, Andre Agassi’s tennis career was in a free fall. Once hailed as the future of the sport, he was now losing to less talented players, and his world ranking was plummeting. Frustrated, he met with a new potential coach, Brad Gilbert. Gilbert’s diagnosis was brutally simple: Agassi was trying to hit a perfect, winning shot on every single ball. He was fighting a battle of brute force against himself. Gilbert’s advice was to change the entire game. Instead of focusing on his own perfection, he should focus on his opponent’s weaknesses. The strategy wasn't to succeed, but to make the other guy fail. This shift in perspective transformed Agassi's career, leading him to win the U.S. Open that year and eventually reclaim the number one world ranking.

This story reveals a fundamental truth about human behavior, one that lies at the heart of Katy Milkman's book, How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. The book argues that lasting change isn’t about finding a single magic bullet or simply trying harder. It’s about correctly diagnosing the specific internal obstacle holding you back and applying a tailored, science-backed strategy to overcome it.

Narrator: One of the first obstacles to change is simply getting started. Milkman identifies a powerful psychological phenomenon called the "fresh start effect." People are naturally more motivated to make changes at moments that feel like new beginnings—a new year, a birthday, the start of a new week, or even a move to a new home. These temporal landmarks create a mental clean slate, allowing us to disassociate from our past failures and feel more optimistic about our ability to succeed.

Consider the story of Ray Zahab. For years, he was a heavy smoker and lived an unhealthy lifestyle. He had tried to quit many times without success. But as the new millennium approached, he saw a unique opportunity. He decided that New Year's Eve of 1999, the end of a century, would be his ultimate fresh start. He told himself, "This was a reset switch for humanity." That feeling of finality and a new beginning gave him the motivation he needed. He quit smoking for good and went on to become an ultramarathon runner, transforming his life completely. Milkman's research shows this isn't just a feeling; prompting people to start a new savings plan after their next birthday, for instance, makes them 20 to 30 percent more likely to sign up than prompting them on an arbitrary date.

Narrator: A major barrier to achieving long-term goals is "present bias"—our tendency to prioritize short-term gratification over long-term rewards. We know we should go to the gym for our future health, but the immediate comfort of the couch often wins. The solution isn't to fight this impulse with pure willpower, but to make the good behavior instantly gratifying.

A brilliant example of this comes from a Volkswagen-funded experiment in Stockholm. To encourage more people to take the stairs instead of the escalator, they transformed a subway staircase into a giant, working piano. Each step a person took played a musical note. Suddenly, the boring, healthy choice became a source of fun and delight. The result? Stair usage increased by 66 percent. Milkman calls this strategy "temptation bundling"—linking something you enjoy with a beneficial activity you tend to avoid. For example, only allowing yourself to watch your favorite Netflix show while on the treadmill. This strategy makes the difficult task more appealing in the moment, effectively bribing your present self to act in the best interest of your future self.

Narrator: Procrastination is another common enemy of change, also driven by present bias. We delay difficult tasks because the immediate effort feels more significant than the distant reward. To combat this, Milkman introduces the concept of commitment devices—a strategy where you intentionally limit your future choices to prevent yourself from giving in to temptation.

The classic example is that of Victor Hugo, who, facing a tight deadline for The Hunchback of Notre Dame, instructed his assistant to lock away all of his clothes, leaving him with only a large shawl. Unable to go outside and socialize, he was forced to stay in and write. A more modern application was tested at Green Bank in the Philippines, which offered customers a "locked" savings account. People could deposit money but couldn't withdraw it until they reached a pre-set date or savings goal. Despite the loss of flexibility, customers who were offered these accounts saved 80 percent more than those who weren't. These devices work by creating a cost for failing to follow through, whether it's social embarrassment, a financial penalty, or simply the inability to do something else.

Narrator: Sometimes, the reason we fail to act isn't a lack of motivation but simple forgetfulness. We fully intend to get a flu shot or go to the polls, but the intention gets lost in the busyness of daily life. The solution lies in creating timely reminders and concrete, cue-based plans.

Research shows that reminders are most effective when they arrive just before the moment of action. A reminder to buckle your seatbelt is far more effective when you're getting into the car than an hour before. Beyond reminders, forming a specific plan, known as an "implementation intention," dramatically increases follow-through. This involves filling in the blanks to the statement: "When [SITUATION] happens, I will [ACTION]." For example, in a get-out-the-vote campaign, callers didn't just remind people to vote; they asked them three specific questions: What time will you vote? Where will you be coming from? And what will you be doing beforehand? This simple planning prompt increased voter turnout by 9 percent. The act of planning creates a strong mental link between a cue (like leaving work) and the desired action (going to the polling place).

Narrator: Humans are wired to follow the path of least resistance. While this "laziness" can be a barrier to change, it can also be harnessed for good through the power of defaults. Defaults are pre-set choices that take effect if we do nothing. At Penn Medicine, physicians were prescribing expensive brand-name drugs because it was the default in their software. By simply adding a checkbox that defaulted to the generic equivalent, the generic prescription rate shot up to 98 percent, saving millions.

This same principle applies to building habits, which are essentially our brain's default settings. Habits are automatic behaviors that we perform without conscious thought, triggered by consistent cues. To build a good habit, it's crucial to repeat the behavior in a consistent context with a reward. However, Milkman's research on Google employees found that overly rigid routines can be fragile. The employees who were rewarded for exercising at the same time every day were less likely to maintain the habit long-term than those who were rewarded for exercising at any time. The most durable habits are "elastic"—they are consistent but have enough flexibility to survive disruptions to our daily schedule.

Narrator: Self-doubt can be a crippling obstacle. When we don't believe we can succeed, we are less likely to even try. Conventional wisdom suggests that when someone is struggling, we should offer them advice. But research by Lauren Eskreis-Winkler shows that this can backfire by making the person feel incompetent.

A far more powerful strategy is to ask the struggling person to give advice to someone else facing a similar problem. In one study, high school students who were asked to give study advice to younger students ended up improving their own grades more than a control group. The act of giving advice forces a person to retrieve what they already know, articulate effective strategies, and boosts their confidence. It creates a powerful feeling of self-efficacy and makes them feel hypocritical if they don't follow their own counsel.

Narrator: Humans are social creatures, deeply influenced by the actions of others. This desire to conform can be a powerful tool for change. Simply describing what is typical can nudge people toward a desired behavior. However, this strategy must be used carefully. If the social norm feels too far out of reach, it can be discouraging. An experiment that told non-savers that 92 percent of their peers were saving for retirement actually depressed sign-up rates, likely because the goal felt unattainable.

A more effective approach involves peer visibility and the desire for approval. In a Michigan experiment, researchers sent mailings to residents that revealed their and their neighbors' public voting records. This aggressive social pressure tactic boosted turnout by a massive 8.1 percentage points, but it also caused significant backlash. A better method is to offer the chance for public praise rather than public shaming. When a green energy program in California allowed people to sign up publicly on a bulletin board, participation tripled. It reframed the action not as an obligation, but as a chance to show off one's civic virtue.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from How to Change is that behavior change is not a one-time event, but a continuous process, much like managing a chronic disease. There is no universal cure. The obstacles we face—impulsivity, procrastination, forgetfulness, and self-doubt—are persistent conditions that require ongoing, tailored treatments. The key to success lies not in finding a single, perfect strategy, but in becoming a better strategist of your own life.

The book challenges us to move beyond the frustration of failed resolutions and instead become scientists of ourselves. What is the true opponent standing between you and your goal? Is it that the task is boring, that you forget to do it, or that you don't believe you can? Once you diagnose the real problem, you can apply the right tool and finally move from where you are to where you truly want to be.