When Charles Duhigg wrote his best-selling book, The Power of Habit, he made a bold claim.

“There’s nothing you can’t accomplish if you get the habits right.” [1]

Few of us would argue with the statement. After all, most of our lives are merely the accumulation of habits that we have built over the years. Some are positive, some are negative. But whether it’s lacing up your running shoes first thing in the morning, or keeping a fully stocked bowl of M&Ms by your desk, these habits have shaped who we are. 

But what if we want to make a change to this daily behavior?

The painting above is the earliest published work of a teenaged Leonardo da Vinci. His mentor painted most of the work, but instructed Leonardo to paint the angel that is gesturing toward the Virgin Mary. When Leonardo was told of his assignment, he spent the next several weeks at work, but did not paint a thing

Imagine you have just won the lottery. You have two options about when you will get your cash payout. If you wait 3 years, you’ll get $50 million dollars, but if you wait 6 years, you’ll get $100 million dollars. If you’re like most people, you’ll wait the full 6 years for double the money. After all, you’ll be getting paid over $16 million dollars a year for each extra year that you wait! 

But what if I were to offer you $50 million dollars today or $100 million dollars 3 years from now? It's not so easy to turn down the quick reward this time! Despite the fact that it’s the same amount of time spent waiting, now the majority of people will take the $50 million dollars today.

Imagine you are a participant in a study on willpower. You arrive to the laboratory having fasted for the last 12 hours, so your body is in dire need of some nourishment.

Before you are two different milkshakes: 

The first milkshake is a chocolaty, creamy, old-fashioned milkshake that people have been enjoying for decades.

The second milkshake has the exact same amount of calories and nutrients as a regular milkshake, but is just a gloppy milk product that is as tasteless as a glass of water.

Because both milkshakes contain the same nutrients, you will be adequately nourished regardless of the one that you choose.

The students arrived in the laboratory in a nutrition-depleted state (they were hungry!). Each one of them was instructed to fast prior to the experiment in which they were about to participate.

Then, the social psychologists unleashed their cruelty upon the participants. They invited them into a room with the aroma of freshly baked cookies. The students sat down around a table that had two plates on it. One was the plate of the warm, tempting cookies. The other was a plate of cold, raw, radishes.