“Self-control is simple when you understand that it involves putting yourself in the right situations to develop the right habits.”

Why it was said

Wendy Wood, a psychologist at the University of Southern California who has studied habit for three decades, writes this while reinterpreting what people with high self-control actually do. Studies she discusses found that such people resist temptation less often than expected; instead they arrange their lives so that temptation comes up less and good habits run on their own.

What it actually means

The popular picture of self-control is a battle won in the moment: the cake refused, the run started on a cold morning. Wood's research points elsewhere. The people who look most disciplined spend less effort resisting, because they have shaped their surroundings and routines so that the right action is the easy, repeated one. That makes self-control a design problem rather than a test of character. The question shifts from 'how do I resist?' to 'what situation would make this automatic?'

How to use it

1. 1Choose one behaviour you keep fighting yourself over and change one thing in the setting where it happens, such as where your phone charges at night.
2. 2Attach a new habit to a fixed point in your day, the same time and place, and keep it there for several weeks.
3. 3Remove the cue for one bad habit for a week and see how often the urge still appears.