Written by Zach Grossfeld

Relying on willpower is a terrible way to build good habits.

Think of it like this:

We all know that going to the gym is god fo your health. Why do only some of us do it? Is it because some of us have a higher capacity for willpower than others? Do people that go to the gym possess inherently better mechanisms that battle the urges to stay on the couch?

Maybe, to some extent.

But the best way to build good habits is to design your life so that you are more likely to repeat that habit on a regular basis. Don’t join the gym that’s 15 minutes out of your way. Join the one that’s in between where you work and where you live. Every time you skip a workout, you’ll have to drive or walk past it.

Create a workout plan that’s not only good for you, but that you enjoy. The best workout plan is the one that you follow.

Then, pick the gym with a great atmosphere.

Find a workout partner.

Design your life so that going to the gym gives you the least resistance as possible.

The same goes for kicking bad habits.

A terrible place for a recovering cocaine addict to hang out is an apartment full of Columbian bam bam. If possible, don’t put yourself in situations where you have the option to indulge in the bad habit. Remove willpower from the equation by not even having the option in the first place.

In summary, it comes down to this:

Create paths of light resistance to good habits and paths of heavy resistance to bad ones.

Not everyone has the same capacity for willpower, but you do have the power to create a plan.

Identifying good and bad habits is just step one.

Now, it’s up to you to design the resistance.

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