Breaking bad habits often feels like a test of willpower. We tell ourselves we&rsquo;ll stop scrolling, eat better, or exercise more &mdash; and then fall right back into the same routines. So why is lasting change so hard? As part of our spring cleaning series, we&rsquo;re revisiting a powerful episode from The Happiness Lab archives that reveals a surprising truth about behavior change: it&rsquo;s not about willpower at all. Dr. Laurie Santos sits down with psychologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ljLqYGEAAAAJ&hl=en">Wendy Wood</a> to explore what the science of habits really says about why we get stuck &mdash; and how we can finally change. Along the way, we hear the remarkable story of American soldiers in Vietnam who abruptly overcame heroin addiction after returning home, offering a powerful clue about how habits really work. If you&rsquo;re looking to break a bad habit or build a better one, this episode shows how small changes to your environment can make lasting change feel almost automatic. Experts Mentioned: <ul> <li><a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/wendy-wood/">Wendy Wood</a>, Provost Professor of Psychology and Business, University of Southern California.</li> <li><a href="https://faculty.smhs.gwu.edu/richard-albert-ratner">Dr. Richard Ratner</a>, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences</li> </ul> Resources Mentioned: <ul> <li><a href="https://books.apple.com/us/book/good-habits-bad-habits/id1455846455">Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick</a>, by Wendy Wood (2019)</li> <li>&ldquo;<a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-18890-001">How Do People Adhere to Goals When Willpower Is Low? The Profits (and Pitfalls) of Strong Habits</a>,&rdquo; by David T. Neal, Wendy Wood, and Aimee Drolet (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2013)</li> <li>&ldquo;<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0146167211419863">The Pull of the Past: When Do Habits Persist Despite Conflict with Motives?</a>,&rdquo; by David T. Neal, Wendy Wood, Mengju Wu, and David Kurlander (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2011)</li> <li>&ldquo;<a href="https://dtg.sites.fas.harvard.edu/DANWEGNER/pub/Wegner%20Ironic%20Processes%201994.pdf">Ironic Processes of Mental Control</a>,&rdquo; by Daniel M. Wegner (Psychological Review, 1994)</li> <li>&ldquo;<a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.64.12_Suppl.38">How Permanent Was Vietnam Drug Addiction?</a>,&rdquo; by Lee N. Robins, Darlene H. Davis, and David N. Nurco (American Journal of Public Health, 1974)</li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p5X1FjyD_g">CBS News Lottery Draft 1969</a> (Archival Footage)</li> <li><a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/05/16/issue.html">"G.I. Heroin Addiction Epidemic in Vietnam"</a> (The New York Times, 1971)</li> <li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5860066/">G.I. Junkie</a> (Documentary, 1971)</li> </ul> Related Episodes: <ul> <li>"<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-new-hope/id1474245040?i=1000461663335">A New Hope</a>"</li> <li>"<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/you-can-change/id1474245040?i=1000449594792">You Can Change</a>"</li> <li>"<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happiness-lessons-of-the-ancients-sikhism-and-daily-habits/id1474245040?i=1000605762631">Happiness Lessons of the Ancients: Sikhism and Daily Habits</a>"</li> </ul>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

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