Creating Sticky Habits with Dr Heather McKee

<p class="p1">I’m joined today by leading lifestyle behaviour change specialist Dr Heather Mckee to talk about one of my favourite topics, habits.</p> <p class="p1"> </p> <p class="p1">Having studied health behaviour change psychology for 10 years, her mission is to offer a sustainable, evidence-based alternative to an industry saturated with quick fixes and health fads.</p> <p class="p1"> </p> <p class="p1">In today’s conversation among other things we talk about:</p> <p>- What is a habit?</p> <p>- Frequency of habits (including annually!)</p> <p>- Why we get distracted from our new habits</p> <p>- The link between goals, motivation and habits</p> <p>- Goal dilution, and how to avoid it</p> <p>- Values and identity in relation to habits</p> <p>- The role of curiosity and self-compassion in change</p> <p>- Creating systems for change</p> <p>- The role your environment plays in sustaining change</p> <p>- Skillpower over willpower</p> <p>- Building Bite-Sized habits</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1">Heather referenced some a number of studies and resources during our conversation, and here are some direct links if you want to explore further:</p> <p class="p1"> </p> <p class="p1">Wendy Wood:</p> <p class="p1">- Podcast episode (<a href= "https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ZUfGd8WLyzTvjligc4u3O?si=ViTIgRaASQqFtLKjdPATMg&dl_branch=1&nd=1"><span class="s2">https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ZUfGd8WLyzTvjligc4u3O?si=ViTIgRaASQqFtLKjdPATMg&dl_branch=1&nd=1</span></a>)</p> <p class="p1">- Summary of key studies (<a href= "https://behavioralpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/BSP_vol1is1_Wood.pdf"><span class="s2">https://behavioralpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/BSP_vol1is1_Wood.pdf</span></a>)</p> <p class="p1">- Good Habits Bad Habits book (<a href= "https://behavioralscientist.org/good-habits-bad-habits-a-conversation-with-wendy-wood/"><span class="s2">https://behavioralscientist.org/good-habits-bad-habits-a-conversation-with-wendy-wood/</span></a>)</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1">Katy Milkman’s book ‘