Sendhil Mullainathan Quotes

Sometimes we know the best thing to do, but fail to do it. New year's resolutions are often like that. We make resolutions because we know it would be better for us to lose weight, or get fit, or spend more time with our children. The problem is that a resolution is generally easier to break than it is to keep.

A New Year's resolution that I can never keep? To be able to make decisions.

I don't do resolutions, as I am a rebel without a cause in that respect - I always break them by the second of Jan.!

The problem with resolutions is they're only as solid as the person making them.

Don't bother with New Year's resolutions if you don't have the discipline to put a plan in place to actually achieve them.

I don't have a lot of discipline.

New Year's resolutions generally don't work for me. Or I don't work for them. I make them, like everyone else, but I can't think of one I have stuck to for more than 24 hours.

Take it from someone who's never managed to keep a New Year's resolution: making commitments is easy. Keeping them is what is hard.

You make New Year's resolutions. And you make them into the teeth of old resolutions which were different. Then you don't keep your new resolutions and you tell yourself you are weak-willed. You aren't weak-willed, you are simply obeying yourself as of yesterday.

Many people have trouble sticking to their resolutions, and there is a simple scientific explanation for this. In 1987, a team of psychologists conducted a study in which they monitored the New Year's resolutions of 275 people. After one week the psychologists found that 92 percent of the people were keeping their resolutions; after two weeks we have no idea what happened because the psychologists had quit monitoring.

The problem with New Year's resolutions - and resolutions to 'get in better shape' in general, which are very amorphous - is that people try to adopt too many behavioral changes at once. It doesn't work. I don't care if you're a world-class CEO - you'll quit.

One of the widest gaps in human experience is the gap between what we say we want to be and our willingness to discipline ourselves to get there.

We want to design interventions to teach people how to harness their considerable willpower.

Motivation levels differ person to person, as does the time since failing new year resolutions.

I do have a lot of resolutions, but I don't really make them at New Year's much.

New Year's resolutions work like this: you think of something you enjoy doing and then resolve to stop doing it.

Staying consistent with positive habits can be a challenge.

New Year's Eve is a great time to think about making a resolution to change a behavior, improve upon a practice, or to start something new. Most people don't keep their resolutions very far into the year, but there's no reason to wait until Dec 31st to reboot.

Within 7 days, 75% of people will have given up on their New Year's resolutions; that's tomorrow. Evaluate yourself. Don't be one of them.

I know. I'm lazy. But I made myself a New Years resolution that I would write myself something really special. Which means I have 'til December, right?

It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.

I wish I were more disciplined.

I don't think I have discipline when it comes to anything.

The biggest obstacle to people becoming better is that you have to really want to be a good person in order to be a better person, and most people would rather be other things.

Good intentions aren't enough. People have good intentions when they set a goal to do something, but then they miss a deadline or other milestone.