Nir Eyal: evaluation

Transcript context

…I love that. Final question. You wrote a book about building habits. What's your best and worst habit these days? This is tricky. So, I think the reason I'm struggling answering this is because there's a difference between habits and routines and a lot of things that people think are habits are not really habits. So, I was going to say exercise. I used to be clinically obese and now I exercise. But that's not technically a habit because it's not done with little or no conscious thought. It's a routine, but I think that's probably one of my best routines is that I've finally, for the first time in my life, really gotten into physical fitness. I have maybe not quite a six-pack, but maybe like a four-pack at forty-five years old. I'm pretty proud of that and I'm not saying that to brag. I'm saying it as a testimony to the fact that when you say you're going to do something and actually do it, how wonderful that feels. Just live your life with intent. I'm not athletic. I never was athletic. I still don't really like exercise, but I do it and I eat right because I say I will. So, I think that's probably my best routine and probably my worst habit is that I still feel these impulses. If the definition of a habit is an impulse to do or behavior with little or no conscious thought, you better well damn believe that I feel the impulse to check Instagram for a quick minute or to look at this. I still feel that. I think the difference is that now, I know I'm going to feel those. I know that's part of my daily experience, and I have those practices in place so that they don't get the best of me. Just along those lines, something I was going to ask but I forgot is, how often do you not do the things you had in your calendar? What percentage of the things don't get done the way you planned?…

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