{"id":116346,"date":"2023-10-26T01:19:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T05:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=116346"},"modified":"2026-01-21T12:36:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:36:35","slug":"overcoming-barriers-to-change-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/overcoming-barriers-to-change-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Overcome Barriers to Change & Achieve Your Goals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What does overcoming barriers to change<\/a> look like? How can you avoid pitfalls when setting new goals for yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overcoming barriers to change means working against procrastination, instant gratification<\/a>, forgetfulness, and lack of focus. If you learn how to define and deal with these barriers, you\u2019ll be closer to achieving your goals<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on to learn how to overcome common barriers to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Overcome Common Barriers to Change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Overcoming barriers to change means taking on our tendency to seek instant gratification, our laziness and procrastination, and the all-too-common experience of forgetting about our good intentions. Here, we\u2019ll present advice for overcoming these challenges within yourself\u2014as well as how you can help others to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: In reading through the following sections, note that these aspects of human nature are framed as problems to be solved. Since how we frame things influences our choices and our emotions, consider an alternative framing from Stoicism\u2014view these things as opportunities to be learned from<\/a>. This can reduce frustration as you\u2019ll see yourself not as riddled with flaws to fix but as ripe with opportunities to grow.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barrier #1: Instinctively Seeking Pleasure<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

First, let\u2019s look at the one obstacle to change that underlies most others: The human tendency to seek instant gratification. We instinctively want immediately gratifying experiences and thus favor behaviors that produce present-moment pleasure<\/strong> over those that would benefit us in the long run. We impulsively overeat, overconsume media, have just one more drink, or scroll just another minute. This tendency is a scientifically established feature of human nature\u2014scientists call it \u201cpresent bias.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: To get a direct sense of how present bias works, we can look to how businesses make use of it in their products. In Hooked<\/a>,<\/em> Nir Eyal explains how designers build variable rewards (unpredictable pleasures) into their products<\/a> so that people form habits of using them. Think of Facebook: When you open the app, your feed presents you with a selection of novel, unpredictable content that keeps you scrolling and coming back. Each upward swipe of your finger might produce another reward, and that\u2019s all it takes to form a habit<\/a> loop and get habituated to the product.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often, this instinct to seek pleasure stands in the way of positive behavioral change. Experts typically advise that you can overcome it with willpower<\/a>\u2014that is, by pushing through the urge to do what feels good now and instead performing a healthier behavior (such as passing on the sugar-laden coffee and instead hitting the gym). However, to overcome our pleasure-seeking nature, we can\u2019t rely on willpower alone.<\/strong> This is because we\u2019re prone to another cognitive bias<\/a>: We\u2019re too confident in our future selves, and we thereby overestimate how effective our willpower is.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, we tend to assume that we\u2019ll be able to overcome our pleasure-seeking impulses when the moment arises\u2014but research shows that we most often don\u2019t, such that this confidence is misplaced. For instance, when you\u2019re planning a habit change<\/a>, it\u2019s easy to assume that you\u2019ll manage to roll out of bed at 6 a.m. and go for a run. But in reality, you probably won\u2019t (at least not so easily), and your future self<\/a> will probably give in to the siren song of the snooze button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: While we\u2019re all prone to cognitive biases<\/a>, we can also learn to recognize them and prevent them from worsening our decisions. This starts with awareness: Learn about a bias, and then practice recognizing it. For instance, you might sit down to plan a new habit and keep an eye out for overly optimistic appraisals of what you can do. Then, you can use a variety of thinking strategies<\/a>\u2014such as taking an outside view or using probabilities to logically assess possible outcomes\u2014to make better decisions<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because you need more than just willpower, we\u2019ll describe two additional strategies in the following sections\u2014pairing temptations with good habits and gamifying your behavior changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: In Mastery<\/em><\/a>, George Leonard takes a different stance on willpower. Whereas Milkman emphasizes our habitual overestimation of our future willpower, Leonard explains that we often misunderstand how to use our willpower. Instead of forcing yourself through some change, he says, you need to use willpower<\/a> to gently yet firmly push, stretch, and grow at your edges<\/a>. Willpower isn\u2019t perfect, but it\u2019s still an important tool in our kits.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n