How to change habits (even without willpower)

The Most Powerful and Underrated Factor of All

🏷️ Categories: Behavior, Habits.

---

Most people still believe that changing habits depends on willpower.

Exercising, eating healthy, reading more, waking up early... We always hear: "I lack discipline," "If you really wanted to, you could," "It’s just that you have a lot of willpower—I don’t." But the more I study human behavior, the more I see something underrated…

The power of environment.

This article is for you—the one who has wondered why it’s so hard to maintain good habits, why you sabotage yourself, why you can’t stick to that goal that felt so clear just a few days ago. And I promise you this: by the end, you’ll understand why environment matters more than anything else—and how you can design it to your advantage.

Let’s look at two studies that show how powerful environment can be…

“Choice Architecture”

The term “Choice Architecture” was popularized by Nobel Prize-winning economist Richard Thaler in the book Nudge. The idea is simple: the way options are presented strongly influences what we choose.

Example? Think of a cafeteria.

Who decides what you see first? The salad or the donuts? The fresh water or the sugary drinks? The greasiest, most expensive sandwich or the lighter one? The menu is designed to nudge you toward some choices over others. And situations like this happen thousands of times a day, in all kinds of places, businesses, and settings.

How information is presented influences your decision—even if you don’t notice it.

Don’t believe me? Check out these two astonishing experiments…

1. The Water Bottle Experiment

Dr. Anne Thorndike conducted a unique experiment at Massachusetts General Hospital.

She believed she could improve the eating habits of the hospital's employees and thousands of daily visitors in a very simple way: by changing the environment through the idea of choice architecture. No motivation, no awareness campaigns, no need to inform anyone.

The study lasted 6 months and involved redesigning the cafeteria’s layout.

Since sugary drink consumption was high, they decided to change the architecture of choice. Originally, refrigerators next to the checkout counters were full of soft drinks. So they added water bottles to every fridge and placed baskets of water near food stations.

Sodas remained available—but now, so was water.

Here’s what happened:

In just three months, soda sales dropped by 11.4%, while bottled water consumption increased by 25.8%. Similar changes elsewhere in the cafeteria produced similar results. The most surprising part: no one had to make an effort, say anything, or resist temptation.

People often choose products not because of what they are, but because of where they are.

If you go to a supermarket and the first things you see in the main aisle are chips and candy, odds are your cart will fill up with those. But if there’s a prominent fruit and veggie display instead, and the unhealthy options are tucked away, your decisions change.

That’s why candy is right next to checkout lanes—to nudge last-minute decisions.

Your habits are shaped by the signals in your environment—even if you don’t realize it.

2. The Sandwich Experiment

A fascinating study led by researcher Julie S. Downs asked: what happens if you change the order in which menu options are presented in a cafeteria?

Julie and her team offered free food in exchange for people filling out short surveys. Here’s the twist: some people saw a menu that listed healthy options first; others saw a menu that started with fatty, high-calorie options. Same menu, different order.

What happened?

Those who saw the healthy menu first were 48% more likely to choose a low-calorie sandwich. Those who saw the high-calorie menu first were 47% less likely to choose a healthy option. Almost identical numbers—just changing the order of items affected decision-making by nearly 50%. Incredible.

And these two experiments are just the beginning. There are many more…

• The case of the rats that showed how environment influences addiction.

• The case of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam and their heroin use.

• The case of Becky Richards and the reduction of medical errors.

• The case of crime rates dropping due to environmental changes.

Conclusion: Your environment shapes your life more than you think.

If just moving a bottle of water increases consumption by 25%, if reordering a menu changes decisions by almost 50%… Imagine what you could do by consciously designing your environment to support your goals.

You don’t need to “be stronger,” “more disciplined,” or “more motivated.”

Start making your environment make success easy for you.

Willpower forces you to fight every day to make the right choice and resist temptation;
Choice architecture removes the bad option altogether—with no effort or energy drain. If you design your environment well, it will always work in your favor.

Even when you’re tired.
Even when you’re distracted.
Even when you’re unmotivated.

Be the architect of your decisions, habits, and life.

✍️ Your turn: If something as small as the order of a menu or the location of a water bottle can create such a drastic change, imagine if you intentionally designed an entire space to serve your goals. What small change could you make in your environment today to make a difference in the habit you're working on? Design your spaces.

💭 Quote of the day: "It all depends on where it is." — Neil Gaiman, American Gods

See you next time! 👋

References 📚

1. Downs, J. S., Loewenstein, G., & Wisdom, J. (2009). Strategies for Promoting Healthier Food Choices. American Economic Review, 99(2), 159-164. URL

2. Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2008). Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness.

3. Thorndike, A. N., Sonnenberg, L., Riis, J., Barraclough, S., & Levy, D. E. (2012). A 2-Phase Labeling and Choice Architecture Intervention to Improve Healthy Food and Beverage Choices. American Journal Of Public Health, 102(3), 527-533. URL