Hey there, it's Stephen Dubner.
You are probably already thinking about the New Year and inevitably the New Year's resolution.
How often do resolutions actually work?
And when they do, why do they?
That's what we are asking in this episode.
It is an update of a piece we first aired in 2021.
We have updated facts and figures where necessary.
Happy listening and happy New Year.
I know a lot of people were particularly excited about January 1 of this year.
I got extra emails about, oh, thank goodness, it's finally 2021.
I'm so excited.
I'm a professor at the Wharton School, and I'm also the author of the book, How to Change.
And I'm the co-director of the Behavior Change for Good Initiative with Angela Duckworth.
As a behavior change specialist, Milkman sees January 1st as something of a high holy day.
Every year, roughly half of all Americans make a New Year's resolution to break some habit,
fix some flaw, pick up some new activity.
At the top of these wish lists, and yes, I am calling them wish lists,
you'll see why later, at the top are eating better, drinking less, exercising more.
We asked Freakonomics radio listeners to tell us their resolutions for this year.
Some of you set the bar pretty low.