Toward the end of the year, many of us commit to ambitious, concrete goals like cutting your screen time in half or running three miles every morning.
That approach often backfires, according to neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff, PhD.
Linear goals like these are popular because they give people “the illusion of certainty,” according to Le Cunff, author of “Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World.”
“They make us feel like we’re in control, because we think that if we have a clear vision and a clear plan, and we execute on that plan, then we’re going to be successful,” she tells CNBC Make It.
But real life rarely adheres to our best-laid plans, which is why so many people end up repeating their New Year’s resolutions “over and over again every year” without making progress, she says.
