When a habit emerges, the brain stops fully participating in decision making. It stops working so hard, or diverts focus to other tasks. So unless you deliberately fight a habit -- unless you find new routines -- the pattern will unfold automatically.

What we know from lab studies is that it's never too late to break a habit. Habits are malleable throughout your entire life. But we also know that the best way to change a habit is to understand its structure - that once you tell people about the cue and the reward and you force them to recognize what those factors are in a behavior, it becomes much, much easier to change.

Research suggests that investment bankers are more prone to commit fraud when they feel the competitor at their heels.

Self-discipline has a bigger effect on academic performance than does intellectual talent.

If you want to do something that requires willpower - like going for a run after work - you have to conserve your willpower muscle during the day.

If you dress a new something in old habits, it’s easier for the public to accept it.

Rather, to change a habit, you must keep the old cue, and deliver the old reward, but insert a new routine.