The same process that makes AA so effective—the power of a group to teach individuals how to believe—happens whenever people come together to help one another change. Belief is easier when it occurs within a community.

Habits, scientists say, emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort.

What studies say the number one best way to start an exercise habit is to give yourself a reward that you genuinely enjoy.

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.

For a habit to stay changed, people must believe change is possible.

The same process that makes AA so effective—the power of a group to teach individuals how to believe—happens whenever people come together to help one another change. Belief is easier when it occurs within a community.

The cooperation of NASCAR - or any other system, it turns out - persists only when everyone believes he has the opportunity to win.