AMNA NAWAZ: Well, we're just over two# weeks into 2026, and for many of you,## many of us, New Year's resolutions have# probably started to fall by the wayside.

For our video podcast "Settle In,"# I spoke with Pulitzer Prize-winning## journalist and author Charles Duhigg about# the science of making new habits stick.

Here now is part of our conversation about# his bestselling book "The Power of Habit."

So when you were researching it and writing# it, you wanted to change your habits of, what,## exercising every morning, resisting that# doughnut?

Were you able to?

Did it work?

CHARLES DUHIGG, Author, "The Power of# Habit": Absolutely.

Absolutely, yes.

And to explain how, I should# explain the most fundamental## thing that I learned when I was# talking to experts, which is... AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

CHARLES DUHIGG: ... when we think about a habit, we tend to think of it as one thing, right?# There's this behav.. But, actually, if we look at how a habit exists# inside our brains, what we see is that every habit## is made up of three parts.

There's a cue, which is# like a trigger for an automatic behavior to start.## And then there's a routine, the behavior# itself, what we think of as the habit.

And then, finally, there's a reward.

Every habit# you have in your life delivers a reward to you,## whether you're aware of it or not.

And# a lot of our life is actually habits.

A researcher named Wendy Wood studied how# much of what we do every day is a conscious## decision and how much is a habit.

She# found that 40 to 45 percent of what## we do every day is a habit.

It's# essentially our brain saying, oh,## there's a cue and I'm going to do this automatic# routine.

I'm not even going to think about it.

I'm going to make it almost feel like it's## effortless.

And then there's going to# be some reward that's delivered to me,## whether I'm aware of that reward or not.# And the reason why this is important... AMNA NAWAZ: Forty-five percent?

That's incredible.

CHARLES DUHIGG: Forty-.. AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

CHARLES DUHIGG: And the re.. if you can identify the cues and# rewards that shape your behaviors,## then you can change your# habits much more easily, right?

It's those cues and those rewards that give# us the leverage point to change how we behave.

AMNA NAWAZ: How do we do that?

CHARLES DUHIGG: There's a saying that we have, I# wa.. because it makes us think that we can# extinguish a behavior very easily.

And the truth is, with willpower, you oftentimes# can extinguish a behavior for a while, but that## cue routine reward in your brain, that habit# loop, it'll always exist.

So the best thing to## do is instead of saying, I want to extinguish# a habit, is to say, I want to change a habit.

So how do we do that?

The first thing# we do is, we have to figure out what is## the cue and the reward that is prompting# this behavior?

So a good example is that,## when I was working at The New York# Times and I was working on this book,## every afternoon, I would go up and I# would eat a cookie in the cafeteria.

And I started putting on a little bit# of weight.

So I put these notes on my## computer that say, no cookies today.

And somehow,## every afternoon, I would manage to ignore# that note and go up and get the cookie.

(LAUGHTER) CHARLES DUHIGG: .. if you want to change this habit, first# you got to figure out what the cue is.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

CHARLES DUHIGG: .. either a time of day, a particular place,# the presence of certain other people,## a specific emotion, or a preceding# behavior that's become ritualized.

And they said, OK, whenever# you have the cookie urge,## just write down those five things.

What# time is it?

Who's standing near you?

Where## are you?

And I realized pretty quickly,# it always hit between like 3:15 and 3:45## in the afternoon.

It was clearly a time# of day was the cue for my cookie habit.

Then I had to figure out what the reward# was.

And I told the researchers, I was like,## oh, this is easy.

The reward's the# cookie.

Like, I love eating cookies.

AMNA NAWAZ: Clearly, right?

Yes.

CHARLES DUHIGG: Yes.

And they.. is like a bundle of like a dozen different# rewards all in one tasty package.

So, is... AMNA NAWAZ: What?

Explain that to me?

CHARLES DUHIGG: Well, so is the# reward for me eating the cook.. is it that -- the sugar, like the# sugar gives me a burst of energy?

AMNA NAWAZ: Oh, yes.

CHARLES DUHIGG: Or is it just the# taste of the.. And so they said, look, next time you# go up, instead of getting a cookie,## to see if it's the sugar, take# some Splenda and just rub it on## your tongue and see if that satisfies the# craving for a cookie.

So I tried that one.

AMNA NAWAZ: Did you do that# in your office break room?

CHARLES DUHIGG: I did it.

I did# it.

I did it.

I did it in my... AMNA NAWAZ: Did anyone see you do this?

(LAUGHTER) CHARLES DUHIGG: .. there?

That's a little weird.

But I told# them it was for science.

So it was OK.

(LAUGHTER) CHARLES DUHIGG: But that didn't work.

I still# wanted the cookie.

So th.. maybe it's the energy I get from the sugar.

So# I drank an espresso, instead of having a cookie.## And I still wanted the cookie.

I experimented with# these different rewards every day, doing different## things to see if it satisfied the craving as well# as a cookie did,until one day I realized when I## went up to the cafeteria to get the cookie,# I would see some friends in the cafeteria.

And I'd go and I'd get my cookie.

And as I# was eating it, I'd go over and I'd talk to## them and we would like gossip for 10 minutes.# And I realized it was the gossip.

It was the## socialization that was the reward for# me.

So I came up with a new habit loop.

What I said is, OK, I want to come up# with a new behavior that corresponds## to the old cue and they deliver something# similar to the old reward.

So I would set## my alarm for 3:30.

When my alarm went off at# 3:30, I would stand up.

I'd look for someone## in the newsroom to go chat with and gossip# with and just have a bit of socialization.

And then I would go over and I would do it.# And for 10 or 15 minutes, I'd talk to them,## and then I'd go back to my desk.

And the cookie# urge totally disappeared, because what... AMNA NAWAZ: After how long?

How# many times did you have to do that?

CHARLES DUHIGG: Really, I mean, it# took like a week, a week-and-a-half.

AMNA NAWAZ: Huh.

CHARLES DUHIGG: .. strong and durable when we're in the grip of# them, but once we pull them into the light,## habits prove to be very, very delicate and we can# change them much more easily than we think we can,## as long as we pay attention to the# cues and rewards driving that behavior.