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Hi everyone! Great to be here.

You’ve made a name for yourself in writing about happiness, what made you want to explore habits and habit change?

Was there one habit you wanted to change when you set out to write this book? Or many habits?

Meditation is something that we write about a lot and that a lot of successful people say they do. One of your early lines in the book is striking because it something that we write about frequently. You say: “ It’s easy to dream the if we copy the habits of productive, creative people, we’ll win similar success. But we each must cultivate habits that work for us.” Can different habits lead people to similar success?

Here's an article about how to mediate even if you hate it:

What’s the biggest misconception people have about the process of trying to change their habits?

One of the big takeaways in your book is that in order to change our habits we have to first understand ourselves and what motivates us. Can you explain why that is and how we can start that process?

Also, I came up with a framework to help people understand their habit natures. This "Four Tendencies" framework divides people into four categories: Upholders, Questioners, Obligers, and Rebels. Your Tendency will greatly influence the best way for you to form habits (or if you're trying to help someone else form a habit, knowing their Tendency can help you be more persuasive!) Here's a quick online quiz if you want to find out your own Tendency. More than 70,000 people have taken it.

Yes, if you know your Tendency, you'll have much better insight into how to form your habits in a way that sticks. For instance, Questioners need reasons, justifications--they hate anything arbitrary or irrational, they love information--they won't stick to a habit unless they really believe it's worthwhile. For Obligers, the key is EXTERNAL ACCOUNTABILITY. This is huge! So many Obligers have told me that this piece of information, as simple as it is, has helped them tremendously.

For instance, an Obliger might not be able to get to the gym on her own, but if she works out with a friend who'll be annoyed if she doesn't show; or a trainer who charges anyway; or takes a class where the teacher notices if she's absent; or goes running with a dog who's dying to go outside, that Obliger will have no trouble at all.

So the key for Obligers, if there's a habit they struggle with, is to create forms of external accountability. But for an Upholder like me, external accountability isn't essential--it might be helpful, but it's not essential.

The 21 strategies are the ones I identified. I have to say, I expected to find 6 or 8! But as I kept researching, I kept identifying more, until every pattern I saw had been accounted for. 21 may seem like a lot -- people may feel overwhelmed at the thought of apply 21 -- but actually it's GOOD. There's a big variety from which to choose, so you can pick the ones that suit your nature and circumstances. I think for many people, seeing the strategies laid out makes them feel more hopeful; they think, "well, I've never tried this before, and it sounds promising!" I made Checklist for Habit Change, a sheet where you can enter the habit you want to change, and brainstorm how you might use the strategies to tackle it. It's a really useful tool, but probably you'd need to read the book to be able to use it.

You're right: there are good distractions and bad distractions. Using distraction as a strategy involves mindfully turning our attention away from something. Say you don't want to pour yourself another glass of wine; or you don't want to turn on the TV. Instead of using your will-power to fight the impulse, you turn your attention to something else. Then you forget the temptation. People often assume that cravings intensify with time, but after 15 minutes, most fade. So if you can hold out for 15 minutes, you're making good progress.

Also, when we're agitated about something -- worked up, but not taking constructive action -- distractions helps to calm us, give us a sense of perspective, a sense of relief. If you're furious about something that happened at work that day, you might decide, "I'm going to watch an episode of The Office, to take my mind off it." You'd get relief. But you're right to point out that distraction needs to be deployed wisely!

Gretchen wrote about four more strategies in this Fast Company article

We have a reader who wants to know: Is it possible to drop a bad habit and start a good habit at that same time?

You mentioned knowing someone else’s tendency if you want to help them change their habits, what about how people can influence you when you are trying to change your habits –what can you do about those outside influences?

Something that you mention in the book, The Strategy of Scheduling is something we write about a lot – can you explain what it is and why it’s important?

For most people (though not for Rebels), putting something on the schedule makes us far more likely to follow through. When we schedule something, we eliminate decision-making--we know exactly when and where something will take place. As we all know, something that can be done at any time is often done at no time! Putting something on the schedule makes certain that you get to it. "8:30--go to the gym" or "9-11--work on annual report" makes it easy to follow through. Key point: if you've scheduled work, when you're doing that task, do that task or NOTHING. Work, or stare out the window. No procrastisurfing, no desk-tidying, no emails, no phone calls. Work can be one of the most dangerous forms of procrastination. So schedule something specifically, and do that specific task. The more regularly you do it, the more it will become a habit.

There are many reasons! One is that we haven't thought through what hurdles we may face in trying to keep a good habit. That's what the Strategy of Safeguards does -- helps us anticipate challenges, so we can handle them better. Another is that we're so great at coming up with justifications and excuses about why -- just this once -- we should let ourselves off the hook in keeping good habits.

The Strategy of Loophole-Spotting helps us to recognize these excuses, and perhaps reject them. A reason that I didn't understand for a long time was the issue related to the Strategy of Identity. Sometimes, to change a habit, we have to change our identity. Say you pride yourself on being a "workaholic." but now you want to make a habit of leaving work each night at 7. To change that habit, you have to grapple with your identity.

One thing is to remind yourself that "A stumble may prevent a fall." Try to learn from lapses, so that you avoid them next time. Some people assume that if they load themselves with reproach when they backslide, they'll do a better job sticking to the good habits. But no. People who show compassion towards themselves do a better job of getting back on track. Also, try to fail small, not big. You wasted one hour -- that doesn't mean that the whole day is wasted. We tend to self-regulate by day, and it can be helpful to divide the day into four parts, so if you blow "morning" you get back on track for "mid-day." A key thing is to do if-then planning: if X happens, then I will do Y. The more you anticipate possible challenges, the better prepared you'll be to handle them well.

Thanks so much for having me! I so enjoyed the chance to talk about habits with you.