Hello {{first_name|Motivated and Miffed Community}},

You don’t miss goals because you’re lazy—you miss them because February shows up and the fireworks fizzle. The plan that felt epic on Jan 1 now feels like homework. The fix isn’t a new identity; it’s a boring, friendly rhythm that carries you when you feel “meh”: one non-negotiable time slot, one obvious first move, one simple “done” mark, and a rule that when you slip, you shrink the task instead of quitting. Want the exact step-by-step and examples? Read the rest of this issue—everything here is designed for low-motivation days.

Cliff notes: your brain is wrestling with present bias, decision fatigue, and choice overload. But what do all of these terms even mean? Continue down below! ⬇️

If you’re a decision maker at your company, you need to be on the bleeding edge of, well, everything. But before you go signing up for seminars, conferences, lunch ‘n learns, and all that jazz, just know there’s a far better (and simpler) way: Subscribing to The Deep View.

This daily newsletter condenses everything you need to know about the latest and greatest AI developments into a 5-minute read. Squeeze it into your morning coffee break and before you know it, you’ll be an expert too.

Subscribe right here. It’s totally free, wildly informative, and trusted by 600,000+ readers at Google, Meta, Microsoft, and beyond.

This section names the most common psychological roadblocks that knock resolutions off track—what each term means, how it shows up in real life, and why it tanks follow-through. Skim for the one that sounds painfully familiar; each definition ends with a quick nudge you can use the same day to keep momentum when motivation dips.

In a previous issue, we covered helpful techniques in achieving your New Year’s Resolution, such as If–Then Plans (Implementation Intentions) and WOOP. Here’s a quick refresher.

If–Then Plans (Implementation Intentions) — Peter Gollwitzer

WOOP / MCII — Gabriele Oettingen (with Peter Gollwitzer; field work by Angela Duckworth)

Origin story: Wharton field experiments tested giving people addictive audiobooks only while they exercised—gym attendance jumped. Later studies found similar boosts when people were nudged to pair a “want” with a “should.”
Who they are: Milkman is a Wharton behavior-change researcher (fresh starts, bundling); Volpp co-founded Penn’s Center for Health Incentives; Minson studies judgment and decision making.
Why it works: You fuse immediate pleasure to a delayed-payoff habit, lowering the self-control tax right when it matters.

Examples:

Origin story: Economists and physicians tested “deposit contracts” (your own money at risk) and incentive designs in the wild—smoking cessation and other tough habits improved when quitting was backed by real stakes.
Who they are: Karlan, Zinman, and Halpern ran influential field trials that connected loss aversion to health behavior.
Why it works: Losses loom larger than gains; money/reputation at risk makes the default “follow through.”

Examples:

Origin story: Management Science research showed that temporal landmarks (New Year’s, birthdays, firsts of the month, Mondays) act like mental chapter breaks; people initiate more goal-pursuit right after these dates.
Who they are: Dai (UCLA management scholar), Milkman (Wharton), and Riis (behavioral scientist) study motivation at real-world scale and translate it for practitioners.
Why it works: Landmarks separate “old me” from “current me,” reset standards, and re-open mental accounts—so the first step feels cleaner.

Examples:

Pick one example above and copy it into your calendar for this week. That’s it—let the mechanism carry you when the mood won’t.

You don’t need fireworks—you need friction-proof first steps. Make your session too easy to dodge, and let consistency do the heavy lifting. See you next week with more tiny levers that move big goals.

Stay MOTIVATED,

Gio