You’ll walk past the office donuts six times today, and each pass reactivates the cue — food cues trigger dopamine in anticipation, and merely seeing food raises salivation and ghrelin. The solution isn’t to resist six times; it’s to make the decision once, early, and treat it as settled. That has a name in the research — an implementation intention — with a medium-to-large effect across 94 studies. But the form matters more than the resolve: plans framed as “I will not” rebound, while replacement plans (“I’ll keep walking to the coffee machine”) hold.
This companion explores repeated exposure, the one-decision strategy, practical tactics, and the mismatch between your biology and free food. (6 min read)
Written by AI, directed and approved by me. How this is made →