Choice Architecture: why smart people end up wasting so much of their potential and where you have the most leverage to change that.

Have you ever found yourself wondering why you keep making choices that don't align with your goals, despite your best intentions? The answer might surprise you. And it's not about willpower or discipline. 

What happened when my family's Wi-Fi unexpectedly died during my parents' visit revealed a profound truth about human behavior. My father, who had been refusing physical activities for days due to arthritis, suddenly suggested a bike ride. 

Behavioral scientists have a term for this phenomenon: choice architecture. Research shows that modifying your environment is dramatically more effective at changing behavior than simply trying to exercise more discipline.   

This isn't just theoretical, governments worldwide have implemented these principles to encourage everything from increased savings to healthier lifestyles, not by convincing people intellectually but by making the desired choices easier to make. The most powerful environmental factor? Your social circle. The people you surround yourself with shape your decisions even more strongly than your physical surroundings, which explains why joining a group with respected peers is more effective than any solo willpower effort. 

The most common mistake I see among intelligent, accomplished individuals is overestimating their capacity for consistent willpower. No matter how smart you are, your brain is fundamentally designed to conserve energy, which means you'll almost always default to the path of least resistance.  

The solution isn't to double down on discipline but to strategically redesign your environment so the right choice becomes the ONLY available choice.  

Share this episode with someone who needs to hear this message and help us create more positive impact by rating and reviewing the podcast on your favorite platform.  

Let's get wired for change!  

Transcript

Welcome to Change Wired Podcast

Speaker 1 0:00

Hey , guys , and welcome back to another episode of Change Wired Podcast Podcast for change agents people into transformation , personal development and creating better world , more positive impact . I'm Angela Sharina , I'm your host , I'm your executive coach , health , personal and collective transformation coach , change leadership consultant and just someone who is also equally passionate about change and about learning the science the best better change , foster and ultimately create more beautiful and fulfilling life experiences for ourselves and people

The Wi-Fi Outage Story

Speaker 1 0:55

around us . Today , guys , we're going to start with a story . You already know what this podcast is going to be about , sort of from the title , but also , today we're going to be talking about willpower and why it's truly overrated , and how we humans tend to think that we have a lot more control that we actually usually exercise , end up exercising in real life . And how choice architecture changes everything and what it actually is , and how you , in a simple way , can start redesigning your environment so it starts controlling you quote-unquote in the right way , meaning leading you truly , leading you towards your true values , your goals , your aspirations , versus ending up often with this question how did I end up here ? Why do I do the things that I don't want to do ? Instead asking well , I've managed to create one hack of a life that I'm super proud about . Things can go and be easier , and here is how . So , without further ado , let's dig in . Let's get wired for change , guys .

Speaker 1 2:16

First the story . You know one of those commercials . Maybe you've seen them , maybe not , but I've been looking for some boxes or safeguards for my clients to lock their phone away so they don't end up scrolling it as often as they end up , but instead ending up using it in a more manageable , more scheduled manner . And I was looking at some stuff on Amazon and there were those videos for those boxes where a family would lock away their phone and then end up having a really amazing time together . It is playing games , talking and doing stuff instead of being on their phones . Have you seen one of those commercials ? If not , it's probably somewhere out there . Or look up on Amazon Box or Log for your mobile phone , and you'll find plenty of those videos .

Speaker 1 3:16

And it happened in real life for me in a little bit different form . So one day , while during my parents' visit , wi-fi died , there was I don't know something happening and they started doing some work and there was no Wi-Fi , and so I couldn't really do a lot of work because my mobile internet wasn't that great and my parents couldn't watch much TV because our TV is fueled by Wi-Fi . And so what ended up happening ? My dad suggested we go for a bike ride , even though for days he's been saying no to all kinds of activities . I proposed , saying that his arthritis doesn't let him do that , and I'm like , okay , well , you know , it is what it is .

Speaker 1 4:05

And then on the day when Wi-Fi went out that happened maybe like four days ago actually he suggested we go for a bike ride , and then after that , we ended up talking a lot more and just doing more stuff together , and at that moment it made me realize that actually , environment has a lot more control

The Fallacy of Human Control

Speaker 1 4:30

, like truly has a lot more control over the quality of our lives , what we end up doing . Lot more control over the quality of our lives , what we end up doing , the memories , the quality time with people we have , or how we develop ourselves or don't , because we just have these easier alternatives , right ? So instead of going for bike rides , you end up watching the TV . Instead of reading more books , you end up scrolling your phone more . Instead of eating more fruit and veg , we'll end up eating well , anything that might not be that great for your health , and we think that's our fallacy of humans . We think we're in so much more control and we truly make most of the choices based on our deepest values and priorities and goals and aspirations . And when we fail to make the choice and we see that , oh , I actually want to do something else , like eat healthier , but I end up eating that crap . Or I want to read more books , but I end up scrolling my phone more and then feeling like I'm actually tired and exhausted and don't have any brain capacity to read books or to learn , we think that we're in control and we are making choices and when we fail to make the right choices , that it's something wrong with our willpower and discipline , when in reality we just made other choices a lot easier , a lot more available .

Speaker 1 5:58

In behavioral science there is this term choice architecture , where we nudge people or ourselves to make choices based on our environment

Understanding Choice Architecture

Speaker 1 6:11

. Like , for example , you take away the TV , you end up doing something else , and if you don't have other options with technology , like scrolling or doing something similar you end up doing more sports . It's like , well , if you have nothing to do , you'll end up doing something , and if you don't have options that allow you to sit on TV and just be glued to something , you'll probably end up doing something a lot more active , and probably that's how our ancestors just moved more because they didn't have many options and just sitting and doing nothing . You know your brain gets bored and you know that , and so when in the past we felt boredom , we would do something with that boredom . When now we just scroll stuff or watch stuff and this choice architecture that is described by scientists , behavioral economics and behavioral science researchers some people even got Nobel Prizes for that . So what they realized and there is a book Nudge that talks to that and , by the way , it's used by the governments to make people do good for the government behaviors or for themselves save more payment taxes and move more .

Speaker 1 7:29

What more and more governments and leaders realize is architecting the choices that are better for people , like eating better . Moving more , for example , is a much more reliable strategy than communicating to people how bad certain things are or how good certain things are . Like communication doesn't work that well . What works really well , or at least much better , is changing the environment . There are other researchers , like BJ Fogg , who work on different behavior change model , and they all come up to that conclusion that there is this environment component that influences our choices , and that it actually might be a lot more powerful than our willpower or our motivation or our desire to do better . And so , instead of we tend to ask ourselves when we fail to do the right thing , we tend to ask ourselves how do I get more motivated , how do I get more disciplined , when in reality , we should be asking ourselves how do I create the environment where the choice that I want to make most often is the only possible option ? Before I used to say it's easier , no , it's the only option , because even if you put the freaking bike right by your couch , but if the TV is still there , a lot of times you would still choose the TV and not the bike right . And so these days , I say make the choice that you want to make the only available option .

Speaker 1 9:04

And for humans , what's especially interesting is the part of your environment a big one , and I would probably say the most powerful one is the social aspect of your environment . So it's not what you're surrounded with , like the objects , the technology , but the people that you communicate with , that you live with your reference group , who you watch , who you listen to , who you talk to , who you admire , but especially yes , your closest relationships , your friends , people who you refer

Where Smart People Get It Wrong

Speaker 1 9:40

to when making some decisions or choices . That has a bigger effect even than your environment . That's why , if you want to exercise , actually the best possible thing you can possibly do is join a group that will keep you accountable , that you admire , that you respect let's say , maybe your boss or someone who you just respect and admire is a part of some fitness group . So join that and show up for them , because you will feel like if you don't show up , they're going to think less of you , and for human beings , that is one of the biggest motivators . So our social environment thinks more of us , not less of us . So that's about environment and choices .

Speaker 1 10:27

And yesterday I had a conversation with someone who we'll be recording a mini course with and he was asking me all these questions to understand better what I teach and what value I can bring to his community . And he asked well , in all of your work with behavioral science and with clients , where do you find people get it wrong ? Like what is the most common thing ? And I thought for a bit and I said . You know , the most common thing that smart people fail with is that thinking that because you are so smart and you achieved certain successes because of that , if you know a thing , the right thing , if you know the right choice , and if you decide to make the choice that that's what you're going to do from now on , when , in reality , no matter how smart you get , you still have this lazy brain that is trying to optimize for energy saving , and in most situations , you will end up doing the easier thing . So your environment controls more of your choices and even your identity and your leadership and who you end up being in your life .

Speaker 1 11:44

Your environment and again a big part of it , is a social component . Your environment ends up defining your future more than any other conscious choice , and that's where a lot of smart people Get it wrong . We just still think that we are in control . Well , actually , our environment is our silent boss . We are wired to be the most adaptable species on earth , and it's a good thing , but also not so good thing , because it means that if you happen to be in the environment , which is not that great for your development and development of your potential , it means that you're not going to end up developing that potential and instead going to be in sort of mediocre level , and our environment as it gets more and more convenient to be at that mediocrity level , we less and less tap into what's actually possible .

Speaker 1 12:43

There is this motivational Navy SEAL , david Goggins , who says when you think you are done , you are only at your 60% . I would probably go even further . You're probably somewhere around your 50 or less , but because of the environment , we are conditioned by people around us to just stay comfortable . Why would you risk things you know ? Stay here , you have everything figured out . Why would you go out and try things that might fail ? Why would you try to hurt yourself ? And that's what society is conditioning us and that's why you stay safe and comfortable and never actually even try to tap into what's possible for you . So your environment , just like for a plant , your soil , so to speak , will define what kind of plant you will grow into , not so much the seed of potential that you have .

Redesigning Your Environment For Success

Speaker 1 13:37

And my pitch today is to you as a smart person , as a leader stop thinking I have no other choice but to get better , to grow and create the impact that I say I want to create in other people's lives , in the world , or whatever . That might be right , so not . How do I get more disciplined and how do I grow myself ? How do you position yourself in the soil or environment where the right choice is the only available choice ? So start thinking in that way and while at it , you might also ask yourself if there was no five , no Wi-Fi , no TV , no phone tomorrow , what would I do with my time ? How would I end up spending my time ? You would think , well , I would just do nothing . No , human beings do not do nothing . So think about that . And again , start thinking about your environment , not so much what kind of discipline you have and that's the pitch . And also if you are a leader , a parent , someone who influences other people , also think about that . Don't think about why they're such a wrong person or why do they make this stupid choice , but instead what's the environment around them that makes that choice the most economical from the energy perspective choice , the easiest choice . And then how can I help them ? Or maybe even without their help , change the environment . So , so the choice that I think is better for them is actually the easiest , or maybe the only one , and that they're happy they're going to be making .

Call to Action and Closing

Speaker 1 15:34

Thank you , guys , for listening , thank you for tuning in . Please do share this podcast episode with anyone who you think is going to benefit from listening to this podcast , from learning from it and changing their thinking and the way they organize , they design their life . So share this podcast episode with that person and also read review on different platforms , because that allows us , by default , to reach more learning ears and shape the world in a better way . So help me create more positive impact as well . And , guys , till next time , stay tuned , keep growing and think of the soil you put yourself into , not the discipline that you need to strengthen . Till next time , keep growing .