Scientific Definition
Temporal landmarks (Monday, January, birthday) trigger new behavior attempts.
Plain-English Definition
Temporal landmarks (Monday, January, birthday) trigger new behavior attempts.
Feynman Explanation
January 1 isn't magic — but it feels like a clean ledger.
Core Principle
Temporal landmarks (Monday, January, birthday) trigger new behavior attempts.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Temporal landmarks (Monday, January, birthday) trigger new behavior attempts.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Time launches and campaign timing benefit from landmark architecture.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
January 1 isn't magic — but it feels like a clean ledger.
Examples
- Gym membership spikes after birthdays, semesters, and Mondays.
- Time launches and campaign timing benefit from landmark architecture.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Engineer fresh starts for behavior change — quarterly, after milestones, post-launch.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Engineer fresh starts for behavior change — quarterly, after milestones, post-launch.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
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Children who delay gratification at age 4 show better outcomes across nearly every metric decades later.
Interrupted tasks generate a pull to resume them.
Unfinished tasks stick in working memory more than completed ones.
If-then plans dramatically increase follow-through on intentions.
Contrast vivid future success with concrete present obstacles to drive action.
Wish → Outcome → Obstacle → Plan. A goal-setting protocol from Oettingen.
Preferring options with known probabilities over options with unknown ones.
We accept vague, general statements as personally meaningful.
We come to like people we've done a favor for, more than people who've helped us.
A color appears different depending on adjacent colors.