Like Aesop’s grasshopper, we aren’t always successful in the behaviors we need to do NOW to reap future benefits. But since we live in the present, we need to find ways to make those behaviors more attractive when it counts. Reward substitution is one way of adding fuel behaviors to make them more likely to happen.

Small barriers can be a BIG deal. Every tiny little step can be *the step* that prevents someone from achieving their desired health behavior. Here’s my adventure trying to make a routine appointment with a primary care physician (Spoiler: it doesn’t go too smoothly).

Behavioral science is incredibly complex, but it’s possible to use the two simple concepts of friction and fuel to make a big difference in behavior change. You can decrease friction and add fuel to make desired behaviors simple, salient and appealing — and, importantly, more likely to actually happen.