The brain’s tendency to prioritize the present moment means you can’t rely on good intentions. [...] As a general rule, the more immediate pleasure you get from an action, the more strongly you should question whether it aligns with your long-term goals. With a fuller understanding of what causes our brain to repeat some behaviors and avoid others, let’s update the Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change: What is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided. [...] Here’s the problem: most people know that delaying gratification is the wise approach. [...] Thankfully, it’s possible to train yourself to delay gratification—but you need to work with the grain of human nature, not against it. The best way to do this is to add a little bit of immediate pleasure to the habits that pay off in the long-run and a little bit of immediate pain to ones that don’t.