What if building better habits wasn’t about more discipline — but about designing your environment, relationships, and daily systems for success? In this episode of The Better Body Lab Podcast, we sit down with behavioral scientist Katie Mehr to explore the real science of habit formation, motivation, and sustainable behavior change.

Together, we examine how resilience, performance, and health optimization are shaped within the human ecology of behavior — where environment, mindset, and social influence drive long-term outcomes. Katie shares why willpower alone often fails, and how strategies like environmental design, social accountability, and structured goal setting create lasting change.

We unpack the science behind SMART goals, temptation bundling, and micro-habits, along with the hidden downsides of public goal-setting and perfectionism. We also explore social contagion — how the habits of those around us influence our own — and why flexibility and self-compassion are essential for consistency. This episode offers practical, evidence-informed tools to move from intention to action through smarter systems, not more pressure.

Katie Mehr:
Katie Mehr is an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta and a behavioral science researcher focused on motivation, consumer behavior, and habit formation. She earned her PhD from The Wharton School and studies how people build and sustain real-world behavior change.

Learn more: https://www.katie-mehr.com/
Take the quiz: https://healthdailyquiz.org/

Follow Katie Mehr here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kmehr/
BSKY: https://bsky.app/profile/katiemehr.bsky.social
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=J_jD-LYAAAAJ&hl=en

Key Timestamps:
00:00 — Behavior Change Foundations
04:22 — Willpower vs. Environment
08:14 — Public Goals & Accountability
16:47 — Temptation Bundling
28:12 — SMART Goals Framework
41:40 — Social Contagion
01:00:34 — Myth of Willpower

Follow The Better Body Lab Podcast here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebetterbodylabpodcast/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61582408795363

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBetterBodyLabPodcast

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebetterbodylabpodcast

Dr. Taryn Marie: www.resilience-leadership.com/

Mike Alden: https://www.mikealden.com/

Follow Dr. Taryn Marie here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrTarynMarie

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtarynmarie/

Follow Mike Alden here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MikeAlden2012

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikealden

Visit:

https://bodycaremd.com/

https://bioaccesslabs.com/