HEIDI ROUX

Open to a different kind of New Year’s resolution? Try learning as a personal development strategy.

We tend to talk about learning as something big and dramatic: a new degree, a major career pivot, a full reinvention of who you are. But that’s not how learning usually works in real life. In practice, learning looks a lot more like behavior change.

It’s not sudden.It’s not linear. And it rarely happens all at once.

Most real learning comes from small, repeatable actions that you can actually sustain over time. That’s why the idea from Atomic Habits sticks with me: we don’t rise to the level of our goals; we fall to the level of our systems. Learning works the same way. Motivation helps, but it fades. What makes progress stick is having habits that are realistic enough to keep showing up for.

I can see this clearly when I look back at my own career. I didn’t follow a master plan. I just kept following curiosity, one step at a time.

I started in graphic design and illustration. From there I moved into book and packaging design, then slowly picked up the technical skills I needed for email and ecommerce work. Curiosity about how people actually use products eventually pulled me into UX, followed later by more formal learning in research, management, and accessibility.

None of those shifts happened quickly. They happened when a new skill became useful, when the same questions kept coming up, and when learning felt like it was adding something rather than piling more on.

That difference matters.

When learning is framed as a sprint, it often burns out.

When it’s framed as a system, it compounds.

I saw the same pattern while working in the wellness space. A lot of products talked about behavior change, but didn’t really support it. That gap made me curious. I started reading more about psychology, habit formation, and motivation ... not in a rush and not all at once.

Over time, those ideas worked their way into how I designed products and eventually shaped the behavior-change model I use in my work today. What all of this reinforced for me is something we often overlook:

You don’t need to learn faster.

You need to learn in a way you can keep doing.

That might mean reading a few pages when you have the energy. Taking a single course on Udemy or Coursera. Spending a few minutes a day on Duolingo. Letting curiosity lead instead of forcing intensity.

The idea of being “1% better every day” isn’t about optimization or pressure. It’s about creating conditions where learning can continue without burning out. Lifelong learning isn’t a phase or a resolution. It’s a behavior change practice. And when learning is treated that way (small, sustainable, and self-directed) it becomes less about achievement and more about staying engaged with the world around you.