.Rewards are key to long-lasting behavior changes. What we’ve learned in the last 10 to 15 years is that there’s an automatic behavior and then there’s a reward after, which is really important because that’s how our brains latch on to behaviors.To change a behavior, you need to receive an even greater reward than the one you get with the old habit. For example, when you exercise and you give yourself a reward like a piece of chocolate, that behavior, after some time, becomes automatic. But if your schedule changes and exercise makes you late, then the reward of not exercising (not being late) becomes greater than the reward of exercising. They’re not changing you. They’re training you to do something differently, so once you’ve trained yourself, you can stop using the app.

If technology can provide the rewards needed to change your behavior, what happens to your behavior after you stop using the app or program?

There are three kinds of behavior changes:

• The first includes changing behaviors that you learned through experience, such as the way you manage your time.
• The second involves retraining your biomechanical system to behave differently, such as not pressing the breaks constantly while you’re driving.
• The third has to do with physiological behaviors such as smoking and exercising.

The behaviors that have the highest chance of changing even after app usage are the second and third. Why? “Because they’re not changing you. They’re training you to do something differently, so once you’ve trained yourself, you can stop using [the app],” says Sundararajan. When it comes to learned behavior (the first one), there’s a greater chance you’ll revert back to your old behavior after using the app.”

If the app only changes your reaction to feedback, such as reprimanding you for checking your social media, then there’s a good chance you’re only changing your behavior because you’re using the app. When it comes to changing, Sundararajan says your best bet is to not put too much stock in the digital and technology.

“Over the last decade, we’ve started to overestimate the power of technology and we reduce the importance of things like community,” he says. “A big part of behavior change has to do with changing the environment that you’re in and changing the interactions that you have with people.”

There’s no pill or app that will stop you from gambling or stop you from checking Facebook every hour. Technology can certainly help you track your progress and remind you when things need to be done, but, at the end of the day, we’re complex people and the only way you can really change is to do it yourself.