Using an app to help you meet your exercise and nutrition goals might seem convenient. And it is! It’s a personal trainer and cheerleader in your pocket.

Not only is it convenient, it’s science-based. Use of apps for behavior change like exercise and nutrition is associated with real habit change you can see in your daily life.

One study that followed people using a nutrition app to monitor their dietary intake found increases in motivation, desire, and their ability to actually make better diet choices.

People who used the motivational apps were also shown to have greater success in both establishing and achieving nutrition goals.

What’s the magic behind using an app to motivate behavior change? It’s an important thing called self-efficacy. Simply put, self-efficacy is how confident you feel about your ability to accomplish your goals. The little app in your pocket can make you feel empowered to make healthy behavior change.

Self-efficacy brightens your attitude, boosts your confidence and encourages you to make positive changes. It empowers you to make changes on your own without the assistance or encouragement of other people (although supportive friends and family are certainly nice to have). Apps improve self-efficacy by speaking to your specific goals and helping you manage your behavioral changes.

Maybe most importantly, when you look to an app to help you change your habits, you receive content specialized to your specific needs. This content provides knowledge that informs your choices. Just by reading this article, you’re learning more about how habit change works. Next time you try to change a habit, you might be more successful because of what you learned today.

Science tells us that just getting the knowledge isn’t enough, though. You have to feel motivated to take the knowledge, combine it with the tools in the app and make real change. So what’s your motivation? Do you want to preserve your memories? What about maintaining the close relationships and intimate conversations you have with loved ones?

Each person has a unique motivation that led them to Neurotrack. What makes you want to maintain your cognitive health? We challenge you to tap into your motivation today so the habit changes you make can last.