If you’re old, don’t try to change yourself, change your environment.

The line encapsulates a distinctly behaviorist idea often associated with B. F. Skinner: durable change is more reliably achieved by altering external contingencies—settings, cues, routines, and reinforcements—than by relying on sheer willpower or inner “self-change.” Applied to aging, it suggests that as habits become more entrenched and physical or cognitive flexibility may diminish, practical redesign of one’s surroundings (social supports, daily structure, accessibility, temptations, prompts) can be the most effective route to improved well-being and behavior. The emphasis is pragmatic rather than moralistic: instead of blaming the individual for difficulty changing, it shifts attention to engineering conditions that make desired actions easier and undesired actions harder.