The “Locking In” Trend Is All About Taking Back Control of Your Life—Here’s How to Try It

"Locking in" means going all-in on your goals with strict, streak-based challenges like 75 Hard or Winter Arc.

Fall feels like a natural fresh start, and experts say that "chapter break" feeling can make change seem more doable. Starting a challenge now can also help people get ahead of the winter months, when mental health is most vulnerable.

The all-or-nothing approach has a catch: One missed day can feel like total failure. It may not suit people who are burned out or prone to perfectionism, disordered eating, or rigid thinking.

If your FYP looks anything like mine right now, everyone is "locking in." People are setting 5 a.m. alarms, cutting out sugar, doing no-spend days and dry months, and reading 10 pages a day, often all at once.

Some call it 75 Hard , some call it their Winter Arc , but the premise is the same: For a couple of months, go all-in on your goals without missing a day, and you'll come out on the other side a whole new person.

It sounds intense, and honestly, not very fun. But as someone who's always " in a rut ," I can see the need to take such drastic measures. October is already here, and I still haven't accomplished all the things I'd set out to do for the year. Maybe it really is time for 75 Hard.

Judging by my FYP, I'm not the only one. So what does our obsession with "locking in" say about us, and is it actually doing us any good?

Why Control Is What We're Really Craving

I'm burned out . I have my 9-to-5, side hustles, fitness routine, creative projects, and to worry about. Other 20- and 30-somethings similarly have a lot on their plate. And as much as I like to think of it as highly ambitious behavior, perhaps being overloaded makes us feel a little out of control.

Gary Dillon , a licensed psychologist and founder of Ally Psychological Therapy, explains that pursuing lock-in challenges all boils down to control. "Many people are managing economic crises, , feelings of being overwhelmed, and pressure to manage it all and still do more," he says. "So highly structured challenges become the shield and sword against the battle of uncertainty and lack of control."

Kimberly Fishbach, a clinical psychologist at Soho Integrative Psychological Services says all-or-nothing thinking has evolutionary roots. "This mindset has allowed humans to quickly make decisions when survival depended on it," she says. Challenges like 75 Hard and Winter Arc remove "the psychological resistance, time, and effort that otherwise might accompany the daunting task of changing an ingrained behavior," she adds. "It creates less time to talk ourselves out of doing what feels hard."

There's another reason we love these trends: Humans love a good story. Just think about how big the concept of "being the main character " was a few years ago. Or "doing it for the plot." We all yearn to tell the tale, even if it's just to ourselves.

"With trends like 75 Hard and Winter Arc, we get to be the writer and star of our own story, and who doesn't want to be Rocky or the Karate Kid?" Dillon says.

and cooling temperatures make fall feel like a for many. It makes sense that the season is a popular time for "locking in," and Katy Milkman , a professor at The Wharton School and author of How to Change , notes that the start of the new school year adds to this energy.

"Picking moments that feel like fresh starts or chapter breaks can help us feel separated from past failures ('that misstep was the old me last year/season') and more capable of making a change," she says. Fall is also the beginning of 4:30 p.m. sunsets. Doing a lock-in challenge can help people get ahead "in anticipation of the winter season, when is most susceptible to declining," Fishbach says.

Structure Is Effective, But There's a Catch

From the looks of it, 75 Hard and Winter Arc are effective. I've seen countless videos of people posting their fitness transformations, reflecting on how motivated they feel, and pointing to how grit has made them all-the-more tenacious.

However, structure is great until it isn't. With the extremity of lock-in trends, breaking a streak can seem like a way bigger mistake than it actually is. "The goal should not be to practice perfectionism in the context of a perfect streak; it should be to give ourselves permission to return to the structured habit after the streak has been discontinued," Dillon says. "I challenge my client to lean into observations and away from judgments. 'I couldn't continue my streak today' is an observation of what happened,' [instead of] 'I'm a failure because I couldn't continue my streak.' Now that's the sort of judgment we hope to avoid. This small shift often helps them avoid believing that one slip-up has doomed it all."

For those of us who already feel burned out, locking in might not be the best way to approach our goals. If we're already stretched thin, why would we add more to our plate?

"The irony is that many are in this intersection of burnout and optimization," Dillon says. We're all tracking steps, sleep, and habits as a way to maintain control, "but control is not healing, and those of us who are experiencing burnout don't need more challenge or a demanding routine; we need rest, comfort, safety, and permission to stop performing," Dillon says.

He also warns that locking in isn't for everyone. "Anyone who has or is currently struggling with perfectionism, disordered eating, moderate anxiety, obsessive or rigid thinking, or compulsive behavior should be mindful of the rigidity of the challenges and how they might be triggered," he says. "Additionally, high-achieving folks should be cautious, as they tend to be very good at creating performance metrics for self-care."

Milkman emphasizes the importance of building habits in a way that you enjoy. "If it's drudgery, you won't stick to it." she says. On that note, I'll be looking into 75 Soft —75 Hard's mellowed out sister.

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