Atomic habits PDFDrive - Inglês (2024)

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a·tom·ic

əˈtämik

1. anextremelysmallamountofathing;thesingleirreducibleunitofalargersystem.

2. thesourceofimmenseenergyorpower.

hab·it

ˈhabət

1. aroutineorpracticeperformedregularly;anautomaticresponsetoaspecificsituation.

Contents

TitlePage

Epigraph

Introduction:MyStory

TheFundamentals

WhyTinyChangesMakeaBigDifference

1TheSurprisingPowerofAtomicHabits

2HowYourHabitsShapeYourIdentity(andViceVersa)

3HowtoBuildBetterHabitsin4SimpleSteps

The1stLaw

MakeItObvious

4TheManWhoDidn’tLookRight

5TheBestWaytoStartaNewHabit

6MotivationIsOverrated;EnvironmentOftenMattersMore

7TheSecrettoSelf-Control

The2ndLaw

MakeItAttractive

8HowtoMakeaHabitIrresistible

9TheRoleofFamilyandFriendsinShapingYourHabits

10HowtoFindandFixtheCausesofYourBadHabits

The3rdLaw

MakeItEasy

11WalkSlowly,butNeverBackward

12TheLawofLeastEffort

13HowtoStopProcrastinatingbyUsingtheTwo-MinuteRule

14HowtoMakeGoodHabitsInevitableandBadHabitsImpossible

The4thLaw

MakeItSatisfying

15TheCardinalRuleofBehaviorChange

16HowtoStickwithGoodHabitsEveryDay

17HowanAccountabilityPartnerCanChangeEverything

AdvancedTactics

HowtoGofromBeingMerelyGoodtoBeingTrulyGreat

18TheTruthAboutTalent(WhenGenesMatterandWhenTheyDon’t)

19TheGoldilocksRule:HowtoStayMotivatedinLifeandWork

20TheDownsideofCreatingGoodHabits

Conclusion:TheSecrettoResultsThatLast

Appendix

WhatShouldYouReadNext?

LittleLessonsfromtheFourLaws

HowtoApplyTheseIdeastoBusiness

HowtoApplyTheseIdeastoParenting

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index

AbouttheAuthor

Introduction

MyStory

ONTHEFINALdayofmysophom*oreyearofhighschool,Iwash*tinthefacewitha

baseballbat.Asmyclassmatetookafullswing,thebatslippedoutofhishands

andcameflyingtowardmebeforestrikingmedirectlybetweentheeyes.Ihave

nomemoryofthemomentofimpact.

Thebatsmashedintomyfacewithsuchforcethatitcrushedmynoseintoa

distortedU-shape.Thecollisionsent thesoft tissueofmybrainslamminginto

the insideofmyskull. Immediately,awaveofswellingsurged throughoutmy

head.Inafractionofasecond,Ihadabrokennose,multipleskullfractures,and

twoshatteredeyesockets.

WhenIopenedmyeyes,Isawpeoplestaringatmeandrunningovertohelp.

I lookeddown andnoticed spots of redonmy clothes.Oneofmy classmates

took theshirtoffhisbackandhanded it tome. Iused it toplug thestreamof

blood rushing frommybrokennose.Shockedandconfused, Iwasunawareof

howseriouslyIhadbeeninjured.

Myteacherloopedhisarmaroundmyshoulderandwebeganthelongwalkto

thenurse’soffice:acrossthefield,downthehill,andbackintoschool.Random

hands touched my sides, holding me upright. We took our time and walked

slowly.Nobodyrealizedthateveryminutemattered.

Whenwearrivedatthenurse’soffice,sheaskedmeaseriesofquestions.

“Whatyearisit?”

“1998,”Ianswered.Itwasactually2002.

“WhoisthepresidentoftheUnitedStates?”

“BillClinton,”Isaid.ThecorrectanswerwasGeorgeW.Bush.

“Whatisyourmom’sname?”

“Uh.Um.”Istalled.Tensecondspassed.

“Patti,” Isaidcasually, ignoring the fact that ithad takenme tenseconds to

remembermyownmother’sname.

ThatisthelastquestionIremember.Mybodywasunabletohandletherapid

swelling in my brain and I lost consciousness before the ambulance arrived.

Minuteslater,Iwascarriedoutofschoolandtakentothelocalhospital.

Shortly after arriving,mybodybegan shuttingdown. I struggledwithbasic

functionslikeswallowingandbreathing.Ihadmyfirstseizureoftheday.ThenI

stopped breathing entirely. As the doctors hurried to supplymewith oxygen,

theyalsodecidedthelocalhospitalwasunequippedtohandlethesituationand

orderedahelicoptertoflymetoalargerhospitalinCincinnati.

Iwasrolledoutoftheemergencyroomdoorsandtowardthehelipadacross

the street. The stretcher rattled on a bumpy sidewalk as one nurse pushedme

alongwhileanotherpumpedeachbreathintomebyhand.Mymother,whohad

arrivedatthehospitalafewmomentsbefore,climbedintothehelicopterbeside

me. I remainedunconsciousandunable tobreatheonmyownas sheheldmy

handduringtheflight.

Whilemymother rode withme in the helicopter, my father went home to

check onmy brother and sister and break the news to them.He choked back

tearsasheexplainedtomysisterthathewouldmisshereighth-gradegraduation

ceremony that night. After passing my siblings off to family and friends, he

drovetoCincinnatitomeetmymother.

Whenmymom and I landed on the roof of the hospital, a team of nearly

twenty doctors and nurses sprinted onto the helipad andwheeledme into the

traumaunit.Bythistime,theswellinginmybrainhadbecomesoseverethatI

was having repeated post-traumatic seizures. My broken bones needed to be

fixed,butIwasinnoconditiontoundergosurgery.Afteryetanotherseizure—

mythirdoftheday—Iwasputintoamedicallyinducedcomaandplacedona

ventilator.

My parents were no strangers to this hospital. Ten years earlier, they had

enteredthesamebuildingonthegroundflooraftermysisterwasdiagnosedwith

leukemiaatagethree.Iwasfiveatthetime.Mybrotherwasjustsixmonthsold.

After two and a half years of chemotherapy treatments, spinal taps, and bone

marrow biopsies, my little sister finally walked out of the hospital happy,

healthy, and cancer free.And now, after ten years of normal life,my parents

foundthemselvesbackinthesameplacewithadifferentchild.

WhileIslippedintoacoma,thehospitalsentapriestandasocialworkerto

comfortmy parents. It was the same priestwho hadmetwith them a decade

earlierontheeveningtheyfoundoutmysisterhadcancer.

Asdayfadedintonight,aseriesofmachineskeptmealive.Myparentsslept

restlesslyonahospitalmattress—onemomenttheywouldcollapsefromfatigue,

thenexttheywouldbewideawakewithworry.Mymotherwouldtellmelater,

“ItwasoneoftheworstnightsI’veeverhad.”

MYRECOVERY

Mercifully,bythenextmorningmybreathinghadreboundedtothepointwhere

the doctors felt comfortable releasing me from the coma. When I finally

regainedconsciousness,IdiscoveredthatIhadlostmyabilitytosmell.Asatest,

a nurse askedme to blowmynose and sniff an apple juice box.My sense of

smellreturned,but—toeveryone’ssurprise—theactofblowingmynoseforced

airthroughthefracturesinmyeyesocketandpushedmylefteyeoutward.My

eyeballbulgedoutofthesocket,heldprecariously

exploring, exploring, and then—

BAM—areward.

Afteryoustumbleuponanunexpectedreward,youalteryourstrategyfornext

time. Your brain immediately begins to catalog the events that preceded the

reward.Waitaminute—thatfeltgood.WhatdidIdorightbeforethat?

This is the feedback loop behind all human behavior: try, fail, learn, try

differently. With practice, the useless movements fade away and the useful

actionsgetreinforced.That’sahabitforming.

Wheneveryoufaceaproblemrepeatedly,yourbrainbegins toautomate the

process of solving it. Your habits are just a series of automatic solutions that

solvetheproblemsandstressesyoufaceregularly.AsbehavioralscientistJason

Hrehawrites,“Habitsare,simply,reliablesolutionstorecurringproblemsinour

environment.”

Ashabitsarecreated,thelevelofactivityinthebraindecreases.Youlearnto

lock in on the cues that predict success and tune out everything else.When a

similarsituationarisesinthefuture,youknowexactlywhattolookfor.Thereis

no longer a need to analyze every angle of a situation. Your brain skips the

process of trial and error and creates a mental rule: if this, then that. These

cognitive scripts can be followed automatically whenever the situation is

appropriate.Now,wheneveryoufeelstressed,yougettheitchtorun.Assoonas

youwalkinthedoorfromwork,yougrabthevideogamecontroller.Achoice

thatoncerequiredeffortisnowautomatic.Ahabithasbeencreated.

Habitsarementalshortcutslearnedfromexperience.Inasense,ahabitisjust

amemoryof thestepsyoupreviouslyfollowed tosolveaproblemin thepast.

Whenever the conditions are right, you can draw on this memory and

automaticallyapplythesamesolution.Theprimaryreasonthebrainremembers

thepastistobetterpredictwhatwillworkinthefuture.

Habit formation is incredibly useful because the conscious mind is the

bottleneckofthebrain.Itcanonlypayattentiontooneproblematatime.Asa

result, your brain is always working to preserve your conscious attention for

whatevertaskismostessential.Wheneverpossible,theconsciousmindlikesto

pawnoff tasks to thenonconsciousmindtodoautomatically.This isprecisely

whathappenswhenahabitisformed.Habitsreducecognitiveloadandfreeup

mentalcapacity,soyoucanallocateyourattentiontoothertasks.

Despitetheirefficiency,somepeoplestillwonderaboutthebenefitsofhabits.

The argument goes like this: “Will habitsmakemy life dull? I don’twant to

pigeonholemyself into a lifestyle I don’t enjoy.Doesn’t somuch routine take

awaythevibrancyandspontaneityoflife?”Hardly.Suchquestionssetupafalse

dichotomy. They make you think that you have to choose between building

habitsandattainingfreedom.Inreality,thetwocomplementeachother.

Habitsdonot restrict freedom.Theycreate it. In fact, thepeoplewhodon’t

have theirhabitshandledareoften theoneswith the leastamountof freedom.

Withoutgoodfinancialhabits,youwillalwaysbestrugglingforthenextdollar.

Withoutgoodhealthhabits,youwillalwaysseemtobeshortonenergy.Without

goodlearninghabits,youwillalwaysfeellikeyou’rebehindthecurve.Ifyou’re

alwaysbeingforcedtomakedecisionsaboutsimpletasks—whenshouldIwork

out,wheredoIgotowrite,whendoIpaythebills—thenyouhavelesstimefor

freedom.It’sonlybymakingthefundamentalsoflifeeasierthatyoucancreate

thementalspaceneededforfreethinkingandcreativity.

Conversely,when you have your habits dialed in and the basics of life are

handledanddone,yourmindisfreetofocusonnewchallengesandmasterthe

next set of problems.Building habits in the present allows you to domore of

whatyouwantinthefuture.

THESCIENCEOFHOWHABITSWORK

The process of building a habit can be divided into four simple steps: cue,

craving, response,and reward.*Breaking itdown into these fundamentalparts

canhelpusunderstandwhatahabitis,howitworks,andhowtoimproveit.

FIGURE5:Allhabitsproceedthroughfourstagesinthesameorder:cue,craving,response,andreward.

This four-step pattern is the backbone of every habit, and your brain runs

throughthesestepsinthesameordereachtime.

First,thereisthecue.Thecuetriggersyourbraintoinitiateabehavior.Itisa

bitofinformationthatpredictsareward.Ourprehistoricancestorswerepaying

attentiontocuesthatsignaledthelocationofprimaryrewardslikefood,water,

andsex.Today,wespendmostofourtimelearningcuesthatpredictsecondary

rewards likemoneyandfame,powerandstatus,praiseandapproval, loveand

friendship, or a sense of personal satisfaction. (Of course, these pursuits also

indirectly improve our odds of survival and reproduction,which is the deeper

motivebehindeverythingwedo.)

Yourmindiscontinuouslyanalyzingyour internalandexternalenvironment

forhintsofwhererewardsarelocated.Becausethecueisthefirstindicationthat

we’reclosetoareward,itnaturallyleadstoacraving.

Cravingsarethesecondstep,andtheyarethemotivationalforcebehindevery

habit.Withoutsomelevelofmotivationordesire—withoutcravingachange—

wehavenoreasontoact.Whatyoucraveisnotthehabitit*elfbutthechangein

stateitdelivers.Youdonotcravesmokingacigarette,youcravethefeelingof

reliefitprovides.Youarenotmotivatedbybrushingyourteethbutratherbythe

feelingofacleanmouth.Youdonotwanttoturnonthetelevision,youwantto

beentertained.Everycravingislinkedtoadesiretochangeyourinternalstate.

Thisisanimportantpointthatwewilldiscussindetaillater.

Cravings differ from person to person. In theory, any piece of information

could trigger a craving, but in practice, people are notmotivated by the same

cues. For a gambler, the sound of slot machines can be a potent trigger that

sparksan intensewaveofdesire.Forsomeonewhorarelygambles, the jingles

andchimesofthecasinoarejustbackgroundnoise.Cuesaremeaninglessuntil

they are interpreted. The thoughts, feelings, and emotions of the observer are

whattransformacueintoacraving.

The thirdstep is theresponse.Theresponse is theactualhabityouperform,

whichcan take the formofa thoughtoranaction.Whethera responseoccurs

dependsonhowmotivatedyouareandhowmuchfrictionisassociatedwiththe

behavior.Ifaparticularactionrequiresmorephysicalormentaleffortthanyou

arewillingtoexpend,thenyouwon’tdoit.Yourresponsealsodependsonyour

ability.Itsoundssimple,butahabitcanoccuronlyifyouarecapableofdoing

it. If youwant to dunk a basketball but can’t jump high enough to reach the

hoop,well,you’reoutofluck.

Finally, the response delivers a reward. Rewards are the end goal of every

habit. The cue is about noticing the reward.The craving is aboutwanting the

reward.Theresponseisaboutobtainingthereward.Wechaserewardsbecause

theyservetwopurposes:(1)theysatisfyusand(2)theyteachus.

Thefirstpurposeofrewardsistosatisfyyourcraving.Yes,rewardsprovide

benefitson theirown.Foodandwaterdeliver theenergyyouneed to survive.

Gettingapromotionbringsmoremoneyandrespect.Gettinginshapeimproves

your health andyour dating prospects.But themore immediate benefit is that

rewardssatisfyyourcravingtoeatortogainstatusortowinapproval.Atleast

foramoment,rewardsdelivercontentmentandrelieffromcraving.

Second,rewardsteachuswhichactions

areworthrememberinginthefuture.

Yourbrainisarewarddetector.Asyougoaboutyourlife,yoursensorynervous

systemiscontinuouslymonitoringwhichactionssatisfyyourdesiresanddeliver

pleasure. Feelings of pleasure and disappointment are part of the feedback

mechanism that helps your brain distinguish useful actions from useless ones.

Rewardsclosethefeedbackloopandcompletethehabitcycle.

If a behavior is insufficient in any of the four stages, it will not become a

habit.Eliminatethecueandyourhabitwillneverstart.Reducethecravingand

youwon’texperienceenoughmotivationtoact.Makethebehaviordifficultand

youwon’tbeable todo it.And if the reward fails to satisfyyourdesire, then

you’llhavenoreasontodoitagaininthefuture.Withoutthefirstthreesteps,a

behaviorwillnotoccur.Withoutallfour,abehaviorwillnotberepeated.

THEHABITLOOP

FIGURE6:Thefourstagesofhabitarebestdescribedasafeedbackloop.Theyformanendlesscyclethatisrunningeverymomentyouarealive.This“habitloop”iscontinuallyscanning

theenvironment,predictingwhatwillhappennext,tryingoutdifferentresponses,andlearningfromtheresults.*

In summary, the cue triggers a craving,whichmotivates a response,which

provides a reward, which satisfies the craving and, ultimately, becomes

associatedwiththecue.Together,thesefourstepsformaneurologicalfeedback

loop—cue, craving, response, reward; cue, craving, response, reward—that

ultimatelyallowsyoutocreateautomatichabits.Thiscycleisknownasthehabit

loop.

Thisfour-stepprocessisnotsomethingthathappensoccasionally,butratherit

isanendlessfeedbackloopthatisrunningandactiveduringeverymomentyou

are alive—even now. The brain is continually scanning the environment,

predicting what will happen next, trying out different responses, and learning

fromtheresults.Theentireprocessiscompletedinasplitsecond,andweuseit

again and again without realizing everything that has been packed into the

previousmoment.

We can split these four steps into two phases: the problem phase and the

solution phase. The problem phase includes the cue and the craving, and it is

whenyou realize that somethingneeds tochange.The solutionphase includes

the response and the reward, and it is when you take action and achieve the

changeyoudesire.

Problemphase

1.Cue

2.Craving

Solutionphase

3.Response

4.Reward

All behavior is driven by the desire to solve a problem. Sometimes the

problemisthatyounoticesomethinggoodandyouwanttoobtainit.Sometimes

theproblemisthatyouareexperiencingpainandyouwanttorelieveit.Either

way,thepurposeofeveryhabitistosolvetheproblemsyouface.

In the tableonthefollowingpage,youcanseeafewexamplesofwhat this

lookslikeinreallife.

Imaginewalkingintoadarkroomandflippingonthelightswitch.Youhave

performedthissimplehabitsomanytimesthatitoccurswithoutthinking.You

proceedthroughallfourstagesinthefractionofasecond.Theurgetoactstrikes

youwithoutthinking.

Problemphase

1.Cue:Yourphonebuzzeswithanewtextmessage.

2.Craving:Youwanttolearnthecontentsofthemessage.

Solutionphase

3.Response:Yougrabyourphoneandreadthetext.

4.Reward:Yousatisfyyourcravingtoreadthemessage.Grabbingyourphonebecomesassociatedwithyourphonebuzzing.

Problemphase

1.Cue:Youareansweringemails.

2.Craving:Youbegintofeelstressedandoverwhelmedbywork.Youwanttofeelincontrol.

Solutionphase

3.Response:Youbiteyournails.

4.Reward:Yousatisfyyourcravingtoreducestress.Bitingyournailsbecomesassociatedwithansweringemail.

Problemphase

1.Cue:Youwakeup.

2.Craving:Youwanttofeelalert.

Solutionphase

3.Response:Youdrinkacupofcoffee.

4.Reward:Yousatisfyyourcravingtofeelalert.Drinkingcoffeebecomesassociatedwithwakingup.

Problemphase

1.Cue:Yousmelladoughnutshopasyouwalkdownthestreetnearyouroffice.

2.Craving:Youbegintocraveadoughnut.

Solutionphase

3.Response:Youbuyadoughnutandeatit.

4.Reward:Yousatisfyyourcravingtoeatadoughnut.Buyingadoughnutbecomesassociatedwithwalkingdownthestreetnearyouroffice.

Problemphase

1.Cue:Youhitastumblingblockonaprojectatwork.

2.Craving:Youfeelstuckandwanttorelieveyourfrustration.

Solutionphase

3.Response:Youpulloutyourphoneandchecksocialmedia.

4.Reward:Yousatisfyyourcravingtofeelrelieved.Checkingsocialmediabecomesassociatedwithfeelingstalledatwork.

Problemphase

1.Cue:Youwalkintoadarkroom.

2.Craving:Youwanttobeabletosee.

Solutionphase

3.Response:Youflipthelightswitch.

4.Reward:Yousatisfyyourcravingtosee.Turningonthelightswitchbecomesassociatedwithbeinginadarkroom.

Bythetimewebecomeadults,werarelynoticethehabitsthatarerunningour

lives.Mostofusnevergive a second thought to the fact thatwe tie the same

shoefirsteachmorning,orunplugthetoasteraftereachuse,oralwayschange

intocomfortableclothesaftergettinghomefromwork.Afterdecadesofmental

programming,weautomaticallyslipintothesepatternsofthinkingandacting.

THEFOURLAWSOFBEHAVIORCHANGE

Inthefollowingchapters,wewillseetimeandagainhowthefourstagesofcue,

craving,response,andrewardinfluencenearlyeverythingwedoeachday.But

before we do that, we need to transform these four steps into a practical

frameworkthatwecanusetodesigngoodhabitsandeliminatebadones.

I refer to this framework as the Four Laws of Behavior Change, and it

provides a simple set of rules for creatinggoodhabits andbreakingbadones.

Youcanthinkofeachlawasaleverthatinfluenceshumanbehavior.Whenthe

leversareintherightpositions,creatinggoodhabitsiseffortless.Whentheyare

inthewrongpositions,itisnearlyimpossible.

HowtoCreateaGoodHabit

The1stlaw(Cue):Makeitobvious.

The2ndlaw(Craving):Makeitattractive.

The3rdlaw(Response):Makeiteasy.

The4thlaw(Reward):Makeitsatisfying.

Wecaninverttheselawstolearnhowtobreakabadhabit.

HowtoBreakaBadHabit

Inversionofthe1stlaw(Cue):Makeitinvisible.

Inversionofthe2ndlaw(Craving):Makeitunattractive.

Inversionofthe3rdlaw(Response):Makeitdifficult.

Inversionofthe4thlaw(Reward):Makeitunsatisfying.

It would be irresponsible for me to claim that these four laws are an

exhaustive framework for changing any human behavior, but I think they’re

close.Asyouwillsoonsee,theFourLawsofBehaviorChangeapplytonearly

every field, from sports to politics, art to medicine, comedy to management.

These laws can be used nomatterwhat challenge you are facing.There is no

needforcompletelydifferentstrategiesforeachhabit.

Wheneveryouwanttochangeyourbehavior,youcansimplyaskyourself:

1. HowcanImakeitobvious?

2. HowcanImakeitattractive?

3. HowcanImakeiteasy?

4. HowcanImakeitsatisfying?

Ifyouhaveeverwondered,“Whydon’tIdowhatIsayI’mgoingtodo?Why

don’tI losetheweightorstopsmokingorsaveforretirementorstart thatside

business?WhydoIsaysomethingisimportantbutneverseemtomaketimefor

it?”Theanswerstothosequestionscanbefoundsomewhereinthesefourlaws.

The key to creating good habits and breaking bad ones is to understand these

fundamental laws and how to alter them to your specifications. Every goal is

doomedtofailifitgoesagainstthegrainofhumannature.

Yourhabitsareshapedbythesystemsinyour

life.Inthechaptersthatfollow,

wewilldiscusstheselawsonebyoneandshowhowyoucanusethemtocreate

asysteminwhichgoodhabitsemergenaturallyandbadhabitswitheraway.

ChapterSummary

Ahabit isabehaviorthathasbeenrepeatedenoughtimestobecome

automatic.

Theultimatepurposeofhabitsistosolvetheproblemsoflifewithas

littleenergyandeffortaspossible.

Anyhabitcanbebrokendownintoafeedbackloopthatinvolvesfour

steps:cue,craving,response,andreward.

TheFourLawsofBehaviorChangeareasimplesetof ruleswecan

use to build better habits.They are (1)make it obvious, (2)make it

attractive,(3)makeiteasy,and(4)makeitsatisfying.

THE1STLAW

MakeItObvious

TheManWhoDidn’tLookRight

THE PSYCHOLOGISTGARYKlein once toldme a story about awomanwho attended a

familygathering.Shehadspentyearsworkingasaparamedicand,uponarriving

attheevent,tookonelookatherfather-in-lawandgotveryconcerned.

“Idon’tlikethewayyoulook,”shesaid.

Her father-in-law,whowas feeling perfectly fine, jokingly replied, “Well, I

don’tlikeyourlooks,either.”

“No,”sheinsisted.“Youneedtogotothehospitalnow.”

A few hours later, the man was undergoing lifesaving surgery after an

examinationhad revealed that hehad ablockage to amajor artery andwas at

immediate risk of a heart attack. Without his daughter-in-law’s intuition, he

couldhavedied.

Whatdidtheparamedicsee?Howdidshepredicthisimpendingheartattack?

When major arteries are obstructed, the body focuses on sending blood to

criticalorgansandawayfromperipheral locationsnear thesurfaceof theskin.

The result is achange in thepatternofdistributionofblood in the face.After

many years of working with people with heart failure, the woman had

unknowingly developed the ability to recognize this pattern on sight. She

couldn’texplainwhatitwasthatshenoticedinherfather-in-law’sface,butshe

knewsomethingwaswrong.

Similarstoriesexistinotherfields.Forexample,militaryanalystscanidentify

whichbliponaradarscreenisanenemymissileandwhichoneisaplanefrom

theirown fleet even though theyare travelingat the same speed, flyingat the

same altitude, and look identical on radar in nearly every respect. During the

Gulf War, Lieutenant Commander Michael Riley saved an entire battleship

whenheorderedamissileshotdown—despitethefactthatitlookedexactlylike

the battleship’s own planes on radar. He made the right call, but even his

superiorofficerscouldn’texplainhowhedidit.

Museum curators have been known to discern the difference between an

authentic piece of art and an expertly produced counterfeit even though they

can’t tellyoupreciselywhichdetails tipped themoff.Experiencedradiologists

canlookatabrainscanandpredicttheareawhereastrokewilldevelopbefore

any obvious signs are visible to the untrained eye. I’ve even heard of

hairdressersnoticingwhetheraclient ispregnantbasedonlyon thefeelofher

hair.

The human brain is a predictionmachine. It is continuously taking in your

surroundings and analyzing the information it comes across. Whenever you

experience something repeatedly—like a paramedic seeing the face of a heart

attackpatientoramilitaryanalystseeingamissileonaradarscreen—yourbrain

begins noticingwhat is important, sorting through the details and highlighting

therelevantcues,andcatalogingthatinformationforfutureuse.

With enough practice, you can pick up on the cues that predict certain

outcomes without consciously thinking about it. Automatically, your brain

encodesthelessonslearnedthroughexperience.Wecan’talwaysexplainwhatit

iswearelearning,butlearningishappeningallalongtheway,andyourability

tonoticetherelevantcuesinagivensituationisthefoundationforeveryhabit

youhave.

Weunderestimatehowmuchourbrainsandbodiescandowithoutthinking.

Youdonottellyourhairtogrow,yourhearttopump,yourlungstobreathe,or

your stomach to digest. And yet your body handles all this and more on

autopilot.Youaremuchmorethanyourconsciousself.

Consider hunger. How do you know when you’re hungry? You don’t

necessarilyhave toseeacookieon thecounter to realize that it is time toeat.

Appetiteandhungeraregovernednonconsciously.Yourbodyhasavarietyof

feedbackloopsthatgraduallyalertyouwhenitistimetoeatagainandthattrack

what is going on around you and within you. Cravings can arise thanks to

hormones and chemicals circulating through your body. Suddenly, you’re

hungryeventhoughyou’renotquitesurewhattippedyouoff.

Thisisoneofthemostsurprisinginsightsaboutourhabits:youdon’tneedto

beawareofthecueforahabittobegin.Youcannoticeanopportunityandtake

actionwithout dedicating conscious attention to it. This is whatmakes habits

useful.

It’s also what makes them dangerous. As habits form, your actions come

underthedirectionofyourautomaticandnonconsciousmind.Youfallintoold

patternsbeforeyourealizewhat’shappening.Unlesssomeonepointsitout,you

maynotnoticethatyoucoveryourmouthwithyourhandwheneveryoulaugh,

thatyouapologizebeforeaskingaquestion,orthatyouhaveahabitoffinishing

otherpeople’ssentences.Andthemoreyourepeatthesepatterns,thelesslikely

youbecometoquestionwhatyou’redoingandwhyyou’redoingit.

I onceheardof a retail clerkwhowas instructed to cutupemptygift cards

aftercustomershadusedupthebalanceonthecard.Oneday,theclerkcashed

out a few customers in a rowwho purchased with gift cards.When the next

personwalkedup,theclerkswipedthecustomer’sactualcreditcard,pickedup

thescissors,andthencutitinhalf—entirelyonautopilot—beforelookingupat

thestunnedcustomerandrealizingwhathadjusthappened.

AnotherwomanIcameacrossinmyresearchwasaformerpreschoolteacher

whohad switched toacorporate job.Even thoughshewasnowworkingwith

adults,heroldhabitswouldkick inandshekeptaskingcoworkers if theyhad

washedtheirhandsaftergoingtothebathroom.Ialsofoundthestoryofaman

whohadspentyearsworkingasalifeguardandwouldoccasionallyyell“Walk!”

wheneverhesawachildrunning.

Over time, the cues that spark our habits become so common that they are

essentiallyinvisible:thetreatsonthekitchencounter,theremotecontrolnextto

thecouch, thephone inourpocket.Our responses to thesecuesare sodeeply

encoded that it may feel like the urge to act comes from nowhere. For this

reason,wemustbegintheprocessofbehaviorchangewithawareness.

Beforewecaneffectivelybuildnewhabits,weneed toget ahandleonour

currentones.Thiscanbemorechallengingthanitsoundsbecauseonceahabitis

firmly rooted in your life, it ismostly nonconscious and automatic. If a habit

remainsmindless,youcan’texpecttoimproveit.AsthepsychologistCarlJung

said,“Untilyoumaketheunconsciousconscious,itwilldirectyourlifeandyou

willcallitfate.”

THEHABITSSCORECARD

TheJapaneserailwaysystemisregardedasoneofthebestintheworld.Ifyou

everfindyourselfridingatraininTokyo,you’llnoticethattheconductorshave

apeculiarhabit.

Aseachoperator runs the train, theyproceed througha ritualofpointingat

differentobjectsandcallingoutcommands.Whenthetrainapproachesasignal,

theoperatorwillpointatitandsay,“Signalisgreen.”Asthetrainpullsintoand

outof each station, theoperatorwillpoint at the speedometer andcallout the

exactspeed.Whenit’stimetoleave,theoperatorwillpointatthetimetableand

state the time. Out on the platform, other employees are performing similar

actions.Beforeeachtraindeparts,staffmemberswillpointalongtheedgeofthe

platform and declare, “All clear!” Every detail is identified, pointed at, and

namedaloud.*

Thisprocess,knownasPointing-and-Calling, isasafetysystemdesignedto

reduce mistakes. It seems silly, but it works incredibly well. Pointing-and-

Callingreduceserrorsbyupto85percentandcutsaccidentsby30percent.The

MTA subway system in New York City adopted a modified version that is

“point-only,”and“withintwoyearsofimplementation,incidentsofincorrectly

berthedsubwaysfell57percent.”

Pointing-and-Calling is so effective because it raises the level of awareness

fromanonconscioushabittoamoreconsciouslevel.Becausethetrainoperators

must use their eyes, hands, mouth, and ears, they are more likely to notice

problemsbeforesomethinggoeswrong.

Mywifedoessomethingsimilar.Wheneverwearepreparingtowalkoutthe

doorforatrip,sheverballycallsoutthemostessentialitemsinherpackinglist.

“I’ve got my keys. I’ve got my wallet. I’ve got my glasses. I’ve got my

husband.”

Themoreautomaticabehaviorbecomes,thelesslikelywearetoconsciously

think about it. Andwhenwe’ve done something a thousand times before,we

begintooverlookthings.Weassumethatthenexttimewillbejustlikethelast.

We’resousedtodoingwhatwe’vealwaysdonethatwedon’tstoptoquestion

whetherit’stherightthingtodoatall.Manyofourfailuresinperformanceare

largelyattributabletoalackofself-awareness.

Oneofourgreatestchallengesinchanginghabitsismaintainingawarenessof

what we are actually doing. This helps explain why the consequences of bad

habitscansneakuponus.Weneeda“point-and-call”systemforourpersonal

lives.That’stheoriginoftheHabitsScorecard,whichisasimpleexerciseyou

canusetobecomemoreawareofyourbehavior.Tocreateyourown,makealist

ofyourdailyhabits.

Here’sasampleofwhereyourlistmightstart:

Wakeup

Turnoffalarm

Checkmyphone

Gotothebathroom

Weighmyself

Takeashower

Brushmyteeth

Flossmyteeth

Putondeodorant

Hanguptoweltodry

Getdressed

Makeacupoftea

...andsoon.

Onceyouhavea full list, lookateachbehavior,andaskyourself,“Is thisa

goodhabit,abadhabit,oraneutralhabit?”Ifitisagoodhabit,write“+”nextto

it.Ifitisabadhabit,write“–”.Ifitisaneutralhabit,write“=”.

Forexample,thelistabovemightlooklikethis:

Wakeup=

Turnoffalarm=

Checkmyphone–

Gotothebathroom=

Weighmyself+

Takeashower+

Brushmyteeth+

Flossmyteeth+

Putondeodorant+

Hanguptoweltodry=

Getdressed=

Makeacupoftea+

Themarks you give to a particular habitwill depend on your situation and

yourgoals.Forsomeonewhoistryingtoloseweight,eatingabagelwithpeanut

buttereverymorningmightbeabadhabit.Forsomeonewhoistryingtobulkup

andaddmuscle,thesamebehaviormightbeagoodhabit.Italldependsonwhat

you’reworkingtoward.*

Scoringyourhabitscanbeabitmorecomplexforanotherreasonaswell.The

labels “goodhabit” and“badhabit” are slightly inaccurate.Therearenogood

habitsorbadhabits.Thereareonlyeffectivehabits.Thatis,effectiveatsolving

problems.Allhabitsserveyouinsomeway—eventhebadones—whichiswhy

you repeat them. For this exercise, categorize your habits by how they will

benefit you in the long run. Generally speaking, good habits will have net

positiveoutcomes.Badhabitshavenetnegativeoutcomes.Smokingacigarette

mayreducestressrightnow(that’showit’sservingyou),butit’snotahealthy

long-termbehavior.

Ifyou’restillhavingtroubledetermininghowtorateaparticularhabit,hereis

aquestionIliketouse:“DoesthisbehaviorhelpmebecomethetypeofpersonI

wish to be? Does this habit cast a vote for or against my desired identity?”

Habitsthatreinforceyourdesiredidentityareusuallygood.Habitsthatconflict

withyourdesiredidentityareusuallybad.

AsyoucreateyourHabitsScorecard, there isnoneedtochangeanythingat

first. The goal is to simply notice what is actually going on. Observe your

thoughts and actions without judgment or internal criticism. Don’t blame

yourselfforyourfaults.Don’tpraiseyourselfforyoursuccesses.

If you eat a chocolate bar everymorning, acknowledge it, almost as if you

were watching someone else.Oh, how interesting that they would do such a

thing.Ifyoubinge-eat,simplynoticethatyouareeatingmorecaloriesthanyou

should.Ifyouwastetimeonline,noticethatyouarespendingyourlifeinaway

thatyoudonotwantto.

Thefirststeptochangingbadhabitsistobeonthelookoutforthem.Ifyou

feellikeyouneedextrahelp,thenyoucantryPointing-and-Callinginyourown

life.Sayoutloudtheactionthatyouarethinkingoftakingandwhattheoutcome

will be. If you want to cut back on your junk food habit but notice yourself

grabbinganothercookie,sayoutloud,“I’mabouttoeatthiscookie,butIdon’t

needit.Eatingitwillcausemetogainweightandhurtmyhealth.”

Hearing your bad habits spoken aloudmakes the consequences seemmore

real.Itaddsweighttotheactionratherthanlettingyourselfmindlesslyslipinto

anoldroutine.Thisapproachisusefulevenifyou’resimplytryingtoremember

a taskonyour to-do list. Justsayingout loud,“Tomorrow, Ineed togo to the

post office after lunch,” increases the odds that you’ll actually do it. You’re

gettingyourselftoacknowledgetheneedforaction—andthatcanmakeallthe

difference.

Theprocessofbehaviorchangealwaysstartswithawareness.Strategieslike

Pointing-and-Calling and the Habits Scorecard are focused on getting you to

recognizeyourhabitsandacknowledgethecuesthattriggerthem,whichmakes

itpossibletorespondinawaythatbenefitsyou.

ChapterSummary

Withenoughpractice,yourbrainwillpickuponthecuesthatpredict

certainoutcomeswithoutconsciouslythinkingaboutit.

Onceourhabitsbecomeautomatic,westoppayingattention towhat

wearedoing.

The process of behavior change always starts with awareness. You

needtobeawareofyourhabitsbeforeyoucanchangethem.

Pointing-and-Calling raises your level of awareness from a

nonconscious habit to a more conscious level by verbalizing your

actions.

TheHabitsScorecardisasimpleexerciseyoucanusetobecomemore

awareofyourbehavior.

TheBestWaytoStartaNewHabit

IN 2001, RESEARCHERS in Great Britain began working with 248 people to build better

exercise habits over the course of twoweeks. The subjects were divided into

threegroups.

Thefirstgroupwasthecontrolgroup.Theyweresimplyaskedtotrackhow

oftentheyexercised.

Thesecondgroupwas the“motivation”group.Theywereaskednotonly to

tracktheirworkoutsbutalsotoreadsomematerialonthebenefitsofexercise.

Theresearchersalsoexplainedtothegrouphowexercisecouldreducetherisk

ofcoronaryheartdiseaseandimprovehearthealth.

Finally, there was the third group. These subjects received the same

presentation as the second group,which ensured that they had equal levels of

motivation. However, theywere also asked to formulate a plan forwhen and

wheretheywouldexerciseoverthefollowingweek.Specifically,eachmember

of the third

groupcompleted the followingsentence:“During thenextweek, I

willpartakeinatleast20minutesofvigorousexerciseon[DAY]at[TIME]in

[PLACE].”

In the first and secondgroups,35 to38percentofpeopleexercisedat least

onceperweek.(Interestingly,themotivationalpresentationgiventothesecond

groupseemedtohavenomeaningfulimpactonbehavior.)But91percentofthe

thirdgroupexercisedatleastonceperweek—morethandoublethenormalrate.

Thesentencetheyfilledoutiswhatresearchersrefertoasanimplementation

intention,which is aplanyoumakebeforehandaboutwhenandwhere to act.

Thatis,howyouintendtoimplementaparticularhabit.

Thecuesthatcantriggerahabitcomeinawiderangeofforms—thefeelof

your phone buzzing in your pocket, the smell of chocolate chip cookies, the

sound of ambulance sirens—but the two most common cues are time and

location.Implementationintentionsleveragebothofthesecues.

Broadlyspeaking,theformatforcreatinganimplementationintentionis:

“WhensituationXarises,IwillperformresponseY.”

Hundredsofstudieshaveshownthat implementationintentionsareeffective

for sticking toourgoals,whether it’swritingdown theexact timeanddateof

when you will get a flu shot or recording the time of your colonoscopy

appointment. They increase the odds that people will stick with habits like

recycling,studying,goingtosleepearly,andstoppingsmoking.

Researchers have even found that voter turnout increases when people are

forced to create implementation intentionsbyansweringquestions like: “What

routeareyoutakingtothepollingstation?Atwhattimeareyouplanningtogo?

What bus will get you there?” Other successful government programs have

prompted citizens to make a clear plan to send taxes in on time or provided

directionsonwhenandwheretopaylatetrafficbills.

Thepunchlineisclear:peoplewhomakeaspecificplanforwhenandwhere

they will perform a new habit are more likely to follow through. Too many

peopletrytochangetheirhabitswithoutthesebasicdetailsfiguredout.Wetell

ourselves, “I’m going to eat healthier” or “I’m going to write more,” but we

neversaywhenandwhere thesehabitsaregoing tohappen.Weleave itup to

chanceandhopethatwewill“justremember todoit”orfeelmotivatedat the

righttime.Animplementationintentionsweepsawayfoggynotionslike“Iwant

towork outmore” or “Iwant to bemore productive” or “I should vote” and

transformsthemintoaconcreteplanofaction.

Manypeoplethinktheylackmotivationwhenwhattheyreallylackisclarity.

Itisnotalwaysobviouswhenandwheretotakeaction.Somepeoplespendtheir

entireliveswaitingforthetimetoberighttomakeanimprovement.

Once an implementation intention has been set, you don’t have towait for

inspiration to strike.Do I write a chapter today or not? Do I meditate this

morning or at lunch?When themoment of action occurs, there is no need to

makeadecision.Simplyfollowyourpredeterminedplan.

Thesimplewaytoapplythisstrategytoyourhabitsistofilloutthis

sentence:

Iwill[BEHAVIOR]at[TIME]in[LOCATION].

Meditation.Iwillmeditateforoneminuteat7a.m.inmykitchen.

Studying. I will study Spanish for twenty minutes at 6 p.m. in my

bedroom.

Exercise.Iwillexerciseforonehourat5p.m.inmylocalgym.

Marriage.Iwillmakemypartneracupofteaat8a.m.inthekitchen.

If you aren’t sure when to start your habit, try the first day of the week,

month,oryear.Peoplearemorelikelytotakeactionatthosetimesbecausehope

isusuallyhigher.Ifwehavehope,wehaveareasontotakeaction.Afreshstart

feelsmotivating.

There is another benefit to implementation intentions. Being specific about

whatyouwantandhowyouwillachieveithelpsyousaynotothingsthatderail

progress, distract your attention, and pull you off course.Weoften say yes to

littlerequestsbecausewearenotclearenoughaboutwhatweneedtobedoing

instead.Whenyourdreamsarevague,it’seasytorationalizelittleexceptionsall

daylongandnevergetaroundtothespecificthingsyouneedtodotosucceed.

Giveyourhabitsatimeandaspacetoliveintheworld.Thegoalistomake

thetimeandlocationsoobviousthat,withenoughrepetition,yougetanurgeto

do the right thing at the right time, even if you can’t saywhy.As thewriter

Jason Zweig noted, “Obviously you’re never going to just work out without

conscious thought. But like a dog salivating at a bell,maybe you start to get

antsyaroundthetimeofdayyounormallyworkout.”

Therearemanywaystouseimplementationintentionsinyourlifeandwork.

MyfavoriteapproachisoneIlearnedfromStanfordprofessorBJFogganditis

astrategyIrefertoashabitstacking.

HABITSTACKING:ASIMPLEPLANTOOVERHAULYOURHABITS

TheFrenchphilosopherDenisDiderotlivednearlyhisentirelifeinpoverty,but

thatallchangedonedayin1765.

Diderot’sdaughterwasabouttobemarriedandhecouldnotaffordtopayfor

thewedding.Despitehislackofwealth,Diderotwaswellknownforhisroleas

the co-founder and writer of Encyclopédie, one of the most comprehensive

encyclopedias of the time.WhenCatherine theGreat, the Empress of Russia,

heardofDiderot’sfinancialtroubles,herheartwentouttohim.Shewasabook

lover and greatly enjoyed his encyclopedia. She offered to buy Diderot’s

personallibraryfor£1,000—morethan$150,000today.*Suddenly,Diderothad

moneytospare.Withhisnewwealth,henotonlypaidfortheweddingbutalso

acquiredascarletrobeforhimself.

Diderot’sscarletrobewasbeautiful.Sobeautiful,infact,thatheimmediately

noticed how out of place it seemed when surrounded by his more common

possessions.Hewrotethattherewas“nomorecoordination,nomoreunity,no

morebeauty”betweenhiselegantrobeandtherestofhisstuff.

Diderotsoonfelttheurgetoupgradehispossessions.Hereplacedhisrugwith

one from Damascus. He decorated his home with expensive sculptures. He

boughtamirrortoplaceabovethemantel,andabetterkitchentable.Hetossed

asidehisoldstrawchairforaleatherone.Likefallingdominoes,onepurchase

ledtothenext.

Diderot’sbehaviorisnotuncommon.Infact,thetendencyforonepurchaseto

leadtoanotheronehasaname:theDiderotEffect.TheDiderotEffectstatesthat

obtaining a newpossessionoften creates a spiral of consumption that leads to

additionalpurchases.

Youcanspot thispatterneverywhere.Youbuyadressandhave togetnew

shoesandearringstomatch.Youbuyacouchandsuddenlyquestionthelayout

ofyourentirelivingroom.Youbuyatoyforyourchildandsoonfindyourself

purchasing all of the accessories that go with it. It’s a chain reaction of

purchases.

Manyhumanbehaviors follow thiscycle.Youoftendecidewhat todonext

based on what you have just finished doing. Going to the bathroom leads to

washing and drying your hands, which reminds you that you need to put the

dirtytowelsinthelaundry,soyouaddlaundrydetergenttotheshoppinglist,and

soon.Nobehaviorhappensinisolation.Eachactionbecomesacuethattriggers

thenextbehavior.

Whyisthisimportant?

When it comes to building new habits, you can use the connectedness of

behavior to your advantage. One of the best ways to build a new habit is to

identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new

behaviorontop.Thisiscalledhabitstacking.

Habit stacking

isaspecial formofan implementation intention.Rather than

pairing your new habitwith a particular time and location, you pair it with a

currenthabit.Thismethod,whichwascreatedbyBJFoggaspartofhisTiny

Habitsprogram,canbeusedtodesignanobviouscuefornearlyanyhabit.*

Thehabitstackingformulais:

“After[CURRENTHABIT],Iwill[NEWHABIT].”

Forexample:

Meditation. After I pour my cup of coffee each morning, I will

meditateforoneminute.

Exercise.After I takeoffmywork shoes, Iwill immediatelychange

intomyworkoutclothes.

Gratitude.AfterIsitdowntodinner,IwillsayonethingI’mgrateful

forthathappenedtoday.

Marriage.AfterIgetintobedatnight,Iwillgivemypartnerakiss.

Safety.AfterIputonmyrunningshoes,Iwilltextafriendorfamily

memberwhereIamrunningandhowlongitwilltake.

Thekey is to tie yourdesiredbehavior into somethingyou alreadydo each

day.Onceyouhavemasteredthisbasicstructure,youcanbegintocreatelarger

stacksbychainingsmallhabits together.Thisallowsyou to takeadvantageof

thenaturalmomentum that comes fromonebehavior leading into thenext—a

positiveversionoftheDiderotEffect.

HABITSTACKING

FIGURE7:Habitstackingincreasesthelikelihoodthatyou’llstickwithahabitbystackingyournewbehaviorontopofanoldone.Thisprocesscanberepeatedtochainnumeroushabits

together,eachoneactingasthecueforthenext.

Yourmorningroutinehabitstackmightlooklikethis:

1. After I pour my morning cup of coffee, I will meditate for sixty

seconds.

2. After Imeditate for sixty seconds, Iwillwritemy to-do list for the

day.

3. After Iwritemy to-do list for the day, Iwill immediately beginmy

firsttask.

Or,considerthishabitstackintheevening:

1. After I finish eating dinner, I will put my plate directly into the

dishwasher.

2. AfterIputmydishesaway,Iwillimmediatelywipedownthecounter.

3. After I wipe down the counter, I will set out my coffee mug for

tomorrowmorning.

Youcan also insert newbehaviors into themiddleof your current routines.

Forexample,youmayalreadyhaveamorningroutinethatlookslikethis:Wake

up>Makemybed>Takeashower.Let’ssayyouwanttodevelopthehabitof

readingmore each night.You can expand your habit stack and try something

like:Wakeup>Makemybed>Placeabookonmypillow>Takeashower.

Now,whenyouclimbintobedeachnight,abookwillbesittingtherewaiting

foryoutoenjoy.

Overall, habit stacking allows you to create a set of simple rules that guide

your future behavior. It’s like you always have a game plan forwhich action

should come next. Once you get comfortable with this approach, you can

developgeneralhabitstackstoguideyouwheneverthesituationisappropriate:

Exercise.WhenIseeasetofstairs,Iwill taketheminsteadofusing

theelevator.

Social skills. When I walk into a party, I will introduce myself to

someoneIdon’tknowyet.

Finances. When I want to buy something over $100, I will wait

twenty-fourhoursbeforepurchasing.

Healthyeating.WhenIservemyselfameal,Iwillalwaysputveggies

onmyplatefirst.

Minimalism. When I buy a new item, I will give something away.

(“Onein,oneout.”)

Mood.When the phone rings, Iwill take one deep breath and smile

beforeanswering.

Forgetfulness.WhenIleaveapublicplace,Iwillcheckthetableand

chairstomakesureIdon’tleaveanythingbehind.

Nomatterhowyouusethisstrategy,thesecrettocreatingasuccessfulhabit

stack is selecting the right cue to kick things off. Unlike an implementation

intention,which specifically states the time and location for a given behavior,

habitstackingimplicitlyhasthetimeandlocationbuiltintoit.Whenandwhere

youchoosetoinsertahabitintoyourdailyroutinecanmakeabigdifference.If

you’re trying to add meditation into your morning routine but mornings are

chaoticandyourkidskeeprunning into theroom, then thatmaybe thewrong

placeandtime.Considerwhenyouaremost likely tobesuccessful.Don’task

yourselftodoahabitwhenyou’relikelytobeoccupiedwithsomethingelse.

Yourcueshouldalsohave thesame frequencyasyourdesiredhabit. Ifyou

wanttodoahabiteveryday,butyoustackitontopofahabitthatonlyhappens

onMondays,that’snotagoodchoice.

Onewaytofindtherighttriggerforyourhabitstackisbybrainstormingalist

ofyourcurrenthabits.YoucanuseyourHabitsScorecardfromthelastchapter

asastartingpoint.Alternatively,youcancreatealistwithtwocolumns.Inthe

firstcolumn,writedownthehabitsyoudoeachdaywithoutfail.*

Forexample:

Getoutofbed.

Takeashower.

Brushyourteeth.

Getdressed.

Brewacupofcoffee.

Eatbreakfast.

Takethekidstoschool.

Starttheworkday.

Eatlunch.

Endtheworkday.

Changeoutofworkclothes.

Sitdownfordinner.

Turnoffthelights.

Getintobed.

Your list can bemuch longer, but you get the idea. In the second column,

write down all of the things that happen to you each day without fail. For

example:

Thesunrises.

Yougetatextmessage.

Thesongyouarelisteningtoends.

Thesunsets.

Armedwiththesetwolists,youcanbeginsearchingforthebestplacetolayer

yournewhabitintoyourlifestyle.

Habit stackingworks bestwhen the cue is highly specific and immediately

actionable. Many people select cues that are too vague. I made this mistake

myself.WhenIwantedtostartapush-uphabit,myhabitstackwas“WhenItake

a break for lunch, I will do ten push-ups.” At first glance, this sounded

reasonable.Butsoon,Irealizedthetriggerwasunclear.WouldIdomypush-ups

before I ate lunch? After I ate lunch?Where would I do them? After a few

inconsistent days, I changedmy habit stack to: “When I close my laptop for

lunch,Iwilldotenpush-upsnexttomydesk.”Ambiguitygone.

Habitslike“readmore”or“eatbetter”areworthycauses,butthesegoalsdo

notprovide instructiononhowandwhen toact.Bespecificandclear:After I

close the door. After I brush my teeth. After I sit down at the table. The

specificityisimportant.Themoretightlyboundyournewhabitistoaspecific

cue,thebettertheoddsarethatyouwillnoticewhenthetimecomestoact.

The 1st Law of Behavior Change is to make it obvious. Strategies like

implementationintentionsandhabitstackingareamongthemostpracticalways

to create obvious cues for your habits and design a clear plan for when and

wheretotakeaction.

ChapterSummary

The1stLawofBehaviorChangeismakeitobvious.

Thetwomostcommoncuesaretimeandlocation.

Creatinganimplementationintentionisastrategyyoucanusetopaira

newhabitwithaspecifictimeandlocation.

The implementation intention formula is: I will [BEHAVIOR] at

[TIME]in[LOCATION].

Habit stacking is a strategy you can use to pair a new habit with a

currenthabit.

The habit stacking formula is: After [CURRENT HABIT], I will

[NEWHABIT].

MotivationIsOverrated;EnvironmentOften

MattersMore

ANNE THORNDIKE, A primary care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital in

Boston,hada crazy idea.Shebelieved she could improve the eatinghabitsof

thousands of hospital staff and visitors without changing their willpower or

motivationintheslightestway.Infact,shedidn’tplanontalkingtothematall.

Thorndikeandhercolleaguesdesignedasix-monthstudytoalterthe“choice

architecture”ofthehospitalcafeteria.Theystartedby

changinghowdrinkswere

arranged in the room. Originally, the refrigerators located next to the cash

registersinthecafeteriawerefilledwithonlysoda.Theresearchersaddedwater

asanoptiontoeachone.Additionally,theyplacedbasketsofbottledwaternext

to the food stations throughout the room. Soda was still in the primary

refrigerators,butwaterwasnowavailableatalldrinklocations.

Overthenextthreemonths,thenumberofsodasalesatthehospitaldropped

by 11.4 percent.Meanwhile, sales of bottledwater increased by 25.8 percent.

Theymadesimilaradjustments—andsawsimilar results—with the food in the

cafeteria.Nobodyhadsaidawordtoanyoneeatingthere.

BEFOREAFTER

FIGURE8:Hereisarepresentationofwhatthecafeterialookedlikebeforetheenvironmentdesignchangesweremade(left)andafter(right).Theshadedboxesindicateareaswherebottled

waterwasavailableineachinstance.Becausetheamountofwaterintheenvironmentwasincreased,behaviorshiftednaturallyandwithoutadditionalmotivation.

People often choose products not because ofwhat they are, but because of

where they are. If I walk into the kitchen and see a plate of cookies on the

counter,I’llpickuphalfadozenandstarteating,evenifIhadn’tbeenthinking

aboutthembeforehandanddidn’tnecessarilyfeelhungry.Ifthecommunaltable

attheofficeisalwaysfilledwithdoughnutsandbagels,it’sgoingtobehardnot

tograboneeverynowandthen.Yourhabitschangedependingontheroomyou

areinandthecuesinfrontofyou.

Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior.Despite our

unique personalities, certain behaviors tend to arise again and again under

certainenvironmentalconditions.Inchurch,peopletendtotalkinwhispers.On

adarkstreet,peopleactwaryandguarded.Inthisway,themostcommonform

ofchangeisnotinternal,butexternal:wearechangedbytheworldaroundus.

Everyhabitiscontextdependent.

In 1936, psychologist Kurt Lewin wrote a simple equation that makes a

powerfulstatement:Behavior isa functionof thePerson in theirEnvironment,

orB=f(P,E).

Itdidn’ttakelongforLewin’sEquationtobetestedinbusiness.In1952,the

economistHawkinsSterndescribedaphenomenonhecalledSuggestionImpulse

Buying,which“istriggeredwhenashopperseesaproductforthefirsttimeand

visualizes a need for it.” In other words, customers will occasionally buy

productsnotbecausetheywant thembutbecauseofhowtheyarepresented to

them.

Forexample, itemsateye level tend tobepurchasedmore than thosedown

near the floor. For this reason, you’ll find expensive brand names featured in

easy-to-reachlocationsonstoreshelvesbecausetheydrivethemostprofit,while

cheaperalternativesaretuckedawayinharder-to-reachspots.Thesamegoesfor

endcaps,which are theunits at the endof aisles.Endcaps aremoneymaking

machinesforretailersbecausetheyareobviouslocationsthatencounteralotof

foottraffic.Forexample,45percentofCoca-Colasalescomespecificallyfrom

end-of-the-aisleracks.

Themoreobviouslyavailableaproductorserviceis,themorelikelyyouare

to try it.PeopledrinkBudLightbecause it is ineverybarandvisitStarbucks

because it is on every corner.We like to think that we are in control. If we

choosewateroversoda,weassumeitisbecausewewantedtodoso.Thetruth,

however, is that many of the actions we take each day are shaped not by

purposefuldriveandchoicebutbythemostobviousoption.

Every living being has its ownmethods for sensing and understanding the

world. Eagles have remarkable long-distance vision. Snakes can smell by

“tasting the air” with their highly sensitive tongues. Sharks can detect small

amountsof electricity andvibrations in thewater causedbynearby fish.Even

bacteriahavechemoreceptors—tinysensorycellsthatallowthemtodetecttoxic

chemicalsintheirenvironment.

Inhumans,perceptionisdirectedbythesensorynervoussystem.Weperceive

theworldthroughsight,sound,smell, touch,andtaste.Butwealsohaveother

waysof sensing stimuli.Someare conscious, butmanyarenonconscious.For

instance,youcan“notice”whenthetemperaturedropsbeforeastorm,orwhen

the pain in your gut rises during a stomachache, orwhen you fall off balance

whilewalkingonrockyground.Receptorsinyourbodypickuponawiderange

ofinternalstimuli,suchastheamountofsaltinyourbloodortheneedtodrink

whenthirsty.

The most powerful of all human sensory abilities, however, is vision. The

human body has about eleven million sensory receptors. Approximately ten

million of those are dedicated to sight. Some experts estimate that half of the

brain’sresourcesareusedonvision.Giventhatwearemoredependentonvision

thanonanyother sense, it shouldcomeasnosurprise thatvisualcuesare the

greatestcatalystofourbehavior.Forthisreason,asmallchangeinwhatyousee

can lead to a big shift in what you do. As a result, you can imagine how

important it is to liveandwork inenvironments thatarefilledwithproductive

cuesanddevoidofunproductiveones.

Thankfully,thereisgoodnewsinthisrespect.Youdon’thavetobethevictim

ofyourenvironment.Youcanalsobethearchitectofit.

HOWTODESIGNYOURENVIRONMENTFORSUCCESS

Duringtheenergycrisisandoilembargoofthe1970s,Dutchresearchersbegan

to pay close attention to the country’s energy usage. In one suburb near

Amsterdam,theyfoundthatsomehomeownersused30percentlessenergythan

theirneighbors—despite thehomesbeingofsimilarsizeandgettingelectricity

forthesameprice.

Itturnedoutthehousesinthisneighborhoodwerenearlyidenticalexceptfor

onefeature:thelocationoftheelectricalmeter.Somehadoneinthebasem*nt.

Othershadtheelectricalmeterupstairsinthemainhallway.Asyoumayguess,

the homes with the meters located in the main hallway used less electricity.

When their energy use was obvious and easy to track, people changed their

behavior.

Everyhabit is initiatedbyacue, andwearemore likely tonoticecues that

standout.Unfortunately,theenvironmentswhereweliveandworkoftenmake

it easynot todocertain actionsbecause there isnoobvious cue to trigger the

behavior.It’seasynottopracticetheguitarwhenit’stuckedawayinthecloset.

It’s easy not to read a bookwhen the bookshelf is in the corner of the guest

room.It’seasynottotakeyourvitaminswhentheyareoutofsightinthepantry.

Whenthecuesthatsparkahabitaresubtleorhidden,theyareeasytoignore.

Bycomparison,creatingobviousvisualcuescandrawyourattentiontowarda

desired habit. In the early 1990s, the cleaning staff at Schiphol Airport in

Amsterdaminstalledasmallstickerthatlookedlikeaflynearthecenterofeach

urinal.Apparently,whenmensteppeduptotheurinals,theyaimedforwhatthey

thoughtwas a bug. The stickers improved their aim and significantly reduced

“spillage” around the urinals. Further analysis determined that the stickers cut

bathroomcleaningcostsby8percentperyear.

I’ve experienced the power of obvious cues inmy own life. I used to buy

apples fromthestore,put themin thecrisper in thebottomof the refrigerator,

and forget all about them. By the time I remembered, the apples would have

gonebad.Ineversawthem,soIneveratethem.

Eventually,Itookmyownadviceandredesignedmyenvironment.Iboughta

largedisplaybowlandplaced

it inthemiddleofthekitchencounter.Thenext

timeIboughtapples,thatwaswheretheywent—outintheopenwhereIcould

see them. Almost like magic, I began eating a few apples each day simply

becausetheywereobviousratherthanoutofsight.

Herearea fewwaysyoucanredesignyourenvironmentandmake thecues

foryourpreferredhabitsmoreobvious:

Ifyouwanttoremembertotakeyourmedicationeachnight,putyour

pillbottledirectlynexttothefaucetonthebathroomcounter.

Ifyouwanttopracticeguitarmorefrequently,placeyourguitarstand

inthemiddleofthelivingroom.

Ifyouwanttoremembertosendmorethank-younotes,keepastackof

stationeryonyourdesk.

If you want to drink more water, fill up a few water bottles each

morningandplacethemincommonlocationsaroundthehouse.

Ifyouwanttomakeahabitabigpartofyourlife,makethecueabigpartof

your environment. The most persistent behaviors usually have multiple cues.

Consider howmany differentways a smoker could be prompted to pull out a

cigarette:drivinginthecar,seeingafriendsmoke,feelingstressedatwork,and

soon.

The same strategy can be employed for good habits. By sprinkling triggers

throughoutyoursurroundings,youincreasetheoddsthatyou’llthinkaboutyour

habit throughout the day.Make sure the best choice is themost obvious one.

Makingabetterdecisioniseasyandnaturalwhenthecuesforgoodhabitsare

rightinfrontofyou.

Environmentdesignispowerfulnotonlybecauseitinfluenceshowweengage

with theworld but also becausewe rarely do it.Most people live in aworld

othershavecreated for them.Butyoucanalter the spaceswhereyou liveand

work to increase your exposure to positive cues and reduce your exposure to

negativeones.Environmentdesignallowsyoutotakebackcontrolandbecome

the architect of your life. Be the designer of your world and not merely the

consumerofit.

THECONTEXTISTHECUE

Thecuesthattriggerahabitcanstartoutveryspecific,butovertimeyourhabits

become associated not with a single trigger but with the entire context

surroundingthebehavior.

For example, many people drinkmore in social situations than they would

everdrinkalone.Thetriggerisrarelyasinglecue,butratherthewholesituation:

watchingyourfriendsorderdrinks,hearingthemusicatthebar,seeingthebeers

ontap.

Wementallyassignourhabitstothelocationsinwhichtheyoccur:thehome,

the office, the gym.Each locationdevelops a connection to certain habits and

routines.Youestablish aparticular relationshipwith theobjectsonyourdesk,

theitemsonyourkitchencounter,thethingsinyourbedroom.

Our behavior is not defined by the objects in the environment but by our

relationshiptothem.Infact,thisisausefulwaytothinkabouttheinfluenceof

the environment on your behavior. Stop thinking about your environment as

filledwithobjects.Start thinkingabout it as filledwith relationships.Think in

termsofhowyouinteractwiththespacesaroundyou.Foroneperson,hercouch

istheplacewhereshereadsforanhoureachnight.Forsomeoneelse,thecouch

iswherehewatchestelevisionandeatsabowloficecreamafterwork.Different

peoplecanhavedifferentmemories—andthusdifferenthabits—associatedwith

thesameplace.

The good news? You can train yourself to link a particular habit with a

particularcontext.

Inonestudy,scientists instructedinsomniacstoget intobedonlywhenthey

weretired.Iftheycouldn’tfallasleep,theyweretoldtositinadifferentroom

until theybecamesleepy.Overtime,subjectsbegantoassociatethecontextof

theirbedwiththeactionofsleeping,anditbecameeasiertoquicklyfallasleep

whentheyclimbedinbed.Theirbrainslearnedthatsleeping—notbrowsingon

their phones, not watching television, not staring at the clock—was the only

actionthathappenedinthatroom.

Thepowerofcontextalsorevealsanimportantstrategy:habitscanbeeasier

tochangeinanewenvironment.Ithelpstoescapethesubtletriggersandcues

thatnudgeyoutowardyourcurrenthabits.Gotoanewplace—adifferentcoffee

shop,abenchinthepark,acornerofyourroomyouseldomuse—andcreatea

newroutinethere.

It is easier to associate anewhabitwith anewcontext than tobuild anew

habitinthefaceofcompetingcues.Itcanbedifficulttogotobedearlyifyou

watchtelevisioninyourbedroomeachnight.Itcanbehardtostudyintheliving

roomwithout getting distracted if that’swhere you always play video games.

Butwhenyoustepoutsideyournormalenvironment,youleaveyourbehavioral

biases behind. You aren’t battling old environmental cues, which allows new

habitstoformwithoutinterruption.

Wanttothinkmorecreatively?Movetoabiggerroom,arooftoppatio,ora

buildingwithexpansivearchitecture.Takeabreakfromthespacewhereyoudo

yourdailywork,whichisalsolinkedtoyourcurrentthoughtpatterns.

Tryingtoeathealthier?Itislikelythatyoushoponautopilotatyourregular

supermarket.Tryanewgrocerystore.Youmayfinditeasiertoavoidunhealthy

foodwhenyourbraindoesn’tautomaticallyknowwhereitislocatedinthestore.

When you can’tmanage to get to an entirely new environment, redefine or

rearrange your current one. Create a separate space forwork, study, exercise,

entertainment,andcooking.ThemantraIfindusefulis“Onespace,oneuse.”

When I startedmy career as an entrepreneur, Iwould oftenwork frommy

couchor at the kitchen table. In the evenings, I found it very difficult to stop

working. There was no clear division between the end of work time and the

beginningofpersonaltime.WasthekitchentablemyofficeorthespacewhereI

atemeals?Was thecouchwhere I relaxedorwhere I sent emails?Everything

happenedinthesameplace.

A fewyears later, I could finally afford tomove to a homewith a separate

roomformyoffice.Suddenly,workwassomethingthathappened“inhere”and

personal lifewassomething thathappened“out there.” Itwaseasier forme to

turnoff theprofessionalsideofmybrainwhen therewasacleardividing line

betweenworklifeandhomelife.Eachroomhadoneprimaryuse.Thekitchen

wasforcooking.Theofficewasforworking.

Wheneverpossible,avoidmixingthecontextofonehabitwithanother.When

you startmixing contexts, you’ll startmixinghabits—and the easier oneswill

usuallywinout.Thisisonereasonwhytheversatilityofmoderntechnologyis

bothastrengthandaweakness.Youcanuseyourphoneforallsortsof tasks,

which makes it a powerful device. But when you can use your phone to do

nearlyanything, itbecomeshard toassociate itwithone task.Youwant tobe

productive,butyou’realsoconditionedtobrowsesocialmedia,checkemail,and

playvideogameswheneveryouopenyourphone.It’samishmashofcues.

Youmaybe thinking, “Youdon’tunderstand. I live inNewYorkCity.My

apartmentisthesizeofasmartphone.Ineedeachroomtoplaymultipleroles.”

Fair enough. If your space is limited, divide your room into activity zones: a

chairforreading,adeskforwriting,atableforeating.Youcandothesamewith

yourdigitalspaces.Iknowawriterwhouseshiscomputeronlyforwriting,his

tabletonlyforreading,andhisphoneonlyforsocialmediaandtexting.Every

habitshouldhaveahome.

If you can manage to stick with this strategy, each context will become

associated with a particular habit and mode of thought. Habits thrive under

predictable

circ*mstances like these.Focus comesautomaticallywhenyouare

sittingatyourworkdesk.Relaxationiseasierwhenyouareinaspacedesigned

forthatpurpose.Sleepcomesquicklywhenitistheonlythingthathappensin

yourbedroom.Ifyouwantbehaviorsthatarestableandpredictable,youneedan

environmentthatisstableandpredictable.

A stable environment where everything has a place and a purpose is an

environmentwherehabitscaneasilyform.

ChapterSummary

Small changes in context can lead to large changes in behavior over

time.

Everyhabitisinitiatedbyacue.Wearemorelikelytonoticecuesthat

standout.

Makethecuesofgoodhabitsobviousinyourenvironment.

Gradually,yourhabitsbecomeassociatednotwithasingletriggerbut

withtheentirecontextsurroundingthebehavior.Thecontextbecomes

thecue.

Itiseasiertobuildnewhabitsinanewenvironmentbecauseyouare

notfightingagainstoldcues.

TheSecrettoSelf-Control

IN 1971, as the VietnamWar was heading into its sixteenth year, congressmen

Robert Steele from Connecticut and Morgan Murphy from Illinois made a

discoverythatstunnedtheAmericanpublic.Whilevisitingthetroops,theyhad

learnedthatover15percentofU.S.soldiersstationedtherewereheroinaddicts.

Follow-upresearchrevealedthat35percentofservicemembersinVietnamhad

triedheroin and asmany as 20percentwere addicted—theproblemwas even

worsethantheyhadinitiallythought.

ThediscoveryledtoaflurryofactivityinWashington,includingthecreation

oftheSpecialActionOfficeofDrugAbusePreventionunderPresidentNixonto

promote prevention and rehabilitation and to track addicted service members

whentheyreturnedhome.

LeeRobinswasoneoftheresearchersincharge.Inafindingthatcompletely

upended theacceptedbeliefsaboutaddiction,Robins found thatwhensoldiers

who had been heroin users returned home, only 5 percent of them became

readdictedwithinayear,andjust12percentrelapsedwithinthreeyears.Inother

words, approximately nine out of ten soldiers who used heroin in Vietnam

eliminatedtheiraddictionnearlyovernight.

This finding contradicted the prevailing view at the time,which considered

heroin addiction to be a permanent and irreversible condition. Instead,Robins

revealed that addictions could spontaneously dissolve if there was a radical

change in the environment. In Vietnam, soldiers spent all day surrounded by

cues triggering heroin use: it was easy to access, they were engulfed by the

constantstressofwar,theybuiltfriendshipswithfellowsoldierswhowerealso

heroin users, and they were thousands of miles from home. Once a soldier

returnedtotheUnitedStates,though,hefoundhimselfinanenvironmentdevoid

ofthosetriggers.Whenthecontextchanged,sodidthehabit.

Compare this situation to that of a typical drug user. Someone becomes

addictedathomeorwithfriends,goestoaclinictogetclean—whichisdevoid

ofalltheenvironmentalstimulithatprompttheirhabit—thenreturnstotheirold

neighborhoodwithalloftheirpreviouscuesthatcausedthemtogetaddictedin

the first place. It’s nowonder that usually you see numbers that are the exact

opposite of those in theVietnam study. Typically, 90 percent of heroin users

becomereaddictedoncetheyreturnhomefromrehab.

TheVietnam studies ran counter tomany of our cultural beliefs about bad

habitsbecauseitchallengedtheconventionalassociationofunhealthybehavior

asamoralweakness.Ifyou’reoverweight,asmoker,oranaddict,you’vebeen

told your entire life that it is because you lack self-control—maybe even that

you’reabadperson.The idea thata littlebitofdisciplinewouldsolveallour

problemsisdeeplyembeddedinourculture.

Recent research, however, shows something different. When scientists

analyze peoplewho appear to have tremendous self-control, it turns out those

individuals aren’t all that different from those who are struggling. Instead,

“disciplined”people arebetter at structuring their lives in away thatdoesnot

requireheroicwillpowerandself-control.Inotherwords,theyspendlesstimein

temptingsituations.

Thepeoplewiththebestself-controlaretypicallytheoneswhoneedtouseit

theleast.It’seasiertopracticeself-restraintwhenyoudon’thavetouseitvery

often.So,yes,perseverance,grit,andwillpowerareessentialtosuccess,butthe

way to improve thesequalities is not bywishingyouwere amoredisciplined

person,butbycreatingamoredisciplinedenvironment.

Thiscounterintuitiveideamakesevenmoresenseonceyouunderstandwhat

happenswhenahabit is formedin thebrain.Ahabit thathasbeenencoded in

themindisreadytobeusedwhenevertherelevantsituationarises.WhenPatty

Olwell,atherapistfromAustin,Texas,startedsmoking,shewouldoftenlightup

while ridinghorseswith a friend.Eventually, shequit smokingandavoided it

for years. She had also stopped riding. Decades later, she hopped on a horse

againandfoundherselfcravingacigaretteforthefirsttimeinforever.Thecues

werestillinternalized;shejusthadn’tbeenexposedtotheminalongtime.

Once a habit has been encoded, the urge to act follows whenever the

environmentalcuesreappear.Thisisonereasonbehaviorchangetechniquescan

backfire.Shamingobesepeoplewithweight-losspresentationscanmake them

feelstressed,andasaresultmanypeoplereturntotheirfavoritecopingstrategy:

overeating. Showing pictures of blackened lungs to smokers leads to higher

levelsofanxiety,whichdrivesmanypeopletoreachforacigarette.Ifyou’renot

carefulaboutcues,youcancausetheverybehavioryouwanttostop.

Badhabitsareautocatalytic:theprocessfeedsitself.Theyfosterthefeelings

theytrytonumb.Youfeelbad,soyoueatjunkfood.Becauseyoueatjunkfood,

youfeelbad.Watchingtelevisionmakesyoufeelsluggish,soyouwatchmore

television because you don’t have the energy to do anything else. Worrying

aboutyourhealthmakesyou feelanxious,whichcausesyou tosmoke toease

youranxiety,whichmakesyourhealthevenworseandsoonyou’refeelingmore

anxious.It’sadownwardspiral,arunawaytrainofbadhabits.

Researchersrefer to thisphenomenonas“cue-inducedwanting”:anexternal

trigger causes a compulsive craving to repeat a bad habit. Once you notice

something,youbegin towant it.Thisprocess ishappeningall the time—often

withoutus realizing it.Scientistshave found that showingaddicts apictureof

cocaine for just thirty-threemilliseconds stimulates the reward pathway in the

brain and sparks desire. This speed is too fast for the brain to consciously

thedrugallthesame.

Here’sthepunchline:Youcanbreakahabit,butyou’reunlikelytoforgetit.

Once themental grooves of habit have been carved into your brain, they are

nearlyimpossibletoremoveentirely—eveniftheygounusedforquiteawhile.

And thatmeans that simply resisting temptation isan ineffectivestrategy. It is

hard tomaintain a Zen attitude in a life filledwith interruptions. It takes too

muchenergy.Intheshort-run,youcanchoosetooverpowertemptation.Inthe

long-run, we become a product of the environment that we live in. To put it

bluntly, I have never seen someone consistently stick to positive habits in a

negativeenvironment.

Amore reliable approach is to cut bad habits off at the source.

One of the

mostpracticalwaystoeliminateabadhabitistoreduceexposuretothecuethat

causesit.

Ifyoucan’tseemtogetanyworkdone, leaveyourphoneinanother

roomforafewhours.

If you’re continually feeling like you’re not enough, stop following

socialmediaaccountsthattriggerjealousyandenvy.

Ifyou’rewastingtoomuchtimewatchingtelevision,movetheTVout

ofthebedroom.

If you’re spending too much money on electronics, quit reading

reviewsofthelatesttechgear.

Ifyou’replayingtoomanyvideogames,unplugtheconsoleandputit

inaclosetaftereachuse.

Thispracticeisaninversionofthe1stLawofBehaviorChange.Ratherthan

makeitobvious,youcanmakeitinvisible.I’moftensurprisedbyhoweffective

simplechangeslikethesecanbe.Removeasinglecueandtheentirehabitoften

fadesaway.

Self-controlisashort-termstrategy,notalong-termone.Youmaybeableto

resisttemptationonceortwice,butit’sunlikelyyoucanmusterthewillpowerto

overrideyourdesireseverytime.Insteadofsummoninganewdoseofwillpower

whenever you want to do the right thing, your energy would be better spent

optimizingyourenvironment.Thisisthesecrettoself-control.Makethecuesof

yourgoodhabitsobviousandthecuesofyourbadhabitsinvisible.

ChapterSummary

Theinversionofthe1stLawofBehaviorChangeismakeitinvisible.

Onceahabitisformed,itisunlikelytobeforgotten.

People with high self-control tend to spend less time in tempting

situations.It’seasiertoavoidtemptationthanresistit.

Oneof themost practicalways to eliminate a badhabit is to reduce

exposuretothecuethatcausesit.

Self-controlisashort-termstrategy,notalong-termone.

HOWTOCREATEAGOODHABIT

The1stLaw:MakeItObvious

1.1:FillouttheHabitsScorecard.Writedownyourcurrenthabitstobecomeawareofthem.

1.2:Useimplementationintentions:“Iwill[BEHAVIOR]at[TIME]in[LOCATION].”

1.3:Usehabitstacking:“After[CURRENTHABIT],Iwill[NEWHABIT].”

1.4:Designyourenvironment.Makethecuesofgoodhabitsobviousandvisible.

The2ndLaw:MakeItAttractive

The3rdLaw:MakeItEasy

The4thLaw:MakeItSatisfying

HOWTOBREAKABADHABIT

Inversionofthe1stLaw:MakeItInvisible

1.5:Reduceexposure.Removethecuesofyourbadhabitsfromyourenvironment.

Inversionofthe2ndLaw:MakeItUnattractive

Inversionofthe3rdLaw:MakeItDifficult

Inversionofthe4thLaw:MakeItUnsatisfying

Youcandownloadaprintableversionofthishabitscheatsheetat:atomichabits.com/cheatsheet

http://atomichabits.com/cheatsheet

THE2NDLAW

MakeItAttractive

HowtoMakeaHabitIrresistible

IN THE 1940S, a Dutch scientist named Niko Tinbergen performed a series of

experimentsthattransformedourunderstandingofwhatmotivatesus.Tinbergen

—who eventuallywon aNobel Prize for hiswork—was investigating herring

gulls, the gray andwhite birds often seen flying along the seashores ofNorth

America.

Adultherringgullshaveasmallreddotontheirbeak,andTinbergennoticed

thatnewlyhatchedchickswouldpeckthisspotwhenevertheywantedfood.To

begin one experiment, he created a collection of fake cardboard beaks, just a

headwithoutabody.Whentheparentshadflownaway,hewentovertothenest

and offered these dummy beaks to the chicks. The beakswere obvious fakes,

andheassumedthebabybirdswouldrejectthemaltogether.

However,when the tinygulls saw the red spot on the cardboardbeak, they

peckedaway just as if itwere attached to their ownmother.Theyhada clear

preference for those red spots—as if theyhadbeengeneticallyprogrammedat

birth. Soon Tinbergen discovered that the bigger the red spot, the faster the

chicks pecked. Eventually, he created a beak with three large red dots on it.

Whenheplaced itover thenest, thebabybirdswentcrazywithdelight.They

peckedatthelittleredpatchesasifitwasthegreatestbeaktheyhadeverseen.

Tinbergen and his colleagues discovered similar behavior in other animals.

For example, the greylag goose is a ground-nesting bird.Occasionally, as the

mothermovesaroundonthenest,oneoftheeggswillrolloutandsettleonthe

grassnearby.Wheneverthishappens,thegoosewillwaddleovertotheeggand

useitsbeakandnecktopullitbackintothenest.

Tinbergendiscoveredthatthegoosewillpullanynearbyroundobject,suchas

abilliardballoralightbulb,backintothenest.Thebiggertheobject,thegreater

their response. One goose evenmade a tremendous effort to roll a volleyball

backandsiton top.Like thebabygullsautomaticallypeckingat reddots, the

greylag goose was following an instinctive rule:When I see a round object

nearby,Imustrollitbackintothenest.Thebiggertheroundobject,theharderI

shouldtrytogetit.

It’slikethebrainofeachanimalispreloadedwithcertainrulesforbehavior,

andwhenitcomesacrossanexaggeratedversionofthatrule,itlightsuplikea

Christmastree.Scientistsrefertotheseexaggeratedcuesassupernormalstimuli.

A supernormal stimulus is a heightened version of reality—like a beak with

three red dots or an egg the size of a volleyball—and it elicits a stronger

responsethanusual.

Humansarealsopronetofallforexaggeratedversionsofreality.Junkfood,

forexample,drivesourrewardsystemsintoafrenzy.Afterspendinghundreds

ofthousandsofyearshuntingandforagingforfoodinthewild,thehumanbrain

hasevolved toplaceahighvalueon salt, sugar, and fat.Such foodsareoften

calorie-denseandtheywerequiterarewhenourancientancestorswereroaming

the savannah. When you don’t know where your next meal is coming from,

eatingasmuchaspossibleisanexcellentstrategyforsurvival.

Today,however,weliveinacalorie-richenvironment.Foodisabundant,but

your brain continues to crave it like it is scarce. Placing a high value on salt,

sugar,and fat isno longeradvantageous toourhealth,but thecravingpersists

because the brain’s reward centers have not changed for approximately fifty

thousand years. Themodern food industry relies on stretching our Paleolithic

instinctsbeyondtheirevolutionarypurpose.

Aprimarygoaloffoodscienceistocreateproductsthataremoreattractiveto

consumers.Nearlyeveryfoodinabag,box,or jarhasbeenenhancedinsome

way, if onlywith additional flavoring.Companies spendmillionsofdollars to

discover the most satisfying level of crunch in a potato chip or the perfect

amountoffizzinasoda.Entiredepartmentsarededicatedtooptimizinghowa

productfeelsinyourmouth—aqualityknownasorosensation.Frenchfries,for

example,areapotentcombination—goldenbrownandcrunchyontheoutside,

lightandsmoothontheinside.

Otherprocessedfoodsenhancedynamiccontrast,whichreferstoitemswitha

combinationofsensations, likecrunchyandcreamy.Imagine thegooeynessof

melted cheeseon topof a crispypizza crust, or the crunchof anOreo cookie

combinedwith itssmoothcenter.Withnatural,unprocessedfoods,youtendto

experience the same sensations over and over—how’s that seventeenth bite of

kaletaste?Afterafewminutes,yourbrainlosesinterestandyoubegintofeel

full.Butfoodsthatarehighindynamiccontrastkeeptheexperiencenoveland

interesting,encouragingyoutoeatmore.

Ultimately,suchstrategiesenablefoodscientists tofindthe“blisspoint”for

eachproduct—theprecise combinationof salt, sugar, and fat that excitesyour

brain and keeps you coming back formore. The result, of

inplacebymyeyelidandthe

opticnerveattachingmyeyetomybrain.

Theophthalmologistsaidmyeyewouldgraduallyslidebackintoplaceasthe

airseepedout,butitwashardtotellhowlongthiswouldtake.Iwasscheduled

forsurgeryoneweeklater,whichwouldallowmesomeadditionaltimetoheal.

IlookedlikeIhadbeenonthewrongendofaboxingmatch,butIwascleared

to leave the hospital. I returned homewith a broken nose, half a dozen facial

fractures,andabulginglefteye.

The following months were hard. It felt like everything in my life was on

pause. I had double vision for weeks; I literally couldn’t see straight. It took

morethanamonth,butmyeyeballdideventuallyreturntoitsnormallocation.

Betweentheseizuresandmyvisionproblems,itwaseightmonthsbeforeIcould

drive a car again. At physical therapy, I practiced basic motor patterns like

walkinginastraightline.Iwasdeterminednottoletmyinjurygetmedown,but

thereweremorethanafewmomentswhenIfeltdepressedandoverwhelmed.

I became painfully aware of how far I had to go when I returned to the

baseballfieldoneyearlater.Baseballhadalwaysbeenamajorpartofmylife.

MydadhadplayedminorleaguebaseballfortheSt.LouisCardinals,andIhada

dream of playing professionally, too. After months of rehabilitation, what I

wantedmorethananythingwastogetbackonthefield.

Butmyreturntobaseballwasnotsmooth.Whentheseasonrolledaround,I

wastheonlyjuniortobecutfromthevarsitybaseballteam.Iwassentdownto

playwith thesophom*oreson juniorvarsity. Ihadbeenplayingsinceagefour,

andforsomeonewhohadspentsomuchtimeandeffortonthesport,gettingcut

was humiliating. I vividly remember the day it happened. I sat inmy car and

criedasIflippedthroughtheradio,desperatelysearchingforasongthatwould

makemefeelbetter.

Afterayearofself-doubt,Imanagedtomakethevarsityteamasasenior,but

I rarelymade it on the field. In total, I played eleven innings of high school

varsitybaseball,barelymorethanasinglegame.

Despitemy lackluster high school career, I still believed I could become a

great player.And I knew that if thingswere going to improve, Iwas the one

responsible formaking it happen. The turning point came two years aftermy

injury,whenIbegancollegeatDenisonUniversity.Itwasanewbeginning,and

itwastheplacewhereIwoulddiscoverthesurprisingpowerofsmallhabitsfor

thefirsttime.

HOWILEARNEDABOUTHABITS

AttendingDenisonwasoneofthebestdecisionsofmylife.Iearnedaspoton

thebaseballteamand,althoughIwasatthebottomoftherosterasafreshman,I

was thrilled. Despite the chaos of my high school years, I had managed to

becomeacollegeathlete.

Iwasn’tgoingtobestartingonthebaseballteamanytimesoon,soIfocused

on gettingmy life in order.While my peers stayed up late and played video

games,Ibuiltgoodsleephabitsandwenttobedearlyeachnight.Inthemessy

worldofacollegedorm,Imadeapointtokeepmyroomneatandtidy.These

improvementswereminor,but theygavemeasenseofcontrolovermylife. I

startedtofeelconfidentagain.Andthisgrowingbeliefinmyselfrippledintothe

classroom as I improved my study habits and managed to earn straight A’s

duringmyfirstyear.

A habit is a routine or behavior that is performed regularly—and, inmany

cases, automatically. As each semester passed, I accumulated small but

consistent habits that ultimately led to results that were unimaginable to me

whenIstarted.Forexample,forthefirsttimeinmylife,Imadeitahabittolift

weightsmultiple times perweek, and in the years that followed,my six-foot-

four-inchframebulkedupfromafeatherweight170toalean200pounds.

Whenmysophom*oreseasonarrived, Iearnedastartingroleon thepitching

staff.Bymyjunioryear,Iwasvotedteamcaptainandattheendoftheseason,I

wasselectedfortheall-conferenceteam.Butitwasnotuntilmyseniorseason

thatmy sleep habits, study habits, and strength-training habits really began to

payoff.

Six years after I had been hit in the face with a baseball bat, flown to the

hospital, and placed into a coma, I was selected as the top male athlete at

DenisonUniversityandnamedtotheESPNAcademicAll-AmericaTeam—an

honor given to just thirty-three players across the country. By the time I

graduated, Iwas listed in theschool recordbooks ineightdifferentcategories.

That same year, I was awarded the university’s highest academic honor, the

President’sMedal.

I hope you’ll forgive me if this sounds boastful. To be honest, there was

nothinglegendaryorhistoricaboutmyathleticcareer.Ineverendedupplaying

professionally.However,lookingbackonthoseyears,IbelieveIaccomplished

somethingjustasrare:Ifulfilledmypotential.AndIbelievetheconceptsinthis

bookcanhelpyoufulfillyourpotentialaswell.

Weallfacechallengesinlife.Thisinjurywasoneofmine,andtheexperience

taughtmeacriticallesson:changesthatseemsmallandunimportantatfirstwill

compoundintoremarkableresultsifyou’rewillingtostickwiththemforyears.

We all deal with setbacks but in the long run, the quality of our lives often

dependson thequalityofourhabits.With thesamehabits,you’llendupwith

thesameresults.Butwithbetterhabits,anythingispossible.

Maybetherearepeoplewhocanachieveincrediblesuccessovernight.Idon’t

knowanyofthem,andI’mcertainlynotoneofthem.Therewasn’tonedefining

moment on my journey from medically induced coma to Academic All-

American; thereweremany. Itwasagradual evolution, a long seriesof small

winsandtinybreakthroughs.TheonlywayImadeprogress—theonlychoiceI

had—was to start small.And I employed this same strategy a few years later

whenIstartedmyownbusinessandbeganworkingonthisbook.

HOWANDWHYIWROTETHISBOOK

InNovember2012, I beganpublishing articles at jamesclear.com.Foryears, I

had been keeping notes aboutmy personal experimentswith habits and Iwas

finallyreadytosharesomeofthempublicly.Ibeganbypublishinganewarticle

everyMondayandThursday.Withinafewmonths,thissimplewritinghabitled

tomyfirstonethousandemailsubscribers,andbytheendof2013thatnumber

hadgrowntomorethanthirtythousandpeople.

In 2014,my email list expanded to over one hundred thousand subscribers,

whichmade itoneof thefastest-growingnewsletterson the internet. Ihadfelt

like an impostor when I began writing two years earlier, but now I was

becomingknownasanexpertonhabits—anew label thatexcitedmebutalso

felt uncomfortable. I had never considered myself a master of the topic, but

rathersomeonewhowasexperimentingalongsidemyreaders.

In2015,Ireachedtwohundredthousandemailsubscribersandsignedabook

deal with Penguin RandomHouse to begin writing the book you are reading

now.Asmyaudiencegrew,sodidmybusinessopportunities.Iwasincreasingly

askedtospeakattopcompaniesaboutthescienceofhabitformation,behavior

change, and continuous improvement. I found myself delivering keynote

speechesatconferencesintheUnitedStatesandEurope.

In2016,myarticlesbegantoappearregularlyinmajorpublicationslikeTime,

Entrepreneur,andForbes.Incredibly,mywritingwasreadbyovereightmillion

peoplethatyear.CoachesintheNFL,NBA,andMLBbeganreadingmywork

andsharingitwiththeir

course, is that you

overeatbecausehyperpalatablefoodsaremoreattractivetothehumanbrain.As

Stephan Guyenet, a neuroscientist who specializes in eating behavior and

obesity,says,“We’vegottentoogoodatpushingourownbuttons.”

Themodern food industry, and the overeatinghabits it has spawned, is just

oneexampleofthe2ndLawofBehaviorChange:Makeitattractive.Themore

attractiveanopportunityis,themorelikelyitistobecomehabit-forming.

Lookaround.Societyisfilledwithhighlyengineeredversionsofrealitythat

are more attractive than the world our ancestors evolved in. Stores feature

mannequins with exaggerated hips and breasts to sell clothes. Social media

deliversmore“likes”andpraiseinafewminutesthanwecouldevergetinthe

officeorathome.Onlinep*rnsplicestogetherstimulatingscenesataratethat

wouldbeimpossibletoreplicateinreal life.Advertisem*ntsarecreatedwitha

combination of ideal lighting, professionalmakeup, andPhotoshopped edits—

even themodel doesn’t look like the person in the final image. These are the

supernormal stimuli of our modern world. They exaggerate features that are

naturally attractive to us, and our instincts gowild as a result, driving us into

excessive shopping habits, socialmedia habits, p*rn habits, eating habits, and

manyothers.

If history serves as a guide, the opportunities of the future will be more

attractive than those of today. The trend is for rewards to become more

concentrated and stimuli to become more enticing. Junk food is a more

concentrated form of calories than natural foods. Hard liquor is a more

concentrated formof alcohol than beer.Videogames are amore concentrated

form of play than board games. Compared to nature, these pleasure-packed

experiences are hard to resist. We have the brains of our ancestors but

temptationstheyneverhadtoface.

Ifyouwanttoincreasetheoddsthatabehaviorwilloccur,thenyouneedto

makeitattractive.Throughoutourdiscussionofthe2ndLaw,ourgoalistolearn

howtomakeourhabits irresistible.While it isnotpossible to transformevery

habitintoasupernormalstimulus,wecanmakeanyhabitmoreenticing.Todo

this,wemuststartbyunderstandingwhatacravingisandhowitworks.

We begin by examining a biological signature that all habits share—the

dopaminespike.

THEDOPAMINE-DRIVENFEEDBACKLOOP

Scientists can track the precise moment a craving occurs by measuring a

neurotransmitter called dopamine.* The importance of dopamine became

apparent in1954when theneuroscientistsJamesOldsandPeterMilner ranan

experiment that revealed theneurologicalprocessesbehindcravinganddesire.

Byimplantingelectrodesinthebrainsofrats,theresearchersblockedtherelease

ofdopamine.Tothesurpriseofthescientists,theratslostallwilltolive.They

wouldn’teat.Theywouldn’thavesex.Theydidn’tcraveanything.Withinafew

days,theanimalsdiedofthirst.

In follow-up studies, other scientists also inhibited the dopamine-releasing

parts of the brain, but this time, they squirted little droplets of sugar into the

mouths of the dopamine-depleted rats. Their little rat faces lit up with

pleasurablegrinsfromthetastysubstance.Eventhoughdopaminewasblocked,

theylikedthesugarjustasmuchasbefore;theyjustdidn’twantitanymore.The

abilitytoexperiencepleasureremained,butwithoutdopamine,desiredied.And

withoutdesire,actionstopped.

Whenotherresearchersreversed thisprocessandflooded therewardsystem

ofthebrainwithdopamine,animalsperformedhabitsatbreakneckspeed.Inone

study,micereceivedapowerfulhitofdopamineeachtimetheypokedtheirnose

in a box.Withinminutes, themice developed a craving so strong they began

pokingtheirnoseintotheboxeighthundredtimesperhour.(Humansarenotso

different:theaverageslotmachineplayerwillspinthewheelsixhundredtimes

perhour.)

Habits are a dopamine-driven feedback loop. Every behavior that is highly

habit-forming—takingdrugs, eating junk food,playingvideogames,browsing

socialmedia—is associatedwith higher levels of dopamine. The same can be

said for our most basic habitual behaviors like eating food, drinking water,

havingsex,andinteractingsocially.

For years, scientists assumeddopaminewas all about pleasure, but nowwe

know it plays a central role in many neurological processes, including

motivation, learning and memory, punishment and aversion, and voluntary

movement.

When itcomes tohabits, thekey takeaway is this:dopamine is releasednot

onlywhenyouexperiencepleasure,butalsowhenyouanticipate it.Gambling

addictshaveadopaminespikerightbeforetheyplaceabet,notaftertheywin.

Cocaine addicts get a surge of dopaminewhen they see the powder, not after

they take it.Wheneveryoupredict thatanopportunitywillberewarding,your

levelsofdopaminespikeinanticipation.Andwheneverdopaminerises,sodoes

yourmotivationtoact.

Itistheanticipationofareward—notthefulfillmentofit—thatgetsustotake

action.

Interestingly,therewardsystemthatisactivatedinthebrainwhenyoureceive

arewardisthesamesystemthatisactivatedwhenyouanticipateareward.This

is one reason the anticipation of an experience can often feel better than the

attainmentofit.Asachild,thinkingaboutChristmasmorningcanbebetterthan

openingthegifts.Asanadult,daydreamingaboutanupcomingvacationcanbe

more enjoyable than actually being on vacation. Scientists refer to this as the

differencebetween“wanting”and“liking.”

THEDOPAMINESPIKE

FIGURE9:Beforeahabitislearned(A),dopamineisreleasedwhentherewardisexperiencedforthefirsttime.Thenexttimearound(B),dopaminerisesbeforetakingaction,immediately

afteracueisrecognized.Thisspikeleadstoafeelingofdesireandacravingtotakeactionwheneverthecueisspotted.Onceahabitislearned,dopaminewillnotrisewhenarewardis

experiencedbecauseyoualreadyexpectthereward.However,ifyouseeacueandexpectareward,butdonotgetone,thendopaminewilldropindisappointment(C).Thesensitivityofthe

dopamineresponsecanclearlybeseenwhenarewardisprovidedlate(D).First,thecueisidentifiedanddopaminerisesasacravingbuilds.Next,aresponseistakenbuttherewarddoesnot

comeasquicklyasexpectedanddopaminebeginstodrop.Finally,whentherewardcomesalittlelaterthanyouhadhoped,dopaminespikesagain.Itisasifthebrainissaying,“See!I

knewIwasright.Don’tforgettorepeatthisactionnexttime.”

Yourbrain has farmoreneural circuitry allocated forwanting rewards than

for liking them.Thewantingcenters in thebrainare large: thebrainstem, the

nucleus accumbens, the ventral tegmental area, the dorsal striatum, the

amygdala, and portions of the prefrontal cortex. By comparison, the liking

centersofthebrainaremuchsmaller.Theyareoftenreferredtoas“hedonichot

spots” and are distributed like tiny islands throughout the brain. For instance,

researchershave found that100percentof thenucleusaccumbens is activated

duringwanting.Meanwhile,only10percentofthestructureisactivatedduring

liking.

The fact that the brain allocates so much precious space to the regions

responsible forcravinganddesireprovides furtherevidenceof thecrucial role

theseprocessesplay.Desire is theengine thatdrivesbehavior.Everyaction is

takenbecauseof theanticipationthatprecedes

it. It is thecravingthat leadsto

theresponse.

Theseinsightsrevealtheimportanceofthe2ndLawofBehaviorChange.We

need tomakeourhabitsattractivebecause it is theexpectationofa rewarding

experience thatmotivates us to act in the first place. This iswhere a strategy

knownastemptationbundlingcomesintoplay.

HOWTOUSETEMPTATIONBUNDLINGTOMAKEYOURHABITS

MOREATTRACTIVE

Ronan Byrne, an electrical engineering student in Dublin, Ireland, enjoyed

watchingNetflix,buthealsoknewthatheshouldexercisemoreoften thanhe

did.Puttinghisengineeringskills touse,Byrnehackedhisstationarybikeand

connectedittohislaptopandtelevision.Thenhewroteacomputerprogramthat

wouldallowNetflixtorunonlyifhewascyclingatacertainspeed.Ifheslowed

downfortoolong,whatevershowhewaswatchingwouldpauseuntilhestarted

pedalingagain.Hewas,inthewordsofonefan,“eliminatingobesityoneNetflix

bingeatatime.”

Hewasalsoemployingtemptationbundlingtomakehisexercisehabitmore

attractive.Temptationbundlingworksbylinkinganactionyouwanttodowith

an action you need to do. In Byrne’s case, he bundled watching Netflix (the

thinghewantedtodo)withridinghisstationarybike(thethingheneededtodo).

Businesses are masters at temptation bundling. For instance, when the

AmericanBroadcastingCompany,morecommonlyknownasABC,launchedits

Thursday-night television lineup for the 2014–2015 season, they promoted

temptationbundlingonamassivescale.

EveryThursday,thecompanywouldairthreeshowscreatedbyscreenwriter

ShondaRhimes—Grey’sAnatomy,Scandal,andHowtoGetAwaywithMurder.

Theybrandeditas“TGITonABC”(TGITstandsforThankGodIt’sThursday).

Inadditiontopromotingtheshows,ABCencouragedviewerstomakepopcorn,

drinkredwine,andenjoytheevening.

AndrewKubitz, headof scheduling forABC,described the ideabehind the

campaign: “We see Thursday night as a viewership opportunity, with either

couplesorwomenbythemselveswhowanttositdownandescapeandhavefun

anddrinktheirredwineandhavesomepopcorn.”Thebrillianceofthisstrategy

is thatABCwas associating the thing theyneeded viewers to do (watch their

shows)withactivitiestheirviewersalreadywantedtodo(relax,drinkwine,and

eatpopcorn).

Over time,peoplebegan toconnectwatchingABCwith feeling relaxedand

entertained. If you drink redwine and eat popcorn at 8 p.m. every Thursday,

theneventually“8p.m.onThursday”means relaxationandentertainment.The

rewardgets associatedwith the cue, and thehabit of turningon the television

becomesmoreattractive.

You’remorelikelytofindabehaviorattractiveifyouget todooneofyour

favorite things at the same time. Perhaps you want to hear about the latest

celebritygossip,butyouneed toget inshape.Using temptationbundling,you

could only read the tabloids andwatch reality shows at the gym.Maybe you

want to get a pedicure, but you need to clean out your email inbox. Solution:

onlygetapedicurewhileprocessingoverdueworkemails.

Temptation bundling is one way to apply a psychology theory known as

Premack’s Principle. Named after the work of professor David Premack, the

principle states that “more probable behaviors will reinforce less probable

behaviors.” In other words, even if you don’t really want to process overdue

work emails, you’ll become conditioned to do it if it means you get to do

somethingyoureallywanttodoalongtheway.

Youcan even combine temptationbundlingwith thehabit stacking strategy

wediscussedinChapter5tocreateasetofrulestoguideyourbehavior.

Thehabitstacking+temptationbundlingformulais:

1. After[CURRENTHABIT],Iwill[HABITINEED].

2. After[HABITINEED],Iwill[HABITIWANT].

Ifyouwanttoreadthenews,butyouneedtoexpressmoregratitude:

1. After I getmymorning coffee, Iwill say one thing I’mgrateful for

thathappenedyesterday(need).

2. AfterIsayonethingI’mgratefulfor,Iwillreadthenews(want).

Ifyouwanttowatchsports,butyouneedtomakesalescalls:

1. AfterIgetbackfrommylunchbreak,Iwillcallthreepotentialclients

(need).

2. AfterIcallthreepotentialclients,IwillcheckESPN(want).

IfyouwanttocheckFacebook,butyouneedtoexercisemore:

1. AfterIpulloutmyphone,Iwilldotenburpees(need).

2. AfterIdotenburpees,IwillcheckFacebook(want).

The hope is that eventually you’ll look forward to calling three clients or

doing ten burpees because it means you get to read the latest sports news or

checkFacebook.Doingthethingyouneedtodomeansyougettodothething

youwanttodo.

We began this chapter by discussing supernormal stimuli, which are

heightenedversionsofrealitythatincreaseourdesiretotakeaction.Temptation

bundlingisonewaytocreateaheightenedversionofanyhabitbyconnectingit

withsomethingyoualreadywant.Engineeringatrulyirresistiblehabitisahard

task, but this simple strategy canbe employed tomakenearly anyhabitmore

attractivethanitwouldbeotherwise.

ChapterSummary

The2ndLawofBehaviorChangeismakeitattractive.

Themoreattractiveanopportunityis,themorelikelyit istobecome

habit-forming.

Habitsareadopamine-drivenfeedbackloop.Whendopaminerises,so

doesourmotivationtoact.

Itistheanticipationofareward—notthefulfillmentofit—thatgetsus

to take action.Thegreater the anticipation, thegreater thedopamine

spike.

Temptationbundlingisonewaytomakeyourhabitsmoreattractive.

The strategy is to pair an action youwant to dowith an action you

needtodo.

TheRoleofFamilyandFriendsinShapingYour

Habits

IN1965,aHungarianmannamedLaszloPolgarwroteaseriesofstrangeletterstoa

womannamedKlara.

Laszlowasafirmbelieverinhardwork.Infact,itwasallhebelievedin:he

completely rejected the idea of innate talent. He claimed that with deliberate

practiceandthedevelopmentofgoodhabits,achildcouldbecomeagenius in

anyfield.Hismantrawas“Ageniusisnotborn,butiseducatedandtrained.”

Laszlobelievedinthisideasostronglythathewantedtotestitwithhisown

children—and he was writing to Klara because he “needed a wife willing to

jumponboard.”Klarawas a teacher and, although shemaynot havebeen as

adamantasLaszlo,shealsobelievedthatwithproperinstruction,anyonecould

advancetheirskills.

Laszlodecidedchesswouldbeasuitablefieldfortheexperiment,andhelaid

out a plan to raise his children to become chess prodigies.Thekidswouldbe

home-schooled,ararityinHungaryatthetime.Thehousewouldbefilledwith

chess books and pictures of famous chess players. The children would play

against each other constantly and compete in the best tournaments they could

find.Thefamilywouldkeepameticulousfilesystemofthetournamenthistory

ofeverycompetitorthechildrenfaced.Theirliveswouldbededicatedtochess.

Laszlo successfullycourtedKlara, andwithina fewyears, thePolgarswere

parentstothreeyounggirls:Susan,Sofia,andJudit.

Susan, theoldest,beganplayingchesswhenshewas fouryearsold.Within

sixmonths,shewasdefeatingadults.

Sofia, the middle child, did even better. By fourteen, she was a world

champion,andafewyearslater,shebecameagrandmaster.

Judit,theyoungest,wasthebestofall.Byagefive,shecouldbeatherfather.

At twelve,shewas theyoungestplayerever listedamong the toponehundred

chessplayersin

theworld.Atfifteenyearsandfourmonthsold,shebecamethe

youngest grandmaster of all time—younger than Bobby Fischer, the previous

recordholder.For twenty-sevenyears, shewas thenumber-one-ranked female

chessplayerintheworld.

ThechildhoodofthePolgarsisterswasatypical,tosaytheleast.Andyet,if

youaskthemaboutit,theyclaimtheirlifestylewasattractive,evenenjoyable.In

interviews, the sisters talk about their childhood as entertaining rather than

grueling.Theylovedplayingchess.Theycouldn’tgetenoughofit.Once,Laszlo

reportedlyfoundSofiaplayingchessinthebathroominthemiddleofthenight.

Encouraginghertogobacktosleep,hesaid,“Sofia,leavethepiecesalone!”To

whichshereplied,“Daddy,theywon’tleavemealone!”

ThePolgarsistersgrewupinaculturethatprioritizedchessaboveallelse—

praisedthemforit,rewardedthemforit.Intheirworld,anobsessionwithchess

was normal. And aswe are about to see, whatever habits are normal in your

cultureareamongthemostattractivebehaviorsyou’llfind.

THESEDUCTIVEPULLOFSOCIALNORMS

Humansareherdanimals.Wewanttofitin,tobondwithothers,andtoearnthe

respectandapprovalofourpeers.Suchinclinationsareessentialtooursurvival.

Formost of our evolutionary history, our ancestors lived in tribes. Becoming

separatedfromthetribe—orworse,beingcastout—wasadeathsentence.“The

lonewolfdies,butthepacksurvives.”*

Meanwhile,thosewhocollaboratedandbondedwithothersenjoyedincreased

safety,matingopportunities,andaccesstoresources.AsCharlesDarwinnoted,

“In the long history of humankind, those who learned to collaborate and

improvise most effectively have prevailed.” As a result, one of the deepest

human desires is to belong. And this ancient preference exerts a powerful

influenceonourmodernbehavior.

We don’t choose our earliest habits,we imitate them.We follow the script

handed down by our friends and family, our church or school, our local

communityandsocietyat large.Eachof theseculturesandgroupscomeswith

its own set of expectations and standards—when andwhether to getmarried,

howmanychildren tohave,whichholidays to celebrate, howmuchmoney to

spendonyourchild’sbirthdayparty.Inmanyways,thesesocialnormsarethe

invisiblerules thatguideyourbehavioreachday.You’realwayskeepingthem

inmind,eveniftheyareatthenottopofyourmind.Often,youfollowthehabits

of your culture without thinking, without questioning, and sometimeswithout

remembering. As the French philosopher Michel de Montaigne wrote, “The

customsandpracticesoflifeinsocietysweepusalong.”

Most of the time, going along with the group does not feel like a burden.

Everyonewantstobelong.Ifyougrowupinafamilythatrewardsyouforyour

chess skills, playing chesswill seem like a very attractive thing to do. If you

workinajobwhereeveryonewearsexpensivesuits, thenyou’llbeinclinedto

splurgeononeaswell.Ifallofyourfriendsaresharinganinsidejokeorusinga

newphrase,you’llwanttodoit,too,sotheyknowthatyou“getit.”Behaviors

areattractivewhentheyhelpusfitin.

Weimitatethehabitsofthreegroupsinparticular:

1. Theclose.

2. Themany.

3. Thepowerful.

Eachgroupoffersanopportunitytoleveragethe2ndLawofBehaviorChange

andmakeourhabitsmoreattractive.

1.ImitatingtheClose

Proximity has a powerful effect on our behavior. This is true of the physical

environment, as we discussed in Chapter 6, but it is also true of the social

environment.

Wepickuphabitsfromthepeoplearoundus.Wecopythewayourparents

handle arguments, the way our peers flirt with one another, the way our

coworkersgetresults.Whenyourfriendssmokepot,yougiveitatry,too.When

yourwifehasahabitofdouble-checkingthatthedoorislockedbeforegoingto

bed,youpickitupaswell.

IfindthatIoftenimitatethebehaviorofthosearoundmewithoutrealizingit.

Inconversation,I’llautomaticallyassumethebodypostureoftheotherperson.

Incollege,Ibegantotalklikemyroommates.Whentravelingtoothercountries,

Iunconsciouslyimitatethelocalaccentdespiteremindingmyselftostop.

As a general rule, the closerwe are to someone, themore likelywe are to

imitatesomeoftheirhabits.Onegroundbreakingstudytrackedtwelvethousand

people for thirty-two years and found that “a person’s chances of becoming

obese increasedby57percent ifheorshehadafriendwhobecameobese.”It

works the other way, too. Another study found that if one person in a

relationshiplostweight,theotherpartnerwouldalsoslimdownaboutonethird

ofthetime.Ourfriendsandfamilyprovideasortofinvisiblepeerpressurethat

pullsusintheirdirection.

Ofcourse,peerpressure isbadonly ifyou’resurroundedbybadinfluences.

WhenastronautMikeMassiminowasagraduatestudentatMIT,hetookasmall

robotics class.Of the ten people in the class, four became astronauts. If your

goalwas tomake it into space, then that roomwasabout thebest cultureyou

couldaskfor.Similarly,onestudyfoundthatthehigheryourbestfriend’sIQat

age eleven or twelve, the higher your IQ would be at age fifteen, even after

controlling for natural levels of intelligence. We soak up the qualities and

practicesofthosearoundus.

Oneofthemosteffectivethingsyoucandotobuildbetterhabitsistojoina

culturewhere your desired behavior is the normal behavior.Newhabits seem

achievablewhenyouseeothersdoingthemeveryday.Ifyouaresurroundedby

fitpeople,you’remorelikelytoconsiderworkingouttobeacommonhabit.If

you’resurroundedbyjazzlovers,you’remorelikelytobelieveit’sreasonableto

play jazz every day.Your culture sets your expectation forwhat is “normal.”

Surroundyourselfwithpeoplewhohave thehabitsyouwant tohaveyourself.

You’llrisetogether.

Tomakeyourhabitsevenmoreattractive,youcantakethisstrategyonestep

further.

Joinaculturewhere(1)yourdesiredbehavioristhenormalbehaviorand(2)

you already have something in common with the group. Steve Kamb, an

entrepreneur in New York City, runs a company called Nerd Fitness, which

“helpsnerds,misfits,andmutantsloseweight,getstrong,andgethealthy.”His

clientsincludevideogamelovers,moviefanatics,andaverageJoeswhowantto

getinshape.Manypeoplefeeloutofplacethefirsttimetheygotothegymor

trytochangetheirdiet,butifyouarealreadysimilartotheothermembersofthe

group in some way—say, your mutual love of Star Wars—change becomes

moreappealingbecauseitfeelslikesomethingpeoplelikeyoualreadydo.

Nothingsustainsmotivationbetterthanbelongingtothetribe.Ittransformsa

personal quest into a shared one. Previously, you were on your own. Your

identitywassingular.Youareareader.Youareamusician.Youareanathlete.

Whenyoujoinabookcluborabandoracyclinggroup,youridentitybecomes

linked to those around you. Growth and change is no longer an individual

pursuit.Wearereaders.Wearemusicians.Wearecyclists.Thesharedidentity

beginstoreinforceyourpersonalidentity.Thisiswhyremainingpartofa*group

after achievingagoal is crucial tomaintainingyourhabits. It’s friendshipand

communitythatembedanewidentityandhelpbehaviorslastoverthelongrun.

2.ImitatingtheMany

Inthe1950s,psychologistSolomonAschconductedaseriesofexperimentsthat

arenow taught to legionsofundergrads eachyear.

Tobegineachexperiment,

the subject entered the roomwithagroupof strangers.Unbeknownst to them,

the other participants were actors planted by the researcher and instructed to

deliverscriptedanswerstocertainquestions.

Thegroupwouldbeshownonecardwithalineonitandthenasecondcard

withaseriesoflines.Eachpersonwasaskedtoselectthelineonthesecondcard

thatwassimilarinlengthtothelineonthefirstcard.Itwasaverysimpletask.

Hereisanexampleoftwocardsusedintheexperiment:

CONFORMINGTOSOCIALNORMS

FIGURE10:ThisisarepresentationoftwocardsusedbySolomonAschinhisfamoussocialconformityexperiments.Thelengthofthelineonthefirstcard(left)isobviouslythesameas

lineC,butwhenagroupofactorsclaimeditwasadifferentlengththeresearchsubjectswouldoftenchangetheirmindsandgowiththecrowdratherthanbelievetheirowneyes.

Theexperimentalwaysbeganthesame.First,therewouldbesomeeasytrials

whereeveryoneagreedonthecorrect line.Afterafewrounds, theparticipants

wereshownatestthatwasjustasobviousasthepreviousones,excepttheactors

in the roomwould select an intentionally incorrect answer.For example, they

would respond “A” to the comparison shown in Figure 10. Everyone would

agreethatthelineswerethesameeventhoughtheywereclearlydifferent.

The subject, who was unaware of the ruse, would immediately become

bewildered. Their eyes would open wide. They would laugh nervously to

themselves.Theywoulddouble-checkthereactionsofotherparticipants.Their

agitationwouldgrowas oneperson after another delivered the same incorrect

response. Soon, the subject began to doubt their own eyes. Eventually, they

deliveredtheanswertheyknewintheirhearttobeincorrect.

Asch ran this experimentmany times and inmanydifferentways.What he

discoveredwasthatasthenumberofactorsincreased,sodidtheconformityof

thesubject.Ifitwasjustthesubjectandoneactor,thentherewasnoeffecton

theperson’s choice.They just assumed theywere in the roomwith adummy.

Whentwoactorswereintheroomwiththesubject,therewasstilllittleimpact.

Butasthenumberofpeopleincreasedtothreeactorsandfourandallthewayto

eight,thesubjectbecamemorelikelytosecond-guessthemselves.Bytheendof

the experiment, nearly 75 percent of the subjects had agreed with the group

answereventhoughitwasobviouslyincorrect.

Whenever we are unsure how to act, we look to the group to guide our

behavior.Weareconstantlyscanningourenvironmentandwondering,“Whatis

everyone else doing?”We check reviews onAmazon orYelp or TripAdvisor

because we want to imitate the “best” buying, eating, and travel habits. It’s

usuallyasmartstrategy.Thereisevidenceinnumbers.

Buttherecanbeadownside.

Thenormalbehaviorofthetribeoftenoverpowersthedesiredbehaviorofthe

individual. For example, one study found that when a chimpanzee learns an

effectivewaytocracknutsopenasamemberofonegroupandthenswitchesto

anewgroup thatusesa lesseffectivestrategy, itwillavoidusing thesuperior

nutcrackingmethodjusttoblendinwiththerestofthechimps.

Humansaresimilar.Thereistremendousinternalpressuretocomplywiththe

norms of the group. The reward of being accepted is often greater than the

rewardofwinninganargument,lookingsmart,orfindingtruth.Mostdays,we’d

ratherbewrongwiththecrowdthanberightbyourselves.

Thehumanmindknowshow togetalongwithothers. Itwants togetalong

withothers.This isournaturalmode.Youcanoverride it—youcanchoose to

ignore thegroupor to stopcaringwhatotherpeople think—but it takeswork.

Runningagainstthegrainofyourculturerequiresextraeffort.

When changing your habits means challenging the tribe, change is

unattractive.Whenchangingyourhabitsmeansfittinginwiththetribe,change

isveryattractive.

3.ImitatingthePowerful

Humans everywhere pursue power, prestige, and status. We want pins and

medallionsonourjackets.WewantPresidentorPartnerinourtitles.Wewantto

be acknowledged, recognized, and praised. This tendency can seem vain, but

overall, it’sasmartmove.Historically,apersonwithgreaterpowerandstatus

has access tomore resources, worries less about survival, and proves to be a

moreattractivemate.

We are drawn to behaviors that earn us respect, approval, admiration, and

status.Wewanttobetheoneinthegymwhocandomuscle-upsorthemusician

who can play the hardest chord progressions or the parent with the most

accomplished children because these things separate us from the crowd.Once

wefitin,westartlookingforwaystostandout.

This is one reason we care so much about the habits of highly effective

people. We try to copy the behavior of successful people because we desire

successourselves.Manyofourdailyhabitsareimitationsofpeopleweadmire.

You replicate the marketing strategies of the most successful firms in your

industry. You make a recipe from your favorite baker. You borrow the

storytelling strategies of your favorite writer. You mimic the communication

styleofyourboss.Weimitatepeopleweenvy.

High-statuspeopleenjoytheapproval,respect,andpraiseofothers.Andthat

meansifabehaviorcangetusapproval,respect,andpraise,wefinditattractive.

We are alsomotivated to avoid behaviors that would lower our status.We

trimourhedgesandmowourlawnbecausewedon’twanttobetheslobofthe

neighborhood.Whenourmothercomestovisit,wecleanupthehousebecause

we don’twant to be judged.We are continuallywondering “Whatwill others

thinkofme?”andalteringourbehaviorbasedontheanswer.

The Polgar sisters—the chess prodigies mentioned at the beginning of this

chapter—areevidenceof thepowerfuland lasting impactsocial influencescan

haveonourbehavior.Thesisterspracticedchessformanyhourseachdayand

continued this remarkable effort for decades. But these habits and behaviors

maintained their attractiveness, in part, because they were valued by their

culture. From the praise of their parents to the achievement of different status

markers likebecomingagrandmaster, theyhadmanyreasons tocontinuetheir

effort.

ChapterSummary

Thecultureweliveindetermineswhichbehaviorsareattractivetous.

Wetendtoadopthabitsthatarepraisedandapprovedofbyourculture

becausewehaveastrongdesiretofitinandbelongtothetribe.

Wetendtoimitatethehabitsofthreesocialgroups:theclose(family

andfriends),themany(thetribe),andthepowerful(thosewithstatus

andprestige).

Oneofthemosteffectivethingsyoucandotobuildbetterhabitsisto

joinaculturewhere(1)yourdesiredbehavioristhenormalbehavior

and(2)youalreadyhavesomethingincommonwiththegroup.

The normal behavior of the tribe often overpowers the desired

behavioroftheindividual.Mostdays,we’dratherbewrongwiththe

crowdthanberightbyourselves.

If a behavior can get us approval, respect, and praise, we find it

attractive.

HowtoFindandFixtheCausesofYourBad

Habits

INLATE2012,IwassittinginanoldapartmentjustafewblocksfromIstanbul’smost

famousstreet,IstiklalCaddesi.Iwasinthemiddleofafour-daytriptoTurkey

andmyguide,Mike,wasrelaxinginaworn-outarmchairafewfeetaway.

Mike wasn’t really a guide. He was just a guy fromMaine who had been

living inTurkey for fiveyears,

butheoffered toshowmearoundwhile Iwas

visitingthecountryandItookhimuponit.Onthisparticularnight,Ihadbeen

invitedtodinnerwithhimandahandfulofhisTurkishfriends.

Therewere sevenofus, and Iwas theonlyonewhohadn’t, at somepoint,

smokedatleastonepackofcigarettesperday.IaskedoneoftheTurkshowhe

got started. “Friends,” he said. “It always startswith your friends.One friend

smokes,thenyoutryit.”

What was truly fascinating was that half of the people in the room had

managed to quit smoking.Mike had been smoke-free for a few years at that

point, and he swore up and down that he broke the habit because of a book

calledAllenCarr’sEasyWaytoStopSmoking.

“Itfreesyoufromthementalburdenofsmoking,”hesaid.“Ittellsyou:‘Stop

lyingtoyourself.Youknowyoudon’tactuallywanttosmoke.Youknowyou

don’treallyenjoythis.’Ithelpsyoufeellikeyou’renotthevictimanymore.You

starttorealizethatyoudon’tneedtosmoke.”

I hadnever tried a cigarette, but I took a look at the book afterward out of

curiosity.Theauthoremploysaninterestingstrategytohelpsmokerseliminate

theircravings.Hesystematicallyreframeseachcueassociatedwithsmokingand

givesitanewmeaning.

Hesaysthingslike:

Youthinkyouarequittingsomething,butyou’renotquittinganything

becausecigarettesdonothingforyou.

Youthinksmokingissomethingyouneedtodotobesocial,but it’s

not.Youcanbesocialwithoutsmokingatall.

Youthinksmokingisaboutrelievingstress,butit’snot.Smokingdoes

notrelieveyournerves,itdestroysthem.

Overandover,herepeats thesephrasesandotherslikethem.“Getitclearly

into your mind,” he says. “You are losing nothing and you are making

marvelous positive gains not only in health, energy and money but also in

confidence, self-respect, freedomand,most important of all, in the length and

qualityofyourfuturelife.”

By the time you get to the end of the book, smoking seems like the most

ridiculousthingintheworldtodo.Andifyounolongerexpectsmokingtobring

youanybenefits,youhavenoreasontosmoke.Itisaninversionofthe2ndLaw

ofBehaviorChange:makeitunattractive.

Now,Iknowthisideamightsoundoverlysimplistic.Justchangeyourmindand

youcanquitsmoking.Butstickwithmeforaminute.

WHERECRAVINGSCOMEFROM

Everybehavior has a surface level craving and a deeper, underlyingmotive. I

oftenhaveacravingthatgoessomethinglikethis:“Iwanttoeattacos.”Ifyou

weretoaskmewhyIwanttoeattacos,Iwouldn’tsay,“BecauseIneedfoodto

survive.”But the truth is, somewhere deep down, I ammotivated to eat tacos

because I have to eat to survive.The underlyingmotive is to obtain food and

waterevenifmyspecificcravingisforataco.

Someofourunderlyingmotivesinclude:*

Conserveenergy

Obtainfoodandwater

Findloveandreproduce

Connectandbondwithothers

Winsocialacceptanceandapproval

Reduceuncertainty

Achievestatusandprestige

Acravingisjustaspecificmanifestationofadeeperunderlyingmotive.Your

braindidnotevolvewithadesiretosmokecigarettesortocheckInstagramorto

playvideogames.Atadeep level,yousimplywant to reduceuncertaintyand

relieveanxiety,towinsocialacceptanceandapproval,ortoachievestatus.

Lookatnearlyanyproductthatishabit-formingandyou’llseethatitdoesnot

create a new motivation, but rather latches onto the underlying motives of

humannature.

Findloveandreproduce=usingTinder

Connectandbondwithothers=browsingFacebook

Winsocialacceptanceandapproval=postingonInstagram

Reduceuncertainty=searchingonGoogle

Achievestatusandprestige=playingvideogames

Yourhabitsaremodern-daysolutionstoancientdesires.Newversionsofold

vices. The underlying motives behind human behavior remain the same. The

specifichabitsweperformdifferbasedontheperiodofhistory.

Here’s thepowerfulpart: therearemanydifferentways toaddress thesame

underlying motive. One person might learn to reduce stress by smoking a

cigarette.Anotherperson learns toease theiranxietybygoing fora run.Your

currenthabitsarenotnecessarily thebestway tosolve theproblemsyouface;

theyarejustthemethodsyoulearnedtouse.Onceyouassociateasolutionwith

theproblemyouneedtosolve,youkeepcomingbacktoit.

Habits are all about associations. These associations determine whether we

predictahabittobeworthrepeatingornot.Aswecoveredinourdiscussionof

the1stLaw,yourbrainiscontinuallyabsorbinginformationandnoticingcuesin

the environment.Every time you perceive a cue, your brain runs a simulation

andmakesapredictionaboutwhattodointhenextmoment.

Cue:Younoticethatthestoveishot.

Prediction:IfItouchitI’llgetburned,soIshouldavoidtouchingit.

Cue:Youseethatthetrafficlightturnedgreen.

Prediction:If Istepon thegas, I’llmake itsafely through the intersectionand

getclosertomydestination,soIshouldsteponthegas.

You see a cue, categorize it based on past experience, and determine the

appropriateresponse.

Thisallhappensinaninstant,butitplaysacrucialroleinyourhabitsbecause

every action is preceded by a prediction. Life feels reactive, but it is actually

predictive.All day long, you aremaking your best guess of how to act given

what you’ve just seen and what has worked for you in the past. You are

endlesslypredictingwhatwillhappeninthenextmoment.

Ourbehaviorisheavilydependentonthesepredictions.Putanotherway,our

behaviorisheavilydependentonhowweinterprettheeventsthathappentous,

not necessarily the objective reality of the events themselves.Twopeople can

look at the same cigarette, and one feels the urge to smokewhile the other is

repulsed by the smell. The same cue can spark a good habit or a bad habit

dependingonyourprediction.Thecauseofyourhabitsisactuallytheprediction

thatprecedesthem.

These predictions lead to feelings, which is how we typically describe a

craving—afeeling,adesire,anurge.Feelingsandemotionstransformthecues

weperceiveandthepredictionswemakeintoasignalthatwecanapply.They

help explain what we are currently sensing. For instance, whether or not you

realize it, you are noticing how warm or cold you feel right now. If the

temperature drops by one degree, you probably won’t do anything. If the

temperature drops ten degrees, however, you’ll feel cold and put on another

layerofclothing.Feelingcoldwasthesignalthatpromptedyoutoact.Youhave

beensensing thecues theentire time,but it isonlywhenyoupredict thatyou

wouldbebetteroffinadifferentstatethatyoutakeaction.

A craving is the sense that something ismissing. It is the desire to change

yourinternalstate.Whenthetemperaturefalls,thereisagapbetweenwhatyour

bodyiscurrentlysensingandwhatitwantstobesensing.Thisgapbetweenyour

currentstateandyourdesiredstateprovidesareasontoact.

Desireisthedifferencebetweenwhereyouarenowandwhereyouwanttobe

in the future. Even the tiniest action is tinged with the motivation to feel

differentlythanyoudointhemoment.Whenyoubinge-eatorlightuporbrowse

socialmedia,whatyoureallywantisnotapotatochiporacigaretteorabunch

oflikes.Whatyoureallywantistofeeldifferent.

Ourfeelingsandemotionstelluswhethertoholdsteadyinourcurrentstateor

tomakeachange.They

helpusdecide thebestcourseofaction.Neurologists

havediscoveredthatwhenemotionsandfeelingsareimpaired,weactuallylose

theabilitytomakedecisions.Wehavenosignalofwhattopursueandwhatto

avoid. As the neuroscientist Antonio Damasio explains, “It is emotion that

allowsyoutomarkthingsasgood,bad,orindifferent.”

To summarize, the specific cravings you feel and habits you perform are

reallyanattempttoaddressyourfundamentalunderlyingmotives.Whenevera

habit successfullyaddressesamotive,youdevelopacraving todo itagain. In

time,youlearntopredictthatcheckingsocialmediawillhelpyoufeellovedor

thatwatchingYouTubewillallowyoutoforgetyourfears.Habitsareattractive

whenweassociatethemwithpositivefeelings,andwecanusethisinsighttoour

advantageratherthantoourdetriment.

HOWTOREPROGRAMYOURBRAINTOENJOYHARDHABITS

Youcanmakehardhabitsmoreattractiveifyoucanlearntoassociatethemwith

a positive experience. Sometimes, all you need is a slight mind-set shift. For

instance,weoftentalkabouteverythingwehavetodoinagivenday.Youhave

to wake up early for work. You have to make another sales call for your

business.Youhavetocookdinnerforyourfamily.

Now,imaginechangingjustoneword:Youdon’t“have”to.You“get”to.

Youget towake up early forwork.Youget tomake another sales call for

yourbusiness.Yougettocookdinnerforyourfamily.Bysimplychangingone

word,youshiftthewayyouvieweachevent.Youtransitionfromseeingthese

behaviorsasburdensandturnthemintoopportunities.

Thekeypoint is thatbothversionsof realityare true.Youhave todo those

things,andyoualsogettodothem.Wecanfindevidenceforwhatevermind-set

wechoose.

Ionceheardastoryaboutamanwhousesawheelchair.Whenaskedifitwas

difficultbeingconfined,he responded,“I’mnotconfined tomywheelchair—I

am liberated by it. If itwasn’t formywheelchair, Iwould be bed-bound and

neverabletoleavemyhouse.”Thisshiftinperspectivecompletelytransformed

howhelivedeachday.

Reframingyourhabitstohighlighttheirbenefitsratherthantheirdrawbacksis

afastandlightweightwaytoreprogramyourmindandmakeahabitseemmore

attractive.

Exercise.Manypeopleassociateexercisewithbeingachallenging task that

drainsenergyandwearsyoudown.Youcan justaseasilyview itasaway to

developskillsandbuildyouup.Insteadoftellingyourself“Ineedtogorunin

themorning,”say“It’stimetobuildenduranceandgetfast.”

Finance.Savingmoneyisoftenassociatedwithsacrifice.However,youcan

associate itwith freedomrather than limitation ifyourealizeonesimple truth:

livingbelowyourcurrentmeans increasesyour futuremeans.Themoneyyou

savethismonthincreasesyourpurchasingpowernextmonth.

Meditation. Anyonewho has triedmeditation formore than three seconds

knowshowfrustrating it canbewhen thenextdistraction inevitablypops into

yourmind.Youcantransformfrustrationintodelightwhenyourealizethateach

interruptiongivesyouachancetopracticereturningtoyourbreath.Distraction

isagoodthingbecauseyouneeddistractionstopracticemeditation.

Pregame jitters. Many people feel anxious before delivering a big

presentation or competing in an important event. They experience quicker

breathing, a faster heart rate, heightened arousal. Ifwe interpret these feelings

negatively, thenwe feel threatenedand tenseup. Ifwe interpret these feelings

positively,thenwecanrespondwithfluidityandgrace.Youcanreframe“Iam

nervous” to “I am excited and I’m getting an adrenaline rush to help me

concentrate.”

Theselittlemind-setshiftsaren’tmagic,buttheycanhelpchangethefeelings

youassociatewithaparticularhabitorsituation.

Ifyouwant to take itastepfurther,youcancreateamotivationritual.You

simplypracticeassociatingyourhabitswithsomethingyouenjoy,thenyoucan

usethatcuewheneveryouneedabitofmotivation.Forinstance,ifyoualways

playthesamesongbeforehavingsex,thenyou’llbegintolinkthemusicwith

theact.Wheneveryouwanttogetinthemood,justpressplay.

Ed Latimore, a boxer and writer from Pittsburgh, benefited from a similar

strategy without knowing it. “Odd realization,” he wrote. “My focus and

concentrationgoesupjustbyputtingmyheadphones[on]whilewriting.Idon’t

evenhavetoplayanymusic.”Withoutrealizingit,hewasconditioninghimself.

Inthebeginning,heputhisheadphoneson,playedsomemusicheenjoyed,and

didfocusedwork.Afterdoingitfive,ten,twentytimes,puttinghisheadphones

on became a cue that he automatically associated with increased focus. The

cravingfollowednaturally.

Athletesuse similar strategies toget themselves in themind-set to perform.

During my baseball career, I developed a specific ritual of stretching and

throwingbeforeeachgame.Thewholesequencetookabouttenminutes,andI

diditthesamewayeverysingletime.Whileitphysicallywarmedmeuptoplay,

more importantly, it putme in the rightmental state. I began to associatemy

pregameritualwithfeelingcompetitiveandfocused.EvenifIwasn’tmotivated

beforehand,bythetimeIwasdonewithmyritual,Iwasin“gamemode.”

You can adapt this strategy for nearly any purpose. Say you want to feel

happier in general. Find something that makes you truly happy—like petting

your dog or taking a bubble bath—and then create a short routine that you

performeverytimebeforeyoudothethingyoulove.Maybeyoutakethreedeep

breathsandsmile.

Threedeepbreaths.Smile.Petthedog.Repeat.

Eventually,you’llbegintoassociatethisbreathe-and-smileroutinewithbeing

inagoodmood.Itbecomesacue thatmeans feelinghappy.Onceestablished,

youcanbreakitoutanytimeyouneedtochangeyouremotionalstate.Stressed

atwork?Takethreedeepbreathsandsmile.Sadaboutlife?Threedeepbreaths

andsmile.Onceahabithasbeenbuilt,thecuecanpromptacraving,evenifit

haslittletodowiththeoriginalsituation.

Thekeytofindingandfixingthecausesofyourbadhabitsistoreframethe

associationsyouhaveaboutthem.It’snoteasy,but ifyoucanreprogramyour

predictions,youcantransformahardhabitintoanattractiveone.

ChapterSummary

The inversion of the 2nd Law of Behavior Change is make it

unattractive.

Every behavior has a surface level craving and a deeper underlying

motive.

Yourhabitsaremodern-daysolutionstoancientdesires.

Thecauseofyourhabitsisactuallythepredictionthatprecedesthem.

Thepredictionleadstoafeeling.

Highlight the benefits of avoiding a bad habit to make it seem

unattractive.

Habits are attractive when we associate them with positive feelings

and unattractive when we associate them with negative feelings.

Createamotivationritualbydoingsomethingyouenjoyimmediately

beforeadifficulthabit.

HOWTOCREATEAGOODHABIT

The1stLaw:MakeItObvious

1.1:FillouttheHabitsScorecard.Writedownyourcurrenthabitstobecomeawareofthem.

1.2:Useimplementationintentions:“Iwill[BEHAVIOR]at[TIME]in[LOCATION].”

1.3:Usehabitstacking:“After[CURRENTHABIT],Iwill[NEWHABIT].”

1.4:Designyourenvironment.Makethecuesofgoodhabitsobviousandvisible.

The2ndLaw:MakeItAttractive

2.1:Usetemptationbundling.Pairanactionyouwanttodowithanactionyouneedtodo.

2.2:Joinaculturewhereyourdesiredbehavioristhenormalbehavior.

2.3:Createamotivationritual.Dosomethingyouenjoyimmediatelybeforeadifficulthabit.

The

3rdLaw:MakeItEasy

The4thLaw:MakeItSatisfying

HOWTOBREAKABADHABIT

Inversionofthe1stLaw:MakeItInvisible

1.5:Reduceexposure.Removethecuesofyourbadhabitsfromyourenvironment.

Inversionofthe2ndLaw:MakeItUnattractive

2.4:Reframeyourmind-set.Highlightthebenefitsofavoidingyourbadhabits.

Inversionofthe3rdLaw:MakeItDifficult

Inversionofthe4thLaw:MakeItUnsatisfying

Youcandownloadaprintableversionofthishabitscheatsheetat:atomichabits.com/cheatsheet

http://atomichabits.com/cheatsheet

THE3RDLAW

MakeItEasy

WalkSlowly,butNeverBackward

ONTHEFIRSTdayofclass,JerryUelsmann,aprofessorattheUniversityofFlorida,

dividedhisfilmphotographystudentsintotwogroups.

Everyone on the left side of the classroom, he explained, would be in the

“quantity” group. They would be graded solely on the amount of work they

produced. On the final day of class, he would tally the number of photos

submittedbyeachstudent.OnehundredphotoswouldrateanA,ninetyphotosa

B,eightyphotosaC,andsoon.

Meanwhile,everyoneontherightsideoftheroomwouldbeinthe“quality”

group.Theywouldbegradedonlyontheexcellenceoftheirwork.Theywould

onlyneedtoproduceonephotoduringthesemester,buttogetanA,ithadtobe

anearlyperfectimage.

Attheendoftheterm,hewassurprisedtofindthatallthebestphotoswere

producedbythequantitygroup.Duringthesemester, thesestudentswerebusy

takingphotos,experimentingwithcompositionandlighting,testingoutvarious

methods in the darkroom, and learning from theirmistakes. In the process of

creating hundreds of photos, they honed their skills. Meanwhile, the quality

groupsataroundspeculatingaboutperfection.Intheend,theyhadlittletoshow

fortheireffortsotherthanunverifiedtheoriesandonemediocrephoto.*

Itiseasytogetboggeddowntryingtofindtheoptimalplanforchange:the

fastestwaytoloseweight,thebestprogramtobuildmuscle,theperfectideafor

asidehustle.Wearesofocusedonfiguringoutthebestapproachthatwenever

getaroundtotakingaction.AsVoltaireoncewrote,“Thebest is theenemyof

thegood.”

Irefertothisasthedifferencebetweenbeinginmotionandtakingaction.The

two ideas sound similar, but they’re not the same. When you’re in motion,

you’re planning and strategizing and learning. Those are all good things, but

theydon’tproducearesult.

Action,ontheotherhand,isthetypeofbehaviorthatwilldeliveranoutcome.

IfIoutlinetwentyideasforarticlesIwanttowrite,that’smotion.IfIactuallysit

downandwriteanarticle,that’saction.IfIsearchforabetterdietplanandread

afewbookson the topic, that’smotion. If Iactuallyeatahealthymeal, that’s

action.

Sometimesmotionisuseful,butitwillneverproduceanoutcomebyitself.It

doesn’tmatterhowmanytimesyougotalktothepersonaltrainer,thatmotion

willnevergetyou in shape.Only theactionofworkingoutwillget the result

you’relookingtoachieve.

If motion doesn’t lead to results, why do we do it? Sometimes we do it

becauseweactuallyneedtoplanorlearnmore.Butmoreoftenthannot,wedo

itbecausemotionallowsustofeellikewe’remakingprogresswithoutrunning

the riskof failure.Mostofus are experts at avoiding criticism. It doesn’t feel

goodtofailortobejudgedpublicly,sowetendtoavoidsituationswherethat

mighthappen.Andthat’sthebiggestreasonwhyyouslipintomotionratherthan

takingaction:youwanttodelayfailure.

It’s easy to be in motion and convince yourself that you’re still making

progress. You think,“I’ve got conversations going with four potential clients

right now. This is good. We’re moving in the right direction.” Or, “I

brainstormedsomeideasforthatbookIwanttowrite.Thisiscomingtogether.”

Motionmakesyoufeellikeyou’regettingthingsdone.Butreally,you’rejust

preparing to get something done. When preparation becomes a form of

procrastination, you need to change something. You don’t want to merely be

planning.Youwanttobepracticing.

Ifyouwanttomasterahabit,thekeyistostartwithrepetition,notperfection.

You don’t need to map out every feature of a new habit. You just need to

practiceit.Thisis thefirst takeawayofthe3rdLaw:youjustneedtogetyour

repsin.

HOWLONGDOESITACTUALLYTAKETOFORMANEWHABIT?

Habitformationistheprocessbywhichabehaviorbecomesprogressivelymore

automatic through repetition. The more you repeat an activity, the more the

structure of your brain changes to become efficient at that activity.

Neuroscientistscallthislong-termpotentiation,whichreferstothestrengthening

ofconnectionsbetweenneuronsinthebrainbasedonrecentpatternsofactivity.

Witheachrepetition,cell-to-cellsignalingimprovesandtheneuralconnections

tighten. First described by neuropsychologist Donald Hebb in 1949, this

phenomenon is commonly known asHebb’s Law: “Neurons that fire together

wiretogether.”

Repeatingahabit leads toclearphysicalchanges in thebrain. Inmusicians,

thecerebellum—criticalforphysicalmovementslikepluckingaguitarstringor

pulling a violin bow—is larger than it is in nonmusicians. Mathematicians,

meanwhile, have increased gray matter in the inferior parietal lobule, which

plays a key role in computation and calculation. Its size is directly correlated

with theamountof timespent in thefield; theolderandmoreexperienced the

mathematician,thegreatertheincreaseingraymatter.

WhenscientistsanalyzedthebrainsoftaxidriversinLondon,theyfoundthat

the hippocampus—a region of the brain involved in spatial memory—was

significantly larger in their subjects than in non–taxi drivers. Even more

fascinating, the hippocampusdecreased in sizewhen a driver retired.Like the

musclesofthebodyrespondingtoregularweighttraining,particularregionsof

thebrainadaptastheyareusedandatrophyastheyareabandoned.

Ofcourse,theimportanceofrepetitioninestablishinghabitswasrecognized

long before neuroscientists began poking around. In 1860, the English

philosopherGeorgeH.Lewesnoted, “In learning to speakanew language, to

play on a musical instrument, or to perform unaccustomed movements, great

difficultyisfelt,becausethechannelsthroughwhicheachsensationhastopass

have not become established; but no sooner has frequent repetition cut a

pathway,thanthisdifficultyvanishes;theactionsbecomesoautomaticthatthey

can be performedwhile themind is otherwise engaged.”Both common sense

andscientificevidenceagree:repetitionisaformofchange.

Each timeyourepeatanaction,youareactivatingaparticularneuralcircuit

associatedwiththathabit.Thismeansthatsimplyputtinginyourrepsisoneof

the most critical steps you can take to encoding a new habit. It is why the

studentswhotooktonsofphotosimprovedtheirskillswhilethosewhomerely

theorizedaboutperfectphotosdidnot.Onegroupengagedinactivepractice,the

otherinpassivelearning.Oneinaction,theotherinmotion.

All habits follow a similar trajectory from effortful practice to automatic

behavior,aprocessknownasautomaticity.Automaticityistheabilitytoperform

a behavior without thinking about each step, which occurs when the

nonconsciousmindtakesover.

Itlookssomethinglikethis:

THEHABITLINE

FIGURE11:Inthebeginning(pointA),ahabitrequiresagooddealofeffortandconcentrationtoperform.

Afterafewrepetitions(pointB),itgetseasier,butstillrequiressomeconscious

attention.Withenoughpractice(pointC),thehabitbecomesmoreautomaticthanconscious.Beyondthisthreshold—thehabitline—thebehaviorcanbedonemoreorlesswithoutthinking.

Anewhabithasbeenformed.

Onthefollowingpage,you’llseewhatitlookslikewhenresearcherstrackthe

levelofautomaticityforanactualhabit likewalkingfor tenminuteseachday.

The shape of these charts, which scientists call learning curves, reveals an

important truth about behavior change: habits form based on frequency, not

time.

WALKING10MINUTESPERDAY

FIGURE12:This graph shows someonewhobuilt the habit ofwalking for tenminutes after breakfast eachday.Notice that as the repetitions increase, sodoes automaticity, until the

behaviorisaseasyandautomaticasitcanbe.

OneofthemostcommonquestionsIhearis,“Howlongdoesittaketobuilda

newhabit?”Butwhatpeoplereallyshouldbeaskingis,“Howmanydoesittake

toformanewhabit?”Thatis,howmanyrepetitionsarerequiredtomakeahabit

automatic?

Thereisnothingmagicalabouttimepassingwithregardtohabitformation.It

doesn’tmatterifit’sbeentwenty-onedaysorthirtydaysorthreehundreddays.

What matters is the rate at which you perform the behavior. You could do

something twice in thirty days, or two hundred times. It’s the frequency that

makesthedifference.Yourcurrenthabitshavebeeninternalizedoverthecourse

ofhundreds,ifnotthousands,ofrepetitions.Newhabitsrequirethesamelevel

of frequency.Youneed to string togetherenoughsuccessful attemptsuntil the

behaviorisfirmlyembeddedinyourmindandyoucrosstheHabitLine.

In practice, it doesn’t reallymatter how long it takes for a habit to become

automatic.Whatmatters is thatyou take theactionsyouneed to take tomake

progress.Whetheranactionisfullyautomaticisoflessimportance.

Tobuildahabit,youneedtopracticeit.Andthemosteffectivewaytomake

practicehappenistoadheretothe3rdLawofBehaviorChange:makeiteasy.

Thechaptersthatfollowwillshowyouhowtodoexactlythat.

ChapterSummary

The3rdLawofBehaviorChangeismakeiteasy.

Themosteffectiveformoflearningispractice,notplanning.

Focusontakingaction,notbeinginmotion.

Habit formation is the process by which a behavior becomes

progressivelymoreautomaticthroughrepetition.

The amount of time you have been performing a habit is not as

importantasthenumberoftimesyouhaveperformedit.

TheLawofLeastEffort

IN HIS AWARD-WINNING BOOK,Guns, Germs, and Steel, anthropologist and biologist Jared

Diamondpointsoutasimplefact:differentcontinentshavedifferentshapes.At

firstglance,thisstatementseemsratherobviousandunimportant,butitturnsout

tohaveaprofoundimpactonhumanbehavior.

The primary axis of the Americas runs from north to south. That is, the

landmassofNorthandSouthAmericatendstobetallandthinratherthanwide

and fat. The same is generally true for Africa.Meanwhile, the landmass that

makesupEurope,Asia,andtheMiddleEastistheopposite.Thismassivestretch

of land tends to be more east-west in shape. According to Diamond, this

differenceinshapeplayedasignificantroleinthespreadofa*gricultureoverthe

centuries.

When agriculture began to spread around the globe, farmers had an easier

time expanding along east-west routes than along north-south ones. This is

because locations along the same latitude generally share similar climates,

amountsofsunlightandrainfall,andchanges inseason.Thesefactorsallowed

farmersinEuropeandAsiatodomesticateafewcropsandgrowthemalongthe

entirestretchoflandfromFrancetoChina.

THESHAPEOFHUMANBEHAVIOR

FIGURE13:The primary axis ofEurope andAsia is east-west.The primary axis of theAmericas andAfrica is north-south.This leads to awider range of climates up-and-down the

AmericasthanacrossEuropeandAsia.Asaresult,agriculturespreadnearlytwiceasfastacrossEuropeandAsiathanitdidelsewhere.Thebehavioroffarmers—evenacrosshundredsor

thousandsofyears—wasconstrainedbytheamountoffrictionintheenvironment.

Bycomparison,theclimatevariesgreatlywhentravelingfromnorthtosouth.

Just imaginehowdifferent theweather is inFloridacompared toCanada.You

canbethemosttalentedfarmerintheworld,butitwon’thelpyougrowFlorida

oranges in theCanadianwinter.Snow is apoor substitute for soil. Inorder to

spread crops along north-south routes, farmers would need to find and

domesticatenewplantswhenevertheclimatechanged.

As a result, agriculture spread two to three times faster across Asia and

Europe than itdidupanddowntheAmericas.Over thespanofcenturies, this

smalldifferencehadaverybig impact. Increased foodproductionallowed for

more rapid population growth.Withmore people, these cultureswere able to

build stronger armies and were better equipped to develop new technologies.

Thechangesstartedoutsmall—acropthatspreadslightlyfarther,apopulation

thatgrewslightlyfaster—butcompoundedintosubstantialdifferencesovertime.

The spread of agriculture provides an example of the 3rd Law ofBehavior

Changeonaglobalscale.Conventionalwisdomholdsthatmotivationisthekey

tohabitchange.Maybeifyoureallywantedit,you’dactuallydoit.Butthetruth

is,our realmotivation is tobe lazyand todowhat isconvenient.Anddespite

whatthelatestproductivitybestsellerwilltellyou,thisisasmartstrategy,nota

dumbone.

Energyisprecious,andthebrainiswiredtoconserveitwheneverpossible.It

is human nature to follow the Law of Least Effort, which states that when

decidingbetweentwosimilaroptions,peoplewillnaturallygravitatetowardthe

option that requires the least amount of work.* For example, expanding your

farmto theeastwhereyoucangrowthesamecropsrather thanheadingnorth

wheretheclimateisdifferent.Outofallthepossibleactionswecouldtake,the

onethatisrealizedistheonethatdeliversthemostvaluefortheleasteffort.We

aremotivatedtodowhatiseasy.

Everyactionrequiresacertainamountofenergy.Themoreenergyrequired,

the less likely it is tooccur. Ifyourgoal is todoahundredpush-upsperday,

that’salotofenergy!Inthebeginning,whenyou’remotivatedandexcited,you

canmusterthestrengthtogetstarted.Butafterafewdays,suchamassiveeffort

feelsexhausting.Meanwhile,stickingtothehabitofdoingonepush-upperday

requiresalmostnoenergytogetstarted.Andthelessenergyahabitrequires,the

morelikelyitistooccur.

Lookatanybehaviorthatfillsupmuchofyourlifeandyou’llseethatitcan

be performedwith very low levels ofmotivation.Habits like scrolling on our

phones, checking email, and watching television steal so much of our time

because they can be performed almost without effort. They are remarkably

convenient.

In a sense, every habit is just an obstacle to getting what you really want.

Dieting is an obstacle to getting fit.Meditation is an obstacle to feeling calm.

Journaling isanobstacle to thinkingclearly.Youdon’tactuallywant thehabit

itself.What you reallywant is theoutcome thehabit delivers.Thegreater the

obstacle—thatis,themoredifficultthehabit—themorefrictionthereisbetween

youandyourdesiredendstate.Thisiswhyitiscrucialtomakeyourhabitsso

easythatyou’lldothemevenwhen

youdon’tfeellikeit.Ifyoucanmakeyour

goodhabitsmoreconvenient,you’llbemorelikelytofollowthroughonthem.

Butwhataboutallthemomentswhenweseemtodotheopposite?Ifwe’reall

solazy,thenhowdoyouexplainpeopleaccomplishinghardthingslikeraisinga

childorstartingabusinessorclimbingMountEverest?

Certainly, you are capable of doing very hard things. The problem is that

somedaysyoufeellikedoingthehardworkandsomedaysyoufeellikegiving

in.Onthetoughdays,it’scrucialtohaveasmanythingsworkinginyourfavor

aspossible so thatyoucanovercome thechallenges lifenaturally throwsyour

way.Thelessfrictionyouface,theeasieritisforyourstrongerselftoemerge.

Theideabehindmakeiteasyisnottoonlydoeasythings.Theideaistomakeit

aseasyaspossibleinthemomenttodothingsthatpayoffinthelongrun.

HOWTOACHIEVEMOREWITHLESSEFFORT

Imagineyouareholdingagardenhose that isbent in themiddle.Somewater

canflowthrough,butnotverymuch.Ifyouwanttoincreasetherateatwhich

waterpassesthroughthehose,youhavetwooptions.Thefirstoptionistocrank

upthevalveandforcemorewaterout.Thesecondoptionis tosimplyremove

thebendinthehoseandletwaterflowthroughnaturally.

Tryingtopumpupyourmotivationtostickwithahardhabitisliketryingto

forcewaterthroughabenthose.Youcandoit,butitrequiresalotofeffortand

increases the tension in your life.Meanwhile,making your habits simple and

easyis likeremovingthebendinthehose.Rather thantryingtoovercomethe

frictioninyourlife,youreduceit.

One of themost effective ways to reduce the friction associated with your

habitsistopracticeenvironmentdesign.InChapter6,wediscussedenvironment

design as amethod formaking cuesmore obvious, but you can also optimize

yourenvironmenttomakeactionseasier.Forexample,whendecidingwhereto

practiceanewhabit,itisbesttochooseaplacethatisalreadyalongthepathof

yourdailyroutine.Habitsareeasiertobuildwhentheyfitintotheflowofyour

life.Youaremorelikelytogotothegymifitisonyourwaytoworkbecause

stoppingdoesn’taddmuchfrictiontoyourlifestyle.Bycomparison,ifthegym

isoffthepathofyournormalcommute—evenbyjustafewblocks—nowyou’re

going“outofyourway”togetthere.

Perhaps even more effective is reducing the friction within your home or

office.Toooften,wetrytostarthabitsinhigh-frictionenvironments.Wetryto

follow a strict dietwhilewe are out to dinnerwith friends.We try towrite a

book in a chaotic household.We try to concentratewhile using a smartphone

filledwithdistractions.Itdoesn’thavetobethisway.Wecanremovethepoints

offrictionthatholdusback.Thisispreciselywhatelectronicsmanufacturersin

Japanbegantodointhe1970s.

InanarticlepublishedintheNewYorkertitled“BetterAlltheTime,”James

Suroweickiwrites:

“Japanese firms emphasized what came to be known as ‘lean production,’

relentlessly looking to removewasteof all kinds from theproductionprocess,

downtoredesigningworkspaces,soworkersdidn’thavetowastetimetwisting

andturningtoreachtheirtools.TheresultwasthatJapanesefactoriesweremore

efficientandJapaneseproductsweremorereliablethanAmericanones.In1974,

servicecallsforAmerican-madecolortelevisionswerefivetimesascommonas

forJapanesetelevisions.By1979,ittookAmericanworkersthreetimesaslong

toassembletheirsets.”

I like to refer to this strategy as addition by subtraction.* The Japanese

companies looked for everypointof friction in themanufacturingprocessand

eliminated it. As they subtracted wasted effort, they added customers and

revenue.Similarly,whenweremovethepointsoffrictionthatsapourtimeand

energy,wecanachievemorewithlesseffort.(Thisisonereasontidyingupcan

feel so good: we are simultaneously moving forward and lightening the

cognitiveloadourenvironmentplacesonus.)

Ifyou lookat themosthabit-formingproducts,you’llnotice thatoneof the

thingsthesegoodsandservicesdobestisremovelittlebitsoffrictionfromyour

life.Mealdeliveryservicesreducethefrictionofshoppingforgroceries.Dating

apps reduce the friction of making social introductions. Ride-sharing services

reducethefrictionofgettingacrosstown.Textmessagingreducesthefrictionof

sendingaletterinthemail.

Like a Japanese television manufacturer redesigning their workspace to

reducewastedmotion,successfulcompaniesdesigntheirproductstoautomate,

eliminate, or simplify as many steps as possible. They reduce the number of

fieldsoneachform.Theyparedownthenumberofclicksrequiredtocreatean

account. They deliver their productswith easy-to-understand directions or ask

theircustomerstomakefewerchoices.

Whenthefirstvoice-activatedspeakerswerereleased—productslikeGoogle

Home, Amazon Echo, and Apple HomePod—I asked a friend what he liked

abouttheproducthehadpurchased.Hesaiditwasjusteasiertosay“Playsome

country music” than to pull out his phone, open the music app, and pick a

playlist.Ofcourse,justafewyearsearlier,havingunlimitedaccesstomusicin

yourpocketwasa remarkably frictionlessbehaviorcompared todriving to the

store and buying a CD. Business is a never-ending quest to deliver the same

resultinaneasierfashion.

Similar strategies have been used effectively by governments. When the

Britishgovernmentwanted to increase taxcollection rates, theyswitched from

sending citizens to a web page where the tax form could be downloaded to

linkingdirectlytotheform.Reducingthatonestepintheprocessincreasedthe

response rate from19.2percent to23.4percent.For a country like theUnited

Kingdom,thosepercentagepointsrepresentmillionsintaxrevenue.

Thecentralideaistocreateanenvironmentwheredoingtherightthingisas

easy as possible.Much of the battle of building better habits comes down to

findingwaystoreducethefrictionassociatedwithourgoodhabitsandincrease

thefrictionassociatedwithourbadones.

PRIMETHEENVIRONMENTFORFUTUREUSE

Oswald Nuckols is an IT developer from Natchez, Mississippi. He is also

someonewhounderstandsthepowerofpriminghisenvironment.

Nuckolsdialed inhiscleaninghabitsby followinga strategyhe refers toas

“resetting the room.” For instance, when he finishes watching television, he

placestheremotebackontheTVstand,arrangesthepillowsonthecouch,and

foldstheblanket.Whenheleaveshiscar,hethrowsanytrashaway.Whenever

hetakesashower,hewipesdownthetoiletwhiletheshoweriswarmingup.(As

henotes,the“perfecttimetocleanthetoiletisrightbeforeyouwashyourselfin

theshoweranyway.”)Thepurposeofresettingeachroomisnotsimplytoclean

upafterthelastaction,buttoprepareforthenextaction.

“When Iwalk into a room everything is in its right place,”Nuckolswrote.

“BecauseIdothiseverydayineveryroom,stuffalwaysstaysingoodshape....

PeoplethinkIworkhardbutI’mactuallyreallylazy.I’mjustproactivelylazy.It

givesyousomuchtimeback.”

Wheneveryouorganizeaspaceforitsintendedpurpose,youareprimingitto

makethenextactioneasy.Forinstance,mywifekeepsaboxofgreetingcards

that are presorted by occasion—birthday, sympathy,wedding, graduation, and

more.Whenevernecessary,shegrabsanappropriatecardandsendsitoff.Sheis

incredibly good at remembering to send cards because she has reduced

the

frictionofdoingso.Foryears,Iwastheopposite.Someonewouldhaveababy

andIwouldthink,“Ishouldsendacard.”Butthenweekswouldpassandbythe

timeIrememberedtopickoneupatthestore,itwastoolate.Thehabitwasn’t

easy.

Therearemanywaystoprimeyourenvironmentsoit’sreadyforimmediate

use.Ifyouwanttocookahealthybreakfast,placetheskilletonthestove,setthe

cookingsprayonthecounter,andlayoutanyplatesandutensilsyou’llneedthe

nightbefore.Whenyouwakeup,makingbreakfastwillbeeasy.

Want todrawmore?Putyourpencils,pens,notebooks, anddrawing

toolsontopofyourdesk,withineasyreach.

Wanttoexercise?Setoutyourworkoutclothes,shoes,gymbag,and

waterbottleaheadoftime.

Wanttoimproveyourdiet?Chopupatonoffruitsandvegetableson

weekends and pack them in containers, so you have easy access to

healthy,ready-to-eatoptionsduringtheweek.

Thesearesimplewaystomakethegoodhabitthepathofleastresistance.

You can also invert this principle and prime the environment to make bad

behaviors difficult. If you find yourself watching too much television, for

example, thenunplugitaftereachuse.Onlyplugitbackin ifyoucansayout

loud the nameof the showyouwant towatch.This setup creates just enough

frictiontopreventmindlessviewing.

Ifthatdoesn’tdoit,youcantakeitastepfurther.Unplugthetelevisionand

takethebatteriesoutoftheremoteaftereachuse,soittakesanextratenseconds

toturnitbackon.Andifyou’rereallyhard-core,movethetelevisionoutofthe

livingroomandintoaclosetaftereachuse.Youcanbesureyou’llonlytakeit

outwhenyoureallywanttowatchsomething.Thegreaterthefriction,theless

likelythehabit.

Wheneverpossible, I leavemyphone inadifferent roomuntil lunch.When

it’srightnexttome,I’llcheckitallmorningfornoreasonatall.Butwhenitis

in another room, I rarely thinkabout it.And the friction ishighenough that I

won’t go get it without a reason. As a result, I get three to four hours each

morningwhenIcanworkwithoutinterruption.

Ifstickingyourphoneinanotherroomdoesn’tseemlikeenough,tellafriend

orfamilymembertohideitfromyouforafewhours.Askacoworkertokeepit

attheirdeskinthemorningandgiveitbacktoyouatlunch.

It is remarkablehowlittle friction is required topreventunwantedbehavior.

WhenIhidebeerinthebackofthefridgewhereIcan’tseeit,Idrinkless.When

Idelete socialmediaapps frommyphone, it canbeweeksbefore Idownload

themagainandlogin.Thesetricksareunlikelytocurbatrueaddiction,butfor

manyofus,alittlebitoffrictioncanbethedifferencebetweenstickingwitha

goodhabitorslidingintoabadone.Imaginethecumulativeimpactofmaking

dozensofthesechangesandlivinginanenvironmentdesignedtomakethegood

behaviorseasierandthebadbehaviorsharder.

Whether we are approaching behavior change as an individual, a parent, a

coach, or a leader,we should ask ourselves the same question: “How canwe

design aworldwhere it’s easy to dowhat’s right?”Redesign your life so the

actionsthatmattermostarealsotheactionsthatareeasiesttodo.

ChapterSummary

Human behavior follows the Law of Least Effort.Wewill naturally

gravitatetowardtheoptionthatrequirestheleastamountofwork.

Create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as

possible.

Reduce the friction associatedwithgoodbehaviors.When friction is

low,habitsareeasy.

Increase the friction associatedwith bad behaviors.When friction is

high,habitsaredifficult.

Primeyourenvironmenttomakefutureactionseasier.

HowtoStopProcrastinatingbyUsingtheTwo-

MinuteRule

TWYLATHARP ISwidelyregardedasoneofthegreatestdancersandchoreographers

of themodern era. In 1992, she was awarded aMacArthur Fellowship, often

referredtoastheGeniusGrant,andshehasspentthebulkofhercareertouring

theglobetoperformheroriginalworks.Shealsocreditsmuchofhersuccessto

simpledailyhabits.

“I begin each day ofmy lifewith a ritual,” shewrites. “Iwake up at 5:30

A.M.,putonmyworkoutclothes,mylegwarmers,mysweatshirt,andmyhat.I

walkoutsidemyManhattanhome,haila taxi,andtell thedriver to takemeto

thePumpingIrongymat91stStreetandFirstAvenue,whereIworkoutfortwo

hours.

“The ritual is not the stretching andweight training I putmy body through

each morning at the gym; the ritual is the cab. The moment I tell the driver

wheretogoIhavecompletedtheritual.

“It’sasimpleact,butdoing it thesamewayeachmorninghabitualizes it—

makesitrepeatable,easytodo.ItreducesthechancethatIwouldskipitordoit

differently.It isonemoreiteminmyarsenalofroutines,andonelessthingto

thinkabout.”

Hailingacabeachmorningmaybeatinyaction,butitisasplendidexample

ofthe3rdLawofBehaviorChange.

Researchersestimatethat40to50percentofouractionsonanygivendayare

doneoutofhabit.Thisisalreadyasubstantialpercentage,butthetrueinfluence

ofyourhabitsisevengreaterthanthesenumberssuggest.Habitsareautomatic

choices that influence the consciousdecisions that follow.Yes, a habit canbe

completedinjustafewseconds,butitcanalsoshapetheactionsthatyoutake

forminutesorhoursafterward.

Habitsare like theentrance ramp toahighway.They leadyoudownapath

and,beforeyouknowit,you’respeedingtowardthenextbehavior.Itseemsto

beeasier tocontinuewhatyouarealreadydoingthantostartdoingsomething

different.Yousit throughabadmoviefor twohours.Youkeepsnackingeven

whenyou’re already full.Youcheckyourphone for “just a second”and soon

youhavespenttwentyminutesstaringatthescreen.Inthisway,thehabitsyou

follow without thinking often determine the choices you make when you are

thinking.

Eachevening,thereisatinymoment—usuallyaround5:15p.m.—thatshapes

therestofmynight.Mywifewalksinthedoorfromworkandeitherwechange

intoourworkoutclothesandheadtothegymorwecrashontothecouch,order

Indianfood,andwatchTheOffice.*SimilartoTwylaTharphailingthecab,the

ritual is changing into my workout clothes. If I change clothes, I know the

workout will happen. Everything that follows—driving to the gym, deciding

whichexercisestodo,steppingunderthebar—iseasyonceI’vetakenthefirst

step.

Everyday,thereareahandfulofmomentsthatdeliveranoutsizedimpact.I

refer to these little choices as decisive moments. The moment you decide

betweenordering takeoutorcookingdinner.Themomentyouchoosebetween

drivingyourcaror ridingyourbike.Themomentyoudecidebetweenstarting

yourhomeworkorgrabbingthevideogamecontroller.Thesechoicesareafork

intheroad.

DECISIVEMOMENTS

FIGURE14:Thedifferencebetweenagooddayandabaddayisoftenafewproductiveandhealthychoicesmadeatdecisivemoments.Eachoneislikeaforkintheroad,andthesechoices

stackupthroughoutthedayandcanultimatelyleadtoverydifferentoutcomes.

Decisivemomentsset theoptionsavailable toyour futureself.For instance,

walkingintoarestaurantisadecisivemomentbecauseitdetermineswhatyou’ll

beeatingforlunch.Technically,youareincontrolofwhatyouorder,butina

largersense,youcanonlyorderanitemifitisonthemenu.Ifyouwalkintoa

steakhouse, you canget a sirloin or a rib eye, but not sushi.Your options are

constrainedbywhat’savailable.Theyareshapedbythefirstchoice.

teams.

At the start of 2017, I launched the Habits Academy, which became the

premiertrainingplatformfororganizationsandindividualsinterestedinbuilding

better habits in life andwork.* Fortune 500 companies and growing start-ups

began to enroll their leaders and train their staff. In total, over ten thousand

leaders, managers, coaches, and teachers have graduated from the Habits

Academy, andmyworkwith themhas taughtme an incredible amount about

whatittakestomakehabitsworkintherealworld.

As I put the finishing touches on this book in 2018, jamesclear.com is

receivingmillionsofvisitorspermonthandnearlyfivehundredthousandpeople

subscribe tomyweekly email newsletter—anumber that is so far beyondmy

expectationswhenIbeganthatI’mnotevensurewhattothinkofit.

HOWTHISBOOKWILLBENEFITYOU

TheentrepreneurandinvestorNavalRavikanthassaid,“Towriteagreatbook,

youmustfirstbecomethebook.”Ioriginallylearnedabouttheideasmentioned

herebecauseIhadtolivethem.Ihadtorelyonsmallhabitstoreboundfrommy

injury, to get stronger in the gym, to perform at a high level on the field, to

become awriter, to build a successful business, and simply to develop into a

responsible adult. Small habits helped me fulfill my potential, and since you

pickedupthisbook,I’mguessingyou’dliketofulfillyoursaswell.

In the pages that follow, Iwill share a step-by-step plan for building better

habits—not for days or weeks, but for a lifetime. While science supports

everything I’ve written, this book is not an academic research paper; it’s an

operatingmanual.You’llfindwisdomandpracticaladvicefrontandcenterasI

explainthescienceofhowtocreateandchangeyourhabitsinawaythatiseasy

tounderstandandapply.

The fields I draw on—biology, neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, and

more—havebeenaroundformanyyears.WhatIofferyouisasynthesisofthe

best ideas smart people figured out a long time ago as well as the most

compellingdiscoveriesscientistshavemaderecently.Mycontribution,Ihope,is

to find the ideas that matter most and connect them in a way that is highly

actionable.Anythingwiseinthesepagesyoushouldcredittothemanyexperts

whoprecededme.Anythingfoolish,assumeitismyerror.

The backbone of this book is my four-step model of habits—cue, craving,

response,andreward—andthefourlawsofbehaviorchangethatevolveoutof

thesesteps.Readerswithapsychologybackgroundmayrecognizesomeofthese

terms from operant conditioning, which was first proposed as “stimulus,

response,reward”byB.F.Skinnerinthe1930sandhasbeenpopularizedmore

recentlyas“cue,routine,reward”inThePowerofHabitbyCharlesDuhigg.

BehavioralscientistslikeSkinnerrealizedthatifyouofferedtherightreward

orpunishment,youcouldgetpeopletoactinacertainway.ButwhileSkinner’s

model did an excellent job of explaining how external stimuli influenced our

habits, it lackedagoodexplanationforhowour thoughts, feelings,andbeliefs

impactourbehavior. Internalstates—ourmoodsandemotions—matter, too. In

recentdecades, scientistshavebegun todetermine theconnectionbetweenour

thoughts, feelings, and behavior. This research will also be covered in these

pages.

In total, the framework I offer is an integratedmodel of the cognitive and

behavioralsciences.Ibelieveitisoneofthefirstmodelsofhumanbehaviorto

accurately account for both the influence of external stimuli and internal

emotions on our habits. While some of the language may be familiar, I am

confident that the details—and the applications of the FourLaws ofBehavior

Change—willofferanewwaytothinkaboutyourhabits.

Human behavior is always changing: situation to situation, moment to

moment, second to second. But this book is about what doesn’t change. It’s

about thefundamentalsofhumanbehavior.Thelastingprinciplesyoucanrely

on year after year. The ideas you can build a business around, build a family

around,buildalifearound.

Thereisnoonerightwaytocreatebetterhabits,but thisbookdescribes the

bestway I know—an approach thatwill be effective regardless ofwhere you

startorwhatyou’retryingtochange.ThestrategiesIcoverwillberelevant to

anyonelookingforastep-by-stepsystemforimprovement,whetheryourgoals

centeronhealth,money,productivity,relationships,oralloftheabove.Aslong

ashumanbehaviorisinvolved,thisbookwillbeyourguide.

THE

FUNDAMENTALS

WhyTinyChangesMakeaBigDifference

TheSurprisingPowerofAtomicHabits

THEFATEOFBritishCyclingchangedonedayin2003.Theorganization,whichwas

thegoverningbodyforprofessionalcyclinginGreatBritain,hadrecentlyhired

Dave Brailsford as its new performance director. At the time, professional

cyclists inGreatBritain had endured nearly one hundred years ofmediocrity.

Since 1908, British riders had won just a single gold medal at the Olympic

Games, and they had fared evenworse in cycling’s biggest race, the Tour de

France.In110years,noBritishcyclisthadeverwontheevent.

Infact,theperformanceofBritishridershadbeensounderwhelmingthatone

ofthetopbikemanufacturersinEuroperefusedtosellbikestotheteambecause

theywereafraidthatitwouldhurtsalesifotherprofessionalssawtheBritsusing

theirgear.

Brailsford had been hired to put BritishCycling on a new trajectory.What

madehimdifferent frompreviouscoacheswashis relentless commitment to a

strategythathereferredtoas“theaggregationofmarginalgains,”whichwasthe

philosophyofsearchingforatinymarginofimprovementineverythingyoudo.

Brailsfordsaid,“Thewholeprinciplecamefromtheideathatifyoubrokedown

everythingyoucouldthinkofthatgoesintoridingabike,andthenimproveitby

1percent,youwillgetasignificantincreasewhenyouputthemalltogether.”

Brailsford and his coaches began by making small adjustments you might

expectfromaprofessionalcyclingteam.Theyredesignedthebikeseatstomake

themmorecomfortableand rubbedalcoholon the tires forabettergrip.They

asked riders to wear electrically heated overshorts to maintain ideal muscle

temperature while riding and used biofeedback sensors to monitor how each

athlete responded toaparticularworkout.The team testedvarious fabrics in a

wind tunnel and had their outdoor riders switch to indoor racing suits, which

provedtobelighterandmoreaerodynamic.

Buttheydidn’tstopthere.Brailsfordandhisteamcontinuedtofind1percent

improvements inoverlookedandunexpectedareas.They testeddifferent types

ofmassagegelstoseewhichoneledtothefastestmusclerecovery.Theyhireda

surgeon to teach each rider the best way to wash their hands to reduce the

chancesofcatchingacold.Theydeterminedthetypeofpillowandmattressthat

led to thebestnight’ssleepforeachrider.Theyevenpaintedthe insideof the

teamtruckwhite,whichhelpedthemspotlittlebitsofdustthatwouldnormally

slipbyunnoticedbutcoulddegradetheperformanceofthefinelytunedbikes.

Astheseandhundredsofothersmallimprovementsaccumulated,theresults

camefasterthananyonecouldhaveimagined.

JustfiveyearsafterBrailsfordtookover,theBritishCyclingteamdominated

theroadandtrackcyclingeventsatthe2008OlympicGamesinBeijing,where

they won an astounding 60 percent of the gold medals

We are limited by where our habits lead us. This is why mastering the

decisivemomentsthroughoutyourdayissoimportant.Eachdayismadeupof

manymoments, but it is really a fewhabitual choices that determine the path

you take.These littlechoices stackup,eachonesetting the trajectory forhow

youspendthenextchunkoftime.

Habitsaretheentrypoint,nottheendpoint.Theyarethecab,notthegym.

THETWO-MINUTERULE

Evenwhenyouknowyoushouldstartsmall,it’seasytostarttoobig.Whenyou

dreamaboutmakingachange,excitementinevitablytakesoverandyouendup

tryingtodotoomuchtoosoon.ThemosteffectivewayIknowtocounteractthis

tendency is to use the Two-MinuteRule,which states, “Whenyou start a new

habit,itshouldtakelessthantwominutestodo.”

You’ll find that nearly any habit can be scaled down into a two-minute

version:

“Readbeforebedeachnight”becomes“Readonepage.”

“Dothirtyminutesofyoga”becomes“Takeoutmyyogamat.”

“Studyforclass”becomes“Openmynotes.”

“Foldthelaundry”becomes“Foldonepairofsocks.”

“Runthreemiles”becomes“Tiemyrunningshoes.”

The idea is to make your habits as easy as possible to start. Anyone can

meditateforoneminute,readonepage,orputoneitemofclothingaway.And,

aswehavejustdiscussed,thisisapowerfulstrategybecauseonceyou’vestarted

doingtherightthing,itismucheasiertocontinuedoingit.Anewhabitshould

notfeellikeachallenge.Theactionsthatfollowcanbechallenging,butthefirst

twominutesshouldbeeasy.Whatyouwantisa“gatewayhabit”thatnaturally

leadsyoudownamoreproductivepath.

Youcanusually figureout thegatewayhabits thatwill lead toyourdesired

outcomebymappingoutyourgoalsonascalefrom“veryeasy”to“veryhard.”

For instance, runningamarathon isveryhard.Runninga5Kishard.Walking

ten thousand steps is moderately difficult. Walking ten minutes is easy. And

putting on your running shoes is very easy. Your goal might be to run a

marathon,butyourgatewayhabit is toputonyour runningshoes.That’show

youfollowtheTwo-MinuteRule.

Veryeasy Easy Moderate Hard Veryhard

Putonyourrunningshoes Walktenminutes Walktenthousandsteps Runa5K Runamarathon

Writeonesentence Writeoneparagraph Writeonethousandwords Writeafive-thousand-wordarticle Writeabook

Openyournotes Studyfortenminutes Studyforthreehours GetstraightA’s EarnaPhD

People often think it’s weird to get hyped about reading one page or

meditatingforoneminuteormakingonesalescall.Butthepointisnottodoone

thing.Thepointistomasterthehabitofshowingup.Thetruthis,ahabitmust

be established before it can be improved. If you can’t learn the basic skill of

showingup, thenyouhave littlehopeofmastering thefinerdetails. Insteadof

trying to engineer a perfect habit from the start, do the easy thing on amore

consistentbasis.Youhavetostandardizebeforeyoucanoptimize.

Asyoumastertheartofshowingup,thefirst twominutessimplybecomea

ritual at the beginning of a larger routine. This is notmerely a hack tomake

habitseasierbutactuallytheidealwaytomasteradifficultskill.Themoreyou

ritualizethebeginningofaprocess,themorelikelyitbecomesthatyoucanslip

intothestateofdeepfocusthatisrequiredtodogreatthings.Bydoingthesame

warm-up before everyworkout, youmake it easier to get into a state of peak

performance. By following the same creative ritual, youmake it easier to get

into the hardwork of creating.By developing a consistent power-down habit,

youmakeiteasiertogettobedatareasonabletimeeachnight.Youmaynotbe

abletoautomatethewholeprocess,butyoucanmakethefirstactionmindless.

Makeiteasytostartandtherestwillfollow.

TheTwo-MinuteRulecanseemlikea trick tosomepeople.Youknowthat

the real goal is to domore than just twominutes, so it may feel like you’re

tryingtofoolyourself.Nobodyisactuallyaspiringtoreadonepageordoone

push-uporopentheirnotes.Andifyouknowit’samentaltrick,whywouldyou

fallforit?

IftheTwo-MinuteRulefeelsforced,trythis:doitfortwominutesandthen

stop.Goforarun,butyoumuststopaftertwominutes.Startmeditating,butyou

muststopaftertwominutes.StudyArabic,butyoumuststopaftertwominutes.

It’snotastrategyforstarting,it’sthewholething.Yourhabitcanonlylastone

hundredandtwentyseconds.

Oneofmyreadersusedthisstrategytoloseoveronehundredpounds.Inthe

beginning,hewenttothegymeachday,buthetoldhimselfhewasn’tallowed

to stay formore than fiveminutes.Hewouldgo to thegym, exercise for five

minutes, and leave as soon as his timewas up.After a fewweeks, he looked

around and thought, “Well, I’m always coming here anyway. Imight aswell

startstayingalittlelonger.”Afewyearslater,theweightwasgone.

Journaling provides another example. Nearly everyone can benefit from

gettingtheirthoughtsoutoftheirheadandontopaper,butmostpeoplegiveup

afterafewdaysoravoiditentirelybecausejournalingfeelslikeachore.*The

secret is to always stay below the point where it feels like work. Greg

McKeown, a leadership consultant from the United Kingdom, built a daily

journalinghabitbyspecificallywritinglessthanhefeltlike.Healwaysstopped

journalingbeforeitseemedlikeahassle.ErnestHemingwaybelievedinsimilar

advice for anykindofwriting. “Thebestway is to always stopwhenyouare

goinggood,”hesaid.

Strategies like thiswork for another reason, too: they reinforce the identity

youwanttobuild.Ifyoushowupatthegymfivedaysinarow—evenifit’sjust

for two minutes—you are casting votes for your new identity. You’re not

worriedaboutgettinginshape.You’refocusedonbecomingthetypeofperson

whodoesn’tmissworkouts.You’retakingthesmallestactionthatconfirmsthe

typeofpersonyouwanttobe.

Werarelythinkaboutchangethiswaybecauseeveryoneisconsumedbythe

end goal.But one push-up is better than not exercising.Oneminute of guitar

practice is better than none at all. Oneminute of reading is better than never

pickingupabook.It’sbettertodolessthanyouhopedthantodonothingatall.

Atsomepoint,onceyou’veestablishedthehabitandyou’reshowingupeach

day, you can combine the Two-Minute Rule with a technique we call habit

shaping to scale your habit back up toward your ultimate goal. Start by

mastering the first twominutes of the smallest version of the behavior. Then,

advancetoanintermediatestepandrepeattheprocess—focusingonjustthefirst

two minutes and mastering that stage before moving on to the next level.

Eventually,you’llendupwiththehabityouhadoriginallyhopedtobuildwhile

still keeping your focus where it should be: on the first two minutes of the

behavior.

EXAMPLESOFHABITSHAPING

BecominganEarlyRiser

Phase1:Behomeby10p.m.everynight.

Phase2:Havealldevices(TV,phone,etc.)turnedoffby10p.m.everynight.

Phase3:Beinbedby10p.m.everynight(readingabook,talkingwithyourpartner).

Phase4:Lightsoffby10p.m.everynight.

Phase5:Wakeupat6a.m.everyday.

BecomingVegan

Phase1:Starteatingvegetablesateachmeal.

Phase2:Stopeatinganimalswithfourlegs(cow,pig,lamb,etc.).

Phase3:Stopeatinganimalswithtwolegs(chicken,turkey,etc.).

Phase4:Stopeatinganimalswithnolegs(fish,clams,scallops,etc.).

Phase5:Stopeating

allanimalproducts(eggs,milk,cheese).

StartingtoExercise

Phase1:Changeintoworkoutclothes.

Phase2:Stepoutthedoor(trytakingawalk).

Phase3:Drivetothegym,exerciseforfiveminutes,andleave.

Phase4:Exerciseforfifteenminutesatleastonceperweek.

Phase5:Exercisethreetimesperweek.

Nearlyanylarger lifegoalcanbetransformedintoa two-minutebehavior.I

wanttoliveahealthyandlonglife>Ineedtostayinshape>Ineedtoexercise

>Ineedtochangeintomyworkoutclothes.Iwanttohaveahappymarriage>I

need to be a good partner > I should do something each day to make my

partner’slifeeasier>Ishouldmealplanfornextweek.

Wheneveryouarestrugglingtostickwithahabit,youcanemploytheTwo-

MinuteRule.It’sasimplewaytomakeyourhabitseasy.

ChapterSummary

Habitscanbecompletedinafewsecondsbutcontinuetoimpactyour

behaviorforminutesorhoursafterward.

Manyhabitsoccuratdecisivemoments—choicesthatarelikeaforkin

theroad—andeithersendyouinthedirectionofaproductivedayor

anunproductiveone.

TheTwo-MinuteRulestates,“Whenyoustartanewhabit, it should

takelessthantwominutestodo.”

Themoreyou ritualize thebeginningofaprocess, themore likely it

becomesthatyoucanslipintothestateofdeepfocusthatisrequired

todogreatthings.

Standardize before you optimize. You can’t improve a habit that

doesn’texist.

HowtoMakeGoodHabitsInevitableandBad

HabitsImpossible

IN THE SUMMER OF 1830,VictorHugowas facingan impossibledeadline.Twelvemonths

earlier,theFrenchauthorhadpromisedhispublisheranewbook.Butinsteadof

writing, he spent that year pursuing other projects, entertaining guests, and

delayinghiswork.Frustrated,Hugo’spublisherrespondedbysettingadeadline

lessthansixmonthsaway.ThebookhadtobefinishedbyFebruary1831.

Hugoconcoctedastrangeplantobeathisprocrastination.Hecollectedallof

hisclothesandaskedanassistanttolockthemawayinalargechest.Hewasleft

withnothingtowearexcepta largeshawl.Lackinganysuitableclothingtogo

outdoors,heremainedinhisstudyandwrotefuriouslyduringthefallandwinter

of 1830. The Hunchback of Notre Dame was published two weeks early on

January14,1831.*

Sometimes success is less about making good habits easy and more about

makingbadhabitshard.Thisisaninversionofthe3rdLawofBehaviorChange:

makeitdifficult.Ifyoufindyourselfcontinuallystrugglingtofollowthroughon

your plans, then you can take a page from Victor Hugo and make your bad

habitsmoredifficultbycreatingwhatpsychologistscallacommitmentdevice.

Acommitmentdeviceisachoiceyoumakeinthepresentthatcontrolsyour

actions in the future. It is away to lock in future behavior, bind you to good

habits,andrestrictyoufrombadones.WhenVictorHugoshuthisclothesaway

sohecouldfocusonwriting,hewascreatingacommitmentdevice.*

There are many ways to create a commitment device. You can reduce

overeatingbypurchasing food in individual packages rather than in bulk size.

You can voluntarily ask to be added to the banned list at casinos and online

poker sites toprevent futuregambling sprees. I’ve evenheardof athleteswho

haveto“makeweight”foracompetitionchoosingtoleavetheirwalletsathome

duringtheweekbeforeweigh-insotheywon’tbetemptedtobuyfastfood.

Asanotherexample,myfriendandfellowhabitsexpertNirEyalpurchasedan

outlet timer,which isanadapter thathepluggedinbetweenhis internet router

andthepoweroutlet.At10p.m.eachnight,theoutlettimercutsoffthepowerto

therouter.Whentheinternetgoesoff,everyoneknowsitistimetogotobed.

Commitmentdevicesareusefulbecausetheyenableyoutotakeadvantageof

goodintentionsbeforeyoucanfallvictimtotemptation.WheneverI’mlooking

tocutcalories,forexample,Iwillaskthewaitertosplitmymealandboxhalfof

it togobefore themeal isserved. If Iwaiteduntil themealcameoutand told

myself“I’lljusteathalf,”itwouldneverwork.

Thekeyistochangethetasksuchthatitrequiresmoreworktogetoutofthe

goodhabitthantogetstartedonit.Ifyou’refeelingmotivatedtogetinshape,

schedule a yoga session and pay ahead of time. If you’re excited about the

business you want to start, email an entrepreneur you respect and set up a

consultingcall.Whenthetimecomestoact,theonlywaytobailistocancelthe

meeting,whichrequireseffortandmaycostmoney.

Commitment devices increase the odds that you’ll do the right thing in the

futurebymakingbadhabitsdifficult in thepresent.However,wecandoeven

better.Wecanmakegoodhabitsinevitableandbadhabitsimpossible.

HOWTOAUTOMATEAHABITANDNEVERTHINKABOUTIT

AGAIN

JohnHenryPattersonwasborninDayton,Ohio,in1844.Hespenthischildhood

doingchoresonthefamilyfarmandworkingshiftsathisfather’ssawmill.After

attendingcollegeatDartmouth,Pattersonreturned toOhioandopenedasmall

supplystoreforcoalminers.

It seemed like a good opportunity. The store faced little competition and

enjoyeda steadystreamofcustomers,but still struggled tomakemoney.That

waswhenPattersondiscoveredhisemployeeswerestealingfromhim.

Inthemid-1800s,employeetheftwasacommonproblem.Receiptswerekept

inanopendrawerandcouldeasilybealteredordiscarded.Therewerenovideo

cameras to review behavior and no software to track transactions.Unless you

were willing to hover over your employees every minute of the day, or to

managealltransactionsyourself,itwasdifficulttopreventtheft.

AsPattersonmulledoverhispredicament,hecameacross anadvertisem*nt

for a new invention called Ritty’s Incorruptible Cashier. Designed by fellow

Dayton resident James Ritty, it was the first cash register. The machine

automatically locked the cash and receipts inside after each transaction.

Pattersonboughttwoforfiftydollarseach.

Employee theft at his store vanished overnight. In the next six months,

Patterson’s businesswent from losingmoney tomaking $5,000 in profit—the

equivalentofmorethan$100,000today.

Pattersonwassoimpressedwiththemachinethathechangedbusinesses.He

bought the rights to Ritty’s invention and opened the National Cash Register

Company. Ten years later, National Cash Register had over one thousand

employees and was on its way to becoming one of the most successful

businessesofitstime.

Thebestwaytobreakabadhabitistomakeitimpracticaltodo.Increasethe

frictionuntil youdon’t evenhave theoption to act.Thebrillianceof the cash

impossible.Rather than trying to change the employees, itmade the preferred

behaviorautomatic.

Someactions—likeinstallingacashregister—payoffa*gainandagain.These

onetimechoicesrequirealittlebitofeffortupfrontbutcreateincreasingvalue

over time. I’m fascinated by the idea that a single choice can deliver returns

againandagain,andIsurveyedmyreadersontheirfavoriteonetimeactionsthat

leadtobetterlong-termhabits.Thetableonthefollowingpagesharessomeof

themostpopularanswers.

I’dwager that if the average personwere to simply do half of the onetime

actions on this list—even if they didn’t give another thought to their habits—

mostwouldfindthemselveslivingabetterlifeayearfromnow.Theseonetime

actionsareastraightforwardway toemploy

the3rdLawofBehaviorChange.

Theymake iteasier tosleepwell,eathealthy,beproductive,savemoney,and

generallylivebetter.

ONETIMEACTIONSTHATLOCKINGOODHABITS

Nutrition

Buyawaterfiltertocleanyourdrinkingwater.

Usesmallerplatestoreducecaloricintake.

Sleep

Buyagoodmattress.

Getblackoutcurtains.

Removeyourtelevisionfromyourbedroom.

Productivity

Unsubscribefromemails.

Turnoffnotificationsandmutegroupchats.

Setyourphonetosilent.

Useemailfilterstoclearupyourinbox.

Deletegamesandsocialmediaappsonyourphone.

Happiness

Getadog.

Movetoafriendly,socialneighborhood.

GeneralHealth

Getvaccinated.

Buygoodshoestoavoidbackpain.

Buyasupportivechairorstandingdesk.

Finance

Enrollinanautomaticsavingsplan.

Setupautomaticbillpay.

Cutcableservice.

Askserviceproviderstoloweryourbills.

Of course, there aremanyways to automate good habits and eliminate bad

ones.Typically, they involve putting technology towork for you.Technology

can transform actions that were once hard, annoying, and complicated into

behaviorsthatareeasy,painless,andsimple.Itisthemostreliableandeffective

waytoguaranteetherightbehavior.

This is particularly useful for behaviors that happen too infrequently to

become habitual. Things you have to domonthly or yearly—like rebalancing

your investment portfolio—are never repeated frequently enough to become a

habit, so theybenefit inparticular fromtechnology“remembering” todo them

foryou.

Otherexamplesinclude:

Medicine:Prescriptionscanbeautomaticallyrefilled.

Personalfinance:Employeescansaveforretirementwithanautomatic

wagededuction.

Cooking:Meal-deliveryservicescandoyourgroceryshopping.

Productivity: Social media browsing can be cut off with a website

blocker.

When you automate as much of your life as possible, you can spend your

effortonthetasksmachinescannotdoyet.Eachhabitthatwehandovertothe

authorityoftechnologyfreesuptimeandenergytopourintothenextstageof

growth. As mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead wrote,

“Civilizationadvancesbyextending thenumberofoperationswecanperform

withoutthinkingaboutthem.”

Of course, the power of technology can work against us as well. Binge-

watchingbecomesahabitbecauseyouhavetoputmoreeffortintostoplooking

atthescreenthantocontinuedoingso.Insteadofpressingabuttontoadvanceto

thenextepisode,NetflixorYouTubewillautoplayitforyou.Allyouhavetodo

iskeepyoureyesopen.

Technology creates a level of convenience that enables you to act on your

smallest whims and desires. At themere suggestion of hunger, you can have

fooddeliveredtoyourdoor.Attheslightesthintofboredom,youcangetlostin

thevastexpanseofsocialmedia.Whentheeffortrequiredtoactonyourdesires

becomeseffectivelyzero,youcanfindyourselfslippingintowhateverimpulse

arisesatthemoment.Thedownsideofautomationisthatwecanfindourselves

jumpingfromeasytasktoeasytaskwithoutmakingtimeformoredifficult,but

ultimatelymorerewarding,work.

Ioftenfindmyselfgravitatingtowardsocialmediaduringanydowntime.IfI

feelboredforjustafractionofasecond,Ireachformyphone.It’seasytowrite

off these minor distractions as “just taking a break,” but over time they can

accumulateintoaseriousissue.Theconstanttugof“justonemoreminute”can

prevent me from doing anything of consequence. (I’m not the only one. The

averagepersonspendsovertwohoursperdayonsocialmedia.Whatcouldyou

dowithanextrasixhundredhoursperyear?)

During the year I was writing this book, I experimented with a new time

managementstrategy.EveryMonday,myassistantwouldresetthepasswordson

allmysocialmediaaccounts,whichloggedmeoutoneachdevice.AllweekI

workedwithoutdistraction.OnFriday,shewouldsendmethenewpasswords.I

had the entireweekend to enjoywhat socialmedia had to offer untilMonday

morningwhen shewoulddo it again. (Ifyoudon’thaveanassistant, teamup

withafriendorfamilymemberandreseteachother’spasswordseachweek.)

OneofthebiggestsurpriseswashowquicklyIadapted.Withinthefirstweek

of lockingmyselfoutof socialmedia, I realized that I didn’t need to check it

nearly as often as I had been, and I certainly didn’t need it each day. It had

simplybeensoeasythatithadbecomethedefault.Oncemybadhabitbecame

impossible,IdiscoveredthatIdidactuallyhavethemotivationtoworkonmore

meaningful tasks.After I removed themental candy frommy environment, it

becamemucheasiertoeatthehealthystuff.

When working in your favor, automation can make your good habits

inevitableandyourbadhabitsimpossible.Itistheultimatewaytolockinfuture

behavior rather than relying on willpower in the moment. By utilizing

commitment devices, strategic onetime decisions, and technology, you can

createanenvironmentofinevitability—aspacewheregoodhabitsarenotjustan

outcomeyouhopeforbutanoutcomethatisvirtuallyguaranteed.

ChapterSummary

Theinversionofthe3rdLawofBehaviorChangeismakeitdifficult.

Acommitmentdeviceisachoiceyoumakeinthepresentthatlocksin

betterbehaviorinthefuture.

Theultimatewaytolockinfuturebehavioristoautomateyourhabits.

Onetime choices—like buying a better mattress or enrolling in an

automatic savings plan—are single actions that automate your future

habitsanddeliverincreasingreturnsovertime.

Using technology to automate your habits is the most reliable and

effectivewaytoguaranteetherightbehavior.

HOWTOCREATEAGOODHABIT

The1stLaw:MakeItObvious

1.1:FillouttheHabitsScorecard.Writedownyourcurrenthabitstobecomeawareofthem.

1.2:Useimplementationintentions:“Iwill[BEHAVIOR]at[TIME]in[LOCATION].”

1.3:Usehabitstacking:“After[CURRENTHABIT],Iwill[NEWHABIT].”

1.4:Designyourenvironment.Makethecuesofgoodhabitsobviousandvisible.

The2ndLaw:MakeItAttractive

2.1:Usetemptationbundling.Pairanactionyouwanttodowithanactionyouneedtodo.

2.2:Joinaculturewhereyourdesiredbehavioristhenormalbehavior.

2.3:Createamotivationritual.Dosomethingyouenjoyimmediatelybeforeadifficulthabit.

The3rdLaw:MakeItEasy

3.1:Reducefriction.Decreasethenumberofstepsbetweenyouandyourgoodhabits.

3.2:Primetheenvironment.Prepareyourenvironmenttomakefutureactionseasier.

3.3:Masterthedecisivemoment.Optimizethesmallchoicesthatdeliveroutsizedimpact.

3.4:UsetheTwo-MinuteRule.Downscaleyourhabitsuntiltheycanbedoneintwominutesorless.

3.5:Automateyourhabits.Investintechnologyandonetimepurchasesthatlockinfuturebehavior.

The4thLaw:MakeItSatisfying

HOWTOBREAKABADHABIT

Inversionofthe1stLaw:MakeItInvisible

1.5:Reduceexposure.Removethecuesofyourbadhabitsfromyourenvironment.

Inversionofthe2ndLaw:MakeItUnattractive

2.4:Reframeyourmind-set.Highlightthebenefitsofavoidingyourbadhabits.

Inversionofthe3rdLaw:MakeItDifficult

3.6:Increasefriction.Increasethenumberofstepsbetweenyouandyourbadhabits.

3.7:Useacommitmentdevice.Restrictyourfuturechoicestotheonesthatbenefityou.

Inversionofthe4thLaw:MakeItUnsatisfying

Youcandownloadaprintableversionofthishabitscheatsheetat:atomichabits.com/cheatsheet

http://atomichabits.com/cheatsheet

THE4THLAW

MakeItSatisfying

TheCardinalRuleofBehaviorChange

IN THE LATE 1990S, a public healthworker

namedStephenLuby left his hometownof

Omaha,Nebraska,andboughtaone-waytickettoKarachi,Pakistan.

Karachiwasoneofthemostpopulouscitiesintheworld.By1998,overnine

million people called it home. It was the economic center of Pakistan and a

transportation hub, with some of the most active airports and seaports in the

region.Inthecommercialpartsoftown,youcouldfindallofthestandardurban

amenitiesandbustlingdowntownstreets.ButKarachiwasalsooneoftheleast

livablecitiesintheworld.

Over60percentofKarachi’sresidentslivedinsquattersettlementsandslums.

Thesedenselypackedneighborhoodswerefilledwithmakeshifthousescobbled

together from old boards, cinder blocks, and other discardedmaterials. There

wasnowasteremovalsystem,noelectricitygrid,nocleanwatersupply.When

dry,thestreetswereacombinationofdustandtrash.Whenwet,theybecamea

muddypitofsewage.Mosquitocoloniesthrivedinpoolsofstagnantwater,and

childrenplayedamongthegarbage.

The unsanitary conditions lead to widespread illness and disease.

Contaminated water sources caused epidemics of diarrhea, vomiting, and

abdominalpain.Nearlyonethirdofthechildrenlivingthereweremalnourished.

With somany people crammed into such a small space, viruses and bacterial

infections spread rapidly. It was this public health crisis that had brought

StephenLubytoPakistan.

Lubyandhis team realized that in an environmentwithpoor sanitation, the

simplehabitofwashingyourhandscouldmakearealdifferenceinthehealthof

the residents. But they soon discovered thatmany peoplewere already aware

thathandwashingwasimportant.

Andyet,despitethisknowledge,manyresidentswerewashingtheirhandsin

a haphazard fashion. Some peoplewould just run their hands under thewater

quickly.Otherswouldonlywashonehand.Manywouldsimplyforgettowash

their hands before preparing food.Everyone said handwashingwas important,

but few people made a habit out of it. The problem wasn’t knowledge. The

problemwasconsistency.

ThatwaswhenLubyandhisteampartneredwithProcter&Gambletosupply

theneighborhoodwithSafeguardsoap.Comparedtoyourstandardbarofsoap,

usingSafeguardwasamoreenjoyableexperience.

“In Pakistan, Safeguard was a premium soap,” Luby told me. “The study

participants commonlymentioned howmuch they liked it.” The soap foamed

easily, and peoplewere able to lather their handswith suds. It smelled great.

Instantly,handwashingbecameslightlymorepleasurable.

“Iseethegoalofhandwashingpromotionnotasbehaviorchangebutashabit

adoption,” Luby said. “It is a lot easier for people to adopt a product that

provides a strong positive sensory signal, for example the mint taste of

toothpaste, than it is toadoptahabit thatdoesnotprovidepleasurablesensory

feedback, like flossing one’s teeth. Themarketing team at Procter&Gamble

talkedabouttryingtocreateapositivehandwashingexperience.”

Withinmonths, the researchers sawa rapidshift in thehealthofchildren in

the neighborhood. The rate of diarrhea fell by 52 percent; pneumonia by 48

percent;andimpetigo,abacterialskininfection,by35percent.

The long-term effects were even better. “We went back to some of the

households in Karachi six years after,” Luby told me. “Over 95 percent of

householdswhohadbeengiventhesoapforfreeandencouragedtowashtheir

handshadahandwashingstationwithsoapandwateravailablewhenourstudy

teamvisited....Wehadnotgivenanysoaptotheinterventiongroupforover

five years, but during the trial they had become so habituated to wash their

hands,thattheyhadmaintainedthepractice.”Itwasapowerfulexampleofthe

fourthandfinalLawofBehaviorChange:makeitsatisfying.

We aremore likely to repeat a behavior when the experience is satisfying.

This is entirely logical. Feelings of pleasure—even minor ones like washing

yourhandswithsoapthatsmellsniceandlatherswell—aresignalsthattellthe

brain:“This feelsgood.Do thisagain,next time.”Pleasure teachesyourbrain

thatabehaviorisworthrememberingandrepeating.

Take the story of chewinggum.Chewinggumhadbeen sold commercially

throughout the 1800s, but it wasn’t until Wrigley launched in 1891 that it

became a worldwide habit. Early versions were made from relatively bland

resins—chewy, but not tasty. Wrigley revolutionized the industry by adding

flavorslikeSpearmintandJuicyFruit,whichmadetheproductflavorfulandfun

to use. Then they went a step further and began pushing chewing gum as a

pathwaytoacleanmouth.Advertisem*ntstoldreadersto“RefreshYourTaste.”

Tastyflavorsandthefeelingofafreshmouthprovidedlittlebitsofimmediate

reinforcementandmadetheproductsatisfyingtouse.Consumptionskyrocketed,

andWrigleybecamethelargestchewinggumcompanyintheworld.

Toothpaste had a similar trajectory. Manufacturers enjoyed great success

when they added flavors like spearmint, peppermint, and cinnamon to their

products. These flavors don’t improve the effectiveness of toothpaste. They

simply create a “cleanmouth” feel andmake the experience of brushing your

teethmorepleasurable.MywifeactuallystoppedusingSensodynebecauseshe

didn’t like the aftertaste. She switched to a brandwith a strongermint flavor,

whichprovedtobemoresatisfying.

Conversely,ifanexperienceisnotsatisfying,wehavelittlereasontorepeat

it. Inmy research, I cameacross the storyof awomanwhohad anarcissistic

relative who drove her nuts. In an attempt to spend less time with this

egomaniac,sheactedasdullandasboringaspossiblewheneverhewasaround.

Within a few encounters, he started avoiding her because he found her so

uninteresting.

StoriesliketheseareevidenceoftheCardinalRuleofBehaviorChange:What

isrewarded isrepeated.What ispunished isavoided.You learnwhat todo in

thefuturebasedonwhatyouwererewardedfordoing(orpunishedfordoing)in

thepast.Positiveemotionscultivatehabits.Negativeemotionsdestroythem.

Thefirstthreelawsofbehaviorchange—makeitobvious,makeitattractive,

andmakeiteasy—increasetheoddsthatabehaviorwillbeperformedthistime.

Thefourthlawofbehaviorchange—makeitsatisfying—increasestheoddsthat

abehaviorwillberepeatednexttime.Itcompletesthehabitloop.

But there isa trick.Wearenot lookingfor justanytypeofsatisfaction.We

arelookingforimmediatesatisfaction.

THEMISMATCHBETWEENIMMEDIATEANDDELAYED

REWARDS

Imagineyou’reananimalroamingtheplainsofAfrica—agiraffeoranelephant

oralion.Onanygivenday,mostofyourdecisionshaveanimmediateimpact.

Youarealwaysthinkingaboutwhattoeatorwheretosleeporhowtoavoida

predator.Youareconstantlyfocusedonthepresentortheverynearfuture.You

live in what scientists call an immediate-return environment because your

actionsinstantlydeliverclearandimmediateoutcomes.

Nowswitchbacktoyourhumanself.Inmodernsociety,manyofthechoices

youmaketodaywillnotbenefityouimmediately.Ifyoudoagoodjobatwork,

you’llgetapaycheckinafewweeks.Ifyouexercisetoday,perhapsyouwon’t

beoverweightnextyear.Ifyousavemoneynow,maybeyou’llhaveenoughfor

retirementdecades fromnow.You live inwhatscientistscalladelayed-return

environment because you can work for years before your actions deliver the

intendedpayoff.

Thehumanbraindidnot

evolveforlifeinadelayed-returnenvironment.The

earliest remains of modern humans, known as hom*o sapiens sapiens, are

approximatelytwohundredthousandyearsold.Thesewerethefirsthumansto

haveabrainrelativelysimilar toours.Inparticular, theneocortex—thenewest

partofthebrainandtheregionresponsibleforhigherfunctionslikelanguage—

was roughly the same size twohundred thousandyears agoas today.Youare

walkingaroundwiththesamehardwareasyourPaleolithicancestors.

Itisonlyrecently—duringthelastfivehundredyearsorso—thatsocietyhas

shiftedtoapredominantlydelayed-returnenvironment.*Comparedtotheageof

thebrain,modernsocietyisbrand-new.Inthelastonehundredyears,wehave

seen the riseof thecar, theairplane, the television, thepersonalcomputer, the

internet, thesmartphone,andBeyoncé.Theworldhaschangedmuch in recent

years,buthumannaturehaschangedlittle.

Similar to other animals on theAfrican savannah, our ancestors spent their

daysrespondingtogravethreats,securingthenextmeal,andtakingshelterfrom

astorm.Itmadesensetoplaceahighvalueoninstantgratification.Thedistant

future was less of a concern. And after thousands of generations in an

immediate-return environment, our brains evolved to prefer quick payoffs to

long-termones.

Behavioral economists refer to this tendency as time inconsistency. That is,

thewayyourbrainevaluatesrewardsisinconsistentacrosstime.*Youvaluethe

presentmore than the future.Usually, this tendency serves uswell.A reward

thatiscertainrightnowistypicallyworthmorethanonethatismerelypossible

in the future. But occasionally, our bias toward instant gratification causes

problems.

Whywouldsomeonesmokeiftheyknowitincreasestheriskoflungcancer?

Whywouldsomeoneovereatwhentheyknowitincreasestheirriskofobesity?

Why would someone have unsafe sex if they know it can result in sexually

transmitteddisease?Onceyouunderstandhowthebrainprioritizesrewards,the

answers become clear: the consequences of bad habits are delayed while the

rewardsareimmediate.Smokingmightkillyouintenyears,butitreducesstress

andeasesyournicotinecravingsnow.Overeatingisharmfulinthelongrunbut

appetizing in the moment. Sex—safe or not—provides pleasure right away.

Diseaseandinfectionwon’tshowupfordaysorweeks,evenyears.

Every habit produces multiple outcomes across time. Unfortunately, these

outcomes are often misaligned. With our bad habits, the immediate outcome

usuallyfeelsgood,buttheultimateoutcomefeelsbad.Withgoodhabits,itisthe

reverse: the immediateoutcome isunenjoyable,but theultimateoutcomefeels

good. The French economist Frédéric Bastiat explained the problem clearly

whenhewrote,“Italmostalwayshappensthatwhentheimmediateconsequence

isfavorable,thelaterconsequencesaredisastrous,andviceversa....Often,the

sweeterthefirstfruitofahabit,themorebitterareitslaterfruits.”

Putanotherway,thecostsofyourgoodhabitsareinthepresent.Thecostsof

yourbadhabitsareinthefuture.

Thebrain’stendencytoprioritizethepresentmomentmeansyoucan’trelyon

goodintentions.Whenyoumakeaplan—toloseweight,writeabook,orlearna

language—you are actuallymaking plans for your future self. Andwhen you

envisionwhatyouwantyourlifetobelike,itiseasytoseethevalueintaking

actionswith long-termbenefits.Weallwantbetter lives for our future selves.

However, when the moment of decision arrives, instant gratification usually

wins.YouarenolongermakingachoiceforFutureYou,whodreamsofbeing

fitterorwealthierorhappier.YouarechoosingforPresentYou,whowantstobe

full,pampered,andentertained.Asageneralrule,themoreimmediatepleasure

yougetfromanaction,themorestronglyyoushouldquestionwhetheritaligns

withyourlong-termgoals.*

Withafullerunderstandingofwhatcausesourbraintorepeatsomebehaviors

and avoid others, let’s update theCardinalRule ofBehaviorChange:What is

immediatelyrewardedisrepeated.Whatisimmediatelypunishedisavoided.

Our preference for instant gratification reveals an important truth about

success:becauseofhowwearewired,mostpeoplewill spendalldaychasing

quick hits of satisfaction. The road less traveled is the road of delayed

gratification. If you’re willing to wait for the rewards, you’ll face less

competitionandoftenget abiggerpayoff.As the sayinggoes, the lastmile is

alwaystheleastcrowded.

Thisispreciselywhatresearchhasshown.Peoplewhoarebetteratdelaying

gratification have higher SAT scores, lower levels of substance abuse, lower

likelihoodofobesity,betterresponsestostress,andsuperiorsocialskills.We’ve

allseenthisplayoutinourownlives.Ifyoudelaywatchingtelevisionandget

yourhomeworkdone,you’llgenerallylearnmoreandgetbettergrades.Ifyou

don’t buy desserts and chips at the store, you’ll often eat healthier foodwhen

yougethome.Atsomepoint,successinnearlyeveryfieldrequiresyoutoignore

animmediaterewardinfavorofadelayedreward.

Here’s theproblem:mostpeopleknow thatdelayinggratificationis thewise

approach.Theywant the benefits of goodhabits: to be healthy, productive, at

peace. But these outcomes are seldom top-of-mind at the decisive moment.

Thankfully,it’spossibletotrainyourselftodelaygratification—butyouneedto

workwiththegrainofhumannature,notagainstit.Thebestwaytodothisisto

adda littlebitof immediatepleasure to thehabits thatpayoff in the long-run

andalittlebitofimmediatepaintoonesthatdon’t.

HOWTOTURNINSTANTGRATIFICATIONTOYOURADVANTAGE

Thevital thingingettingahabit tostickis tofeelsuccessful—evenif it’s ina

smallway.Thefeelingofsuccessisasignalthatyourhabitpaidoffandthatthe

workwasworththeeffort.

Inaperfectworld, therewardforagoodhabit is thehabit itself. In thereal

world, good habits tend to feelworthwhile only after they have provided you

withsomething.Earlyon,it’sallsacrifice.You’vegonetothegymafewtimes,

butyou’renotstrongerorfitterorfaster—atleast,not inanynoticeablesense.

It’s only months later, once you shed a few pounds or your arms gain some

definition,thatitbecomeseasiertoexerciseforitsownsake.Inthebeginning,

youneedareasontostayontrack.Thisiswhyimmediaterewardsareessential.

Theykeepyouexcitedwhilethedelayedrewardsaccumulateinthebackground.

What we’re really talking about here—when we’re discussing immediate

rewards—is the ending of a behavior. The ending of any experience is vital

becausewetendtorememberitmorethanotherphases.Youwanttheendingof

your habit to be satisfying. The best approach is to use reinforcement, which

refers to the process of using an immediate reward to increase the rate of a

behavior.Habitstacking,whichwecovered inChapter5, tiesyourhabit toan

immediatecue,whichmakes itobviouswhen tostart.Reinforcement tiesyour

habittoanimmediatereward,whichmakesitsatisfyingwhenyoufinish.

Immediatereinforcementcanbeespeciallyhelpfulwhendealingwithhabits

ofavoidance,whicharebehaviorsyouwanttostopdoing.Itcanbechallenging

to stick with habits like “no frivolous purchases” or “no alcohol this month”

becausenothinghappenswhenyouskiphappyhourdrinksordon’tbuythatpair

ofshoes.Itcanbehardtofeelsatisfiedwhenthereisnoactioninthefirst

place.

All you’re doing is resisting temptation, and there isn’tmuch satisfying about

that.

Onesolutionistoturnthesituationonitshead.Youwanttomakeavoidance

visible. Open a savings account and label it for something youwant—maybe

“Leather Jacket.”Whenever you pass on a purchase, put the same amount of

money in the account. Skip yourmorning latte? Transfer $5. Pass on another

month of Netflix? Move $10 over. It’s like creating a loyalty program for

yourself. The immediate reward of seeing yourself save money toward the

leatherjacketfeelsalotbetterthanbeingdeprived.Youaremakingitsatisfying

todonothing.

One ofmy readers and hiswife used a similar setup. Theywanted to stop

eatingoutsomuchandstartcookingtogethermore.Theylabeledtheirsavings

account “Trip to Europe.” Whenever they skipped going out to eat, they

transferred $50 into the account. At the end of the year, they put the money

towardthevacation.

It is worth noting that it is important to select short-term rewards that

reinforceyouridentityratherthanonesthatconflictwithit.Buyinganewjacket

isfineifyou’retryingtoloseweightorreadmorebooks,butitdoesn’tworkif

you’retryingtobudgetandsavemoney.Instead,takingabubblebathorgoing

on a leisurely walk are good examples of rewarding yourself with free time,

which aligns with your ultimate goal of more freedom and financial

independence. Similarly, if your reward for exercising is eating a bowl of ice

cream,thenyou’recastingvotesforconflictingidentities,anditendsupbeinga

wash. Instead,maybeyour reward is amassage,which is both a luxury and a

votetowardtakingcareofyourbody.Nowtheshort-termrewardisalignedwith

yourlong-termvisionofbeingahealthyperson.

Eventually,asintrinsicrewardslikeabettermood,moreenergy,andreduced

stresskickin,you’llbecomelessconcernedwithchasingthesecondaryreward.

The identity itself becomes the reinforcer.Youdo it because it’swhoyou are

anditfeelsgoodtobeyou.Themoreahabitbecomespartofyourlife,theless

youneedoutsideencouragementtofollowthrough.Incentivescanstartahabit.

Identitysustainsahabit.

Thatsaid, it takestimefor theevidencetoaccumulateandanewidentity to

emerge. Immediate reinforcement helpsmaintainmotivation in the short term

whileyou’rewaitingforthelong-termrewardstoarrive.

In summary, a habit needs to be enjoyable for it to last. Simple bits of

reinforcement—like soap that smells great or toothpaste that has a refreshing

mint flavor or seeing $50 hit your savings account—can offer the immediate

pleasureyouneedtoenjoyahabit.Andchangeiseasywhenitisenjoyable.

ChapterSummary

The4thLawofBehaviorChangeismakeitsatisfying.

We are more likely to repeat a behavior when the experience is

satisfying.

Thehumanbrainevolvedtoprioritizeimmediaterewardsoverdelayed

rewards.

TheCardinalRuleofBehaviorChange:Whatisimmediatelyrewarded

isrepeated.Whatisimmediatelypunishedisavoided.

Togetahabittostickyouneedtofeelimmediatelysuccessful—even

ifit’sinasmallway.

The first three laws of behavior change—make it obvious, make it

attractive,andmakeiteasy—increasetheoddsthatabehaviorwillbe

performed this time. The fourth law of behavior change—make it

satisfying—increases the odds that a behavior will be repeated next

time.

HowtoStickwithGoodHabitsEveryDay

IN 1993,abankinAbbotsford,Canada,hireda twenty-three-year-oldstockbroker

namedTrentDyrsmid.Abbotsfordwasarelativelysmallsuburb,tuckedawayin

the shadow of nearbyVancouver, wheremost of the big business deals were

beingmade.Giventhelocation,andthefactthatDyrsmidwasarookie,nobody

expectedtoomuchofhim.Buthemadebriskprogressthankstoasimpledaily

habit.

Dyrsmidbeganeachmorningwithtwojarsonhisdesk.Onewasfilledwith

120 paper clips. The other was empty. As soon as he settled in each day, he

wouldmakeasalescall.Immediatelyafter,hewouldmoveonepaperclipfrom

thefulljartotheemptyjarandtheprocesswouldbeginagain.“EverymorningI

wouldstartwith120paperclipsinonejarandIwouldkeepdialingthephone

untilIhadmovedthemalltothesecondjar,”hetoldme.

Withineighteenmonths,Dyrsmidwasbringingin$5milliontothefirm.By

agetwenty-four,hewasmaking$75,000peryear—theequivalentof$125,000

today.Notlongafter,helandedasix-figurejobwithanothercompany.

IliketorefertothistechniqueasthePaperClipStrategyand,overtheyears,

I’veheardfromreaderswhohaveemployeditinavarietyofways.Onewoman

shiftedahairpinfromonecontainertoanotherwhenevershewroteapageofher

book.Anothermanmovedamarble fromonebin to thenextaftereachsetof

push-ups.

Makingprogressissatisfying,andvisualmeasures—likemovingpaperclips

or hairpins or marbles—provide clear evidence of your progress. As a result,

theyreinforceyourbehaviorandaddalittlebitofimmediatesatisfactiontoany

activity.Visualmeasurementcomesinmanyforms:foodjournals,workoutlogs,

loyalty punch cards, the progress bar on a software download, even the page

numbersinabook.Butperhapsthebestwaytomeasureyourprogressiswitha

habittracker.

HOWTOKEEPYOURHABITSONTRACK

Ahabit tracker isasimpleway tomeasurewhetheryoudidahabit.Themost

basic format is to get a calendar and cross off each day you stick with your

routine.Forexample,ifyoumeditateonMonday,Wednesday,andFriday,each

ofthosedatesgetsanX.Astimerollsby,thecalendarbecomesarecordofyour

habitstreak.

Countlesspeoplehavetrackedtheirhabits,butperhapsthemostfamouswas

Benjamin Franklin. Beginning at age twenty, Franklin carried a small booklet

everywhere he went and used it to track thirteen personal virtues. This list

included goals like “Lose no time. Be always employed in something useful”

and“Avoidtriflingconversation.”Attheendofeachday,Franklinwouldopen

hisbookletandrecordhisprogress.

JerrySeinfeldreportedlyusesahabittrackertostickwithhisstreakofwriting

jokes. In the documentary Comedian, he explains that his goal is simply to

“never break the chain” ofwriting jokes every day. In otherwords, he is not

focusedonhowgoodorbadaparticularjokeisorhowinspiredhefeels.Heis

simplyfocusedonshowingupandaddingtohisstreak.

“Don’tbreakthechain”isapowerfulmantra.Don’tbreakthechainofsales

calls and you’ll build a successful book of business.Don’t break the chain of

workouts and you’ll get fit faster than you’d expect.Don’t break the chain of

creating every day and you will end up with an impressive portfolio. Habit

trackingispowerfulbecauseitleveragesmultipleLawsofBehaviorChange.It

simultaneouslymakesabehaviorobvious,attractive,andsatisfying.

Let’sbreakdowneachone.

Benefit#1:Habittrackingisobvious.

Recordingyourlastactioncreatesatriggerthatcaninitiateyournextone.Habit

tracking naturally builds a series of visual cues like the streak ofX’s on your

calendarorthelistofmealsinyourfoodlog.Whenyoulookatthecalendarand

seeyourstreak,you’llberemindedtoactagain.Researchhasshownthatpeople

who track their progress on goals like losing weight, quitting smoking, and

lowering blood pressure are allmore likely to improve than thosewho don’t.

One study of more than sixteen hundred people

found that those who kept a

dailyfoodloglosttwiceasmuchweightasthosewhodidnot.Themereactof

trackingabehaviorcansparktheurgetochangeit.

Habittrackingalsokeepsyouhonest.Mostofushaveadistortedviewofour

ownbehavior.Wethinkweactbetterthanwedo.Measurementoffersoneway

toovercomeourblindness toourownbehaviorandnoticewhat’s reallygoing

oneachday.Oneglanceatthepaperclipsinthecontainerandyouimmediately

knowhowmuchworkyouhave(orhaven’t)beenputtingin.Whentheevidence

isrightinfrontofyou,you’relesslikelytolietoyourself.

Benefit#2:Habittrackingisattractive.

Themosteffectiveformofmotivationisprogress.Whenwegetasignalthatwe

aremovingforward,webecomemoremotivatedtocontinuedownthatpath.In

thisway,habittrackingcanhaveanaddictiveeffectonmotivation.Eachsmall

winfeedsyourdesire.

Thiscanbeparticularlypowerfulonabadday.Whenyou’re feelingdown,

it’seasytoforgetaboutalltheprogressyouhavealreadymade.Habittracking

providesvisualproofofyourhardwork—asubtlereminderofhowfaryou’ve

come. Plus, the empty square you see eachmorning canmotivate you to get

startedbecauseyoudon’twanttoloseyourprogressbybreakingthestreak.

Benefit#3:Habittrackingissatisfying.

This is themost crucial benefit of all. Tracking can become its own form of

reward.Itissatisfyingtocrossanitemoffyourto-dolist,tocompleteanentry

inyourworkoutlog,ortomarkanXonthecalendar.Itfeelsgoodtowatchyour

results grow—the size of your investment portfolio, the length of your book

manuscript—andifitfeelsgood,thenyou’remorelikelytoendure.

Habit tracking also helps keep your eye on the ball: you’re focused on the

processratherthantheresult.You’renotfixatedongettingsix-packabs,you’re

just tryingtokeepthestreakaliveandbecomethe typeofpersonwhodoesn’t

missworkouts.

Insummary,habittracking(1)createsavisualcuethatcanremindyoutoact,

(2) is inherentlymotivating because you see the progress you aremaking and

don’t want to lose it, and (3) feels satisfying whenever you record another

successful instance of your habit. Furthermore, habit tracking provides visual

proof that you are casting votes for the type of person you wish to become,

whichisadelightfulformofimmediateandintrinsicgratification.*

Youmaybewondering, ifhabit tracking is souseful,whyhave Iwaitedso

longtotalkaboutit?

Despiteallthebenefits,I’veleftthisdiscussionuntilnowforasimplereason:

manypeopleresisttheideaoftrackingandmeasuring.Itcanfeellikeaburden

because it forces you into two habits: the habit you’re trying to build and the

habitoftrackingit.Countingcaloriessoundslikeahasslewhenyou’realready

struggling to followadiet.Writingdownevery sales call seems tediouswhen

you’ve got work to do. It feels easier to say, “I’ll just eat less.” Or, “I’ll try

harder.”Or, “I’ll remember to do it.” People inevitably tellme things like, “I

haveadecisionjournal,butIwishIuseditmore.”Or,“Irecordedmyworkouts

for aweek, but then quit.” I’ve been theremyself. I oncemade a food log to

trackmycalories.Imanagedtodoitforonemealandthengaveup.

Trackingisn’tforeveryone,andthereisnoneedtomeasureyourentirelife.

Butnearlyanyonecanbenefitfromitinsomeform—evenifit’sonlytemporary.

Whatcanwedotomaketrackingeasier?

First,wheneverpossible,measurementshouldbeautomated.You’llprobably

be surprised by howmuch you’re already tracking without knowing it. Your

credit card statement tracks howoften you go out to eat.YourFitbit registers

howmanystepsyou takeandhowlongyousleep.Yourcalendar recordshow

manynewplacesyoutraveltoeachyear.Onceyouknowwheretogetthedata,

addanotetoyourcalendartoreviewiteachweekoreachmonth,whichismore

practicalthantrackingiteveryday.

Second,manualtrackingshouldbelimitedtoyourmostimportanthabits.Itis

bettertoconsistentlytrackonehabitthantosporadicallytrackten.

Finally, record each measurement immediately after the habit occurs. The

completionofthebehavioristhecuetowriteitdown.Thisapproachallowsyou

tocombinethehabitstackingmethodmentionedinChapter5withhabittracking.

Thehabitstacking+habittrackingformulais:

After[CURRENTHABIT],Iwill[TRACKMYHABIT].

AfterIhangupthephonefromasalescall,Iwillmoveonepaperclip

over.

After I finish each set at the gym, I will record it in my workout

journal.

AfterIputmyplateinthedishwasher,IwillwritedownwhatIate.

Thesetacticscanmaketrackingyourhabitseasier.Evenifyouaren’tthetype

ofpersonwhoenjoysrecordingyourbehavior,Ithinkyou’llfindafewweeksof

measurementstobeinsightful.It’salwaysinterestingtoseehowyou’veactually

beenspendingyourtime.

That said, every habit streak ends at some point.And,more important than

any singlemeasurement, is having a goodplan forwhenyour habits slide off

track.

HOWTORECOVERQUICKLYWHENYOURHABITSBREAKDOWN

Nomatterhowconsistentyouarewithyourhabits,itisinevitablethatlifewill

interrupt you at some point. Perfection is not possible. Before long, an

emergencywill pop up—you get sick or you have to travel forwork or your

familyneedsalittlemoreofyourtime.

Wheneverthishappenstome,Itrytoremindmyselfofasimplerule:never

misstwice.

IfImissoneday,Itrytogetbackintoitasquicklyaspossible.Missingone

workout happens, but I’m not going tomiss two in a row.Maybe I’ll eat an

entirepizza,butI’llfollowitupwithahealthymeal.Ican’tbeperfect,butIcan

avoidasecondlapse.Assoonasonestreakends,Igetstartedonthenextone.

The firstmistake isnever theone that ruinsyou. It is the spiralof repeated

mistakesthatfollows.Missingonceisanaccident.Missingtwiceisthestartofa

newhabit.

Thisisad*stinguishingfeaturebetweenwinnersandlosers.Anyonecanhave

abadperformance,abadworkout,orabaddayatwork.Butwhensuccessful

peoplefail, theyreboundquickly.Thebreakingofahabitdoesn’tmatterif the

reclaimingofitisfast.

I think this principle is so important that I’ll stick to it even if I can’t do a

habitaswellorascompletelyasIwouldlike.Toooften,wefallintoanall-or-

nothing cyclewith our habits. The problem is not slipping up; the problem is

thinkingthatifyoucan’tdosomethingperfectly,thenyoushouldn’tdoitatall.

Youdon’t realize howvaluable it is to just showuponyour bad (or busy)

days.Lostdayshurtyoumore thansuccessfuldayshelpyou. Ifyoustartwith

$100, then a 50 percent gain will take you to $150. But you only need a 33

percentlosstotakeyoubackto$100.Inotherwords,avoidinga33percentloss

isjustasvaluableasachievinga50percentgain.AsCharlieMungersays,“The

firstruleofcompounding:Neverinterruptitunnecessarily.”

This iswhythe“bad”workoutsareoften themost importantones.Sluggish

daysandbadworkoutsmaintainthecompoundgainsyouaccruedfromprevious

good days. Simply doing something—ten squats, five sprints, a push-up,

anything really—is huge. Don’t put up a zero. Don’t let losses eat into your

compounding.

Furthermore, it’s not always about what happens during the workout. It’s

about being the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts. It’s easy to train

whenyou feel good, but it’s crucial to showup

whenyoudon’t feel like it—

evenifyoudoless thanyouhope.Goingtothegymforfiveminutesmaynot

improveyourperformance,butitreaffirmsyouridentity.

Theall-or-nothingcycleofbehaviorchangeisjustonepitfall thatcanderail

yourhabits.Anotherpotentialdanger—especiallyifyouareusingahabittracker

—ismeasuringthewrongthing.

KNOWINGWHEN(ANDWHENNOT)TOTRACKAHABIT

Sayyou’re runninga restaurant andyouwant toknow ifyourchef isdoinga

goodjob.Onewaytomeasuresuccessistotrackhowmanycustomerspayfora

meal each day. If more customers come in, the food must be good. If fewer

customerscomein,somethingmustbewrong.

However,thisonemeasurement—dailyrevenue—onlygivesalimitedpicture

ofwhat’sreallygoingon.Justbecausesomeonepaysforamealdoesn’tmean

theyenjoy themeal.Evendissatisfiedcustomersareunlikelytodineanddash.

In fact, ifyou’reonlymeasuringrevenue, the foodmightbegettingworsebut

you’re making up for it with marketing or discounts or some other method.

Instead,itmaybemoreeffectivetotrackhowmanycustomersfinishtheirmeal

orperhapsthepercentageofcustomerswholeaveageneroustip.

Thedark sideof trackingaparticularbehavior is thatwebecomedrivenby

the number rather than the purpose behind it. If your success ismeasured by

quarterly earnings, you will optimize sales, revenue, and accounting for

quarterlyearnings.Ifyoursuccessismeasuredbyalowernumberonthescale,

youwilloptimizeforalowernumberonthescale,evenifthatmeansembracing

crash diets, juice cleanses, and fat-loss pills.The humanmindwants to “win”

whatevergameisbeingplayed.

Thispitfallisevidentinmanyareasoflife.Wefocusonworkinglonghours

instead of getting meaningful work done. We care more about getting ten

thousandstepsthanwedoaboutbeinghealthy.Weteachforstandardizedtests

instead of emphasizing learning, curiosity, and critical thinking. In short, we

optimizeforwhatwemeasure.Whenwechoosethewrongmeasurement,weget

thewrongbehavior.

ThisissometimesreferredtoasGoodhart’sLaw.Namedaftertheeconomist

Charles Goodhart, the principle states, “When ameasure becomes a target, it

ceases tobeagoodmeasure.”Measurement isonlyusefulwhen itguidesyou

andaddscontexttoalargerpicture,notwhenitconsumesyou.Eachnumberis

simplyonepieceoffeedbackintheoverallsystem.

In our data-driven world, we tend to overvalue numbers and undervalue

anything ephemeral, soft, and difficult to quantify. We mistakenly think the

factorswecanmeasurearetheonlyfactorsthatexist.Butjustbecauseyoucan

measuresomethingdoesn’tmeanit’sthemostimportantthing.Andjustbecause

youcan’tmeasuresomethingdoesn’tmeanit’snotimportantatall.

Allofthistosay,it’scrucialtokeephabittrackinginitsproperplace.Itcan

feelsatisfyingtorecordahabitandtrackyourprogress,butthemeasurementis

not the only thing thatmatters. Furthermore, there aremanyways tomeasure

progress, and sometimes it helps to shift your focus to something entirely

different.

This iswhynonscalevictoriescanbeeffective forweight loss.Thenumber

on the scale may be stubborn, so if you focus solely on that number, your

motivationwillsag.Butyoumaynoticethatyourskinlooksbetteroryouwake

upearlieroryoursexdrivegotaboost.Allofthesearevalidwaystotrackyour

improvement. If you’re not feeling motivated by the number on the scale,

perhapsit’stimetofocusonadifferentmeasurement—onethatgivesyoumore

signalsofprogress.

Nomatterhowyoumeasureyourimprovement,habittrackingoffersasimple

waytomakeyourhabitsmoresatisfying.Eachmeasurementprovidesalittlebit

of evidence that you’re moving in the right direction and a brief moment of

immediatepleasureforajobwelldone.

ChapterSummary

Oneofthemostsatisfyingfeelingsisthefeelingofmakingprogress.

Ahabittrackerisasimplewaytomeasurewhetheryoudidahabit—

likemarkinganXonacalendar.

Habittrackersandothervisualformsofmeasurementcanmakeyour

habitssatisfyingbyprovidingclearevidenceofyourprogress.

Don’tbreakthechain.Trytokeepyourhabitstreakalive.

Never miss twice. If youmiss one day, try to get back on track as

quicklyaspossible.

Just because you canmeasure something doesn’tmean it’s themost

importantthing.

HowanAccountabilityPartnerCanChange

Everything

AFTERSERVINGASapilotinWorldWarII,RogerFisherattendedHarvardLawSchool

andspentthirty-fouryearsspecializinginnegotiationandconflictmanagement.

He founded the Harvard Negotiation Project and worked with numerous

countriesandworldleadersonpeaceresolutions,hostagecrises,anddiplomatic

compromises.But itwas in the 1970s and1980s, as the threat of nuclearwar

escalated,thatFisherdevelopedperhapshismostinterestingidea.

At the time, Fisher was focused on designing strategies that could prevent

nuclearwar, and he had noticed a troubling fact.Any sitting presidentwould

haveaccess to launchcodes thatcouldkillmillionsofpeoplebutwouldnever

actuallyseeanyonediebecausehewouldalwaysbethousandsofmilesaway.

“Mysuggestionwasquitesimple,”hewrotein1981.“Putthat[nuclear]code

numberinalittlecapsule,andthenimplantthatcapsulerightnexttotheheartof

avolunteer.Thevolunteerwouldcarrywithhimabig,heavybutcherknifeashe

accompaniedthePresident.IfeverthePresidentwantedtofirenuclearweapons,

theonlywayhecoulddosowouldbeforhimfirst,withhisownhands,tokill

one human being.ThePresident says, ‘George, I’m sorry but tens ofmillions

must die.’ He has to look at someone and realize what death is—what an

innocentdeathis.BloodontheWhiteHousecarpet.It’srealitybroughthome.

“WhenIsuggestedthistofriendsinthePentagontheysaid,‘MyGod,that’s

terrible. Having to kill someone would distort the President’s judgment. He

mightneverpushthebutton.’”

Throughout our discussion of the 4th Law of Behavior Change we have

coveredtheimportanceofmakinggoodhabits immediatelysatisfying.Fisher’s

proposalisaninversionofthe4thLaw:Makeitimmediatelyunsatisfying.

Just as we are more likely to repeat an experience when the ending is

satisfying,we are alsomore likely to avoid an experiencewhen the ending is

painful. Pain is an effective teacher. If a failure is painful, it gets fixed. If a

failure is relatively painless, it gets ignored. The more immediate and more

costlyamistakeis,thefasteryouwilllearnfromit.Thethreatofabadreview

forces a plumber to be good at his job. The possibility of a customer never

returning makes restaurants create good food. The cost of cutting the wrong

bloodvesselmakesa surgeonmasterhumananatomyandcutcarefully.When

theconsequencesaresevere,peoplelearnquickly.

The more immediate the pain, the less likely the behavior. If you want to

preventbadhabitsandeliminateunhealthybehaviors,thenaddinganinstantcost

totheactionisagreatwaytoreducetheirodds.

Werepeatbadhabitsbecausetheyserveusinsomeway,andthatmakesthem

hard to abandon. The best way I know to overcome this predicament is to

increase thespeedof thepunishmentassociatedwith thebehavior.Therecan’t

beagapbetweentheactionandtheconsequences.

As soon as actions incur an immediate consequence, behavior begins to

change. Customers pay their bills on time when

they are charged a late fee.

Studentsshowuptoclasswhentheirgradeislinkedtoattendance.We’lljump

throughalotofhoopstoavoidalittlebitofimmediatepain.

There is,of course, a limit to this. Ifyou’regoing to relyonpunishment to

change behavior, then the strength of the punishmentmustmatch the relative

strength of the behavior it is trying to correct. To be productive, the cost of

procrastinationmustbegreaterthanthecostofaction.Tobehealthy,thecostof

lazinessmustbegreaterthanthecostofexercise.Gettingfinedforsmokingina

restaurant or failing to recycle adds consequence to an action. Behavior only

shiftsifthepunishmentispainfulenoughandreliablyenforced.

Ingeneral,themorelocal,tangible,concrete,andimmediatetheconsequence,

the more likely it is to influence individual behavior. The more global,

intangible,vague,anddelayedtheconsequence,thelesslikelyitistoinfluence

individualbehavior.

Thankfully, there is a straightforwardway to add an immediate cost to any

badhabit:createahabitcontract.

THEHABITCONTRACT

The first seat belt lawwaspassed inNewYorkonDecember1, 1984.At the

time,just14percentofpeopleintheUnitedStatesregularlyworeaseatbelt—

butthatwasallabouttochange.

Withinfiveyears,overhalfofthenationhadseatbeltlaws.Today,wearinga

seatbeltisenforceablebylawinforty-nineofthefiftystates.Andit’snotjust

thelegislation,thenumberofpeoplewearingseatbeltshaschangeddramatically

aswell.In2016,over88percentofAmericansbuckledupeachtimetheygotin

a car. In just over thirty years, therewas a complete reversal in the habits of

millionsofpeople.

Laws and regulations are an example of how government can change our

habitsbycreatingasocialcontract.Asasociety,wecollectivelyagreetoabide

by certain rules and then enforce them as a group.Whenever a new piece of

legislation impacts behavior—seat belt laws, banning smoking inside

restaurants,mandatoryrecycling—it isanexampleofasocialcontractshaping

our habits. The group agrees to act in a certainway, and if you don’t follow

along,you’llbepunished.

Just asgovernmentsuse laws tohold citizens accountable, youcancreate a

habit contract to hold yourself accountable. A habit contract is a verbal or

writtenagreementinwhichyoustateyourcommitmenttoaparticularhabitand

thepunishmentthatwilloccurifyoudon’tfollowthrough.Thenyoufindoneor

two people to act as your accountability partners and sign off on the contract

withyou.

BryanHarris,anentrepreneurfromNashville,Tennessee,wasthefirstperson

I saw put this strategy into action. Shortly after the birth of his son, Harris

realizedhewantedtoshedafewpounds.Hewroteupahabitcontractbetween

himself, hiswife, andhis personal trainer.The first version read, “Bryan’s #1

objectiveforQ1of2017istostarteatingcorrectlyagainsohefeelsbetter,looks

better,andisabletohithislong-termgoalof200poundsat10%bodyfat.”

Below that statement, Harris laid out a road map for achieving his ideal

outcome:

Phase#1:Getbacktoastrict“slow-carb”dietinQ1.

Phase#2:StartastrictmacronutrienttrackingprograminQ2.

Phase #3: Refine and maintain the details of his diet and workout

programinQ3.

Finally,hewroteouteachofthedailyhabitsthatwouldgethimtohisgoal.

For example, “Write down all food that he consumes each day and weigh

himselfeachday.”

Andthenhelistedthepunishmentifhefailed:“IfBryandoesn’tdothesetwo

itemsthenthefollowingconsequencewillbeenforced:Hewillhavetodressup

eachworkdayandeachSundaymorningfortherestofthequarter.Dressupis

definedasnotwearingjeans,t-shirts,hoodies,orshorts.HewillalsogiveJoey

(histrainer)$200touseasheseesfitifhemissesonedayofloggingfood.”

At the bottom of the page, Harris, his wife, and his trainer all signed the

contract.

My initial reaction was that a contract like this seemed overly formal and

unnecessary,especiallythesignatures.ButHarrisconvincedmethatsigningthe

contractwasanindicationofseriousness.“AnytimeIskipthispart,”hesaid,“I

startslackingalmostimmediately.”

Threemonthslater,afterhittinghistargetsforQ1,Harrisupgradedhisgoals.

The consequences escalated, too. If he missed his carbohydrate and protein

targets,hehadtopayhistrainer$100.Andifhefailedtoweighhimself,hehad

togivehiswife$500touseasshesawfit.Perhapsmostpainfully,ifheforgotto

runsprints,hehadtodressupforworkeverydayandwearanAlabamahatthe

restofthequarter—thebitterrivalofhisbelovedAuburnteam.

The strategy worked. With his wife and trainer acting as accountability

partners and with the habit contract clarifying exactly what to do each day,

Harrislosttheweight.*

Tomakebadhabitsunsatisfying,yourbestoptionistomakethempainfulin

themoment.Creatingahabitcontractisastraightforwardwaytodoexactlythat.

Evenifyoudon’twanttocreateafull-blownhabitcontract,simplyhavingan

accountability partner is useful. The comedianMargaret Chowrites a joke or

songeveryday.Shedoesthe“songaday”challengewithafriend,whichhelps

them both stay accountable. Knowing that someone is watching can be a

powerfulmotivator.Youarelesslikelytoprocrastinateorgiveupbecausethere

is an immediate cost. If you don’t follow through, perhaps they’ll see you as

untrustworthy or lazy. Suddenly, you are not only failing to uphold your

promisestoyourself,butalsofailingtoupholdyourpromisestoothers.

You can even automate this process. Thomas Frank, an entrepreneur in

Boulder,Colorado,wakesupat5:55eachmorning.Andifhedoesn’t,hehasa

tweetautomaticallyscheduledthatsays,“It’s6:10andI’mnotupbecauseI’m

lazy! Reply to this for $5 via PayPal (limit 5), assuming my alarm didn’t

malfunction.”

Weare always trying topresentourbest selves to theworld.Wecombour

hair and brush our teeth and dress ourselves carefully becausewe know these

habits are likely to get a positive reaction. We want to get good grades and

graduate from top schools to impress potential employers and mates and our

friends and family.We care about the opinions of those around us because it

helpsifotherslikeus.Thisispreciselywhygettinganaccountabilitypartneror

signingahabitcontractcanworksowell.

ChapterSummary

The inversion of the 4th Law of Behavior Change is make it

unsatisfying.

Wearelesslikelytorepeatabadhabitifitispainfulorunsatisfying.

Anaccountabilitypartnercancreateanimmediatecosttoinaction.We

caredeeplyaboutwhatothersthinkofus,andwedonotwantothers

tohavealesseropinionofus.

Ahabit contract canbeused to add a social cost to anybehavior. It

makesthecostsofviolatingyourpromisespublicandpainful.

Knowing that someone else is watching you can be a powerful

motivator.

HOWTOCREATEAGOODHABIT

The1stLaw:MakeItObvious

1.1:FillouttheHabitsScorecard.Writedownyourcurrenthabitstobecomeawareofthem.

1.2:Useimplementationintentions:“Iwill[BEHAVIOR]at[TIME]in[LOCATION].”

1.3:Usehabitstacking:“After[CURRENTHABIT],Iwill[NEWHABIT].”

1.4:Designyourenvironment.Makethecuesofgoodhabitsobviousandvisible.

The2ndLaw:MakeItAttractive

2.1:Usetemptationbundling.Pairanactionyouwanttodowithanactionyouneedtodo.

2.2:Joinaculturewhereyourdesiredbehavioristhenormalbehavior.

2.3:Createamotivationritual.Dosomethingyouenjoyimmediatelybeforeadifficulthabit.

The3rdLaw:MakeItEasy

3.1:Reducefriction.Decreasethenumberofstepsbetweenyouandyourgoodhabits.

3.2:Primetheenvironment.Prepareyourenvironmenttomakefutureactionseasier.

3.3:Masterthedecisivemoment.Optimizethesmallchoicesthatdeliveroutsizedimpact.

3.4:UsetheTwo-MinuteRule.Downscaleyourhabitsuntiltheycanbedoneintwominutesorless.

3.5:Automateyourhabits.Investintechnologyandonetimepurchasesthatlockinfuturebehavior.

The4thLaw:MakeItSatisfying

4.1:Usereinforcement.Giveyourselfanimmediaterewardwhenyoucompleteyourhabit.

4.2:Make“doingnothing”enjoyable.Whenavoidingabadhabit,designawaytoseethebenefits.

4.3:Useahabittracker.Keeptrackofyourhabitstreakand“don’tbreakthechain.”

4.4:Nevermisstwice.Whenyouforgettodoahabit,makesureyougetbackontrackimmediately.

HOWTOBREAKABADHABIT

Inversionofthe1stLaw:MakeItInvisible

1.5:Reduceexposure.Removethecuesofyourbadhabitsfromyourenvironment.

Inversionofthe2ndLaw:MakeItUnattractive

2.4:Reframeyourmind-set.Highlightthebenefitsofavoidingyourbadhabits.

Inversionofthe3rdLaw:MakeItDifficult

3.6:Increasefriction.Increasethenumberofstepsbetweenyouandyourbadhabits.

3.7:Useacommitmentdevice.Restrictyourfuturechoicestotheonesthatbenefityou.

Inversionofthe4thLaw:MakeItUnsatisfying

4.5:Getanaccountabilitypartner.Asksomeonetowatchyourbehavior.

4.6:Createahabitcontract.Makethecostsofyourbadhabitspublicandpainful.

Youcandownloadaprintableversionofthishabitscheatsheetat:atomichabits.com/cheatsheet

http://atomichabits.com/cheatsheet

ADVANCEDTACTICS

HowtoGofromBeingMerelyGoodtoBeing

TrulyGreat

TheTruthAboutTalent(WhenGenesMatter

andWhenTheyDon’t)

MANYPEOPLEAREfamiliarwithMichaelPhelps,whoiswidelyconsideredtobeoneof

thegreatestathletes inhistory.PhelpshaswonmoreOlympicmedalsnotonly

thananyswimmerbutalsomorethananyOlympianinanysport.

Fewer people know the name Hicham El Guerrouj, but he was a fantastic

athlete in his own right. El Guerrouj is a Moroccan runner who holds two

Olympicgoldmedals and is oneof thegreatestmiddle-distance runnersof all

time. Formany years, he held theworld record in themile, 1,500-meter, and

2,000-meter races.At theOlympicGames inAthens,Greece, in2004,hewon

goldinthe1,500-meterand5,000-meterraces.

These two athletes are wildly different in many ways. (For starters, one

competed on land and the other in water.) But most notably, they differ

significantly in height. ElGuerrouj is five feet, nine inches tall. Phelps is six

feet, four inches tall.Despite thisseven-inchdifference inheight, the twomen

are identical inone respect:MichaelPhelpsandHichamElGuerroujwear the

samelengthinseamontheirpants.

Howisthispossible?Phelpshasrelativelyshortlegsforhisheightandavery

longtorso,theperfectbuildforswimming.ElGuerroujhasincrediblylonglegs

andashortupperbody,anidealframefordistancerunning.

Now, imagine if theseworld-class athleteswere to switch sports.Given his

remarkable athleticism, could Michael Phelps become an Olympic-caliber

distance runner with enough training? It’s unlikely. At peak fitness, Phelps

weighed 194 pounds, which is 40 percent heavier than El Guerrouj, who

competed at an ultralight 138 pounds. Taller runners are heavier runners, and

every extra pound is a cursewhen it comes to distance running.Against elite

competition,Phelpswouldbedoomedfromthestart.

Similarly, El Guerroujmight be one of the best runners in history, but it’s

doubtfulhewouldeverqualifyfortheOlympicsasaswimmer.Since1976,the

averageheightofOlympicgoldmedalists in themen’s1,500-meterrun is five

feet,teninches.Incomparison,theaverageheightofOlympicgoldmedalistsin

themen’s100-meterfreestyleswimissixfeet,fourinches.Swimmerstendtobe

tallandhavelongbacksandarms,whichareidealforpullingthroughthewater.

ElGuerroujwouldbeataseveredisadvantagebeforeheevertouchedthepool.

Thesecrettomaximizingyouroddsofsuccessistochoosetherightfieldof

competition. This is just as true with habit change as it is with sports and

business.Habitsareeasier toperform,andmoresatisfying tostickwith,when

theyalignwithyournaturalinclinationsandabilities.LikeMichaelPhelpsinthe

poolorHichamElGuerroujon the track, youwant toplay agamewhere the

oddsareinyourfavor.

Embracingthisstrategyrequirestheacceptanceofthesimpletruththatpeople

arebornwithdifferentabilities.Somepeopledon’tliketodiscussthisfact.On

thesurface,yourgenesseemtobefixed,andit’snofuntotalkaboutthingsyou

cannot control. Plus, phrases like biological determinism makes it sound like

certain individuals are destined for success and others doomed to failure. But

thisisashortsightedviewoftheinfluenceofgenesonbehavior.

The strength of genetics is also their weakness. Genes cannot be easily

changed, which means they provide a powerful advantage in favorable

circ*mstancesanda seriousdisadvantage inunfavorablecirc*mstances. Ifyou

want to dunk a basketball, being seven feet tall is very useful. If youwant to

perform a gymnastics routine, being seven feet tall is a great hindrance. Our

environmentdeterminesthesuitabilityofourgenesandtheutilityofournatural

talents. When our environment changes, so do the qualities that determine

success.

This is truenot just forphysical characteristicsbut formentalones aswell.

I’msmartifyouaskmeabouthabitsandhumanbehavior;notsomuchwhenit

comes to knitting, rocket propulsion, or guitar chords. Competence is highly

dependentoncontext.

Thepeopleatthetopofanycompetitivefieldarenotonlywelltrained,they

arealsowell suited to the task.And this iswhy, ifyouwant tobe trulygreat,

selectingtherightplacetofocusiscrucial.

Inshort:genesdonotdetermineyourdestiny.Theydetermineyourareasof

opportunity.As physicianGaborMate notes, “Genes can predispose, but they

don’tpredetermine.”Theareaswhereyouaregeneticallypredisposedtosuccess

aretheareaswherehabitsaremorelikelytobesatisfying.Thekeyistodirect

your effort toward areas that both exciteyouandmatchyournatural skills, to

alignyourambitionwithyourability.

The obvious question is, “How do I figure out where the odds are in my

favor?HowdoIidentifytheopportunitiesandhabitsthatarerightforme?”The

firstplacewewilllookforananswerisbyunderstandingyourpersonality.

HOWYOURPERSONALITYINFLUENCESYOURHABITS

Yourgenesareoperatingbeneaththesurfaceofeveryhabit.Indeed,beneaththe

surfaceofeverybehavior.Geneshavebeenshowntoinfluenceeverythingfrom

thenumberofhoursyouspendwatchingtelevisiontoyourlikelihoodtomarry

ordivorcetoyourtendencytogetaddictedtodrugs,alcohol,ornicotine.There’s

astronggeneticcomponent tohowobedientorrebelliousyouarewhenfacing

authority,howvulnerableorresistantyouaretostressfulevents,howproactive

or reactive you tend to be, and even how captivated or bored you feel during

sensory experiences like attending a concert. As Robert Plomin, a behavioral

geneticistatKing’sCollegeinLondon,toldme,“It

available. Four years

later,whentheOlympicGamescametoLondon,theBritsraisedthebarasthey

setnineOlympicrecordsandsevenworldrecords.

That sameyear,BradleyWigginsbecame the firstBritishcyclist towin the

TourdeFrance.Thenextyear,histeammateChrisFroomewontherace,andhe

wouldgoontowinagainin2015,2016,and2017,givingtheBritishteamfive

TourdeFrancevictoriesinsixyears.

Duringtheten-yearspanfrom2007to2017,Britishcyclistswon178world

championshipsandsixty-sixOlympicorParalympicgoldmedalsandcaptured

fiveTourdeFrancevictoriesinwhatiswidelyregardedasthemostsuccessful

runincyclinghistory.*

How does this happen? How does a team of previously ordinary athletes

transform intoworld championswith tiny changes that, at first glance,would

seem to make a modest difference at best? Why do small improvements

accumulate into such remarkable results, and how can you replicate this

approachinyourownlife?

WHYSMALLHABITSMAKEABIGDIFFERENCE

It is so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and

underestimate the value ofmaking small improvements on a daily basis. Too

often, we convince ourselves that massive success requires massive action.

Whether it is losing weight, building a business, writing a book, winning a

championship, or achieving any other goal, we put pressure on ourselves to

makesomeearth-shatteringimprovementthateveryonewilltalkabout.

Meanwhile, improvingby1percent isn’t particularlynotable—sometimes it

isn’tevennoticeable—butitcanbefarmoremeaningful,especiallyinthelong

run. The difference a tiny improvement can make over time is astounding.

Here’showthemathworksout:ifyoucanget1percentbettereachdayforone

year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.

Conversely, if you get 1 percent worse each day for one year, you’ll decline

nearlydowntozero.Whatstartsasasmallwinoraminorsetbackaccumulates

intosomethingmuchmore.

1%BETTEREVERYDAY

1%worseeverydayforoneyear.0.99365=00.03

1%bettereverydayforoneyear.1.01365=37.78

FIGURE1:Theeffectsofsmallhabitscompoundovertime.Forexample,ifyoucangetjust1percentbettereachday,you’llendupwithresultsthatarenearly37timesbetterafterone

year.

Habits are the compound interest of selfimprovement. The same way that

moneymultipliesthroughcompoundinterest,theeffectsofyourhabitsmultiply

asyourepeatthem.Theyseemtomakelittledifferenceonanygivendayandyet

the impact theydeliverover themonthsandyearscanbeenormous. It isonly

when lookingback two, five,orperhaps tenyears later that thevalueofgood

habitsandthecostofbadonesbecomesstrikinglyapparent.

This can be a difficult concept to appreciate in daily life.Weoften dismiss

smallchangesbecause theydon’tseemtomatterverymuch in themoment. If

yousavealittlemoneynow,you’restillnotamillionaire.Ifyougotothegym

threedaysinarow,you’restilloutofshape.IfyoustudyMandarinforanhour

tonight,youstillhaven’tlearnedthelanguage.Wemakeafewchanges,butthe

results never seem to come quickly and so we slide back into our previous

routines.

Unfortunately,theslowpaceoftransformationalsomakesiteasytoletabad

habitslide.Ifyoueatanunhealthymealtoday,thescaledoesn’tmovemuch.If

you work late tonight and ignore your family, they will forgive you. If you

procrastinateandputyourprojectoffuntiltomorrow,therewillusuallybetime

tofinish*tlater.Asingledecisioniseasytodismiss.

But when we repeat 1 percent errors, day after day, by replicating poor

decisions, duplicating tinymistakes, and rationalizing little excuses, our small

choicescompoundintotoxicresults.It’stheaccumulationofmanymissteps—a

1percentdeclinehereandthere—thateventuallyleadstoaproblem.

The impact created by a change in your habits is similar to the effect of

shifting the routeof anairplaneby just a fewdegrees. Imagineyouare flying

fromLosAngeles toNewYorkCity. If a pilot leaving fromLAXadjusts the

heading just 3.5 degrees south, youwill land inWashington,D.C., instead of

NewYork.Suchasmallchangeisbarelynoticeableattakeoff—thenoseofthe

airplanemoves just a few feet—but whenmagnified across the entire United

States,youenduphundredsofmilesapart.*

Similarly, a slight change in your daily habits canguideyour life to a very

differentdestination.Makingachoicethatis1percentbetteror1percentworse

seemsinsignificantinthemoment,butoverthespanofmomentsthatmakeupa

lifetime these choices determine the differencebetweenwhoyou are andwho

you could be. Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime

transformations.

Thatsaid,itdoesn’tmatterhowsuccessfulorunsuccessfulyouarerightnow.

Whatmattersiswhetheryourhabitsareputtingyouonthepathtowardsuccess.

Youshouldbe farmoreconcernedwithyourcurrent trajectory thanwithyour

current results. Ifyou’re amillionairebutyou spendmore thanyouearneach

month,thenyou’reonabadtrajectory.Ifyourspendinghabitsdon’tchange,it’s

notgoingtoendwell.Conversely,ifyou’rebroke,butyousavealittlebitevery

month, then you’re on the path toward financial freedom—even if you’re

movingslowerthanyou’dlike.

Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is a

laggingmeasureofyour financialhabits.Yourweight isa laggingmeasureof

youreatinghabits.Yourknowledgeisalaggingmeasureofyourlearninghabits.

Your clutter is a laggingmeasure of your cleaning habits. You get what you

repeat.

Ifyouwanttopredictwhereyou’llendupinlife,allyouhavetodoisfollow

the curve of tiny gains or tiny losses, and see how your daily choices will

compound tenor twentyyears down the line.Areyou spending less thanyou

earneachmonth?Areyoumakingitintothegymeachweek?Areyoureading

booksandlearningsomethingneweachday?Tinybattleslikethesearetheones

thatwilldefineyourfutureself.

Time magnifies the margin between success and failure. It will multiply

whateveryou feed it.Goodhabitsmake timeyourally.Badhabitsmake time

yourenemy.

Habitsareadouble-edgedsword.Badhabitscancutyoudownjustaseasily

as good habits can build you up, which is why understanding the details is

crucial. You need to know how habitswork and how to design them to your

liking,soyoucanavoidthedangeroushalfoftheblade.

YOURHABITSCANCOMPOUNDFORYOUORAGAINSTYOU

PositiveCompounding

Productivitycompounds.Accomplishingoneextrataskisasmallfeatonanygivenday,butitcountsforalotoveranentirecareer.Theeffectofautomatinganoldtaskormasteringanew

skillcanbeevengreater.Themoretasksyoucanhandlewithoutthinking,themoreyourbrainisfreetofocusonotherareas.

Knowledgecompounds.Learningonenewideawon’tmakeyouagenius,butacommitmenttolifelonglearningcanbetransformative.Furthermore,eachbookyoureadnotonlyteaches

yousomethingnewbutalsoopensupdifferentwaysofthinkingaboutoldideas.AsWarrenBuffettsays,“That’showknowledgeworks.Itbuildsup,likecompoundinterest.”

Relationshipscompound.Peoplereflectyourbehaviorbacktoyou.Themoreyouhelpothers,themoreotherswanttohelpyou.Beingalittlebitnicerineachinteractioncanresultina

networkofbroadandstrongconnectionsovertime.

isnowatthepointwherewe

have stopped testing to see if traits have a genetic component because we

literallycan’tfindasingleonethatisn’tinfluencedbyourgenes.”

Bundled together, your unique cluster of genetic traits predispose you to a

particular personality. Your personality is the set of characteristics that is

consistent from situation to situation. The most proven scientific analysis of

personalitytraitsisknownasthe“BigFive,”whichbreaksthemdownintofive

spectrumsofbehavior.

1. Openness to experience: from curious and inventive on one end to

cautiousandconsistentontheother.

2. Conscientiousness: organized and efficient to easygoing and

spontaneous.

3. Extroversion: outgoing and energetic to solitary and reserved (you

likelyknowthemasextrovertsvs.introverts).

4. Agreeableness: friendly and compassionate to challenging and

detached.

5. Neuroticism:anxiousandsensitivetoconfident,calm,andstable.

All five characteristics have biological underpinnings. Extroversion, for

instance,canbetrackedfrombirth.Ifscientistsplayaloudnoiseinthenursing

ward,somebabiesturntowarditwhileothersturnaway.Whentheresearchers

trackedthesechildrenthroughlife,theyfoundthatthebabieswhoturnedtoward

thenoiseweremorelikelytogrowuptobeextroverts.Thosewhoturnedaway

weremorelikelytobecomeintroverts.

Peoplewhoarehighinagreeablenessarekind,considerate,andwarm.They

also tend to have higher natural oxytocin levels, a hormone that plays an

important role in social bonding, increases feelings of trust, and can act as a

natural antidepressant. You can easily imagine how someone with more

oxytocin might be inclined to build habits like writing thank-you notes or

organizingsocialevents.

As a third example, consider neuroticism, which is a personality trait all

peoplepossesstovariousdegrees.Peoplewhoarehighinneuroticismtendtobe

anxious and worry more than others. This trait has been linked to

hypersensitivity of the amygdala, the portion of the brain responsible for

noticingthreats.Inotherwords,peoplewhoaremoresensitivetonegativecues

intheirenvironmentaremorelikelytoscorehighinneuroticism.

Ourhabitsarenotsolelydeterminedbyourpersonalities,butthereisnodoubt

that our genes nudge us in a certain direction. Our deeply rooted preferences

makecertainbehaviorseasierforsomepeoplethanforothers.Youdon’thaveto

apologize for these differences or feel guilty about them, but you do have to

workwiththem.Apersonwhoscoresloweronconscientiousness,forexample,

willbelesslikelytobeorderlybynatureandmayneedtorelymoreheavilyon

environment design to stick with good habits. (As a reminder for the less

conscientiousreadersamongus,environmentdesignisastrategywediscussed

inChapters6and12.)

Thetakeawayisthatyoushouldbuildhabitsthatworkforyourpersonality.*

People can get ripped working out like a bodybuilder, but if you prefer rock

climbing or cycling or rowing, then shape your exercise habit around your

interests.Ifyourfriendfollowsalow-carbdietbutyoufindthatlow-fatworks

foryou,thenmorepowertoyou.Ifyouwanttoreadmore,don’tbeembarrassed

ifyouprefersteamyromancenovelsovernonfiction.Readwhateverfascinates

you.*Youdon’thavetobuildthehabitseveryonetellsyoutobuild.Choosethe

habitthatbestsuitsyou,nottheonethatismostpopular.

Thereisaversionofeveryhabitthatcanbringyoujoyandsatisfaction.Find

it.Habitsneed tobeenjoyable if theyaregoing to stick.This is thecore idea

behindthe4thLaw.

Tailoringyourhabitstoyourpersonalityisagoodstart,butthisisnottheend

of the story.Let’s turnour attention to findinganddesigning situationswhere

you’reatanaturaladvantage.

HOWTOFINDAGAMEWHERETHEODDSAREINYOURFAVOR

Learning to play a game where the odds are in your favor is critical for

maintainingmotivationandfeelingsuccessful.In theory,youcanenjoyalmost

anything.Inpractice,youaremorelikelytoenjoythethingsthatcomeeasilyto

you.Peoplewhoare talented inaparticulararea tendtobemorecompetentat

thattaskandarethenpraisedfordoingagoodjob.Theystayenergizedbecause

they are making progress where others have failed, and because they get

rewardedwithbetterpayandbiggeropportunities,whichnotonlymakesthem

happier but also propels them to produce even higher-quality work. It’s a

virtuouscycle.

Pick the right habit andprogress is easy.Pick thewronghabit and life is a

struggle.

Howdoyoupicktherighthabit?Thefirststepissomethingwecoveredinthe

3rd Law:make it easy. In many cases, when people pick the wrong habit, it

simplymeans theypickedahabit thatwas toodifficult.Whenahabit is easy,

you aremore likely to be successful.When you are successful, you aremore

likelytofeelsatisfied.However,thereisanotherleveltoconsider.Inthelong-

run,ifyoucontinuetoadvanceandimprove,anyareacanbecomechallenging.

At somepoint, youneed tomake sureyou’replaying the right game for your

skillset.Howdoyoufigurethatout?

Themost common approach is trial and error.Of course, there’s a problem

with this strategy: life is short. You don’t have time to try every career, date

everyeligiblebachelor,orplayeverymusicalinstrument.Thankfully,thereisan

effectivewaytomanagethisconundrum,anditisknownastheexplore/exploit

trade-off.

Inthebeginningofanewactivity,thereshouldbeaperiodofexploration.In

relationships,it’scalleddating.Incollege,it’scalledtheliberalarts.Inbusiness,

it’scalledsplittesting.Thegoalistotryoutmanypossibilities,researchabroad

rangeofideas,andcastawidenet.

After this initial period of exploration, shift your focus to the best solution

you’ve found—but keep experimenting occasionally. The proper balance

dependsonwhetheryou’rewinningorlosing.Ifyouarecurrentlywinning,you

exploit, exploit, exploit. If you are currently losing, you continue to explore,

explore,explore.

Inthelong-runitisprobablymosteffectivetoworkonthestrategythatseems

todeliverthebestresultsabout80to90percentofthetimeandkeepexploring

withtheremaining10to20percent.Googlefamouslyasksemployeestospend

80percentof theworkweekon theirofficial joband20percentonprojectsof

theirchoice,whichhasledtothecreationofblockbusterproductslikeAdWords

andGmail.

Theoptimalapproachalsodependsonhowmuchtimeyouhave.Ifyouhave

a lot of time—like someone at the beginning of their career—it makes more

sense to explore because once you find the right thing, you still have a good

amountoftimetoexploitit.Ifyou’repressedfortime—say,asyoucomeupon

thedeadlineforaproject—youshouldimplementthebestsolutionyou’vefound

sofarandgetsomeresults.

Asyouexploredifferentoptions, thereareaseriesofquestionsyoucanask

yourself to continually narrow in on the habits and areas that will be most

satisfyingtoyou:

Whatfeelslikefuntome,butworktoothers?Themarkofwhetheryou

aremadeforataskisnotwhetheryouloveitbutwhetheryoucanhandle

the pain of the task easier than most people. When are you enjoying

yourselfwhileotherpeoplearecomplaining?Theworkthathurtsyouless

thanithurtsothersistheworkyouweremadetodo.

Whatmakesme lose track of time?Flow is themental

state you enter

whenyouaresofocusedonthetaskathandthattherestoftheworldfades

away.Thisblendofhappinessandpeakperformance iswhatathletesand

performersexperiencewhentheyare“inthezone.”Itisnearlyimpossible

toexperienceaflowstateandnotfindthetasksatisfyingat least tosome

degree.

Where do I get greater returns than the average person? We are

continuallycomparingourselvestothosearoundus,andabehaviorismore

likelytobesatisfyingwhenthecomparisonisinourfavor.WhenIstarted

writingatjamesclear.com,myemaillistgrewveryquickly.Iwasn’tquite

surewhat Iwasdoingwell, but I knew that results seemed tobe coming

fasterformethanforsomeofmycolleagues,whichmotivatedmetokeep

writing.

Whatcomesnaturally tome?For justamoment, ignorewhatyouhave

beentaught.Ignorewhatsocietyhastoldyou.Ignorewhatothersexpectof

you.Lookinsideyourselfandask,“Whatfeelsnaturaltome?WhenhaveI

felt alive?When have I felt like the realme?”No internal judgments or

people-pleasing. No second-guessing or self-criticism. Just feelings of

engagementandenjoyment.Wheneveryoufeelauthenticandgenuine,you

areheadedintherightdirection.

Tobehonest,someofthisprocessisjustluck.MichaelPhelpsandHichamEl

Guerroujwereluckytobebornwithararesetofabilitiesthatarehighlyvalued

bysocietyandtobeplacedin the idealenvironmentfor thoseabilities.Weall

havelimitedtimeonthisplanet,andthetrulygreatamongusaretheoneswho

notonlyworkhardbutalsohavethegoodfortunetobeexposedtoopportunities

thatfavorus.

Butwhatifyoudon’twanttoleaveituptoluck?

Ifyoucan’tfindagamewheretheoddsarestackedinyourfavor,createone.

ScottAdams, thecartoonistbehindDilbert, says,“Everyonehasat leasta few

areasinwhichtheycouldbeinthetop25%withsomeeffort.Inmycase,Ican

drawbetterthanmostpeople,butI’mhardlyanartist.AndI’mnotanyfunnier

thantheaveragestandupcomedianwhonevermakesitbig,butI’mfunnierthan

mostpeople.Themagicisthatfewpeoplecandrawwellandwritejokes.It’sthe

combinationofthetwothatmakeswhatIdosorare.Andwhenyouaddinmy

businessbackground,suddenlyIhadatopicthatfewcartoonistscouldhopeto

understandwithoutlivingit.”

When you can’t win by being better, you can win by being different. By

combining your skills, you reduce the level of competition, which makes it

easier to stand out.You can shortcut the need for a genetic advantage (or for

yearsofpractice)by rewriting the rules.Agoodplayerworkshard towin the

game everyone else is playing.Agreat player creates a newgame that favors

theirstrengthsandavoidstheirweaknesses.

Incollege,Idesignedmyownmajor,biomechanics,whichwasacombination

ofphysics,chemistry,biology,andanatomy.Iwasn’tsmartenoughtostandout

among the top physics or biology majors, so I created my own game. And

because it suited me—I was only taking the courses I was interested in—

studying felt like less of a chore. It was also easier to avoid the trap of

comparingmyselftoeveryoneelse.Afterall,nobodyelsewastakingthesame

combinationofclasses,sowhocouldsayiftheywerebetterorworse?

Specializationisapowerfulwaytoovercomethe“accident”ofbadgenetics.

Themoreyoumasteraspecificskill,theharderitbecomesforotherstocompete

with you.Many bodybuilders are stronger than the average armwrestler, but

evenamassivebodybuildermayloseatarmwrestlingbecausethearmwrestling

champhasveryspecific strength.Even ifyou’renot themostnaturallygifted,

youcanoftenwinbybeingthebestinaverynarrowcategory.

Boiling water will soften a potato but harden an egg. You can’t control

whetheryou’reapotatooranegg,butyoucandecidetoplayagamewhereit’s

bettertobehardorsoft.Ifyoucanfindamorefavorableenvironment,youcan

transform the situation fromonewhere theodds are againstyou toonewhere

theyareinyourfavor.

HOWTOGETTHEMOSTOUTOFYOURGENES

Ourgenesdonoteliminatetheneedforhardwork.Theyclarifyit.Theytellus

what toworkhardon.Oncewerealizeourstrengths,weknowwheretospend

our time and energy.We know which types of opportunities to look for and

which types of challenges to avoid. The better we understand our nature, the

betterourstrategycanbe.

Biological differences matter. Even so, it’s more productive to focus on

whether you are fulfilling your own potential than comparing yourself to

someoneelse.Thefact thatyouhaveanatural limit toanyspecificabilityhas

nothing to do with whether you are reaching the ceiling of your capabilities.

Peoplegetsocaughtupinthefactthattheyhavelimitsthattheyrarelyexertthe

effortrequiredtogetclosetothem.

Furthermore,genescan’tmakeyousuccessful ifyou’renotdoing thework.

Yes,it’spossiblethattherippedtraineratthegymhasbettergenes,butifyou

haven’t put in the same reps, it’s impossible to say if you have been dealt a

betterorworsegenetichand.Untilyouworkashardasthoseyouadmire,don’t

explainawaytheirsuccessasluck.

Insummary,oneofthebestwaystoensureyourhabitsremainsatisfyingover

the long-run is to pick behaviors that align with your personality and skills.

Workhardonthethingsthatcomeeasy.

ChapterSummary

Thesecret tomaximizingyouroddsofsuccess is tochoose theright

fieldofcompetition.

Picktherighthabitandprogressiseasy.Pickthewronghabitandlife

isastruggle.

Genescannotbeeasilychanged,whichmeanstheyprovideapowerful

advantage in favorable circ*mstances and a serious disadvantage in

unfavorablecirc*mstances.

Habits are easierwhen theyalignwithyournatural abilities.Choose

thehabitsthatbestsuityou.

Playagamethat favorsyourstrengths. Ifyoucan’t findagame that

favorsyou,createone.

Genesdonoteliminate theneedforhardwork.Theyclarify it.They

telluswhattoworkhardon.

TheGoldilocksRule:HowtoStayMotivatedin

LifeandWork

IN 1955,DisneylandhadjustopenedinAnaheim,California,whena ten-year-old

boywalkedinandaskedforajob.Laborlawswereloosebackthenandtheboy

managedtolandapositionsellingguidebooksfor$0.50apiece.

Withinayear,hehadtransitionedtoDisney’smagicshop,wherehelearned

tricks from the older employees. He experimented with jokes and tried out

simple routines on visitors. Soon he discovered that what he loved was not

performingmagic but performing in general.He set his sights on becoming a

comedian.

Beginning in his teenage years, he started performing in little clubs around

LosAngeles.The crowdswere small and his actwas short.Hewas rarely on

stageformorethanfiveminutes.Mostofthepeopleinthecrowdweretoobusy

drinkingortalkingwithfriendstopayattention.Onenight,heliterallydelivered

hisstanduproutinetoanemptyclub.

Itwasn’tglamorouswork,but therewasnodoubthewasgettingbetter.His

first routineswouldonly lastoneor twominutes.Byhighschool,hismaterial

hadexpanded to includea five-minuteactand,a fewyears later, a ten-minute

show.Atnineteen,hewasperformingweeklyfortwentyminutesatatime.He

hadtoreadthreepoemsduringtheshowjusttomaketheroutinelongenough,

buthisskillscontinuedtoprogress.

Hespentanotherdecadeexperimenting,adjusting,andpracticing.Hetooka

jobasatelevisionwriterand,gradually,hewasabletolandhisownappearances

on talk shows.

By themid-1970s,hehadworkedhisway intobeinga regular

guestonTheTonightShowandSaturdayNightLive.

Finally, after nearly fifteen years ofwork, the youngman rose to fame.He

toured sixty cities in sixty-three days. Then seventy-two cities in eighty days.

Theneighty-fivecitiesinninetydays.Hehad18,695peopleattendoneshowin

Ohio.Another45,000ticketsweresoldforhisthree-dayshowinNewYork.He

catapulted to the top of his genre and became one of the most successful

comediansofhistime.

HisnameisSteveMartin.

Martin’s storyoffersa fascinatingperspectiveonwhat it takes to stickwith

habits for the long run. Comedy is not for the timid. It is hard to imagine a

situation thatwould strike fear into theheartsofmorepeople thanperforming

aloneonstageandfailingtogetasinglelaugh.AndyetSteveMartinfacedthis

fear everyweek for eighteen years. In his words, “10 years spent learning, 4

yearsspentrefining,and4yearsasawildsuccess.”

Why is it that some people, like Martin, stick with their habits—whether

practicing jokes or drawing cartoons or playing guitar—while most of us

struggletostaymotivated?Howdowedesignhabitsthatpullusinratherthan

onesthatfadeaway?Scientistshavebeenstudyingthisquestionformanyyears.

Whilethereisstillmuchtolearn,oneofthemostconsistentfindingsisthatthe

waytomaintainmotivationandachievepeaklevelsofdesireistoworkontasks

of“justmanageabledifficulty.”

Thehumanbrainlovesachallenge,butonlyifitiswithinanoptimalzoneof

difficulty.Ifyoulovetennisandtrytoplayaseriousmatchagainstafour-year-

old, youwill quickly become bored. It’s too easy.You’llwin every point. In

contrast, if youplay a professional tennis player likeRogerFederer orSerena

Williams,youwillquicklylosemotivationbecausethematchistoodifficult.

Nowconsiderplayingtennisagainstsomeonewhoisyourequal.Asthegame

progresses,youwinafewpointsandyouloseafew.Youhaveagoodchanceof

winning,butonlyifyoureallytry.Yourfocusnarrows,distractionsfadeaway,

andyou findyourself fully invested in the taskathand.This isachallengeof

justmanageabledifficultyanditisaprimeexampleoftheGoldilocksRule.

The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when

working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too

hard.Nottooeasy.Justright.

THEGOLDILOCKSRULE

FIGURE15:Maximummotivationoccurswhen facinga challengeof justmanageabledifficulty. Inpsychology research this isknownas theYerkes–Dodson law,whichdescribes the

optimallevelofarousalasthemidpointbetweenboredomandanxiety.

Martin’s comedy career is an excellent example of the Goldilocks Rule in

practice.Eachyear,heexpandedhiscomedyroutine—butonlybyaminuteor

two.Hewasalwaysaddingnewmaterial,buthealsokeptafewjokesthatwere

guaranteed to get laughs. There were just enough victories to keep him

motivatedandjustenoughmistakestokeephimworkinghard.

Whenyou’restartinganewhabit,it’simportanttokeepthebehavioraseasy

aspossiblesoyoucanstickwithitevenwhenconditionsaren’tperfect.Thisis

anideawecoveredindetailwhilediscussingthe3rdLawofBehaviorChange.

Once a habit has been established, however, it’s important to continue to

advanceinsmallways.Theselittleimprovementsandnewchallengeskeepyou

engaged.Andifyouhit theGoldilocksZonejustright,youcanachievea flow

state.*

Aflowstateistheexperienceofbeing“inthezone”andfullyimmersedinan

activity.Scientistshavetriedtoquantifythisfeeling.Theyfoundthattoachieve

astateofflow,ataskmustberoughly4percentbeyondyourcurrentability.In

real life it’s typicallynot feasible toquantify thedifficultyofanaction in this

way,butthecoreideaoftheGoldilocksRuleremains:workingonchallengesof

justmanageabledifficulty—somethingontheperimeterofyourability—seems

crucialformaintainingmotivation.

Improvement requires a delicate balance. You need to regularly search for

challengesthatpushyoutoyouredgewhilecontinuingtomakeenoughprogress

to stay motivated. Behaviors need to remain novel in order for them to stay

attractiveandsatisfying.Withoutvariety,wegetbored.Andboredomisperhaps

thegreatestvillainonthequestforselfimprovement.

HOWTOSTAYFOCUSEDWHENYOUGETBOREDWORKINGON

YOURGOALS

After my baseball career ended, I was looking for a new sport. I joined a

weightliftingteamandonedayanelitecoachvisitedourgym.Hehadworked

withthousandsofathletesduringhislongcareer,includingafewOlympians.I

introducedmyselfandwebegantalkingabouttheprocessofimprovement.

“What’sthedifferencebetweenthebestathletesandeveryoneelse?”Iasked.

“Whatdothereallysuccessfulpeopledothatmostdon’t?”

Hementionedthefactorsyoumightexpect:genetics,luck,talent.Butthenhe

said something Iwasn’t expecting: “At somepoint it comesdown towhocan

handletheboredomoftrainingeveryday,doingthesameliftsoverandoverand

over.”

Hisanswersurprisedmebecauseit’sadifferentwayofthinkingaboutwork

ethic.Peopletalkaboutgetting“ampedup”toworkontheirgoals.Whetherit’s

businessorsportsorart,youhearpeoplesaythingslike,“Itallcomesdownto

passion.”Or,“Youhavetoreallywantit.”Asaresult,manyofusgetdepressed

whenwelosefocusormotivationbecausewethinkthatsuccessfulpeoplehave

some bottomless reserve of passion. But this coach was saying that really

successful people feel the same lack of motivation as everyone else. The

difference is that they still find a way to show up despite the feelings of

boredom.

Mastery requires practice. But the more you practice something, the more

boringandroutineitbecomes.Oncethebeginnergainshavebeenmadeandwe

learnwhattoexpect,ourintereststartstofade.Sometimesithappensevenfaster

than that.All youhave todo is hit thegyma fewdays in a rowor publish a

couple of blog posts on time and letting one day slip doesn’t feel likemuch.

Thingsaregoingwell.It’seasytorationalizetakingadayoffbecauseyou’rein

agoodplace.

Thegreatest threat tosuccess isnotfailurebutboredom.Wegetboredwith

habitsbecausetheystopdelightingus.Theoutcomebecomesexpected.Andas

our habits become ordinary, we start derailing our progress to seek novelty.

Perhapsthisiswhywegetcaughtupinanever-endingcycle,jumpingfromone

workouttothenext,onediettothenext,onebusinessideatothenext.Assoon

asweexperiencetheslightestdipinmotivation,webeginseekinganewstrategy

—even if the old one was still working. As Machiavelli noted, “Men desire

novelty to such an extent that thosewho are doingwellwish for a change as

muchasthosewhoaredoingbadly.”

Perhaps this iswhymanyof themost habit-formingproducts are those that

providecontinuousformsofnovelty.Videogamesprovidevisualnovelty.p*rn

provides sexual novelty. Junk foods provide culinary novelty. Each of these

experiencesoffercontinualelementsofsurprise.

In psychology, this is known as a variable reward.* Slotmachines are the

most common real-world example.A gambler hits the jackpot every now and

then but not at any predictable interval. The pace of rewards varies. This

variance leads to thegreatest spikeofdopamine,enhancesmemory recall,and

accelerateshabitformation.

Variable

rewards won’t create a craving—that is, you can’t take a reward

peopleareuninterestedin,giveittothematavariableinterval,andhopeitwill

change their mind—but they are a powerful way to amplify the cravings we

alreadyexperiencebecausetheyreduceboredom.

Thesweetspotofdesireoccursata50/50splitbetweensuccessandfailure.

Halfof thetimeyougetwhatyouwant.Halfof thetimeyoudon’t.Youneed

justenough“winning” toexperiencesatisfactionand justenough“wanting” to

experiencedesire.ThisisoneofthebenefitsoffollowingtheGoldilocksRule.If

you’realready interested inahabit,workingonchallengesof justmanageable

difficultyisagoodwaytokeepthingsinteresting.

Ofcourse,notallhabitshaveavariablerewardcomponent,andyouwouldn’t

wantthemto.IfGoogleonlydeliveredausefulsearchresultsomeofthetime,I

wouldswitchtoacompetitorprettyquickly.IfUberonlypickeduphalfofmy

trips, I doubt I’dbeusing that servicemuch longer.And if I flossedmy teeth

eachnightandonlysometimesendedupwithacleanmouth,IthinkI’dskipit.

Variablerewardsornot,nohabitwillstayinterestingforever.Atsomepoint,

everyonefacesthesamechallengeonthejourneyofselfimprovement:youhave

tofallinlovewithboredom.

Weallhavegoals thatwewould like to achieveanddreams thatwewould

liketofulfill,butitdoesn’tmatterwhatyouaretryingtobecomebetterat,ifyou

only do the work when it’s convenient or exciting, then you’ll never be

consistentenoughtoachieveremarkableresults.

Icanguaranteethatifyoumanagetostartahabitandkeepstickingtoit,there

willbedayswhenyoufeellikequitting.Whenyoustartabusiness,therewillbe

dayswhenyoudon’tfeellikeshowingup.Whenyou’reatthegym,therewillbe

setsthatyoudon’tfeellikefinishing.Whenit’stimetowrite,therewillbedays

thatyoudon’tfeelliketyping.Butsteppingupwhenit’sannoyingorpainfulor

draining todoso, that’swhatmakes thedifferencebetweenaprofessionaland

anamateur.

Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way.

Professionalsknowwhatisimportanttothemandworktowarditwithpurpose;

amateursgetpulledoffcoursebytheurgenciesoflife.

David Cain, an author and meditation teacher, encourages his students to

avoid being “fair-weathermeditators.” Similarly, you don’twant to be a fair-

weatherathleteorafair-weatherwriterorafair-weatheranything.Whenahabit

is truly important to you, you have to be willing to stick to it in any mood.

Professionalstakeactionevenwhenthemoodisn’tright.Theymightnotenjoy

it,buttheyfindawaytoputtherepsin.

TherehavebeenalotofsetsthatIhaven’tfeltlikefinishing,butI’venever

regretteddoingtheworkout.TherehavebeenalotofarticlesIhaven’tfeltlike

writing,butI’veneverregrettedpublishingonschedule.Therehavebeenalotof

daysI’vefeltlikerelaxing,butI’veneverregrettedshowingupandworkingon

somethingthatwasimportanttome.

Theonlywaytobecomeexcellentistobeendlesslyfascinatedbydoingthe

samethingoverandover.Youhavetofallinlovewithboredom.

ChapterSummary

TheGoldilocks Rule states that humans experience peakmotivation

when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current

abilities.

Thegreatestthreattosuccessisnotfailurebutboredom.

As habits become routine, they become less interesting and less

satisfying.Wegetbored.

Anyone can work hard when they feel motivated. It’s the ability to

keepgoingwhenworkisn’texcitingthatmakesthedifference.

Professionalssticktotheschedule;amateursletlifegetintheway.

TheDownsideofCreatingGoodHabits

HABITSCREATETHEFOUNDATIONFORMASTERY.Inchess,itisonlyafterthebasicmovementsofthe

pieceshavebecomeautomatic that aplayer can focuson thenext levelof the

game.Eachchunkofinformationthatismemorizedopensupthementalspace

formoreeffortful thinking.This is trueforanyendeavor.Whenyouknowthe

simplemovementssowellthatyoucanperformthemwithoutthinking,youare

free to pay attention to more advanced details. In this way, habits are the

backboneofanypursuitofexcellence.

However, the benefits of habits come at a cost. At first, each repetition

developsfluency,speed,andskill.Butthen,asahabitbecomesautomatic,you

becomelesssensitivetofeedback.Youfallintomindlessrepetition.Itbecomes

easiertoletmistakesslide.Whenyoucandoit“goodenough”onautopilot,you

stopthinkingabouthowtodoitbetter.

Theupsideofhabitsisthatwecandothingswithoutthinking.Thedownside

of habits is that you get used to doing things a certain way and stop paying

attention to little errors. You assume you’re getting better because you’re

gainingexperience.Inreality,youaremerelyreinforcingyourcurrenthabits—

notimprovingthem.Infact,someresearchhasshownthatonceaskillhasbeen

masteredthereisusuallyaslightdeclineinperformanceovertime.

Usually,thisminordipinperformanceisnocauseforworry.Youdon’tneed

a system to continuously improve howwell you brush your teeth or tie your

shoesormakeyourmorningcupoftea.Withhabitslikethese,goodenoughis

usuallygoodenough.Thelessenergyyouspendontrivialchoices,themoreyou

canspenditonwhatreallymatters.

However,whenyouwanttomaximizeyourpotentialandachieveelitelevels

ofperformance,youneedamorenuancedapproach.Youcan’trepeatthesame

thingsblindlyandexpect tobecomeexceptional.Habitsarenecessary,butnot

sufficientformastery.Whatyouneedisacombinationofautomatichabitsand

deliberatepractice.

Habits+DeliberatePractice=Mastery

To become great, certain skills do need to become automatic. Basketball

playersneedtobeabletodribblewithoutthinkingbeforetheycanmoveonto

masteringlayupswiththeirnondominanthand.Surgeonsneedtorepeatthefirst

incisionsomanytimesthattheycoulddoitwiththeireyesclosed,sothatthey

can focuson thehundredsofvariables thatariseduringsurgery.Butafterone

habithasbeenmastered,youhavetoreturntotheeffortfulpartoftheworkand

beginbuildingthenexthabit.

Masteryis theprocessofnarrowingyourfocustoatinyelementofsuccess,

repeatingituntilyouhaveinternalizedtheskill,andthenusingthisnewhabitas

the foundation to advance to the next frontier of your development.Old tasks

becomeeasierthesecondtimearound,butitdoesn’tgeteasieroverallbecause

nowyou’repouringyourenergyintothenextchallenge.Eachhabitunlocksthe

nextlevelofperformance.It’sanendlesscycle.

MASTERINGONEHABIT

MASTERINGAFIELD

FIGURE16:Theprocessofmasteryrequiresthatyouprogressivelylayerimprovementsontopofoneanother,eachhabitbuildinguponthelastuntilanewlevelofperformancehasbeen

reachedandahigherrangeofskillshasbeeninternalized.

Althoughhabitsarepowerful,whatyouneedisawaytoremainconsciousof

your performance over time, so you can continue to refine and improve. It is

preciselyatthemomentwhenyoubegintofeellikeyouhavemasteredaskill—

right when things are starting to feel automatic and you are becoming

comfortable—thatyoumustavoidslippingintothetrapofcomplacency.

Thesolution?Establishasystemforreflectionandreview.

HOWTOREVIEWYOURHABITSANDMAKEADJUSTMENTS

In1986,theLosAngelesLakershadoneofthemosttalentedbasketballteams

everassembled,buttheyarerarelyrememberedthatway.Theteamstartedthe

1985–1986 NBA season with an

astounding 29–5 record. “The pundits were

sayingthatwemightbethebestteaminthehistoryofbasketball,”headcoach

PatRiley said after the season. Surprisingly, theLakers stumbled in the 1986

playoffsandsufferedaseason-endingdefeatintheWesternConferenceFinals.

The “best team in the history of basketball” didn’t even play for the NBA

championship.

Afterthatblow,Rileywastiredofhearingabouthowmuchtalenthisplayers

hadandabouthowmuchpromisehisteamheld.Hedidn’twanttoseeflashesof

brilliancefollowedbyagradual fade inperformance.Hewanted theLakers to

playuptotheirpotential,nightafternight.Inthesummerof1986,hecreateda

plantodoexactlythat,asystemthathecalledtheCareerBestEffortprogramor

CBE.

“When players first join the Lakers,” Riley explained, “we track their

basketball statistics all the way back to high school. I call this Taking Their

Number.Welookforanaccurategaugeofwhataplayercando,thenbuildhim

intoourplan for the team,basedon thenotion that hewillmaintain and then

improveuponhisaverages.”

Afterdeterminingaplayer’sbaselinelevelofperformance,Rileyaddedakey

step.Heaskedeachplayerto“improvetheiroutputbyatleast1percentoverthe

course of the season. If they succeeded, it would be a CBE, or Career Best

Effort.”SimilartotheBritishCyclingteamthatwediscussedinChapter1,the

Lakerssoughtpeakperformancebygettingslightlybettereachday.

Riley was careful to point out that CBE was not merely about points or

statistics but about giving your “best effort spiritually and mentally and

physically.”Playersgotcreditfor“allowinganopponent torunintoyouwhen

you know that a foulwill be called against him, diving for loose balls, going

after reboundswhether you are likely to get them or not, helping a teammate

when the player he’s guarding has surged past him, and other ‘unsung hero’

deeds.”

As an example, let’s say thatMagic Johnson—theLakers star player at the

time—had11points,8rebounds,12assists,2steals,and5turnoversinagame.

Magicalsogotcreditforan“unsunghero”deedbydivingafteralooseball(+1).

Finally,heplayedatotalof33minutesinthisimaginarygame.

Thepositivenumbers(11+8+12+2+1)addupto34.Then,wesubtract

the5turnovers(34–5)toget29.Finally,wedivide29by33minutesplayed.

29/33=0.879

Magic’sCBEnumberherewouldbe879.Thisnumberwascalculatedforall

of a player’s games, and it was the average CBE that a player was asked to

improve by 1 percent over the season. Riley compared each player’s current

CBE tonotonly theirpastperformancesbutalso thoseofotherplayers in the

league. As Riley put it, “We rank teammembers alongside league opponents

whoplaythesamepositionandhavesimilarroledefinitions.”

SportswriterJackieMacMullannoted,“Rileytrumpetedthetopperformersin

the league in bold lettering on the blackboard eachweek andmeasured them

against the corresponding players on his own roster. Solid, reliable players

generallyratedascoreinthe600s,whileeliteplayersscoredatleast800.Magic

Johnson, who submitted 138 triple-doubles in his career, often scored over

1,000.”

The Lakers also emphasized year-over-year progress by making historical

comparisons of CBE data. Riley said, “We stacked the month of November

1986,nexttoNovember1985,andshowedtheplayerswhethertheyweredoing

betterorworse thanat thesamepoint last season.Thenweshowed themhow

theirperformancefiguresforDecember1986,stackedupagainstNovember’s.”

TheLakers rolled outCBE inOctober 1986.Eightmonths later, theywere

NBAchampions.Thefollowingyear,PatRileyledhis teamtoanother titleas

the Lakers became the first team in twenty years to win back-to-back NBA

championships.Afterward,hesaid,“Sustaininganeffort is themost important

thingforanyenterprise.Theway tobesuccessful is to learnhowtodo things

right,thendothemthesamewayeverytime.”

TheCBEprogramisaprimeexampleofthepowerofreflectionandreview.

TheLakerswere already talented.CBEhelped themget themost out ofwhat

theyhad,andmadesuretheirhabitsimprovedratherthandeclined.

Reflection and review enables the long-term improvement of all habits

because itmakesyou awareofyourmistakes andhelpsyou considerpossible

paths for improvement. Without reflection, we can make excuses, create

rationalizations, and lie to ourselves. We have no process for determining

whetherweareperformingbetterorworsecomparedtoyesterday.

Topperformersinallfieldsengageinvarioustypesofreflectionandreview,

andtheprocessdoesn’thave tobecomplex.KenyanrunnerEliudKipchoge is

oneof the greatestmarathoners of all time and anOlympicgoldmedalist.He

stilltakesnotesaftereverypracticeinwhichhereviewshistrainingfortheday

and searches for areas that can be improved. Similarly, gold medal swimmer

KatieLedeckyrecordsherwellnessonascaleof1to10andincludesnoteson

hernutritionandhowwellsheslept.Shealsorecordsthetimespostedbyother

swimmers.Attheendofeachweek,hercoachgoesoverhernotesandaddshis

thoughts.

It’s not just athletes, either.When comedian Chris Rock is preparing fresh

material, he will first appear at small nightclubs dozens of times and test

hundredsofjokes.Hebringsanotepadonstageandrecordswhichbitsgoover

wellandwhereheneedstomakeadjustments.Thefewkillerlinesthatsurvive

willformthebackboneofhisnewshow.

I knowof executives and investorswhokeep a “decision journal” inwhich

theyrecordthemajordecisionstheymakeeachweek,whytheymadethem,and

whattheyexpecttheoutcometobe.Theyreviewtheirchoicesattheendofeach

monthoryeartoseewheretheywerecorrectandwheretheywentwrong.*

Improvementisnotjustaboutlearninghabits,it’salsoaboutfine-tuningthem.

Reflectionandreviewensuresthatyouspendyourtimeontherightthingsand

makecoursecorrectionswhenevernecessary—likePatRileyadjustingtheeffort

ofhisplayersonanightlybasis.Youdon’twanttokeeppracticingahabitifit

becomesineffective.

Personally, I employ two primary modes of reflection and review. Each

December,IperformanAnnualReview,inwhichIreflectonthepreviousyear.I

tallymyhabitsfortheyearbycountinguphowmanyarticlesIpublished,how

manyworkouts I put in, howmany new places I visited, andmore.* Then, I

reflectonmyprogress(orlackthereof)byansweringthreequestions:

1. Whatwentwellthisyear?

2. Whatdidn’tgosowellthisyear?

3. WhatdidIlearn?

Sixmonths later,when summer rolls around, I conduct an IntegrityReport.

Likeeveryone, Imakea lotofmistakes.MyIntegrityReporthelpsme realize

whereIwentwrongandmotivatesmetogetbackoncourse.Iuseitasatimeto

revisitmy core values and considerwhether I have been living in accordance

with them. This iswhen I reflect onmy identity and how I canwork toward

beingthetypeofpersonIwishtobecome.*

MyyearlyIntegrityReportanswersthreequestions:

1. Whatarethecorevaluesthatdrivemylifeandwork?

2. HowamIlivingandworkingwithintegrityrightnow?

3. HowcanIsetahigherstandardinthefuture?

Thesetworeportsdon’ttakeverylong—justafewhoursperyear—butthey

are crucial periods of refinement. They prevent the gradual slide that happens

whenIdon’tpaycloseattention.Theyprovidean

annualremindertorevisitmy

desiredidentityandconsiderhowmyhabitsarehelpingmebecomethetypeof

personIwishtobe.TheyindicatewhenIshouldupgrademyhabitsandtakeon

new challenges and when I should dial my efforts back and focus on the

fundamentals.

Reflection can also bring a sense of perspective. Daily habits are powerful

becauseofhowtheycompound,butworryingtoomuchabouteverydailychoice

is like lookingatyourself in themirrorfromaninchaway.Youcanseeevery

imperfectionand lose sightof thebiggerpicture.There is toomuch feedback.

Conversely,neverreviewingyourhabitsislikeneverlookinginthemirror.You

aren’tawareofeasilyfixableflaws—aspotonyourshirt,abitoffoodinyour

teeth.Thereistoolittlefeedback.Periodicreflectionandreviewislikeviewing

yourselfinthemirrorfromaconversationaldistance.Youcanseetheimportant

changesyoushouldmakewithoutlosingsightofthebiggerpicture.Youwantto

viewtheentiremountainrange,notobsessovereachpeakandvalley.

Finally, reflectionand reviewoffersan ideal time to revisitoneof themost

importantaspectsofbehaviorchange:identity.

HOWTOBREAKTHEBELIEFSTHATHOLDYOUBACK

In the beginning, repeating a habit is essential to build up evidence of your

desired identity. As you latch on to that new identity, however, those same

beliefscanholdyoubackfromthenextlevelofgrowth.Whenworkingagainst

you, your identity creates a kind of “pride” that encourages you to deny your

weak spots and prevents you from truly growing. This is one of the greatest

downsidesofbuildinghabits.

Themore sacred an idea is to us—that is, themore deeply it is tied to our

identity—themorestronglywewilldefenditagainstcriticism.Youseethis in

everyindustry.Theschoolteacherwhoignoresinnovativeteachingmethodsand

sticks with her tried-and-true lesson plans. The veteran manager who is

committed todoing things“hisway.”The surgeonwhodismisses the ideasof

heryoungercolleagues.Thebandwhoproducesamind-blowingfirstalbumand

thengetsstuckinarut.Thetighterweclingtoanidentity,theharderitbecomes

togrowbeyondit.

One solution is to avoid making any single aspect of your identity an

overwhelmingportionofwhoyou are. In thewords of investorPaulGraham,

“keepyouridentitysmall.”Themoreyouletasinglebeliefdefineyou,theless

capableyouareofadaptingwhenlifechallengesyou.Ifyoutieeverythingupin

beingthepointguardorthepartneratthefirmorwhateverelse,thenthelossof

that facet of your life will wreck you. If you’re a vegan and then develop a

healthconditionthatforcesyoutochangeyourdiet,you’llhaveanidentitycrisis

onyourhands.Whenyoucling too tightly toone identity,youbecomebrittle.

Losethatonethingandyouloseyourself.

Formostofmyyounglife,beinganathletewasamajorpartofmyidentity.

Aftermybaseballcareerended,Istruggledtofindmyself.Whenyouspendyour

wholelifedefiningyourselfinonewayandthatdisappears,whoareyounow?

Military veterans and former entrepreneurs report similar feelings. If your

identityiswrappedupinabelieflike“I’magreatsoldier,”whathappenswhen

your period of service ends? For many business owners, their identity is

somethingalongthe linesof“I’mtheCEO”or“I’mthefounder.”Ifyouhave

spenteverywakingmomentworkingonyourbusiness,howwillyoufeelafter

yousellthecompany?

Thekeytomitigatingtheselossesofidentityistoredefineyourselfsuchthat

youget to keep important aspects of your identity even if your particular role

changes.

“I’m an athlete” becomes “I’m the type of person who is mentally

toughandlovesaphysicalchallenge.”

“I’magreat soldier” transforms into “I’m the typeofpersonwho is

disciplined,reliable,andgreatonateam.”

“I’m theCEO” translates to “I’m the typeofpersonwhobuilds and

createsthings.”

Whenchoseneffectively,an identitycanbe flexible rather thanbrittle.Like

water flowing around an obstacle, your identity works with the changing

circ*mstancesratherthanagainstthem.

ThefollowingquotefromtheTaoTeChingencapsulatestheideasperfectly:

Menarebornsoftandsupple;

dead,theyarestiffandhard.

Plantsareborntenderandpliant;

dead,theyarebrittleanddry.

Thuswhoeverisstiffandinflexible

isadiscipleofdeath.

Whoeverissoftandyielding

isadiscipleoflife.

Thehardandstiffwillbebroken.

Thesoftandsupplewillprevail.

—LAOTZU

Habits deliver numerous benefits, but the downside is that they can lock us

into our previous patterns of thinking and acting—even when the world is

shiftingaroundus.Everything is impermanent.Life is constantlychanging, so

youneed toperiodicallycheck in to see ifyouroldhabits andbeliefs are still

servingyou.

Alackofself-awarenessispoison.Reflectionandreviewistheantidote.

ChapterSummary

The upside of habits is thatwe can do thingswithout thinking. The

downsideisthatwestoppayingattentiontolittleerrors.

Habits+DeliberatePractice=Mastery

Reflectionandreviewisaprocessthatallowsyoutoremainconscious

ofyourperformanceovertime.

The tighter we cling to an identity, the harder it becomes to grow

beyondit.

Conclusion

TheSecrettoResultsThatLast

THEREISANancientGreekparableknownastheSoritesParadox,*whichtalksabout

the effect one small action can have when repeated enough times. One

formulationoftheparadoxgoesasfollows:Canonecoinmakeapersonrich?If

yougiveapersonapileoftencoins,youwouldn’tclaimthatheorsheisrich.

Butwhat if you add another?And another?And another?At somepoint, you

willhavetoadmitthatnoonecanberichunlessonecoincanmakehimorher

so.

Wecansaythesameaboutatomichabits.Canonetinychangetransformyour

life? It’s unlikely you would say so. But what if you made another? And

another?Andanother?Atsomepoint,youwillhavetoadmitthatyourlifewas

transformedbyonesmallchange.

Theholygrail ofhabit change isnot a single1percent improvement, but a

thousand of them. It’s a bunch of atomic habits stacking up, each one a

fundamentalunitoftheoverallsystem.

In the beginning, small improvements can often seemmeaningless because

theygetwashedawaybytheweightofthesystem.Justasonecoinwon’tmake

yourich,onepositivechangelikemeditatingforoneminuteorreadingonepage

eachdayisunlikelytodeliveranoticeabledifference.

Gradually, though, as you continue to layer small changes on top of one

another,thescalesoflifestarttomove.Eachimprovementislikeaddingagrain

of sand to the positive side of the scale, slowly tilting things in your favor.

Eventually,ifyoustickwithit,youhitatippingpoint.Suddenly,itfeelseasier

to stickwith goodhabits.Theweight of the system isworking for you rather

thanagainstyou.

Over the course of this book, we’ve looked at dozens of stories about top

performers.We’veheardaboutOlympicgoldmedalists,award-winningartists,

businessleaders,lifesavingphysicians,andstarcomedianswhohaveallusedthe

scienceof small habits tomaster their craft andvault to the topof their field.

Eachof thepeople, teams,andcompanieswehavecoveredhasfaceddifferent

circ*mstances, but ultimately progressed in the same way: through a

commitmenttotiny,sustainable,unrelentingimprovements.

Success is not a goal to reach or a finish line

to cross. It is a system to

improve, an endless process to refine. In Chapter 1, I said, “If you’re having

troublechangingyourhabits,theproblemisn’tyou.Theproblemisyoursystem.

Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to

change,butbecauseyouhavethewrongsystemforchange.”

Asthisbookdrawstoaclose,Ihopetheoppositeistrue.WiththeFourLaws

ofBehaviorChange,youhaveasetof toolsandstrategies thatyoucanuse to

buildbettersystemsandshapebetterhabits.Sometimesahabitwillbehardto

rememberandyou’llneed tomake itobvious.Other timesyouwon’t feel like

startingandyou’llneedtomakeitattractive.Inmanycases,youmayfindthata

habitwillbetoodifficultandyou’llneedtomakeiteasy.Andsometimes,you

won’tfeellikestickingwithitandyou’llneedtomakeitsatisfying.

Behaviorsareeffortlesshere. Behaviorsaredifficulthere.

Obvious Invisible

Attractive Unattractive

Easy Hard

Satisfying Unsatisfying

Youwanttopushyourgoodhabitstowardtheleftsideofthespectrumbymakingthemobvious,attractive,easy,andsatisfying.Meanwhile,youwanttoclusteryourbadhabitstowardthe

rightsidebymakingtheminvisible,unattractive,hard,andunsatisfying.

This is a continuousprocess.There isno finish line.There isnopermanent

solution.Wheneveryou’relookingtoimprove,youcanrotatethroughtheFour

LawsofBehaviorChangeuntilyou find thenextbottleneck.Make itobvious.

Make itattractive.Make iteasy.Make it satisfying.Roundandround.Always

lookingforthenextwaytoget1percentbetter.

Thesecret togetting results that last is toneverstopmaking improvements.

It’s remarkablewhat you can build if you just don’t stop. It’s remarkable the

businessyoucanbuildifyoudon’tstopworking.It’sremarkablethebodyyou

canbuildifyoudon’tstoptraining.It’sremarkabletheknowledgeyoucanbuild

ifyoudon’tstoplearning.It’sremarkablethefortuneyoucanbuildifyoudon’t

stop saving. It’s remarkable the friendships you can build if you don’t stop

caring.Smallhabitsdon’taddup.Theycompound.

That’sthepowerofatomichabits.Tinychanges.Remarkableresults.

Appendix

WhatShouldYouReadNext?

THANK YOU SOmuch for taking the time to read this book. It has been a pleasure

sharingmyworkwithyou.Ifyouarelookingforsomethingtoreadnext,allow

metoofferasuggestion.

IfyouenjoyedAtomicHabits,thenyoumaylikemyotherwritingaswell.My

latestarticlesaresentoutinmyfreeweeklynewsletter.Subscribersarealsothe

firsttohearaboutmynewestbooksandprojects.Finally,inadditiontomyown

work,eachyearIsendoutareadinglistofmyfavoritebooksfromotherauthors

onawiderangeofsubjects.

Youcansignupat:

jamesclear.com/newsletter

https://jamesclear.com/newsletter

LittleLessonsfromtheFourLaws

INTHISBOOK,Ihaveintroducedafour-stepmodelforhumanbehavior:cue,craving,

response,reward.Thisframeworknotonlyteachesushowtocreatenewhabits

butalsorevealssomeinterestinginsightsabouthumanbehavior.

Problemphase

1.Cue

2.Craving

Solutionphase

3.Response

4.Reward

In this section, I have compiled some lessons (and a few bits of common

sense) that are confirmed by themodel. The purpose of these examples is to

clarify just how useful and wide-ranging this framework is when describing

human behavior. Once you understand the model, you’ll see examples of it

everywhere.

Awareness comes before desire. A craving is created when you assign

meaningtoacue.Yourbrainconstructsanemotionorfeelingtodescribeyour

currentsituation,andthatmeansacravingcanonlyoccurafteryouhavenoticed

anopportunity.

Happinessissimplytheabsenceofdesire.Whenyouobserveacue,butdo

not desire to change your state, you are content with the current situation.

Happinessisnotabouttheachievementofpleasure(whichisjoyorsatisfaction),

butaboutthelackofdesire.Itarriveswhenyouhavenourgetofeeldifferently.

Happinessisthestateyouenterwhenyounolongerwanttochangeyourstate.

However,happinessisfleetingbecauseanewdesirealwayscomesalong.As

CaedBudrissays,“Happinessisthespacebetweenonedesirebeingfulfilledand

a new desire forming.” Likewise, suffering is the space between craving a

changeinstateandgettingit.

Itistheideaofpleasurethatwechase.Weseektheimageofpleasurethat

wegenerateinourminds.Atthetimeofaction,wedonotknowwhatitwillbe

liketoattainthatimage(orevenifitwillsatisfyus).Thefeelingofsatisfaction

onlycomesafterward.ThisiswhattheAustrianneurologistVictorFranklmeant

whenhesaidthathappinesscannotbepursued,itmustensue.Desireispursued.

Pleasureensuesfromaction.

Peaceoccurswhenyoudon’tturnyourobservations intoproblems.The

firststepinanybehaviorisobservation.Younoticeacue,abitofinformation,

anevent.Ifyoudonotdesiretoactonwhatyouobserve,thenyouareatpeace.

Cravingisaboutwantingtofixeverything.Observationwithoutcravingisthe

realization that you do not need to fix anything.Your desires are not running

rampant. You do not crave a change in state. Yourmind does not generate a

problemforyoutosolve.You’resimplyobservingandexisting.

Withabig enoughwhy you canovercomeanyhow. FriedrichNietzsche,

theGermanphilosopherandpoet, famouslywrote,“Hewhohasawhy to live

for can bear almost any how.” This phrase harbors an important truth about

humanbehavior.Ifyourmotivationanddesirearegreatenough(thatis,whyare

youareacting),you’lltakeactionevenwhenitisquitedifficult.Greatcraving

canpowergreataction—evenwhenfrictionishigh.

Being curious is better than being smart. Being motivated and curious

counts formore than being smart because it leads to action.Being smartwill

neverdeliverresultsonitsownbecauseitdoesn’tgetyoutoact.Itisdesire,not

intelligence,thatpromptsbehavior.AsNavalRavikantsays,“Thetricktodoing

anythingisfirstcultivatingadesireforit.”

Emotionsdrivebehavior.Everydecision is an emotionaldecision at some

level. Whatever your logical reasons are for taking action, you only feel

compelled to act on thembecause of emotion. In fact, peoplewith damage to

emotional centers of thebrain can listmany reasons for taking actionbut still

will not act because they do not have emotions to drive them. This is why

cravingcomesbeforeresponse.Thefeelingcomesfirst,andthenthebehavior.

We can only be rational and logical after we have been emotional. The

primarymodeof thebrain is to feel; the secondarymode is to think.Our first

response—thefast,nonconsciousportionofthebrain—isoptimizedforfeeling

andanticipating.Oursecondresponse—theslow,consciousportionofthebrain

—isthepartthatdoesthe“thinking.”

PsychologistsrefertothisasSystem1(feelingsandrapidjudgments)versus

System2(rationalanalysis).Thefeelingcomesfirst(System1);therationality

onlyinterveneslater(System2).Thisworksgreatwhenthetwoarealigned,but

itresultsinillogicalandemotionalthinkingwhentheyarenot.

Yourresponsetendstofollowyouremotions.Ourthoughtsandactionsare

rootedinwhatwefindattractive,notnecessarilyinwhatislogical.Twopeople

cannotice the samesetof facts and respondverydifferentlybecause they run

those facts through their unique emotional filter. This is one reason why

appealing toemotion is typicallymorepowerful thanappealing

to reason. If a

topicmakessomeone feelemotional, theywill rarelybe interested in thedata.

Thisiswhyemotionscanbesuchathreattowisedecisionmaking.

Putanotherway:mostpeoplebelievethatthereasonableresponseistheone

that benefits them: the one that satisfies their desires. To approach a situation

fromamoreneutralemotionalpositionallowsyoutobaseyourresponseonthe

dataratherthantheemotion.

Suffering drives progress. The source of all suffering is the desire for a

changeinstate.Thisisalsothesourceofallprogress.Thedesiretochangeyour

stateiswhatpowersyoutotakeaction.Itiswantingmorethatpusheshumanity

toseek improvements,developnewtechnologies,andreachforahigher level.

With craving,wearedissatisfiedbutdriven.Without craving,weare satisfied

butlackambition.

Your actions reveal how badly youwant something. If you keep saying

somethingisaprioritybutyouneveractonit,thenyoudon’treallywantit.It’s

timetohaveanhonestconversationwithyourself.Youractionsrevealyourtrue

motivations.

Reward is on the other side of sacrifice. Response (sacrifice of energy)

alwaysprecedesreward(thecollectionofresources).The“runner’shigh”only

comesafterthehardrun.Therewardonlycomesaftertheenergyisspent.

Self-controlisdifficultbecauseitisnotsatisfying.Arewardisanoutcome

thatsatisfiesyourcraving.Thismakesself-controlineffectivebecauseinhibiting

ourdesiresdoesnotusuallyresolvethem.Resistingtemptationdoesnotsatisfy

your craving; it just ignores it. It creates space for the craving to pass. Self-

controlrequiresyoutoreleaseadesireratherthansatisfyit.

Ourexpectationsdetermineoursatisfaction.Thegapbetweenourcravings

and our rewards determines how satisfied we feel after taking action. If the

mismatchbetweenexpectationsandoutcomesispositive(surpriseanddelight),

thenwe aremore likely to repeat a behavior in the future. If themismatch is

negative(disappointmentandfrustration),thenwearelesslikelytodoso.

For example, if you expect to get $10 and get $100, you feel great. If you

expecttoget$100andget$10,youfeeldisappointed.Yourexpectationchanges

your satisfaction. An average experience preceded by high expectations is a

disappointment. An average experience preceded by low expectations is a

delight.Whenlikingandwantingareapproximatelythesame,youfeelsatisfied.

Satisfaction=Liking–Wanting

ThisisthewisdombehindSeneca’sfamousquote,“Beingpoorisnothaving

toolittle,itiswantingmore.”Ifyourwantsoutpaceyourlikes,you’llalwaysbe

unsatisfied. You’re perpetually putting more weight on the problem than the

solution.

Happinessisrelative.WhenIfirstbegansharingmywritingpubliclyit took

me threemonths togetone thousand subscribers.When Ihit thatmilestone, I

toldmyparentsandmygirlfriend.Wecelebrated.Ifeltexcitedandmotivated.A

fewyears later, I realized thatone thousandpeoplewere signingupeachday.

Andyet Ididn’t even think to tell anyone. It feltnormal. Iwasgetting results

ninetytimesfasterthanbeforebutexperiencinglittlepleasureoverit.Itwasn’t

untilafewdayslaterthatIrealizedhowabsurditwasthatIwasn’tcelebrating

somethingthatwouldhaveseemedlikeapipedreamjustafewyearsbefore.

Thepainoffailurecorrelatestotheheightofexpectation.Whendesireis

high,ithurtstonotliketheoutcome.Failingtoattainsomethingyouwanthurts

more than failing to attain something you didn’t thinkmuch about in the first

place.Thisiswhypeoplesay,“Idon’twanttogetmyhopesup.”

Feelingscomebothbeforeandafterthebehavior.Beforeacting,thereisa

feeling thatmotivates you to act—the craving.After acting, there is a feeling

thatteachesyoutorepeattheactioninthefuture—thereward.

Cue>Craving(Feeling)>Response>Reward(Feeling)

Howwefeelinfluenceshowweact,andhowweactinfluenceshowwefeel.

Desireinitiates.Pleasuresustains.Wantingandlikingarethetwodriversof

behavior.Ifit’snotdesirable,youhavenoreasontodoit.Desireandcravingare

whatinitiateabehavior.Butifit’snotenjoyable,youhavenoreasontorepeatit.

Pleasureandsatisfactionarewhatsustainabehavior.Feelingmotivatedgetsyou

toact.Feelingsuccessfulgetsyoutorepeat.

Hope declines with experience and is replaced by acceptance. The first

time an opportunity arises, there is hope of what could be. Your expectation

(cravings)isbasedsolelyonpromise.Thesecondtimearound,yourexpectation

isgroundedinreality.Youbegintounderstandhowtheprocessworksandyour

hope is gradually traded for amore accurate prediction and acceptance of the

likelyoutcome.

This is one reasonwhywecontinuallygrasp for the latest get-rich-quickor

weight-loss scheme. New plans offer hope because we don’t have any

experiences to ground our expectations. New strategies seem more appealing

than old ones because they can have unbounded hope. As Aristotle noted,

“Youth is easily deceived because it is quick to hope.” Perhaps this can be

revised to “Youth is easily deceived because it only hopes.” There is no

experiencetoroottheexpectationin.Inthebeginning,hopeisallyouhave.

HowtoApplyTheseIdeastoBusiness

OVERTHEYEARS,I’vespokenatFortune500companiesandgrowingstart-upsabout

how to apply the science of small habits to runmore effective businesses and

buildbetterproducts.I’vecompiledmanyofthemostpracticalstrategiesintoa

shortbonuschapter.I thinkyou’llfindit tobeanincrediblyusefuladditionto

themainideasmentionedinAtomicHabits.

Youcandownloadthischapterat:atomichabits.com/business

http://atomichabits.com/business

HowtoApplyTheseIdeastoParenting

ONE OF THEmost common questions I hear from readers is something along the

linesof,“HowcanIgetmykidstodothisstuff?”TheideasinAtomicHabits

are intended toapplybroadly toallofhumanbehavior (teenagersarehumans,

too),whichmeansyoushould findplentyofusefulstrategies in themain text.

Thatsaid,parentingdoesfaceitsownsetofchallenges.Asabonuschapter,I’ve

puttogetherabriefguideonhowtoapplytheseideasspecificallytoparenting.

Youcandownloadthischapterat:atomichabits.com/parenting

http://atomichabits.com/parenting

Acknowledgments

I HAVE RELIED HEAVILYonothersduringthecreationof thisbook.Beforeanyoneelse, I

mustthankmywife,Kristy,whohasbeenindispensablethroughoutthisprocess.

Shehasplayed every role a person canplay in thewritingof a book: spouse,

friend, fan, critic, editor, researcher, therapist. It isnoexaggeration to say this

book would not be the same without her. It might not exist at all. Like

everythinginourlife,wedidittogether.

Second, I am grateful to my family, not only for their support and

encouragementonthisbookbutalsoforbelievinginmenomatterwhatprojectI

happentobeworkingon.Ihavebenefitedfrommanyyearsofsupportfrommy

parents, grandparents, and siblings. In particular, I wantmymom and dad to

knowthatIlovethem.Itisaspecialfeelingtoknowthatyourparentsareyour

greatestfans.

Third, to my assistant, Lyndsey Nuckols. At this point, her job defies

descriptionasshehasbeenaskedtodonearlyeverythingonecouldimaginefor

asmallbusiness.Thankfully,herskillsand talentsaremorepowerful thanmy

questionablemanagementstyle.Some

sectionsofthisbookareasmuchhersas

theyaremine.Iamdeeplygratefulforherhelp.

As for the content andwriting of the book, I have a long list of people to

thank.Tostart,thereareafewpeoplefromwhomIhavelearnedsomuchthatit

wouldbeacrimetonotmentionthembyname.LeoBabauta,CharlesDuhigg,

Nir Eyal, and BJ Fogg have each influenced my thoughts on habits in

meaningfulways.Theirworkandideascanbefoundsprinkledthroughoutthis

text.Ifyouenjoyedthisbook,I’dencourageyoutoreadtheirwritingaswell.

At various stages of writing, I benefited from the guidance of many fine

editors.ThankstoPeterGuzzardiforwalkingmethroughtheearlystagesofthe

writingprocessandforakickinthepantswhenIreallyneededit.Iamindebted

toBlakeAtwoodandRobinDellaboughfortransformingmyuglyandinsanely

long first drafts into a tight, readablemanuscript.And I am thankful toAnne

Barngroverforherabilitytoaddalittleclassandpoeticstyletomywriting.

I’dliketothankthemanypeoplewhor*adearlyversionsofthemanuscript,

including Bruce Ammons, Darcey Ansell, Tim Ballard, Vishal Bhardwaj,

Charlotte Blank, Jerome Burt, Sim Campbell, Al Carlos, Nicky Case, Julie

Chang, JasonCollins,DebraCroy,RogerDooley,TiagoForte,MattGartland,

Andrew Gierer, Randy Giffen, Jon Giganti, Adam Gilbert, Stephan Guyenet,

JeremyHendon,JaneHorvath,JoakimJansson,JoshKaufman,AnneKavanagh,

Chris Klaus, Zeke Lopez, Cady Macon, Cyd Madsen, Kiera McGrath, Amy

Mitchell, Anna Moise, Stacey Morris, Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Taylor Pearson,

Max Shank, Trey Shelton, Jason Shen, Jacob Zangelidis, and Ari Zelmanow.

Thebookbenefitedgreatlyfromyourfeedback.

To the team at Avery and Penguin Random House who made this book a

reality, thank you. I owe a debt of special thanks to my publisher, Megan

Newman, forher endlesspatienceas I continuallypushedbackdeadlines.She

gavemethespaceIneededtocreateabookIwasproudofandchampionedmy

ideasateverystep.ToNina,forherability to transformmywritingwhilestill

retaining my original message. To Lindsay, Farin, Casey, and the rest of the

PRHteamforspreading themessageof thisbook tomorepeople thanIcould

everreachonmyown.ToPeteGarceau,fordesigningabeautifulcoverforthis

book.

Andtomyagent,LisaDiMona,forherguidanceandinsightateverystepof

thepublishingprocess.

To the many friends and family members who asked “How’s the book

going?” and offered a word of encouragement when I inevitably replied

“Slowly”—thankyou.Everyauthor facesa fewdarkmomentswhenwritinga

book,andonekindwordcanbeenough togetyou to showupagain thenext

day.

I am sure there are people I have forgotten, but I keep an updated list of

anyone who has influenced my thinking in meaningful ways at

jamesclear.com/thanks.

Andfinally,toyou.Lifeisshortandyouhavesharedsomeofyourprecious

timewithmebyreadingthisbook.Thankyou.

—May2018

http://jamesclear.com/thanks

Notes

IN THIS SECTION, Ihave includedadetailed listofnotes, references,andcitations for

each chapter in the book. I trust that most readers will find this list to be

sufficient.However,Ialsorealizethatscientificl*teraturechangesovertimeand

thereferencesforthisbookmayneedtobeupdated.Furthermore,Ifullyexpect

thatIhavemadeamistakesomewhereinthisbook—eitherinattributinganidea

to the wrong person or not giving credit to someonewhere it is due. (If you

believe this tobe thecase,pleaseemailmeat james@jamesclear.comsoIcan

fixtheissueassoonaspossible.)

Inadditiontothenotesbelow,youcanfindafulllistofupdatedendnotesand

correctionsatatomichabits.com/endnotes.

mailto:james@jamesclear.com

http://atomichabits.com/endnotes

INTRODUCTION

Wealldealwithsetbacks:Whataboutluck,youmightask?Luckmatters,certainly.Habitsarenottheonlythingthatinfluenceyoursuccess,buttheyareprobablythemostimportantfactorthatis

withinyourcontrol.Andtheonlyselfimprovementstrategythatmakesanysenseistofocusonwhatyoucancontrol.

The entrepreneur and investor Naval Ravikant: Naval Ravikant (@naval), “To write a great book, you must first become the book,” Twitter, May 15, 2018,

https://twitter.com/naval/status/996460948029362176.

“stimulus,response,reward”:B.F.Skinner,TheBehaviorofOrganisms(NewYork:Appleton-Century-Crofts,1938).

“cue,routine,reward”:CharlesDuhigg,ThePowerofHabit:WhyWeDoWhatWeDoinLifeandBusiness(NewYork:RandomHouse,2014).

https://twitter.com/naval/status/996460948029362176

CHAPTER1

just a single gold medal at the Olympic Games: Matt Slater, “How GB Cycling Went from Tragic to Magic,” BBC Sport, April 14, 2008,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/cycling/7534073.stm.

theTourdeFrance:TomFordyce,“TourdeFrance2017:IsChrisFroomeBritain’sLeastLovedGreatSportsman?”BBCSport,July23,2017,https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/40692045.

oneofthetopbikemanufacturersinEuroperefusedtosellbikes:RichardMoore,Mastermind:HowDaveBrailsfordReinventedtheWheel(Glasgow:BackPagePress,2013).

“Thewholeprinciplecamefromtheidea”:MattSlater,“OlympicsCycling:MarginalGainsUnderpinTeamGBDominance,”BBC,August8,2012,https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/19174302.

Brailsford and his coaches began by making small adjustments: Tim Harford, “Marginal Gains Matter but Gamechangers Transform,” Tim Harford, April 2017,

http://timharford.com/2017/04/marginal-gains-matter-but-gamechangers-transform.

they even painted the inside of the team truck white: Eben Harrell, “How 1% Performance Improvements Led to Olympic Gold,” Harvard Business Review, October 30, 2015,

https://hbr.org/2015/10/how-1-performance-improvements-led-to-olympic-gold;KevinClark,“HowaCyclingTeamTurnedtheFalconsIntoNFCChampions,”TheRinger,September12,

2017,https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/12/16293216/atlanta-falcons-thomas-dimitroff-cyclingteam-sky.

JustfiveyearsafterBrailsfordtookover:Technically,theBritishriderswon57percentoftheroadandtrackcyclingmedalsatthe2008Olympics.Fourteengoldmedalswereavailableinroadand

trackcyclingevents.TheBritswoneightofthem.

the Brits raised the bar: “World and Olympic Records Set at the 2012 Summer Olympics,” Wikipedia, December 8, 2017,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_and_Olympic_records_set_at_the_2012_Summer_Olympics#Cycling.

BradleyWigginsbecamethefirstBritishcyclist:AndrewLongmore,“BradleyWiggins,”EncyclopaediaBritannica,https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bradley-Wiggins,lastmodifiedApril21,

2018.

ChrisFroomewon:KarenSparks,“ChrisFroome,”EncyclopaediaBritannica,https://www.britannica.com/biography/Chris-Froome,lastmodifiedOctober23,2017.

During the ten-year span from 2007 to 2017: “Medals won by the Great Britain Cycling Team at world championships, Olympic Games and Paralympic Games since 2000,” British Cycling,

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/gbcyclingteam/article/Gbrst_gb-cyclingteam-GBCycling-Team-Medal-History—0?c=EN#K0dWAPjq84CV8Wzw.99,accessedJune8,2018.

you’llendupthirty-seventimesbetter:JasonShen,anentrepreneurandwriter,receivedanearlylookatthisbook.Afterreadingthischapter,heremarked:“Ifthegainswerelinear,you’dpredicttobe

3.65xbetteroff.Butbecauseitisexponential,theimprovementisactually10xgreater.”April3,2018.

Habits are the compound interest:Many people have noted how habitsmultiply

over time.Here are some ofmy favorite articles and books on the subject: LeoBabauta, “The Power ofHabit

Investments,” Zen Habits, January 28, 2013, https://zenhabits.net/bank; Morgan Housel, “The Freakishly Strong Base,” Collaborative Fund, October 31, 2017,

http://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/the-freakishly-strong-base;DarrenHardy,TheCompoundEffect(NewYork:VanguardPress,2012).

Accomplishing one extra task: As Sam Altman says, “A small productivity gain, compounded over 50 years, is worth a lot.” “Productivity,” Sam Altman. April 10, 2018,

http://blog.samaltman.com/productivity.

Habitsareadouble-edgedsword:I’dliketocreditJasonHrehawithoriginallydescribinghabitstomeinthisway.JasonHreha(@jhreha),“They’readoubleedgedsword,”Twitter,February21,

2018,https://twitter.com/jhreha/status/966430907371433984.

Themoretasksyoucanhandlewithoutthinking:Michael(@mmay3r),“Thefoundationofproductivityishabits.Themoreyoudoautomatically,themoreyou’resubsequentlyfreedtodo.Thiseffect

compounds,”Twitter,April10,2018,https://twitter.com/mmay3r/status/983837519274889216.

eachbookyoureadnotonlyteaches:Thisidea—thatlearningnewideasincreasesthevalueofyouroldideas—issomethingIfirstheardaboutfromPatrickO’Shaughnessy,whowrites,“Thisiswhy

knowledgecompounds.Oldstuffthatwasa4/10invaluecanbecomea10/10,unlockedbyanotherbookinthefuture.”http://investorfieldguide.com/reading-tweet-storm.

Cancerspends80percentofitslifeundetectable:“HowtoLiveaLonger,HigherQualityLife,withPeterAttia,M.D.,”Investor’sFieldGuide,March7,2017,http://investorfieldguide.com/attia.

TheSanAntonioSpurs:MattMoore,“NBAFinals:ARock,HammerandCrackingofSpurs’MajestyinGame7,”CBSSports,June21,2013,https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-finals-a-rock-

hammer-and-cracking-of-spurs-majesty-in-game-7.

Inspirationforthisdrawingcamefromatweettitled“Deceptionoflinearvsexponential”by@MlichaelW.May19,2018.https://twitter.com/MlichaelW/status/997878086132817920.

Theseedofeveryhabit:ThisparagraphwasinspiredbyaquotefromMr.Mircea,anaccountonTwitter,whowrote,“eachhabitbeganitslifeasasingledecision.”https://twitter.com/mistermircea.

thegoalcannotbewhatdifferentiatesthewinnersfromthelosers:HattiptoCrossFitcoachBenBergeronforinspiringthisquoteduringaconversationIhadwithhimonFebruary28,2017.

Youfalltothelevelofyoursystems:ThislinewasinspiredbythefollowingquotefromArchilochus:“Wedon’trisetothelevelofourexpectations,wefalltothelevelofourtraining.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/cycling/7534073.stm

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/40692045

https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/19174302

http://timharford.com/2017/04/marginal-gains-matter-but-gamechangers-transform

https://hbr.org/2015/10/how-1-performance-improvements-led-to-olympic-gold

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/9/12/16293216/atlanta-falcons-thomas-dimitroff-cycling-team-sky

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_and_Olympic_records_set_at_the_2012_Summer_Olympics#Cycling

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bradley-Wiggins

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Chris-Froome

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/gbcyclingteam/article/Gbrst_gb-cyclingteam-GB-Cycling-Team-Medal-History13970588840?c=EN#K0dWAPjq84CV8Wzw.99

https://zenhabits.net/bank

http://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/the-freakishly-strong-base

http://blog.samaltman.com/productivity

https://twitter.com/jhreha/status/966430907371433984

https://twitter.com/mmay3r/status/983837519274889216

http://investorfieldguide.com/reading-tweet-storm

http://investorfieldguide.com/attia

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-finals-a-rock-hammer-and-cracking-of-spurs-majesty-in-game-7

https://twitter.com/MlichaelW/status/997878086132817920

https://twitter.com/mistermircea

CHAPTER2

Youcanimaginethemlikethelayersofanonion:HattiptoSimonSinek.His“GoldenCircle”frameworkissimilarindesign,butdiscussesdifferenttopics.Formore,seeSimonSinek,Startwith

Why:HowGreatLeadersInspireEveryonetoTakeAction(London:Portfolio/Penguin,2013),37.

I resolved to stop chewingmy nails: The quotes used in this section are presented as a conversation for reading clarity, but were originally written by Clark. See: Brian Clark, “The Powerful

PsychologicalBoostthatHelpsYouMakeandBreakHabits,”Further,November14,2017,https://further.net/pride-habits.

Researchhasshownthatonceaperson:ChristopherJ.Bryanetal.,“MotivatingVoterTurnoutbyInvokingtheSelf,”ProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofSciences108,no.31(2011):12653–

12656.

Thereisinternalpressure:LeonFestinger,ATheoryofCognitiveDissonance(Stanford,CA:StanfordUniversityPress,1957).

Your identity is literally your “repeated beingness”: Technically, identidem is aword belonging to the Late Latin language.Also, thanks to Tamar Shippony, a reader of jamesclear.com,who

originallytoldmeabouttheetymologyofthewordidentity,whichshelookedupintheAmericanHeritageDictionary.

Wechangebitbybit:Thisisanotherreasonatomichabitsaresuchaneffectiveformofchange.Ifyouchangeyouridentitytooquicklyandbecomesomeoneradicallydifferentovernight,thenyoufeel

asifyouloseyoursenseofself.Butifyouupdateandexpandyouridentitygradually,youwillfindyourselfrebornintosomeonetotallynewandyetstillfamiliar.Slowly—habitbyhabit,

votebyvote—youbecomeaccustomedtoyournewidentity.Atomichabitsandgradualimprovementarethekeystoidentitychangewithoutidentityloss.

https://further.net/pride-habits

CHAPTER3

EdwardThorndikeconductedanexperiment:PeterGray,Psychology,6thed.(NewYork:Worth,2011),108–109.

“by some simple act, such as pulling at a loop of cord”: EdwardL. Thorndike, “Animal Intelligence:AnExperimental Study of theAssociative Processes inAnimals,”Psychological Review:

MonographSupplements2,no.4(1898),doi:10.1037/h0092987.

“behaviorsfollowedbysatisfyingconsequences”:ThisisanabbreviatedversionoftheoriginalquotefromThorndike,whichreads:“responsesthatproduceasatisfyingeffectinaparticularsituation

becomemore likely tooccur again in that situation, and responses that produce adiscomforting effect become less likely tooccur again in that situation.”Formore, seePeterGray,

Psychology,6thed.(NewYork:Worth,2011),108–109.

Neurologicalactivityinthebrainishigh:CharlesDuhigg,ThePowerofHabit:WhyWeDoWhatWeDoinLifeandBusiness(NewYork:RandomHouse,2014),15;AnnM.Graybiel,“Network-

LevelNeuroplasticityinCortico-BasalGangliaPathways,”ParkinsonismandRelatedDisorders10,no.5(2004),doi:10.1016/j.parkreldis.2004.03.007.

“Habits are, simply, reliable solutions”: Jason Hreha, “Why Our Conscious Minds Are Suckers for Novelty,” Revue, https://www.getrevue.co/profile/jason/issues/why-our-conscious-minds-are-

suckers-for-novelty-54131,accessedJune8,2018.

Ashabitsarecreated:JohnR.Anderson,“AcquisitionofCognitiveSkill,”PsychologicalReview89,no.4(1982),doi:10.1037/0033–295X.89.4.369.

the brain remembers the past: Shahram Heshmat, “Why Do We Remember Certain Things, But Forget Others,” Psychology Today, October 8, 2015,

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/201510/why-do-we-remember-certain-things-forget-others.

the conscious mind is the bottleneck:William H. Gladstones, Michael A. Regan, and Robert B. Lee, “Division of Attention: The Single-Channel Hypothesis Revisited,”Quarterly Journal of

ExperimentalPsychologySectionA41,no.1(1989),doi:10.1080/14640748908402350.

the

NegativeCompounding

Stresscompounds.Thefrustrationofatrafficjam.Theweightofparentingresponsibilities.Theworryofmakingendsmeet.Thestrainofslightlyhighbloodpressure.Bythemselves,these

commoncausesofstressaremanageable.Butwhentheypersistforyears,littlestressescompoundintoserioushealthissues.

Negativethoughtscompound.Themoreyouthinkofyourselfasworthless,stupid,orugly,themoreyouconditionyourselftointerpretlifethatway.Yougettrappedinathoughtloop.The

sameistrueforhowyouthinkaboutothers.Onceyoufallintothehabitofseeingpeopleasangry,unjust,orselfish,youseethosekindofpeopleeverywhere.

Outragecompounds.Riots,protests,andmassmovementsarerarelytheresultofasingleevent.Instead,alongseriesofmicroaggressionsanddailyaggravationsslowlymultiplyuntilone

eventtipsthescalesandoutragespreadslikewildfire.

WHATPROGRESSISREALLYLIKE

Imaginethatyouhaveanicecubesittingonthetableinfrontofyou.Theroom

iscoldandyoucanseeyourbreath.Itiscurrentlytwenty-fivedegrees.Everso

slowly,theroombeginstoheatup.

Twenty-sixdegrees.

Twenty-seven.

Twenty-eight.

Theicecubeisstillsittingonthetableinfrontofyou.

Twenty-ninedegrees.

Mobile User

Thirty.

Thirty-one.

Still,nothinghashappened.

Then, thirty-two degrees. The ice begins to melt. A one-degree shift,

seeminglynodifferentfromthetemperatureincreasesbeforeit,hasunlockeda

hugechange.

Breakthroughmomentsareoften the resultofmanypreviousactions,which

buildupthepotentialrequiredtounleashamajorchange.Thispatternshowsup

everywhere.Cancer spends80percent of its life undetectable, then takes over

the body in months. Bamboo can barely be seen for the first five years as it

buildsextensiverootsystemsundergroundbeforeexplodingninetyfeetintothe

airwithinsixweeks.

Similarly,habitsoftenappeartomakenodifferenceuntilyoucrossacritical

thresholdandunlockanewlevelofperformance.Intheearlyandmiddlestages

of any quest, there is often a Valley of Disappointment. You expect tomake

progressinalinearfashionandit’sfrustratinghowineffectivechangescanseem

duringthefirstdays,weeks,andevenmonths.Itdoesn’tfeellikeyouaregoing

anywhere. It’s a hallmark of any compounding process: the most powerful

outcomesaredelayed.

This is one of the core reasons why it is so hard to build habits that last.

Peoplemakeafewsmallchanges,failtoseeatangibleresult,anddecidetostop.

You think, “I’ve been running every day for amonth, sowhy can’t I see any

changeinmybody?”Oncethiskindofthinkingtakesover,it’seasytoletgood

habitsfallbythewayside.Butinordertomakeameaningfuldifference,habits

need to persist long enough to break through this plateau—what I call the

PlateauofLatentPotential.

Ifyoufindyourselfstrugglingtobuildagoodhabitorbreakabadone,itis

notbecauseyouhavelostyourabilitytoimprove.Itisoftenbecauseyouhave

notyetcrossedthePlateauofLatentPotential.Complainingaboutnotachieving

successdespiteworkinghardislikecomplainingaboutanicecubenotmelting

whenyouheated it fromtwenty-five to thirty-onedegrees.Yourworkwasnot

wasted;itisjustbeingstored.Alltheactionhappensatthirty-twodegrees.

Whenyou finallybreak through thePlateauofLatentPotential, peoplewill

callitanovernightsuccess.Theoutsideworldonlyseesthemostdramaticevent

ratherthanallthatprecededit.Butyouknowthatit’stheworkyoudidlongago

—whenitseemedthatyouweren’tmakinganyprogress—thatmakesthejump

todaypossible.

It is the human equivalent of geological pressure. Two tectonic plates can

grindagainstoneanother formillionsofyears, the tension slowlybuildingall

thewhile.Then,oneday, they rubeachotheronceagain, in the same fashion

theyhaveforages,butthistimethetensionistoogreat.Anearthquakeerupts.

Changecantakeyears—beforeithappensallatonce.

Masteryrequirespatience.TheSanAntonioSpurs,oneofthemostsuccessful

teamsinNBAhistory,haveaquotefromsocialreformerJacobRiishangingin

theirlockerroom:“Whennothingseemstohelp,Igoandlookatastonecutter

hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a

crackshowinginit.Yetatthehundredandfirstblowitwillsplitintwo,andI

knowitwasnotthatlastblowthatdidit—butallthathadgonebefore.”

THEPLATEAUOFLATENTPOTENTIAL

FIGURE2:Weoftenexpectprogresstobelinear.Attheveryleast,wehopeitwillcomequickly.Inreality,theresultsofoureffortsareoftendelayed.Itisnotuntilmonthsoryearslater

thatwerealizethetruevalueofthepreviousworkwehavedone.Thiscanresultina“valleyofdisappointment”wherepeoplefeeldiscouragedafterputtinginweeksormonthsofhardwork

withoutexperiencinganyresults.However,thisworkwasnotwasted.Itwassimplybeingstored.Itisnotuntilmuchlaterthatthefullvalueofpreviouseffortsisrevealed.

All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a

single,tinydecision.Butasthatdecisionisrepeated,ahabitsproutsandgrows

stronger.Rootsentrenchthemselvesandbranchesgrow.Thetaskofbreakinga

badhabitislikeuprootingapowerfuloakwithinus.Andthetaskofbuildinga

goodhabitislikecultivatingadelicatefloweronedayatatime.

Butwhatdetermineswhetherwestickwithahabitlongenoughtosurvivethe

PlateauofLatentPotentialandbreak throughto theotherside?What is it that

causessomepeopletoslideintounwantedhabitsandenablesotherstoenjoythe

compoundingeffectsofgoodones?

FORGETABOUTGOALS,FOCUSONSYSTEMSINSTEAD

Prevailingwisdomclaims that thebestway toachievewhatwewant in life—

getting into better shape, building a successful business, relaxing more and

worrying less, spendingmore timewith friends and family—is to set specific,

actionablegoals.

Formanyyears, thiswashowIapproachedmyhabits, too.Eachonewasa

goal tobereached. Isetgoals for thegradesIwanted toget inschool, for the

weightsIwantedtoliftinthegym,fortheprofitsIwantedtoearninbusiness.I

succeededata few,but I failedata lotof them.Eventually, Ibegan torealize

thatmyresultshadverylittletodowiththegoalsIsetandnearlyeverythingto

dowiththesystemsIfollowed.

What’s the difference between systems and goals? It’s a distinction I first

learned fromScottAdams, the cartoonist behind theDilbert comic.Goals are

abouttheresultsyouwanttoachieve.Systemsareabouttheprocessesthatlead

tothoseresults.

If you’re a coach, your goalmight be towin a championship.Your

systemisthewayyourecruitplayers,manageyourassistantcoaches,

andconductpractice.

Ifyou’reanentrepreneur,yourgoalmightbetobuildamillion-dollar

business.Yoursystemishowyoutestproductideas,hireemployees,

andrunmarketingcampaigns.

If you’re amusician, your goalmight be to play a new piece.Your

system is how often you practice, how you break down and tackle

difficultmeasures,andyourmethodforreceivingfeedbackfromyour

instructor.

Now for the interesting question: If you completely ignored your goals and

focusedonlyonyoursystem,wouldyoustillsucceed?Forexample,ifyouwere

a basketball coach and you ignored your goal to win a championship and

focusedonlyonwhatyour teamdoesatpracticeeachday,wouldyoustillget

results?

Ithinkyouwould.

Thegoalinanysportistofinishwiththebestscore,butitwouldberidiculous

consciousmindlikestopawnofftasks:DanielKahneman,Thinking,FastandSlow(NewYork:Farrar,StrausandGiroux,2015).

Habitsreducecognitiveload:JohnR.Anderson,“AcquisitionofCognitiveSkill,”PsychologicalReview89,no.4(1982),doi:10.1037/0033–295X.89.4.369.

Feelingsofpleasureanddisappointment:AntonioR.Damasio,TheStrangeOrderofThings:Life,Feeling,andtheMakingofCultures(NewYork:PantheonBooks,2018);LisaFeldmanBarrett,

HowEmotionsAreMade(London:PanBooks,2018).

https://www.getrevue.co/profile/jason/issues/why-our-conscious-minds-are-suckers-for-novelty-54131

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/201510/why-do-we-remember-certain-things-forget-others

CHAPTER4

ThepsychologistGaryKlein:IoriginallyheardaboutthisstoryfromDanielKahneman,butitwasconfirmedbyGaryKleininanemailonMarch30,2017.Kleinalsocoversthestoryinhisownbook,

whichusesslightlydifferentquotes:GaryA.Klein,SourcesofPower:HowPeopleMakeDecisions(Cambridge,MA:MITPress,1998),43–44.

militaryanalystscanidentifywhichbliponaradarscreen:GaryA.Klein,SourcesofPower:HowPeopleMakeDecisions(Cambridge,MA:MITPress,1998),38–40.

Museumcuratorshavebeenknowntodiscern:ThestoryoftheGettykouros,coveredinMalcolmGladwell’sbookBlink,isafamousexample.Thesculpture,initiallybelievedtobefromancient

Greece,waspurchasedfor$10million.Thecontroversysurroundingthesculpturehappenedlaterwhenoneexpertidentifieditasaforgeryuponfirstglance.

Experiencedradiologistscan lookatabrainscan:SiddharthaMukherjee, “TheAlgorithmWillSeeYouNow,”NewYorker,April3,2017,https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/03/ai-

versus-md.

Thehumanbrainisapredictionmachine:TheGermanphysicianHermannvonHelmholtzdevelopedtheideaofthebrainbeinga“predictionmachine.”

the clerk swiped the customer’s actual credit card: Helix van Boron, “What’s the Dumbest Thing You’ve Done While Your Brain Is on Autopilot,” Reddit, August 21, 2017,

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/6v1t91/whats_the_dumbest_thing_youve_done_while_your/dlxa5y9.

she kept asking coworkers if they had washed their hands: SwordOfTheLlama, “What Strange Habits Have You Picked Up from Your Line of Work,” Reddit, January 4, 2016,

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3zckq6/what_strange_habits_have_you_picked_up_from_your/cyl3nta.

story of a man who had spent years working as a lifeguard: SwearImaChick, “What Strange Habits Have You Picked Up from Your Line of Work,” Reddit, January 4, 2016,

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3zckq6/what_strange_habits_have_you_picked_up_from_your/cyl681q.

“Untilyoumaketheunconsciousconscious”:AlthoughthisquotebyJungispopular,Ihadtroubletrackingdowntheoriginalsource.It’sprobablyaparaphraseofthispassage:“Thepsychological

rulesaysthatwhenaninnersituationisnotmadeconscious,ithappensoutside,asfate.Thatistosay,whentheindividualremainsundividedanddoesnotbecomeconsciousofhisinner

opposite,theworldmustperforceactouttheconflictandbetornintoopposinghalves.”Formore,seeC.G.Jung,Aion:ResearchesintothePhenomenologyoftheSelf(Princeton,NJ:

PrincetonUniversityPress,1959),71.

Pointing-and-Callingreduceserrors:AliceGordenker,“JRGestures,”JapanTimes,October21,2008,https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2008/10/21/reference/jr-gestures/#.WvIG49Mvzu1.

The MTA subway system in New York City: Allan Richarz, “Why Japan’s Rail Workers Can’t Stop Pointing at Things,” Atlas Obscura, March 29, 2017,

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/pointing-and-calling-japan-trains.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/03/ai-versus-md

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/6v1t91/whats_the_dumbest_thing_youve_done_while_your/dlxa5y9

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3zckq6/what_strange_habits_have_you_picked_up_from_your/cyl3nta

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3zckq6/what_strange_habits_have_you_picked_up_from_your/cyl681q

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2008/10/21/reference/jr-gestures/#.WvIG49Mvzu1

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/pointing-and-calling-japan-trains

CHAPTER5

researchersinGreatBritainbeganworking:SarahMilne,SheinaOrbell,andPaschalSheeran,“CombiningMotivationalandVolitionalInterventionstoPromoteExerciseParticipation:Protection

MotivationTheoryandImplementationIntentions,”BritishJournalofHealthPsychology7(May2002):163–184.

implementation intentions are effective: Peter Gollwitzer and Paschal Sheeran, “Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta-Analysis of Effects and Processes,” Advances in

ExperimentalSocialPsychology38(2006):69–119.

writingdowntheexacttimeanddateofwhenyouwillgetaflushot:KatherineL.Milkman,JohnBeshears,JamesJ.Choi,DavidLaibson,andBrigitteC.Madrian,“UsingImplementationIntentions

PromptstoEnhanceInfluenzaVaccinationRates,”ProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofSciences108,no.26(June2011):10415–10420.

recordingthetimeofyourcolonoscopyappointment:KatherineL.Milkman,JohnBeshears,JamesJ.Choi,DavidLaibson,andBrigitteC.Madrian,“PlanningPromptsasaMeansofIncreasing

PreventiveScreeningRates,”PreventiveMedicine56,no.1(January2013):92–93.

voterturnoutincreases:DavidW.NickersonandToddRogers,“DoYouHaveaVotingPlan?ImplementationIntentions,VoterTurnout,andOrganicPlanMaking,”PsychologicalScience21,no.2

(2010):194–199.

Other successful government programs: “Policymakers around the World Are Embracing Behavioural Science,” The Economist, May 18, 2017,

https://www.economist.com/news/international/21722163-experimental-iterative-data-driven-approach-gaining-ground-policymakers-around.

peoplewhomakeaspecificplanforwhenandwhere:EdwinLockeandGaryLatham,“BuildingaPracticallyUsefulTheoryofGoalSettingandTaskMotivation:A35-YearOdyssey,”American

Psychologist57,no.9(2002):705–717,doi:10.1037//0003–066x.57.9.705.

hope is usually higher: Hengchen Dai, Katherine L. Milkman, and Jason Riis, “The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior,” PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2014,

doi:10.1037/e513702014–058.

writer JasonZweig noted: JasonZweig, “ElevateYour Financial IQ:AValue PackedDiscussionwith JasonZweig,” interview by ShaneParrish,TheKnowledgeProject, FarnamStreet, audio,

https://www.fs.blog/2015/10/jason-zweig-knowledge-project.

manywaystouseimplementationintentions:Forthetermhabitstacking,IamindebtedtoS.J.Scott,whowroteabookbythesamename.FromwhatIunderstand,hisconceptisslightlydifferent,

butI like the termandthought itappropriate touse in thischapter.PreviouswriterssuchasCourtneyCarverandJulienSmithhavealsoused the termhabitstacking,but indifferent

contexts.

TheFrenchphilosopherDenisDiderot:“DenisDiderot,”NewWorldEncyclopedia,http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Denis_Diderot,lastmodifiedOctober26,2017.

acquiredascarletrobe:EncyclopædiaBritannica,vol.8(1911),s.v.“DenisDiderot.”Diderot’sscarletrobeisfrequentlydescribedasagiftfromafriend.However,Icouldfindnooriginalsource

claimingitwasagiftnoranymentionofthefriendwhosuppliedtherobe.Ifyouhappentoknowanyhistoriansspecializinginrobeacquisitions,feelfreetopointthemmywaysowecan

clarifythemysteryofthesourceofDiderot’sfamousscarletrobe.

“no more coordination, no more unity, no more beauty”: Denis Diderot, “Regrets for My Old Dressing Gown,” trans. Mitchell Abidor, 2005,

https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/diderot/1769/regrets.htm.

tospendthewholegamestaringatthescoreboard.Theonlywaytoactuallywin

is to get better each day. In the words of three-time Super Bowl winner Bill

Walsh,“Thescoretakescareofitself.”Thesameistrueforotherareasoflife.If

youwant better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your system

instead.

WhatdoImeanbythis?Aregoalscompletelyuseless?Ofcoursenot.Goals

are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress. A

handfulofproblemsarisewhenyouspend toomuch time thinkingaboutyour

goalsandnotenoughtimedesigningyoursystems.

Problem#1:Winnersandlosershavethesamegoals.

Goalsettingsuffersfromaseriouscaseofsurvivorshipbias.Weconcentrateon

the people who end up winning—the survivors—and mistakenly assume that

ambitiousgoalsledtotheirsuccesswhileoverlookingallofthepeoplewhohad

thesameobjectivebutdidn’tsucceed.

EveryOlympianwantstowinagoldmedal.Everycandidatewantstogetthe

job.And if successful and unsuccessful people share the same goals, then the

goalcannotbewhatdifferentiatesthewinnersfromthelosers.Itwasn’tthegoal

ofwinningtheTourdeFrancethatpropelledtheBritishcycliststothetopofthe

sport.Presumably,theyhadwantedtowintheraceeveryyearbefore—justlike

everyotherprofessionalteam.Thegoalhadalwaysbeenthere.Itwasonlywhen

theyimplementedasystemofcontinuoussmallimprovementsthattheyachieved

adifferentoutcome.

Problem#2:Achievingagoalisonlyamomentarychange.

Imagineyouhaveamessyroomandyousetagoaltocleanit.Ifyousummon

the energy to tidy up, then youwill have a clean room—for now.But if you

maintain thesamesloppy,pack-rathabits that led toamessy room in the first

place,soonyou’llbelookingatanewpileofclutterandhopingforanotherburst

ofmotivation.You’releftchasingthesameoutcomebecauseyouneverchanged

thesystembehindit.Youtreatedasymptomwithoutaddressingthecause.

Achieving a goal only changes your life for the moment. That’s the

counterintuitive thing about improvement. We think we need to change our

results,but the resultsarenot theproblem.Whatwereallyneed tochangeare

the systems that cause those results.When you solve problems at the results

level,youonlysolvethemtemporarily.Inordertoimproveforgood,youneed

to solve problems at the systems level. Fix the inputs and the outputswill fix

themselves.

Problem#3:Goalsrestrictyourhappiness.

Theimplicitassumptionbehindanygoalisthis:“OnceIreachmygoal,thenI’ll

be happy.”The problemwith a goals-firstmentality is that you’re continually

puttinghappinessoffuntilthenextmilestone.I’veslippedintothistrapsomany

timesI’velostcount.Foryears,happinesswasalwayssomethingformyfuture

selftoenjoy.IpromisedmyselfthatonceIgainedtwentypoundsofmuscleor

aftermybusinesswasfeaturedintheNewYorkTimes,thenIcouldfinallyrelax.

Furthermore,goalscreatean“either-or”conflict:eitheryouachieveyourgoal

andaresuccessfuloryoufailandyouareadisappointment.Youmentallybox

yourselfintoanarrowversionofhappiness.Thisismisguided.Itisunlikelythat

youractualpaththroughlifewillmatchtheexactjourneyyouhadinmindwhen

yousetout.Itmakesnosensetorestrictyoursatisfactiontoonescenariowhen

therearemanypathstosuccess.

Asystems-firstmentalityprovidestheantidote.Whenyoufallinlovewiththe

process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself

permission tobehappy.Youcanbe satisfied anytimeyour system is running.

Anda systemcanbe successful inmanydifferent forms, not just theoneyou

firstenvision.

Problem#4:Goalsareatoddswithlong-termprogress.

Finally,agoal-orientedmind-setcancreatea“yo-yo”effect.Manyrunnerswork

hardformonths,butassoonastheycrossthefinishline,theystoptraining.The

raceisnolongertheretomotivatethem.Whenallofyourhardworkisfocused

onaparticulargoal,whatislefttopushyouforwardafteryouachieveit?Thisis

why many people find themselves reverting to their old habits after

accomplishingagoal.

The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building

systems is to continue playing the game. True long-term thinking is goal-less

thinking. It’s not about any single accomplishment. It is about the cycle of

endless refinement and continuous improvement. Ultimately, it is your

commitmenttotheprocessthatwilldetermineyourprogress.

ASYSTEMOFATOMICHABITS

If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The

problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not

becauseyoudon’twanttochange,butbecauseyouhavethewrongsystemfor

change.

You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your

systems.

Focusingon theoverall system, rather thana singlegoal, isoneof thecore

themes of this book. It is also one of the deeper meanings behind the word

atomic.Bynow,you’veprobably realized thatanatomichabit refers toa tiny

change,amarginalgain,a1percentimprovement.Butatomichabitsarenotjust

any old habits, however small. They are little habits that are part of a larger

system.Justasatomsarethebuildingblocksofmolecules,atomichabitsarethe

buildingblocksofremarkableresults.

Habits are like the atoms of our lives. Each one is a fundamental unit that

contributes to your overall improvement. At first, these tiny routines seem

insignificant, but soon they build on each other and fuel bigger wins that

multiplytoadegreethatfaroutweighsthecostoftheirinitialinvestment.They

arebothsmallandmighty.This is themeaningof thephraseatomichabits—a

regular practice or routine that is not only small and easy to do, but also the

sourceofincrediblepower;acomponentofthesystemofcompoundgrowth.

ChapterSummary

Habits are the compound interest of selfimprovement. Getting 1

percentbettereverydaycountsforalotinthelong-run.

Habits are a double-edged sword. They canwork for you or against

you,whichiswhyunderstandingthedetailsisessential.

Small changes often appear tomake no difference until you cross a

critical threshold.Themost powerful outcomes of any compounding

processaredelayed.Youneedtobepatient.

Anatomichabitisalittlehabitthatispartofalargersystem.Justas

atoms are the building blocks of molecules, atomic habits are the

buildingblocksofremarkableresults.

If youwant better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on

yoursysteminstead.

Youdonotrisetothelevelofyourgoals.Youfalltothelevelofyour

systems.

HowYourHabitsShapeYourIdentity(andVice

Versa)

WHYISITsoeasytorepeatbadhabitsandsohardtoformgoodones?Fewthings

canhaveamorepowerfulimpactonyourlifethanimprovingyourdailyhabits.

Andyetitislikelythatthistimenextyearyou’llbedoingthesamethingrather

thansomethingbetter.

It often feels difficult to keep good habits going formore than a few days,

even with sincere effort and the occasional burst of motivation. Habits like

exercise,meditation,journaling,andcookingarereasonableforadayortwoand

thenbecomeahassle.

However,onceyourhabitsareestablished,theyseemtostickaroundforever

—especially the unwanted ones. Despite our best intentions, unhealthy habits

like eating junk food,

watching too much television, procrastinating, and

smokingcanfeelimpossibletobreak.

Changingourhabitsischallengingfortworeasons:(1)wetrytochangethe

wrong thing and (2) we try to change our habits in the wrong way. In this

chapter, I’ll address the first point. In the chapters that follow, I’ll answer the

second.

Ourfirstmistakeisthatwetrytochangethewrongthing.Tounderstandwhat

Imean,considerthattherearethreelevelsatwhichchangecanoccur.Youcan

imaginethemlikethelayersofanonion.

THREELAYERSOFBEHAVIORCHANGE

FIGURE3:Therearethreelayersofbehaviorchange:achangeinyouroutcomes,achangeinyourprocesses,orachangeinyouridentity.

The first layer is changing your outcomes. This level is concerned with

changing your results: losing weight, publishing a book, winning a

championship.Mostofthegoalsyousetareassociatedwiththislevelofchange.

The second layer is changing your process. This level is concerned with

changing your habits and systems: implementing a new routine at the gym,

decluttering your desk for better workflow, developing a meditation practice.

Mostofthehabitsyoubuildareassociatedwiththislevel.

The third and deepest layer is changing your identity. This level is

concernedwith changing your beliefs: your worldview, your self-image, your

judgments about yourself and others. Most of the beliefs, assumptions, and

biasesyouholdareassociatedwiththislevel.

Outcomesareaboutwhatyouget.Processesareaboutwhatyoudo.Identityis

about what you believe.When it comes to building habits that last—when it

comestobuildingasystemof1percentimprovements—theproblemisnotthat

onelevelis“better”or“worse”thananother.Alllevelsofchangeareusefulin

theirownway.Theproblemisthedirectionofchange.

Manypeoplebegintheprocessofchangingtheirhabitsbyfocusingonwhat

theywanttoachieve.Thisleadsustooutcome-basedhabits.Thealternativeisto

buildidentity-basedhabits.Withthisapproach,westartbyfocusingonwhowe

wishtobecome.

OUTCOME-BASEDHABITS

IDENTITY-BASEDHABITS

FIGURE4:Withoutcome-basedhabits,thefocusisonwhatyouwanttoachieve.Withidentity-basedhabits,thefocusisonwhoyouwishtobecome.

Imagine two people resisting a cigarette. When offered a smoke, the first

person says, “No thanks. I’m trying to quit.” It sounds like a reasonable

response, but this person still believes they are a smoker who is trying to be

something else. They are hoping their behavior will change while carrying

aroundthesamebeliefs.

Thesecondpersondeclinesbysaying,“Nothanks.I’mnotasmoker.”It’sa

smalldifference,butthisstatementsignalsashiftinidentity.Smokingwaspart

of their former life, not their currentone.Theyno longer identify as someone

whosmokes.

Most people don’t even consider identity change when they set out to

improve.They just think,“Iwant tobe skinny (outcome)and if I stick to this

diet,thenI’llbeskinny(process).”Theysetgoalsanddeterminetheactionsthey

shouldtaketoachievethosegoalswithoutconsideringthebeliefsthatdrivetheir

actions.Theynevershiftthewaytheylookatthemselves,andtheydon’trealize

thattheiroldidentitycansabotagetheirnewplansforchange.

Behind every system of actions are a system of beliefs. The system of a

democracyisfoundedonbeliefslikefreedom,majorityrule,andsocialequality.

The system of a dictatorship has a very different set of beliefs like absolute

authorityandstrictobedience.Youcan imaginemanyways to try togetmore

peopletovoteinademocracy,butsuchbehaviorchangewouldnevergetoffthe

ground in a dictatorship. That’s not the identity of the system. Voting is a

behaviorthatisimpossibleunderacertainsetofbeliefs.

Asimilarpatternexistswhetherwearediscussingindividuals,organizations,

orsocieties.Thereareasetofbeliefsandassumptionsthatshapethesystem,an

identitybehindthehabits.

Behavior that is incongruentwith theselfwillnot last.Youmaywantmore

money,but ifyouridentityissomeonewhoconsumesrather thancreates, then

you’llcontinuetobepulledtowardspendingratherthanearning.Youmaywant

better health, but if you continue to prioritize comfort over accomplishment,

you’llbedrawntorelaxingratherthantraining.It’shardtochangeyourhabitsif

youneverchangetheunderlyingbeliefsthatledtoyourpastbehavior.Youhave

anewgoalandanewplan,butyouhaven’tchangedwhoyouare.

ThestoryofBrianClark,anentrepreneurfromBoulder,Colorado,providesa

good example. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve chewedmy fingernails,”

Clark told me. “It started as a nervous habit when I was young, and then

morphed into an undesirable grooming ritual. One day, I resolved to stop

chewingmynailsuntiltheygrewoutabit.Throughmindfulwillpoweralone,I

managedtodoit.”

Then,Clarkdidsomethingsurprising.

“Iaskedmywifetoschedulemyfirst-evermanicure,”hesaid.“Mythought

wasthatifIstartedpayingtomaintainmynails,Iwouldn’tchewthem.Andit

worked,butnotforthemonetaryreason.Whathappenedwasthemanicuremade

my fingers look really nice for the first time.Themanicurist even said that—

other than the chewing—Ihad reallyhealthy, attractivenails.Suddenly, Iwas

proudofmyfingernails.Andeventhoughthat’ssomethingIhadneveraspired

to,itmadeallthedifference.I’veneverchewedmynailssince;notevenasingle

closecall.Andit’sbecauseInowtakeprideinproperlycaringforthem.”

Theultimateformofintrinsicmotivationiswhenahabitbecomespartofyour

identity. It’s one thing to say I’m the type of person who wants this. It’s

somethingverydifferenttosayI’mthetypeofpersonwhoisthis.

The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your identity, the more

motivatedyouwillbetomaintainthehabitsassociatedwithit.Ifyou’reproud

ofhowyourhairlooks,you’lldevelopallsortsofhabitstocareforandmaintain

it.Ifyou’reproudofthesizeofyourbiceps,you’llmakesureyouneverskipan

upper-body workout. If you’re proud of the scarves you knit, you’ll be more

likelytospendhoursknittingeachweek.Onceyourpridegetsinvolved,you’ll

fighttoothandnailtomaintainyourhabits.

Truebehaviorchange is identitychange.Youmight startahabitbecauseof

motivation,but theonly reasonyou’ll stickwithone is that itbecomespartof

your identity.Anyonecanconvince themselves tovisit thegymoreathealthy

onceortwice,butifyoudon’tshiftthebeliefbehindthebehavior,thenitishard

to stick with long-term changes. Improvements are only temporary until they

becomepartofwhoyouare.

Thegoalisnottoreadabook,thegoalistobecomeareader.

Thegoalisnottorunamarathon,thegoalistobecomearunner.

The goal is not to learn an instrument, the goal is to become a

musician.

Your behaviors are usually a reflection of your identity.What you do is an

indicationofthetypeofpersonyoubelievethatyouare—eitherconsciouslyor

nonconsciously.*Researchhasshownthatonceapersonbelievesinaparticular

aspectoftheiridentity,theyaremorelikelytoactinalignmentwiththatbelief.

Forexample,peoplewhoidentifiedas“beingavoter”weremorelikelytovote

thanthosewhosimplyclaimed“voting”wasanactiontheywantedtoperform.

Similarly, thepersonwhoincorporatesexercise into their identitydoesn’thave

to convince themselves

to train.Doing the right thing is easy.After all,when

your behavior and your identity are fully aligned, you are no longer pursuing

behavior change. You are simply acting like the type of person you already

believeyourselftobe.

Likeallaspectsofhabitformation,this,too,isadouble-edgedsword.When

workingforyou, identitychangecanbeapowerfulforceforselfimprovement.

Whenworking against you, though, identity change can be a curse.Once you

haveadoptedanidentity,itcanbeeasytoletyourallegiancetoit impactyour

abilitytochange.Manypeoplewalkthroughlifeinacognitiveslumber,blindly

followingthenormsattachedtotheiridentity.

“I’mterriblewithdirections.”

“I’mnotamorningperson.”

“I’mbadatrememberingpeople’snames.”

“I’malwayslate.”

“I’mnotgoodwithtechnology.”

“I’mhorribleatmath.”

...andathousandothervariations.

Whenyouhaverepeatedastorytoyourselfforyears, it iseasytoslideinto

these mental grooves and accept them as a fact. In time, you begin to resist

certain actions because “that’s not who I am.” There is internal pressure to

maintain your self-image and behave in a way that is consistent with your

beliefs.Youfindwhateverwayyoucantoavoidcontradictingyourself.

Themoredeeplyathoughtoractionistiedtoyouridentity,themoredifficult

it is tochange it. It can feelcomfortable tobelievewhatyourculturebelieves

(groupidentity)ortodowhatupholdsyourself-image(personalidentity),even

if it’s wrong. The biggest barrier to positive change at any level—individual,

team,society—is identityconflict.Goodhabitscanmake rational sense,but if

theyconflictwithyouridentity,youwillfailtoputthemintoaction.

Onanygivenday,youmaystrugglewithyourhabitsbecauseyou’retoobusy

ortootiredortoooverwhelmedorhundredsofotherreasons.Overthelongrun,

however,therealreasonyoufailtostickwithhabitsisthatyourself-imagegets

in the way. This is why you can’t get too attached to one version of your

identity. Progress requires unlearning. Becoming the best version of yourself

requiresyoutocontinuouslyedityourbeliefs,andtoupgradeandexpandyour

identity.

Thisbringsus to an important question: If yourbeliefs andworldviewplay

suchan important role inyourbehavior,wheredo theycome from in the first

place?How,exactly,isyouridentityformed?Andhowcanyouemphasizenew

aspectsofyouridentitythatserveyouandgraduallyerasethepiecesthathinder

you?

THETWO-STEPPROCESSTOCHANGINGYOURIDENTITY

Youridentityemergesoutofyourhabits.Youarenotbornwithpresetbeliefs.

Everybelief,includingthoseaboutyourself,islearnedandconditionedthrough

experience.*

More precisely, your habits are how you embody your identity.When you

makeyourbedeachday,youembodytheidentityofanorganizedperson.When

youwrite each day, you embody the identity of a creative person.When you

traineachday,youembodytheidentityofanathleticperson.

The more you repeat a behavior, the more you reinforce the identity

associatedwith that behavior. In fact, theword identitywasoriginallyderived

from the Latin words essentitas, which means being, and identidem, which

meansrepeatedly.Youridentityisliterallyyour“repeatedbeingness.”

Whatever your identity is right now, you only believe it because you have

proof of it. If you go to church every Sunday for twenty years, you have

evidence thatyouare religious. Ifyoustudybiology foronehoureverynight,

youhaveevidence thatyouare studious. Ifyougo to thegymevenwhen it’s

snowing, you have evidence that you are committed to fitness. The more

evidenceyouhaveforabelief,themorestronglyyouwillbelieveit.

Formostofmyearlylife,Ididn’tconsidermyselfawriter.Ifyouweretoask

anyofmyhighschoolteachersorcollegeprofessors,theywouldtellyouIwas

an averagewriter at best: certainly not a standout.When I beganmywriting

career, IpublishedanewarticleeveryMondayandThursday for the first few

years.Astheevidencegrew,sodidmyidentityasawriter.Ididn’tstartoutasa

writer.Ibecameonethroughmyhabits.

Ofcourse,yourhabitsarenottheonlyactionsthatinfluenceyouridentity,but

by virtue of their frequency they are usually the most important ones. Each

experienceinlifemodifiesyourself-image,butit’sunlikelyyouwouldconsider

yourselfasoccerplayerbecauseyoukickedaballonceoranartistbecauseyou

scribbled a picture. As you repeat these actions, however, the evidence

accumulates and your self-image begins to change. The effect of one-off

experiences tends to fade awaywhile the effect of habits gets reinforcedwith

time,whichmeansyourhabitscontributemostoftheevidencethatshapesyour

identity. In this way, the process of building habits is actually the process of

becomingyourself.

This is a gradual evolution.Wedonot change by snappingour fingers and

decidingtobesomeoneentirelynew.Wechangebitbybit,daybyday,habitby

habit.Wearecontinuallyundergoingmicroevolutionsoftheself.

Eachhabitislikeasuggestion:“Hey,maybethisiswhoIam.”Ifyoufinisha

book,thenperhapsyouarethetypeofpersonwholikesreading.Ifyougotothe

gym,thenperhapsyouarethetypeofpersonwholikesexercise.Ifyoupractice

playingtheguitar,perhapsyouarethetypeofpersonwholikesmusic.

Everyactionyoutakeisavoteforthetypeofpersonyouwishtobecome.No

singleinstancewilltransformyourbeliefs,butasthevotesbuildup,sodoesthe

evidenceofyournewidentity.Thisisonereasonwhymeaningfulchangedoes

not require radical change. Small habits canmake ameaningful difference by

providingevidenceofanewidentity.Andifachangeismeaningful,itactually

isbig.That’stheparadoxofmakingsmallimprovements.

Puttingthisalltogether,youcanseethathabitsarethepathtochangingyour

identity.Themostpracticalway tochangewhoyouare is tochangewhatyou

do.

Eachtimeyouwriteapage,youareawriter.

Eachtimeyoupracticetheviolin,youareamusician.

Eachtimeyoustartaworkout,youareanathlete.

Eachtimeyouencourageyouremployees,youarealeader.

Each habit not only gets results but also teaches you something far more

important: to trust yourself. You start to believe you can actually accomplish

these things.When thevotesmountupand theevidencebegins tochange, the

storyyoutellyourselfbeginstochangeaswell.

Ofcourse,itworkstheoppositeway,too.Everytimeyouchoosetoperforma

badhabit,it’savoteforthatidentity.Thegoodnewsisthatyoudon’tneedtobe

perfect. In any election, there are going to be votes for both sides.You don’t

needaunanimousvote towinanelection;you justneedamajority. Itdoesn’t

matterifyoucastafewvotesforabadbehaviororanunproductivehabit.Your

goalissimplytowinthemajorityofthetime.

New identities require new evidence. If you keep casting the same votes

you’vealwayscast,you’regoingtoget thesameresultsyou’vealwayshad.If

nothingchanges,nothingisgoingtochange.

Itisasimpletwo-stepprocess:

1. Decidethetypeofpersonyouwanttobe.

2. Proveittoyourselfwithsmallwins.

First,decidewhoyouwanttobe.Thisholdsatanylevel—asanindividual,as

ateam,asacommunity,asanation.Whatdoyouwanttostandfor?Whatare

yourprinciplesandvalues?Whodoyouwishtobecome?

These are big questions, andmany people aren’t

sure where to begin—but

theydoknowwhatkindofresultstheywant:togetsix-packabsortofeelless

anxious or to double their salary. That’s fine. Start there and work backward

fromtheresultsyouwanttothetypeofpersonwhocouldgetthoseresults.Ask

yourself,“WhoisthetypeofpersonthatcouldgettheoutcomeIwant?”Whois

thetypeofpersonthatcouldlosefortypounds?Whoisthetypeofpersonthat

could learn a new language? Who is the type of person that could run a

successfulstart-up?

For example, “Who is the type of person who could write a book?” It’s

probably someonewho is consistent and reliable.Nowyour focus shifts from

writing a book (outcome-based) to being the type of personwho is consistent

andreliable(identity-based).

Thisprocesscanleadtobeliefslike:

“I’mthekindofteacherwhostandsupforherstudents.”

“I’mthekindofdoctorwhogiveseachpatientthetimeandempathy

theyneed.”

“I’mthekindofmanagerwhoadvocatesforheremployees.”

Onceyouhaveahandleonthetypeofpersonyouwanttobe,youcanbegin

taking small steps to reinforce your desired identity. I have a friendwho lost

over100poundsbyaskingherself,“Whatwouldahealthypersondo?”Allday

long, shewoulduse thisquestion as aguide.Would ahealthypersonwalkor

takeacab?Wouldahealthypersonorderaburritoorasalad?Shefiguredifshe

acted like a healthy person long enough, eventually she would become that

person.Shewasright.

The concept of identity-based habits is our first introduction to another key

theme in thisbook: feedback loops.Yourhabits shapeyour identity, andyour

identityshapesyourhabits.It’satwo-waystreet.Theformationofallhabitsisa

feedbackloop(aconceptwewillexploreindepthinthenextchapter),butit’s

important to letyourvalues,principles, and identitydrive the loop rather than

yourresults.Thefocusshouldalwaysbeonbecomingthat typeofperson,not

gettingaparticularoutcome.

THEREALREASONHABITSMATTER

Identity change is theNorthStar of habit change.The remainder of this book

willprovideyouwithstep-by-stepinstructionsonhowtobuildbetterhabits in

yourself,your family,your team,yourcompany,andanywhereelseyouwish.

But the true question is: “Are you becoming the type of person you want to

become?”Thefirststepisnotwhatorhow,butwho.Youneedtoknowwhoyou

wanttobe.Otherwise,yourquestforchangeislikeaboatwithoutarudder.And

that’swhywearestartinghere.

Youhavethepowertochangeyourbeliefsaboutyourself.Youridentityisnot

set instone.Youhaveachoice ineverymoment.Youcanchoose the identity

youwanttoreinforcetodaywiththehabitsyouchoosetoday.Andthisbringsus

tothedeeperpurposeofthisbookandtherealreasonhabitsmatter.

Building better habits isn’t about littering your daywith life hacks. It’s not

about flossing one tooth each night or taking a cold shower eachmorning or

wearingthesameoutfiteachday.It’snotaboutachievingexternalmeasuresof

success likeearningmoremoney, losingweight,orreducingstress.Habitscan

helpyouachieveallofthesethings,butfundamentallytheyarenotabouthaving

something.Theyareaboutbecomingsomeone.

Ultimately, your habits matter because they help you become the type of

personyouwish tobe.Theyare the channel throughwhichyoudevelopyour

deepestbeliefsaboutyourself.Quiteliterally,youbecomeyourhabits.

ChapterSummary

Therearethreelevelsofchange:outcomechange,processchange,and

identitychange.

Themosteffectivewaytochangeyourhabitsistofocusnotonwhat

youwanttoachieve,butonwhoyouwishtobecome.

Youridentityemergesoutofyourhabits.Everyactionisavoteforthe

typeofpersonyouwishtobecome.

Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously

edityourbeliefs,andtoupgradeandexpandyouridentity.

The real reason habitsmatter is not because they can get you better

results(althoughtheycandothat),butbecausetheycanchangeyour

beliefsaboutyourself.

HowtoBuildBetterHabitsin4SimpleSteps

IN 1898, A psychologist named Edward Thorndike conducted an experiment that

wouldlaythefoundationforourunderstandingofhowhabitsformandtherules

that guide our behavior. Thorndikewas interested in studying the behavior of

animals,andhestartedbyworkingwithcats.

Hewouldplaceeachcatinsideadeviceknownasapuzzlebox.Theboxwas

designedsothatthecatcouldescapethroughadoor“bysomesimpleact,such

as pulling at a loop of cord, pressing a lever, or stepping on a platform.” For

example,oneboxcontaineda lever that,whenpressed,wouldopenadooron

thesideofthebox.Oncethedoorhadbeenopened,thecatcoulddartoutand

runovertoabowloffood.

Mostcatswantedtoescapeassoonastheywereplacedinsidethebox.They

wouldpoke theirnose into thecorners, stick theirpaws throughopenings,and

clawatlooseobjects.Afterafewminutesofexploration,thecatswouldhappen

topressthemagicallever,thedoorwouldopen,andtheywouldescape.

Thorndike tracked the behavior of each cat across many trials. In the

beginning, the animals moved around the box at random. But as soon as the

lever had been pressed and the door opened, the process of learning began.

Gradually,eachcatlearnedtoassociatetheactionofpressingtheleverwiththe

rewardofescapingtheboxandgettingtothefood.

After twenty to thirty trials, thisbehaviorbecamesoautomaticandhabitual

that thecatcouldescapewithinafewseconds.Forexample,Thorndikenoted,

“Cat12tookthefollowingtimestoperformtheact.160seconds,30seconds,90

seconds,60,15,28,20,30,22,11,15,20,12,10,14,10,8,8,5,10,8,6,6,7.”

During the first three trials, the cat escaped in an average of 1.5 minutes.

During the last three trials, it escaped in an average of 6.3 seconds. With

practice,eachcatmadefewererrorsandtheiractionsbecamequickerandmore

automatic.Ratherthanrepeatthesamemistakes,thecatbegantocutstraightto

thesolution.

From his studies, Thorndike described the learning process by stating,

“behaviors followed by satisfying consequences tend to be repeated and those

thatproduceunpleasantconsequencesare less likely toberepeated.”Hiswork

provides the perfect starting point for discussing how habits form in our own

lives. It also provides answers to some fundamental questions like:What are

habits?Andwhydoesthebrainbotherbuildingthematall?

WHYYOURBRAINBUILDSHABITS

Ahabitisabehaviorthathasbeenrepeatedenoughtimestobecomeautomatic.

The process of habit formation begins with trial and error. Whenever you

encounteranewsituation in life,yourbrainhas tomakeadecision.HowdoI

respondtothis?Thefirsttimeyoucomeacrossaproblem,you’renotsurehow

tosolveit.LikeThorndike’scat,you’rejusttryingthingsouttoseewhatworks.

Neurologicalactivityinthebrainishighduringthisperiod.Youarecarefully

analyzingthesituationandmakingconsciousdecisionsabouthowtoact.You’re

takingintonsofnewinformationandtryingtomakesenseofitall.Thebrainis

busylearningthemosteffectivecourseofaction.

Occasionally, like a cat pressing on a lever, you stumble across a solution.

You’refeelinganxious,andyoudiscoverthatgoingforaruncalmsyoudown.

You’rementallyexhaustedfromalongdayofwork,andyoulearnthatplaying

video games relaxes you. You’re exploring,

Atomic habits PDFDrive - Inglês (2024)

References