Habits appear to reduce these two costs in different ways:

1. Habits can reduce the intrinsic cost by making you better at the task. As you read more difficult books, you get better at reading, so it doesn’t require as much energy.
2. Habits reduce the decisi...

• Not all habits are equally easy to build . This makes sense because some have higher intrinsic effort required, which results in not only higher intrinsic cost but also higher decision costs.
• You can’t establish an unlimited number of habits . This m...

Habits, appear to reduce these two costs in different ways:

1. Habits can reduce the intrinsic cost by making you better at the task. As you read more difficult books, you get better at reading, so it doesn’t require as much energy.
2. Habits reduce the deci...

• Not all habits are equally easy to build . This makes sense because some have higher intrinsic effort required, which results in not only higher intrinsic cost but also higher decision costs.
• You can’t establish an unlimited number of habits . This m...

This idea of metastability conforms to my experience as the reason why I’ve found few habits have had permanent lifespans.

• Inevitably, the habit breaks down because of a temporary lifestyle change: a vacation, an illness, needing to move or work overtime.
• The...

Any action requires two kinds of effort in order to get done :

• An intrinsic effort that depends on the action.
• An effort to decide whether or not to execute the action.

Habits can modify the first, but the main reason they work is...

• This metastability suggests that the most important positions to look at when setting a habit are during possible disruptions. If you temporarily have to break a habit, then re-establishing it as soon as the interruption is gone should be your top priority.

Even better if you can...

Motivation works well in the short-term. If you set a new goal, you can probably summon up the motivation to pursue it earnestly for a week or two.

But motivation wanes. If your goal takes more than a month or two, you’re going to need more than just motivation. You’re...