A better method is to cut bad habits off at the source.
You may be able to resist temptation once, but you will most likely not be able to have the willpower to control your desires each time they appear. Thus, your energy would be better spent optimizing your environment.

Self-control is a short-term strategy when forming habits

<ol>
<li>Changing your outcomes. This means changing your results: losing weight, publishing a book, etc.</li>
<li>Changing your process. This means changing your habits and systems: for example, developing a meditation practice.</li>
<li>Changing your identity. This means changing your beliefs: the way you see yourself and the ones around you.</li>
</ol>

The layers of behavior change

The main components of habit formation:
<ul>
<li>A Cue: It causes your brain to begin a behavior. It is a bit of information that predicts a reward.</li>
<li>A Craving: It is the motivation behind every habit. Without a desire, we don't have a reason to act.</li>
<li>A Response: This is the very habit you perform; it can take the form of a thought or an action.</li>
<li>A Reward: The end goal of every habit.</li>
</ul>

How habits work

We experience peak motivation when we are performing actions that are right on the edge our current abilities.
Not too difficult, not too easy.

The Goldilocks Rule for staying motivated

Goals are good for establishing a direction, but systems are best for making progress.
Goals are about the results you hope to reach. Systems are about the mechanisms that lead to those results.

Focus on systems, not on goals

<ul>
<li>Make them invisible.</li>
<li>Make them unappealing.</li>
<li>Make them hard to perform.</li>
<li>Make them frustrating.</li>
</ul>

How to break bad habits

What is instantly rewarded is done again. What is instantly punished is ditched.
To get a habit to stick you need to feel instantly successful, even if it’s in a small way.

The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change

Create a motivation ritual by doing something you really like right before a difficult habit.
Habits are attractive when we associate them with positive feelings and unattractive when we associate them with negative feelings.

How to enjoy hard habits

We will instinctively choose the path that requires the least amount of work.
Diminish the friction associated with positive actions. When friction is reduced, habits become easy. Increase the friction associated with negative behaviors. This way, habits become hard.

The Law of Least Effort

We imitate the habits of three groups:
<ul>
<li>The close. Proximity has a powerful and impressive effect on the way we behave.</li>
<li>The many. We feel the pressure to comply with the rules of the groups we're part of. Being accepted is the greatest reward.</li>
<li>The powerful. We are attracted to behaviors that we think will make people respect and admire us.</li>
</ul>

We imitate habits to fit it

You could choose and start a habit because of motivation, but you'll stick with it only if it becomes part of your identity.
To change your identity:
<ol>
<li>Establish the kind of person you want to be.</li>
<li>Prove it to yourself with small wins.</li>
</ol>

True behavior change is identity change

The amount of time you have been performing a habit is not as important as the number of times you have performed it.
You could do something three times in thirty days, or three hundred times. The frequency will always make the difference.

The time it takes to form a habit

<ul>
<li>Make them evident.</li>
<li>Make them attractive.</li>
<li>Make them effortless.</li>
<li>Make them satisfying.</li>
</ul>

How to create good habits

A habit is a routine or behavior that is carried out repeatedly and most of the time automatically.
When you are faced with a problem repeatedly, your brain starts to automate the process of solving it. Your habits are sets of automatic solutions that solve the problems you come across regularly.

Habits are mental shortcuts

This collection will help you make easy routine changes and take back control of your time.

books

Books

teamwork

Teamwork

productivity

Productivity

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

timemanagement

Time Management

Managing Time Like a Pro

James Clear presents strategies to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that help lead to an improved life.

The #1 New York Times bestseller. Over 10 million copies sold! Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. 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 because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights. Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field. Learn how to: <ul><li>make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy);</li></ul><ul><li>overcome a lack of motivation and willpower;</li></ul><ul><li>design your environment to make success easier;</li></ul><ul><li>get back on track when you fall off course;</li></ul>...and much more. Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits--whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.

James Clear is the author of "Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones" He writes about habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement at jamesclear.com. His website receives millions of visitors each month and hundreds of thousands subscribe to his popular email newsletter.His work has appeared in the New York Times, Entrepreneur, Time, and on CBS This Morning. He is a regular speaker at Fortune 500 companies and his work is used by teams in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. Learn more at jamesclear.com

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