Make bad habits impossible

People make a few small changes, fail to see a tangible result, and decide to stop. But in order to make a meaningful difference, habits need to to persist long enough to break through this plateau.

If you find yourself struggling to build a good habit or break a bad one, i...

We tend to adopt habits that are praised and approved of by our culture because we have a strong desire to fit in and belong to the tribe.

We tend to imitiate the habits of:

1. The close (friends and familiy)
2. The many (the tribe)
3. The powerful (those with status and p...

"When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do."

Instead of trying to engineer a perfect habit from the start, do the easy thing on a more consistent basis.

The more you ritualize the beginning of a process, the more likely it become...

Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress.

1. Goals restrict your happiness. They create a "either-or" conflict: either you achieve your goal and are successful or you fail and you are a dissappointment.
2. The purpose of settin...

It is so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis. Too often, we convince ourselves that a massive success requires massive action.

We often dismiss small changes because they don't seem to matter ve...

Habits are easier to perform, and more satisfying to stick with, when they align with your personality and skills.

Trial and error:

As you explore different options, there are a series of questions you can ask yourself to continually narrow in on the habits and areas that will be most...

We are less likely to repeat a bad habit if it is painful or unsatisfying.

Create a habit contract:

• A habit contract is a verbal or written agreement in which you state your commitment to a particular habit and the punishment that will occur if you don't follow t...

1. Creates a visual cue that can remind you to act.
2. Inherently motivating because you see the progress you are making and don't want to lose it.
3. Feels satisfying whenever you record another successful instance of your habit.
4. Provides visual proof that you are casting vot...

The human brain evolved to prioritize immediate rewards over delayed rewards.

Our preference for instant gratification reveals an important truth about success: because of how we are wired, most people will spend all day chasing quick hits of satisfaction. The road less traveled is the road...

If you want to master a habit, the key is to start with repetition, not perfection. When you're in motion, you're planning and strategizing and learning. Those are all good things, but they don't produce a result. You're just preparing to get something done. The most effective fo...

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

1. Cue: it triggers your brain to initiate a behaviour. It is a bit of information that predicts a reward.
2. Craving: it is the motivational force behind every habit. Without craving, w...

Mastery is the process of narrowing your focus to a tiny element of success, repeating it until you have internalized the skill, and then using a new habit to advance to the next level of performance.

Habits + Deliberate Practice = Mastery

Life is constantly ...

You can break a habit, but you're unlikely to forget it. And that means that simply resisting temptation is an eneffective strategy.

To eliminate a bad habit, reduce exposure to the cue that causes it.

• Leave the phone in another room.
• De...

We are more likely to repeat a behaviour when the experience is satisfying.

The consequences of bad habits are delayed while the rewards are immediate. With good habits, it is the reverse: the immediate outcome is unenjoyable, but the ultimate outcome feels good.

Once our habits become automatic, we stop paying attention to what we are doing.

You need to be aware of your habits before you can change them.

The Habits Scorecard is a simple exercise to become more aware of your behaviour, by creating a list of your daily habits and categ...

We will naturally gravitate toward the option that requires the least amount of work.

Reduce the friction associated with good behaviours:

• Cook a healthy breakfast: clean and prepare everything the night before.
• Exercise: set out the wor...

A small change in what you see can lead to a big shift in what you do.

Every habit is initiated by a cue, and we are more likely to notice cues that stand out.

• Put the apples in a place where can be seen easily and not in the bottom of the fridg...

It is the anticipation of a reward, not the fulfillment of it, that gets us to take action. It is the craving that leads to the response.

Temptation bundling: It consists of linking an action you want to do with an action you need to do.

After I [HABIT I NEED]...

People who make a specific plan for when and where they will perform a new habit are more likely to follow through. Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity.

• Implementation intention:

I will [NEW HABIT] at [TIME] in [LOCATION]

Humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy. Just manageable difficulty.

The greateast threat to success is not failure but boredom. We get bored with habits becau...