A habit is a routine or behavior that is performed regularly—and, in many cases, automatically. (Location 137)
changes that seem small and unimportant at first will compound into remarkable results if you’re willing to stick with them for years. (Location 150)
We all deal with setbacks but in the long run, the quality of our lives often depends on the quality of our habits. (Location 151)
WHY SMALL HABITS MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE
Here’s how the math works out: if you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.12 Conversely, if you get 1 percent worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero. What starts as a small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more. (Location 252)
Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.13 The same way that money multiplies through compound interest, the effects of your habits multiply as you repeat them. They seem to make little difference on any given day and yet the impact they deliver over the months and years can be enormous. It is only when looking back two, five, or perhaps ten years later that the value of good habits and the cost of bad ones becomes strikingly apparent. (Location 259)
The impact created by a change in your habits is similar to the effect of shifting the route of an airplane by just a few degrees. ... Similarly, a slight change in your daily habits can guide your life to a very different destination. Making a choice that is 1 percent better or 1 percent worse seems insignificant in the moment, but over the span of moments that make up a lifetime these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be. (Location 272)
You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results. (Location 281)
Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. ... You get what you repeat. (Location 284)
Time magnifies the margin between success and failure. It will multiply whatever you feed it. Good habits make time your ally. Bad habits make time your enemy. (Location 290)
Habits are a double-edged sword.15 Bad habits can cut you down just as easily as good habits can build you up, which is why understanding the details is crucial. You need to know how habits work and how to design them to your liking, so you can avoid the dangerous half of the blade. (Location 291)
WHAT PROGRESS IS REALLY LIKE
Breakthrough moments are often the result of many previous actions, which build up the potential required to unleash a major change. This pattern shows up everywhere. Cancer spends 80 percent of its life undetectable, then takes over the body in months.18 Bamboo can barely be seen for the first five years as it builds extensive root systems underground before exploding ninety feet into the air within six weeks. (Location 320)
habits often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold and unlock a new level of performance. In the early and middle stages of any quest, there is often a Valley of Disappointment. You expect to make progress in a linear fashion and it’s frustrating how ineffective changes can seem during the first days, weeks, and even months. It doesn’t feel like you are going anywhere. It’s a hallmark of any compounding process: the most powerful outcomes are delayed. This is one of the core reasons why it is so hard to build habits that last. ... But in order to make a meaningful difference, habits need to persist long enough to break through this plateau—what I call the Plateau of Latent Potential. (Location 324)
Note: This explains the platoes from Mastery by George Leonard
When you finally break through the Plateau of Latent Potential, people will call it an overnight success. The outside world only sees the most dramatic event rather than all that preceded it. (Location 335)
All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision. (Location 354)
FORGET ABOUT GOALS, FOCUS ON SYSTEMS INSTEAD
Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results. (Location 367)
Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress. (Location 381)
Problem #1: Winners and losers have the same goals.
if successful and unsuccessful people share the same goals, then the goal cannot be what differentiates the winners from the losers. (Location 386)
Problem #2: Achieving a goal is only a momentary change.
We think we need to change our results, but the results are not the problem. What we really need to change are the systems that cause those results. When you solve problems at the results level, you only solve them temporarily. In order to improve for good, you need to solve problems at the systems level. Fix the inputs and the outputs will fix themselves. (Location 396)
Note: Fixing problems at the root
Problem #3: Goals restrict your happiness.
The implicit assumption behind any goal is this: “Once I reach my goal, then I’ll be happy.” The problem with a goals-first mentality is that you’re continually putting happiness off until the next milestone. ... Furthermore, goals create an “either-or” conflict: either you achieve your goal and are successful or you fail and you are a disappointment. You mentally box yourself into a narrow version of happiness. (Location 400)
Note: Unconditional happiness
When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy. You can be satisfied anytime your system is running. (Location 408)
Problem #4: Goals are at odds with long-term progress.
Finally, a goal-oriented mind-set can create a “yo-yo” effect. ... When all of your hard work is focused on a particular goal, what is left to push you forward after you achieve it? (Location 411)
The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game. (Location 414)
Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress. (Location 416)
A SYSTEM OF ATOMIC HABITS
You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. (Location 420)
■ Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. Getting 1 percent better every day counts for a lot in the long-run. ■ Habits are a double-edged sword. They can work for you or against you, which is why understanding the details is essential. ■ Small changes often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold. The most powerful outcomes of any compounding process are delayed. You need to be patient. ■ An atomic habit is a little habit that is part of a larger system. Just as atoms are the building blocks of molecules, atomic habits are the building blocks of remarkable results. ■ If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead. ■ You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. (Location 431)
There are three layers of behavior change: a change in your outcomes, a change in your processes, or a change in your identity. (Location 454)
Outcomes are about what you get. Processes are about what you do. Identity is about what you believe. (Location 461)
The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. (Location 497)
The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your identity, the more motivated you will be to maintain the habits associated with it. ... Once your pride gets involved, you’ll fight tooth and nail to maintain your habits. (Location 499)
Research has shown that once a person believes in a particular aspect of their identity, they are more likely to act in alignment with that belief. (Location 512)
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 believe yourself to be. (Location 516)
Progress requires unlearning. Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity. (Location 537)
THE TWO-STEP PROCESS TO CHANGING YOUR IDENTITY
Your identity emerges out of your habits. You are not born with preset beliefs. Every belief, including those about yourself, is learned and conditioned through experience.fn2 More precisely, your habits are how you embody your identity. ... In fact, the word identity was originally derived from the Latin words essentitas, which means being, and identidem, which means repeatedly. Your identity is literally your “repeated beingness.” (Location 542)
The more evidence you have for a belief, the more strongly you will believe it. (Location 552)
The effect of one-off experiences tends to fade away while the effect of habits gets reinforced with time, which means your habits contribute most of the evidence that shapes your identity. In this way, the process of building habits is actually the process of becoming yourself. (Location 559)
The most practical way to change who you are is to change what you do. (Location 570)
It doesn’t matter if you cast a few votes for a bad behavior or an unproductive habit. Your goal is simply to win the majority of the time. (Location 580)
It is a simple two-step process: Decide the type of person you want to be. Prove it to yourself with small wins. (Location 583)
THE REAL REASON HABITS MATTER
■ There are three levels of change: outcome change, process change, and identity change. ■ The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve, but on who you wish to become. ■ Your identity emerges out of your habits. Every action is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. ■ Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity. ■ The real reason habits matter is not because they can get you better results (although they can do that), but because they can change your beliefs about yourself. (Location 619)
WHY YOUR BRAIN BUILDS HABITS
Whenever you face a problem repeatedly, your brain begins to automate the process of solving it. Your habits are just a series of automatic solutions that solve the problems and stresses you face regularly. As behavioral scientist Jason Hreha writes, “Habits are, simply, reliable solutions to recurring problems in our environment.” (Location 661)
Habits do not restrict freedom. They create it. In fact, the people who don’t have their habits handled are often the ones with the least amount of freedom. Without good financial habits, you will always be struggling for the next dollar. Without good health habits, you will always seem to be short on energy. Without good learning habits, you will always feel like you’re behind the curve. If you’re always being forced to make decisions about simple tasks—when should I work out, where do I go to write, when do I pay the bills—then you have less time for freedom. It’s only by making the fundamentals of life easier that you can create the mental space needed for free thinking and creativity. (Location 682)
THE SCIENCE OF HOW HABITS WORK
The process of building a habit can be divided into four simple steps: cue, craving, response, and reward. (Location 691)
First, there is the cue. The cue triggers your brain to initiate a behavior. It is a bit of information that predicts a reward. (Location 697)
If a behavior is insufficient in any of the four stages, it will not become a habit. Eliminate the cue and your habit will never start. Reduce the craving and you won’t experience enough motivation to act. Make the behavior difficult and you won’t be able to do it. And if the reward fails to satisfy your desire, then you’ll have no reason to do it again in the future. Without the first three steps, a behavior will not occur. Without all four, a behavior will not be repeated. (Location 725)
In summary, the cue triggers a craving, which motivates a response, which provides a reward, which satisfies the craving and, ultimately, becomes associated with the cue. Together, these four steps form a neurological feedback loop—cue, craving, response, reward; cue, craving, response, reward—that ultimately allows you to create automatic habits. This cycle is known as the habit loop. (Location 735)
THE FOUR LAWS OF BEHAVIOR CHANGE
How to Create a Good Habit
The 1st law (Cue) Make it obvious. The 2nd law (Craving) Make it attractive. The 3rd law (Response) Make it easy. The 4th law (Reward) Make it satisfying. (Location 762)
How to Break a Bad Habit
Inversion of the 1st law (Cue) Make it invisible. Inversion of the 2nd law (Craving) Make it unattractive. Inversion of the 3rd law (Response) Make it difficult. Inversion of the 4th law (Reward) Make it unsatisfying. (Location 768)
Whenever you want to change your behavior, you can simply ask yourself: How can I make it obvious? How can I make it attractive? How can I make it easy? How can I make it satisfying? (Location 774)
The key to creating good habits and breaking bad ones is to understand these fundamental laws and how to alter them to your specifications. (Location 779)
■ A habit is a behavior that has been repeated enough times to become automatic. ■ The ultimate purpose of habits is to solve the problems of life with as little energy and effort as possible. ■ Any habit can be broken down into a feedback loop that involves four steps: cue, craving, response, and reward. ■ The Four Laws of Behavior Change are a simple set of rules we can use to build better habits. They are (1) make it obvious, (2) make it attractive, (3) make it easy, and (4) make it satisfying. (Location 784)
As the psychologist Carl Jung said, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” (Location 845)
THE HABITS SCORECARD
Many of our failures in performance are largely attributable to a lack of self-awareness. (Location 866)
To create your own, make a list of your daily habits. ... Once you have a full list, look at each behavior, and ask yourself, “Is this a good habit, a bad habit, or a neutral habit?” If it is a good habit, write “+” next to it. If it is a bad habit, write “–”. If it is a neutral habit, write “=”. (Location 869)
If you’re still having trouble determining how to rate a particular habit, here is a question I like to use: “Does this behavior help me become the type of person I wish to be? Does this habit cast a vote for or against my desired identity?” Habits that reinforce your desired identity are usually good. Habits that conflict with your desired identity are usually bad. (Location 903)
As you create your Habits Scorecard, there is no need to change anything at 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 yourself for your faults. Don’t praise yourself for your successes. (Location 906)
The first step to changing bad habits is to be on the lookout for them. If you feel like you need extra help, then you can try Pointing-and-Calling in your own life. Say out loud the action that you are thinking of taking and what the outcome will be. If you want to cut back on your junk food habit but notice yourself grabbing another cookie, say out loud, “I’m about to eat this cookie, but I don’t need it. Eating it will cause me to gain weight and hurt my health.” (Location 911)
■ With enough practice, your brain will pick up on the cues that predict certain outcomes without consciously thinking about it. ■ Once our habits become automatic, we stop paying attention to what we are doing. ■ The process of behavior change always starts with awareness. You need to be aware of your habits before you can change them. ■ Pointing-and-Calling raises your level of awareness from a nonconscious habit to a more conscious level by verbalizing your actions. ■ The Habits Scorecard is a simple exercise you can use to become more aware of your behavior. (Location 922)
Broadly speaking, the format for creating an implementation intention is: “When situation X arises, I will perform response Y.” (Location 946)
people who make a specific plan for when and where they will perform a new habit are more likely to follow through. (Location 957)
An implementation intention sweeps away foggy notions like “I want to work out more” or “I want to be more productive” or “I should vote” and transforms them into a concrete plan of action. (Location 961)
Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity. (Location 963)
The simple way to apply this strategy to your habits is to fill out this sentence: I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION]. (Location 967)
HABIT STACKING: A SIMPLE PLAN TO OVERHAUL YOUR HABITS
The Diderot Effect states that obtaining a new possession often creates a spiral of consumption that leads to additional purchases.14 You can spot this pattern everywhere. (Location 1001)
Many human behaviors follow this cycle. You often decide what to do next based on what you have just finished doing. ... No behavior happens in isolation. Each action becomes a cue that triggers the next behavior. (Location 1005)
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 behavior on top. This is called habit stacking. (Location 1010)
The habit stacking formula is: “After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].” (Location 1015)
The key is to tie your desired behavior into something you already do each day. Once you have mastered this basic structure, you can begin to create larger stacks by chaining small habits together. This allows you to take advantage of the natural momentum that comes from one behavior leading into the next—a positive version of the Diderot Effect. (Location 1024)
You can also insert new behaviors into the middle of your current routines. For example, you may already have a morning routine that looks like this: Wake up > Make my bed > Take a shower. Let’s say you want to develop the habit of reading more each night. You can expand your habit stack and try something like: Wake up > Make my bed > Place a book on my pillow > Take a shower. Now, when you climb into bed each night, a book will be sitting there waiting for you to enjoy. (Location 1037)
Habit stacking works best when the cue is highly specific and immediately actionable. ... Be specific and clear: After I close the door. After I brush my teeth. After I sit down at the table. The specificity is important. The more tightly bound your new habit is to a specific cue, the better the odds are that you will notice when the time comes to act. (Location 1083)
■ The 1st Law of Behavior Change is make it obvious. ■ The two most common cues are time and location. ■ Creating an implementation intention is a strategy you can use to pair a new habit with a specific time and location. ■ 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 current habit. ■ The habit stacking formula is: After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT]. (Location 1094)
People often choose products not because of what they are, but because of where they are. ... Your habits change depending on the room you are in and the cues in front of you. (Location 1118)
Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior. Despite our unique personalities, certain behaviors tend to arise again and again under certain environmental conditions. (Location 1123)
The most powerful of all human sensory abilities, however, is vision. The human body has about eleven million sensory receptors.7 Approximately ten million of those are dedicated to sight. ... Given that we are more dependent on vision than on any other sense, it should come as no surprise that visual cues are the greatest catalyst of our behavior. For this reason, a small change in what you see can lead to a big shift in what you do. (Location 1147)
HOW TO DESIGN YOUR ENVIRONMENT FOR SUCCESS
It’s easy not to practice the guitar when it’s tucked away in the closet. (Location 1164)
Environment design allows you to take back control and become the architect of your life. Be the designer of your world and not merely the consumer of it. (Location 1190)
THE CONTEXT IS THE CUE
The cues that trigger a habit can start out very specific, but over time your habits become associated not with a single trigger but with the entire context surrounding the behavior. (Location 1192)
We mentally assign our habits to the locations in which they occur: the home, the office, the gym. Each location develops a connection to certain habits and routines. (Location 1196)
Our behavior is not defined by the objects in the environment but by our relationship to them. ... Stop thinking about your environment as filled with objects. Start thinking about it as filled with relationships. Think in terms of how you interact with the spaces around you. (Location 1198)
It is easier to associate a new habit with a new context than to build a new habit in the face of competing cues. (Location 1211)
When you can’t manage to get to an entirely new environment, redefine or rearrange your current one. Create a separate space for work, study, exercise, entertainment, and cooking. The mantra I find useful is “One space, one use.” (Location 1220)
Whenever possible, avoid mixing the context of one habit with another. When you start mixing contexts, you’ll start mixing habits—and the easier ones will usually win out. (Location 1228)
If your space is limited, divide your room into activity zones: a chair for reading, a desk for writing, a table for eating. You can do the same with your digital spaces. ... Every habit should have a home. If you can manage to stick with this strategy, each context will become associated with a particular habit and mode of thought. (Location 1234)
If you want behaviors that are stable and predictable, you need an environment that is stable and predictable. (Location 1239)
■ Small changes in context can lead to large changes in behavior over time. ■ Every habit is initiated by a cue. We are more likely to notice cues that stand out. ■ Make the cues of good habits obvious in your environment. ■ Gradually, your habits become associated not with a single trigger but with the entire context surrounding the behavior. The context becomes the cue. ■ It is easier to build new habits in a new environment because you are not fighting against old cues. (Location 1243)
The people with the best self-control are typically the ones who need to use it the least. It’s easier to practice self-restraint when you don’t have to use it very often.6 So, yes, perseverance, grit, and willpower are essential to success, but the way to improve these qualities is not by wishing you were a more disciplined person, but by creating a more disciplined environment. (Location 1278)
Once a habit has been encoded, the urge to act follows whenever the environmental cues reappear. (Location 1286)
Bad habits are autocatalytic: the process feeds itself. They foster the feelings they try to numb. ... Worrying about your health makes you feel anxious, which causes you to smoke to ease your anxiety, which makes your health even worse and soon you’re feeling more anxious. It’s a downward spiral, a runaway train of bad habits. (Location 1291)
Self-control is a short-term strategy, not a long-term one. You may be able to resist temptation once or twice, but it’s unlikely you can muster the willpower to override your desires every time. Instead of summoning a new dose of willpower whenever you want to do the right thing, your energy would be better spent optimizing your environment. This is the secret to self-control. Make the cues of your good habits obvious and the cues of your bad habits invisible. (Location 1316)
■ The inversion of the 1st Law of Behavior Change is make it invisible. ■ Once a habit is formed, it is unlikely to be forgotten. ■ People with high self-control tend to spend less time in tempting situations. It’s easier to avoid temptation than resist it. ■ One of the most practical ways to eliminate a bad habit is to reduce exposure to the cue that causes it. ■ Self-control is a short-term strategy, not a long-term one. (Location 1321)
You can download a printable version of this habits cheat sheet at: atomichabits.com/cheatsheet (Location 1349)
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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 response than usual. (Location 1371)
We have the brains of our ancestors but temptations they never had to face. (Location 1406)
THE DOPAMINE-DRIVEN FEEDBACK LOOP
When it comes to habits, the key takeaway is this: dopamine is released not only when you experience pleasure, but also when you anticipate it.16 Gambling addicts have a dopamine spike right before they place a bet, not after they win. ... Whenever you predict that an opportunity will be rewarding, your levels of dopamine spike in anticipation. And whenever dopamine rises, so does your motivation to act. (Location 1433)
Interestingly, the reward system that is activated in the brain when you receive a reward is the same system that is activated when you anticipate a reward. (Location 1439)
FIGURE 9: Before a habit is learned (A), dopamine is released when the reward is experienced for the first time. The next time around (B), dopamine rises before taking action, immediately after a cue is recognized. This spike leads to a feeling of desire and a craving to take action whenever the cue is spotted. Once a habit is learned, dopamine will not rise when a reward is experienced because you already expect the reward. However, if you see a cue and expect a reward, but do not get one, then dopamine will drop in disappointment (C). The sensitivity of the dopamine response can clearly be seen when a reward is provided late (D). First, the cue is identified and dopamine rises as a craving builds. Next, a response is taken but the reward does not come as quickly as expected and dopamine begins to drop. Finally, when the reward comes a little later than you had hoped, dopamine spikes again. It is as if the brain is saying, “See! I knew I was right. Don’t forget to repeat this action next time.” (Location 1443)
Your brain has far more neural circuitry allocated for wanting rewards than for liking them. The wanting centers in the brain are large: the brain stem, the nucleus accumbens, the ventral tegmental area, the dorsal striatum, the amygdala, and portions of the prefrontal cortex. By comparison, the liking centers of the brain are much smaller. They are often referred to as “hedonic hot spots” and are distributed like tiny islands throughout the brain. For instance, researchers have found that 100 percent of the nucleus accumbens is activated during wanting.19 Meanwhile, only 10 percent of the structure is activated during liking. (Location 1459)
Desire is the engine that drives behavior. Every action is taken because of the anticipation that precedes it. It is the craving that leads to the response. (Location 1465)
HOW TO USE TEMPTATION BUNDLING TO MAKE YOUR HABITS MORE ATTRACTIVE
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.” (Location 1493)
The habit stacking + temptation bundling formula is: After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [HABIT I NEED]. After [HABIT I NEED], I will [HABIT I WANT]. (Location 1498)
Temptation bundling is one way to create a heightened version of any habit by connecting it with something you already want. Engineering a truly irresistible habit is a hard task, but this simple strategy can be employed to make nearly any habit more attractive than it would be otherwise. (Location 1510)
The 2nd Law of Behavior Change is make it attractive. ■ The more attractive an opportunity is, the more likely it is to become habit-forming. ■ Habits are a dopamine-driven feedback loop. When dopamine rises, so does our motivation to act. ■ It is the anticipation of a reward—not the fulfillment of it—that gets us to take action. The greater the anticipation, the greater the dopamine spike. ■ Temptation bundling is one way to make your habits more attractive. The strategy is to pair an action you want to do with an action you need to do. (Location 1514)
THE SEDUCTIVE PULL OF SOCIAL NORMS
Humans are herd animals. We want to fit in, to bond with others, and to earn the respect and approval of our peers. Such inclinations are essential to our survival. For most of our evolutionary history, our ancestors lived in tribes. Becoming separated from the tribe—or worse, being cast out—was a death sentence. “The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.”fn1 (Location 1547)
As Charles Darwin noted, “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 influence on our modern behavior. (Location 1552)
Often, you follow the habits of your culture without thinking, without questioning, and sometimes without remembering. (Location 1558)
Behaviors are attractive when they help us fit in. We imitate the habits of three groups in particular:2 The close. The many. The powerful. Each group offers an opportunity to leverage the 2nd Law of Behavior Change and make our habits more attractive. (Location 1564)
1. Imitating the Close
As a general rule, the closer we are to someone, the more likely we are to imitate some of their habits. ... Our friends and family provide a sort of invisible peer pressure that pulls us in their direction. (Location 1575)
One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where your desired behavior is the normal behavior. New habits seem achievable when you see others doing them every day. ... Your culture sets your expectation for what is “normal.” (Location 1585)
To make your habits even more attractive, you can take this strategy one step further. Join a culture where (1) your desired behavior is the normal behavior and (2) you already have something in common with the group. (Location 1590)
Nothing sustains motivation better than belonging to the tribe. It transforms a personal quest into a shared one. ... This is why remaining part of a group after achieving a goal is crucial to maintaining your habits. (Location 1596)
2. Imitating the Many
Whenever we are unsure how to act, we look to the group to guide our behavior. We are constantly scanning our environment and wondering, “What is everyone else doing?” ... It’s usually a smart strategy. There is evidence in numbers. But there can be a downside. (Location 1626)
When changing your habits means challenging the tribe, change is unattractive. When changing your habits means fitting in with the tribe, change is very attractive. (Location 1637)
3. Imitating the Powerful
We are drawn to behaviors that earn us respect, approval, admiration, and status. ... Once we fit in, we start looking for ways to stand out. (Location 1643)
We are continually wondering “What will others think of me?” and altering our behavior based on the answer. (Location 1652)
The culture we live in determines which behaviors are attractive to us. ■ 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 imitate the habits of three social groups: the close (family and friends), the many (the tribe), and the powerful (those with status and prestige). (Location 1659)
■ One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where (1) your desired behavior is the normal behavior and (2) you already have something in common with the group. ■ The normal behavior of the tribe often overpowers the desired behavior of the individual. Most days, we’d rather be wrong with the crowd than be right by ourselves. ■ If a behavior can get us approval, respect, and praise, we find it attractive. (Location 1664)
WHERE CRAVINGS COME FROM
Every behavior has a surface level craving and a deeper, underlying motive. (Location 1696)
Some of our underlying motives include:fn1 ■ Conserve energy ■ Obtain food and water ■ Find love and reproduce ■ Connect and bond with others ■ Win social acceptance and approval ■ Reduce uncertainty ■ Achieve status and prestige (Location 1700)
A craving is just a specific manifestation of a deeper underlying motive. (Location 1708)
Life feels reactive, but it is actually predictive. All day long, you are making your best guess of how to act given what you’ve just seen and what has worked for you in the past. You are endlessly predicting what will happen in the next moment. (Location 1731)
Desire is the difference between where you are now and where you want to be in the future. Even the tiniest action is tinged with the motivation to feel differently than you do in the moment. When you binge-eat or light up or browse social media, what you really want is not a potato chip or a cigarette or a bunch of likes. What you really want is to feel different. (Location 1744)
HOW TO REPROGRAM YOUR BRAIN TO ENJOY HARD HABITS
Reframing your habits to highlight their benefits rather than their drawbacks is a fast and lightweight way to reprogram your mind and make a habit seem more attractive. ... Instead of telling yourself “I need to go run in the morning,” say “It’s time to build endurance and get fast.” ... These little mind-set shifts aren’t magic, but they can help change the feelings you associate with a particular habit or situation. (Location 1767)
If you want to take it a step further, you can create a motivation ritual. (Location 1783)
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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 perform every time before you do the thing you love. Maybe you take three deep breaths and smile. Three deep breaths. Smile. Pet the dog. Repeat. Eventually, you’ll begin to associate this breathe-and-smile routine with being in a good mood. It becomes a cue that means feeling happy. Once established, you can break it out anytime you need to change your emotional state. Stressed at work? Take three deep breaths and smile. Sad about life? Three deep breaths and smile. Once a habit has been built, the cue can prompt a craving, even if it has little to do with the original situation. (Location 1794)
■ 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. ■ Your habits are modern-day solutions to ancient desires. ■ The cause of your habits is actually the prediction that precedes them. The prediction leads to a feeling. ■ 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. Create a motivation ritual by doing something you enjoy immediately before a difficult habit. (Location 1804)
It is easy to get bogged down trying to find the optimal plan for change: the fastest way to lose weight, the best program to build muscle, the perfect idea for a side hustle. We are so focused on figuring out the best approach that we never get around to taking action. As Voltaire once wrote, “The best is the enemy of the good.” (Location 1853)
I refer to this as the difference between being in motion and taking action. 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 they don’t produce a result. Action, on the other hand, is the type of behavior that will deliver an outcome. If I outline twenty ideas for articles I want to write, that’s motion. If I actually sit down and write an article, that’s action. If I search for a better diet plan and read a few books on the topic, that’s motion. If I actually eat a healthy meal, that’s action. (Location 1856)
If motion doesn’t lead to results, why do we do it? Sometimes we do it because we actually need to plan or learn more. But more often than not, we do it because motion allows us to feel like we’re making progress without running the risk of failure. (Location 1863)
Motion makes you feel like you’re getting things done. But really, you’re just 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. You want to be practicing. (Location 1870)
If you want to master a habit, the key is to start with repetition, not perfection. You don’t need to map out every feature of a new habit. You just need to practice it. This is the first takeaway of the 3rd Law: you just need to get your reps in. (Location 1872)
HOW LONG DOES IT ACTUALLY TAKE TO FORM A NEW HABIT?
Like the muscles of the body responding to regular weight training, particular regions of the brain adapt as they are used and atrophy as they are abandoned. (Location 1889)
Each time you repeat an action, you are activating a particular neural circuit associated with that habit. This means that simply putting in your reps is one of the most critical steps you can take to encoding a new habit. (Location 1896)
All habits follow a similar trajectory from effortful practice to automatic behavior, a process known as automaticity. Automaticity is the ability to perform a behavior without thinking about each step, which occurs when the nonconscious mind takes over. (Location 1899)
to make a habit automatic? There is nothing magical about time passing with regard to habit formation. It doesn’t matter if it’s been twenty-one days or thirty days or three hundred days. 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 makes the difference. (Location 1918)
The 3rd Law of Behavior Change is make it easy. ■ The most effective form of learning is practice, not planning. ■ Focus on taking action, not being in motion. ■ Habit formation is the process by which a behavior becomes progressively more automatic through repetition. ■ The amount of time you have been performing a habit is not as important as the number of times you have performed it. (Location 1929)
Energy is precious, and the brain is wired to conserve it whenever possible. It is human nature to follow the Law of Least Effort, which states that when deciding between two similar options, people will naturally gravitate toward the option that requires the least amount of work. (Location 1963)
We are motivated to do what is easy. Every action requires a certain amount of energy. The more energy required, the less likely it is to occur. ... And the less energy a habit requires, the more likely it is to occur. (Location 1968)
The less friction you face, the easier it is for your stronger self to emerge. (Location 1984)
HOW TO ACHIEVE MORE WITH LESS EFFORT
Trying to pump up your motivation to stick with a hard habit is like trying to force water through a bent hose. You can do it, but it requires a lot of effort and increases the tension in your life. Meanwhile, making your habits simple and easy is like removing the bend in the hose. Rather than trying to overcome the friction in your life, you reduce it. (Location 1990)
Business is a never-ending quest to deliver the same result in an easier fashion. (Location 2023)
The central idea is to create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible. Much of the battle of building better habits comes down to finding ways to reduce the friction associated with our good habits and increase the friction associated with our bad ones. (Location 2028)
PRIME THE ENVIRONMENT FOR FUTURE USE
Oswald Nuckols is an IT developer from Natchez, Mississippi. ... Nuckols dialed in his cleaning habits by following a strategy he refers to as “resetting the room.” (Location 2031)
It is remarkable how little friction is required to prevent unwanted behavior. ... Imagine the cumulative impact of making dozens of these changes and living in an environment designed to make the good behaviors easier and the bad behaviors harder. (Location 2064)
Redesign your life so the actions that matter most are also the actions that are easiest to do. (Location 2070)
Human behavior follows the Law of Least Effort. We will naturally gravitate toward the option that requires the least amount of work. ■ Create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible. ■ Reduce the friction associated with good behaviors. When friction is low, habits are easy. ■ Increase the friction associated with bad behaviors. When friction is high, habits are difficult. ■ Prime your environment to make future actions easier. (Location 2072)
Researchers estimate that 40 to 50 percent of our actions on any given day are done out of habit. (Location 2089)
Habits are like the entrance ramp to a highway. They lead you down a path and, before you know it, you’re speeding toward the next behavior. (Location 2093)
THE TWO-MINUTE RULE
Instead of trying to engineer a perfect habit from the start, do the easy thing on a more consistent basis. You have to standardize before you can optimize. (Location 2141)
As you master the art of showing up, the first two minutes simply become a ritual at the beginning of a larger routine. This is not merely a hack to make habits easier but actually the ideal way to master a difficult skill. The more you ritualize the beginning of a process, the more likely it becomes that you can slip into the state of deep focus that is required to do great things. (Location 2142)
■ Habits can be completed in a few seconds but continue to impact your behavior for minutes or hours afterward. ■ Many habits occur at decisive moments—choices that are like a fork in the road—and either send you in the direction of a productive day or an unproductive one. ■ The Two-Minute Rule states, “When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.” ■ The more you ritualize the beginning of a process, the more likely it becomes that you can slip into the state of deep focus that is required to do great things. ■ Standardize before you optimize. You can’t improve a habit that doesn’t exist. (Location 2181)
A commitment device is a choice you make in the present that controls your actions in the future.2 It is a way to lock in future behavior, bind you to good habits, and restrict you from bad ones. ... Commitment devices are useful because they enable you to take advantage of good intentions before you can fall victim to temptation. (Location 2200)
The key is to change the task such that it requires more work to get out of the good habit than to get started on it. (Location 2214)
Commitment devices increase the odds that you’ll do the right thing in the future by making bad habits difficult in the present. (Location 2217)
HOW TO AUTOMATE A HABIT AND NEVER THINK ABOUT IT AGAIN
The best way to break a bad habit is to make it impractical to do. Increase the friction until you don’t even have the option to act. (Location 2234)
By utilizing commitment devices, strategic onetime decisions, and technology, you can create an environment of inevitability—a space where good habits are not just an outcome you hope for but an outcome that is virtually guaranteed. (Location 2293)
■ The inversion of the 3rd Law of Behavior Change is make it difficult. ■ A commitment device is a choice you make in the present that locks in better behavior in the future. ■ The ultimate way to lock in future behavior is to automate your habits. ■ Onetime choices—like buying a better mattress or enrolling in an automatic savings plan—are single actions that automate your future habits and deliver increasing returns over time. ■ Using technology to automate your habits is the most reliable and effective way to guarantee the right behavior. (Location 2296)
the Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change: What is rewarded is repeated. What is punished is avoided. (Location 2392)
The first three laws of behavior change—make it obvious, make it attractive, and make it easy—increase the odds that a behavior will be performed this time. The fourth law of behavior change—make it satisfying—increases the odds that a behavior will be repeated next time. It completes the habit loop. (Location 2394)
THE MISMATCH BETWEEN IMMEDIATE AND DELAYED REWARDS
You live in what scientists call a delayed-return environment because you can work for years before your actions deliver the intended payoff. The human brain did not evolve for life in a delayed-return environment. The earliest remains of modern humans, known as Homo sapiens sapiens, are approximately two hundred thousand years old.12 These were the first humans to have a brain relatively similar to ours. In particular, the neocortex—the newest part of the brain and the region responsible for higher functions like language—was roughly the same size two hundred thousand years ago as today. You are walking around with the same hardware as your Paleolithic ancestors. (Location 2405)
Similar to other animals on the African savannah, our ancestors spent their days responding to grave threats, securing the next meal, and taking shelter from a storm. It made sense to place a high value on instant gratification. The distant 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-term ones. (Location 2417)
Put another way, the costs of your good habits are in the present. The costs of your bad habits are in the future. (Location 2435)
As a general rule, the more immediate pleasure you get from an action, the more strongly you should question whether it aligns with your long-term goals. (Location 2441)
The road less traveled is the road of delayed gratification. If you’re willing to wait for the rewards, you’ll face less competition and often get a bigger payoff. As the saying goes, the last mile is always the least crowded. (Location 2446)
At some point, success in nearly every field requires you to ignore an immediate reward in favor of a delayed reward. (Location 2452)
HOW TO TURN INSTANT GRATIFICATION TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
In a perfect world, the reward for a good habit is the habit itself. In the real world, good habits tend to feel worthwhile only after they have provided you with something. ... This is why immediate rewards are essential. They keep you excited while the delayed rewards accumulate in the background. (Location 2460)
The ending of any experience is vital because we tend to remember it more than other phases. You want the ending of 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. (Location 2466)
Immediate reinforcement can be especially helpful when dealing with habits of avoidance, which are behaviors you want to stop doing. (Location 2470)
It is worth noting that it is important to select short-term rewards that reinforce your identity rather than ones that conflict with it. (Location 2480)
Eventually, as intrinsic rewards like a better mood, more energy, and reduced stress kick in, you’ll become less concerned with chasing the secondary reward. The identity itself becomes the reinforcer. You do it because it’s who you are and it feels good to be you. The more a habit becomes part of your life, the less you need outside encouragement to follow through. Incentives can start a habit. Identity sustains a habit. (Location 2486)
■ The 4th Law of Behavior Change is make it satisfying. ■ We are more likely to repeat a behavior when the experience is satisfying. ■ The human brain evolved to prioritize immediate rewards over delayed rewards. ■ The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change: What is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided. ■ To get a habit to stick you need to feel immediately successful—even if it’s in a small way. ■ The first three laws of behavior change—make it obvious, make it attractive, and make it easy—increase the odds that a behavior will be performed this time. The fourth law of behavior change—make it satisfying—increases the odds that a behavior will be repeated next time. (Location 2495)
HOW TO KEEP YOUR HABITS ON TRACK
Habit tracking is powerful because it leverages multiple Laws of Behavior Change. It simultaneously makes a behavior obvious, attractive, and satisfying. (Location 2534)
Benefit #1: Habit tracking is obvious.
The mere act of tracking a behavior can spark the urge to change it. (Location 2542)
Measurement offers one way to overcome our blindness to our own behavior and notice what’s really going on each day. (Location 2543)
Benefit #2: Habit tracking is attractive.
The most effective form of motivation is progress.6 When we get a signal that we are moving forward, we become more motivated to continue down that path. (Location 2547)
Benefit #3: Habit tracking is satisfying.
Tracking can become its own form of reward. (Location 2554)
Habit tracking also helps keep your eye on the ball: you’re focused on the process rather than the result. (Location 2557)
In summary, habit tracking (1) creates a visual cue that can remind you to act, (2) is inherently motivating because you see the progress you are making 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, which is a delightful form of immediate and intrinsic gratification. (Location 2559)
record each measurement immediately after the habit occurs. The completion of the behavior is the cue to write it down. (Location 2578)
The habit stacking + habit tracking formula is: After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [TRACK MY HABIT]. (Location 2580)
HOW TO RECOVER QUICKLY WHEN YOUR HABITS BREAK DOWN
No matter how consistent you are with your habits, it is inevitable that life will interrupt you at some point. Perfection is not possible. (Location 2589)
The first mistake is never the one that ruins you.7 It is the spiral of repeated mistakes that follows. Missing once is an accident.8 Missing twice is the start of a new habit. (Location 2595)
Too often, we fall into an all-or-nothing cycle with our habits. The problem is not slipping up; the problem is thinking that if you can’t do something perfectly, then you shouldn’t do it at all. (Location 2601)
As Charlie Munger says, “The first rule of compounding: Never interrupt it unnecessarily.” This is why the “bad” workouts are often the most important ones. Sluggish days and bad workouts maintain the compound gains you accrued from previous 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. (Location 2605)
Furthermore, it’s not always about what happens during the workout. It’s about being the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts. ... Going to the gym for five minutes may not improve your performance, but it reaffirms your identity. (Location 2608)
KNOWING WHEN (AND WHEN NOT) TO TRACK A HABIT
The dark side of tracking a particular behavior is that we become driven by the number rather than the purpose behind it. ... The human mind wants to “win” whatever game is being played. (Location 2620)
In short, we optimize for what we measure. When we choose the wrong measurement, we get the wrong behavior. This is sometimes referred to as Goodhart’s Law. Named after the economist Charles Goodhart, the principle states, “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”9 Measurement is only useful when it guides you and adds context to a larger picture, not when it consumes you. Each number is simply one piece of feedback in the overall system. (Location 2626)
In our data-driven world, we tend to overvalue numbers and undervalue anything ephemeral, soft, and difficult to quantify. We mistakenly think the factors we can measure are the only factors that exist. But just because you can measure something doesn’t mean it’s the most important thing. And just because you can’t measure something doesn’t mean it’s not important at all. (Location 2630)
■ One of the most satisfying feelings is the feeling of making progress. ■ A habit tracker is a simple way to measure whether you did a habit—like marking an X on a calendar. ■ Habit trackers and other visual forms of measurement can make your habits satisfying by providing clear evidence of your progress. ■ Don’t break the chain. Try to keep your habit streak alive. ■ Never miss twice. If you miss one day, try to get back on track as quickly as possible. ■ Just because you can measure something doesn’t mean it’s the most important thing. (Location 2643)
We repeat bad habits because they serve us in some way, and that makes them hard to abandon. The best way I know to overcome this predicament is to increase the speed of the punishment associated with the behavior. There can’t be a gap between the action and the consequences. (Location 2674)
If you’re going to rely on punishment to change behavior, then the strength of the punishment must match the relative strength of the behavior it is trying to correct. To be productive, the cost of procrastination must be greater than the cost of action. To be healthy, the cost of laziness must be greater than the cost of exercise. (Location 2678)
Thankfully, there is a straightforward way to add an immediate cost to any bad habit: create a habit contract (Location 2684)
THE 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 through. Then you find one or two people to act as your accountability partners and sign off on the contract with you. (Location 2697)
■ The inversion of the 4th Law of Behavior Change is make it unsatisfying. ■ We are less likely to repeat a bad habit if it is painful or unsatisfying. ■ An accountability partner can create an immediate cost to inaction. We care deeply about what others think of us, and we do not want others to have a lesser opinion of us. ■ A habit contract can be used to add a social cost to any behavior. It makes the costs of violating your promises public and painful. ■ Knowing that someone else is watching you can be a powerful motivator. (Location 2736)
Habits are easier to perform, and more satisfying to stick with, when they align with your natural inclinations and abilities. Like Michael Phelps in the pool or Hicham El Guerrouj on the track, you want to play a game where the odds are in your favor. (Location 2808)
HOW YOUR PERSONALITY INFLUENCES YOUR HABITS
Your genes are operating beneath the surface of every habit. Indeed, beneath the surface of every behavior. Genes have been shown to influence everything from the number of hours you spend watching television to your likelihood to marry or divorce to your tendency to get addicted to drugs, alcohol, or nicotine. (Location 2828)
The most proven scientific analysis of personality traits is known as the “Big Five,” which breaks them down into five spectrums of behavior. Openness to experience: from curious and inventive on one end to cautious and consistent on the other. Conscientiousness: organized and efficient to easygoing and spontaneous. Extroversion: outgoing and energetic to solitary and reserved (you likely know them as extroverts vs. introverts). Agreeableness: friendly and compassionate to challenging and detached. Neuroticism: anxious and sensitive to confident, calm, and stable. (Location 2838)
HOW TO FIND A GAME WHERE THE ODDS ARE IN YOUR FAVOR
What feels like fun to me, but work to others? The mark of whether you are made for a task is not whether you love it but whether you can handle the pain of the task easier than most people. When are you enjoying yourself while other people are complaining? The work that hurts you less than it hurts others is the work you were made to do. (Location 2897)
What makes me lose track of time? (Location 2900)
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. (Location 2920)
A good player works hard to win the game everyone else is playing. A great player creates a new game that favors their strengths and avoids their weaknesses. (Location 2922)
HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR GENES
In summary, one of the best ways to ensure your habits remain satisfying over the long-run is to pick behaviors that align with your personality and skills. Work hard on the things that come easy. (Location 2943)
■ The secret to maximizing your odds of success is to choose the right field of competition. ■ Pick the right habit and progress is easy. Pick the wrong habit and life is a struggle. ■ Genes cannot be easily changed, which means they provide a powerful advantage in favorable circumstances and a serious disadvantage in unfavorable circumstances. ■ Habits are easier when they align with your natural abilities. Choose the habits that best suit you. ■ Play a game that favors your strengths. If you can’t find a game that favors you, create one. ■ Genes do not eliminate the need for hard work. They clarify it. They tell us what to work hard on. (Location 2946)
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. Not too easy. Just right. (Location 2987)
Maximum motivation occurs when facing a challenge of just manageable difficulty. In psychology research this is known as the Yerkes–Dodson law, which describes the optimal level of arousal as the midpoint between boredom and anxiety. (Location 2998)
HOW TO STAY FOCUSED WHEN YOU GET BORED WORKING ON YOUR GOALS
Mastery requires practice. But the more you practice something, the more boring and routine it becomes. (Location 3020)
The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom. We get bored with habits because they stop delighting us. ... Perhaps this is why we get caught up in a never-ending cycle, jumping from one workout to the next, one diet to the next, one business idea to the next. (Location 3024)
The sweet spot of desire occurs at a 50/50 split between success and failure. (Location 3038)
At some point, everyone faces the same challenge on the journey of self-improvement: you have to fall in love with boredom. (Location 3045)
Note: Mastery
Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way. Professionals know what is important to them and work toward it with purpose; amateurs get pulled off course by the urgencies of life. (Location 3053)
■ The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. ■ The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom. ■ As habits become routine, they become less interesting and less satisfying. We get bored. ■ Anyone can work hard when they feel motivated. It’s the ability to keep going when work isn’t exciting that makes the difference. ■ Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way. (Location 3063)
When you know the simple movements so well that you can perform them without thinking, you are free to pay attention to more advanced details. In this way, habits are the backbone of any pursuit of excellence. (Location 3073)
Habits are necessary, but not sufficient for mastery. What you need is a combination of automatic habits and deliberate practice. Habits + Deliberate Practice = Mastery (Location 3086)
Note: Mastery
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 this new habit as the foundation to advance to the next frontier of your development. Old tasks become easier the second time around, but it doesn’t get easier overall because now you’re pouring your energy into the next challenge. Each habit unlocks the next level of performance. It’s an endless cycle. (Location 3092)
HOW TO REVIEW YOUR HABITS AND MAKE ADJUSTMENTS
Reflection and review enables the long-term improvement of all habits because it makes you aware of your mistakes and helps you consider possible paths for improvement. Without reflection, we can make excuses, create rationalizations, and lie to ourselves. We have no process for determining whether we are performing better or worse compared to yesterday. (Location 3142)
Improvement is not just about learning habits, it’s also about fine-tuning them. Reflection and review ensures that you spend your time on the right things and make course corrections whenever necessary (Location 3157)
HOW TO BREAK THE BELIEFS THAT HOLD YOU BACK
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 beliefs can hold you back from the next level of growth. When working against 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 downsides of building habits. (Location 3183)
The more sacred an idea is to us—that is, the more deeply it is tied to our identity—the more strongly we will defend it against criticism. ... The tighter we cling to an identity, the harder it becomes to grow beyond it. (Location 3186)
One solution is to avoid making any single aspect of your identity an overwhelming portion of who you are. (Location 3191)
■ “I’m an athlete” becomes “I’m the type of person who is mentally tough and loves a physical challenge.” ■ “I’m a great soldier” transforms into “I’m the type of person who is disciplined, reliable, and great on a team.” ■ “I’m the CEO” translates to “I’m the type of person who builds and creates things.” (Location 3203)
When chosen effectively, an identity can be flexible rather than brittle. Like water flowing around an obstacle, your identity works with the changing circumstances rather than against them. The following quote from the Tao Te Ching encapsulates the ideas perfectly: Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry. Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life. The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail. —LAO T (Location 3208)
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 shifting around us. Everything is impermanent. Life is constantly changing, so you need to periodically check in to see if your old habits and beliefs are still serving you. A lack of self-awareness is poison. Reflection and review is the antidote. (Location 3217)
■ The upside of habits is that we can do things without thinking. The downside is that we stop paying attention to little errors. ■ Habits + Deliberate Practice = Mastery ■ Reflection and review is a process that allows you to remain conscious of your performance over time. ■ The tighter we cling to an identity, the harder it becomes to grow beyond it. (Location 3221)
Conclusion
The Secret to Results That Last
Success is not a goal to reach or a finish line to cross. It is a system to improve, an endless process to refine. (Location 3247)
This is a continuous process. There is no finish line. There is no permanent solution. Whenever you’re looking to improve, you can rotate through the Four Laws of Behavior Change until you find the next bottleneck. Make it obvious. Make it attractive. Make it easy. Make it satisfying. Round and round. Always looking for the next way to get 1 percent better. (Location 3262)
Happiness is simply the absence of desire. When you observe a cue, but do not desire to change your state, you are content with the current situation. Happiness is not about the achievement of pleasure (which is joy or satisfaction), but about the lack of desire. It arrives when you have no urge to feel differently. Happiness is the state you enter when you no longer want to change your state. However, happiness is fleeting because a new desire always comes along. As Caed Budris says, “Happiness is the space between one desire being fulfilled and a new desire forming.”1 Likewise, suffering is the space between craving a change in state and getting it. (Location 3286)
It is the idea of pleasure that we chase. We seek the image of pleasure that we generate in our minds. At the time of action, we do not know what it will be like to attain that image (or even if it will satisfy us). The feeling of satisfaction only comes afterward. This is what the Austrian neurologist Victor Frankl meant when he said that happiness cannot be pursued, it must ensue.2 Desire is pursued. Pleasure ensues from action. (Location 3292)
Peace occurs when you don’t turn your observations into problems. The first step in any behavior is observation. You notice a cue, a bit of information, an event. If you do not desire to act on what you observe, then you are at peace. Craving is about wanting to fix everything. Observation without craving is the realization that you do not need to fix anything. Your desires are not running rampant. You do not crave a… (Location 3295)
With a big enough why you can overcome any how. Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher and poet, famously wrote, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”3 This phrase harbors an important truth about human behavior. If your motivation and desire are great enough (that is, why you are acting), you’ll take action even when… (Location 3300)
Being curious is better than being smart. Being motivated and curious counts for more than being smart because it leads to action. Being smart will never deliver results on its own because it doesn’t get you to act. It is desire, not intelligence, that prompts behavior. As Naval Ravikant… (Location 3304)
We can only be rational and logical after we have been emotional. The primary mode of the brain is to feel; the secondary mode is to think. Our first response—the fast, nonconscious portion of the brain—is optimized for feeling and anticipating. Our second response—the slow, conscious portion of the brain—is the part that does the “thinking.” Psychologists refer to this as System 1 (feelings and rapid judgments) versus System 2 (rational analysis). The feeling comes first (System 1);4 the rationality only intervenes… (Location 3310)