ATOMIC

HABITS

An Easy & Prove n Way

to Build Good H abits &

Break Bad Ones

JAMES CLE AR

Tiny Chan ges,

Remarkabl e

Results

AVERY

an imprin t of P enguin Random House

New York

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Copyright © 201 8 by J ames Cl ear

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Version_l

a-tom-ic

e'tamik

1. an ext remely small amount of a thing; the s ingle i rreduc ible u nit of a

larger sy stem.

2. the so urce o f imme nse ene rgy or power .

habit

'habat
1. a rout ine or pract ice per formed regul arly; an auto matic respon se to a

specific situat ion.

Contents

Title Pag e

Copyright

Epigraph

Introduct ion: M v Stor y

The Funda mental s

Why Tiny Change s Make a Big Differ ence

1 The Sur prisin g Powe r of At omic H abits

2 How You r Habi ts Sha pe Your Ident ity (a nd Vic e Versa )

3 How to Build Better Habits in 4 Simple Steps

The 1st L aw

Make It O bvious

4 The Man Who D idn’t Look Ri ght

5 The Bes t Wav to Sta rt a Ne w Habi t

6 Motivat ion Is Overr ated: E nviron ment O ften M atters More

7 The Sec ret to Self- Control

The 2nd L aw

Make It A ttract ive

8 How to Make a Habit Irresi stible

9 The Rol e of F amily and Fri ends i n Shap ing Yo ur Habi ts

10 How to Find and Fi x the C auses of You r Bad Habits

The 3rd L aw

Make It E asy

11 Walk S lowly, but N ever Ba ckward

12 The La w of L east E ffort

13 How to Stop Procra stinati ng by Using the Tw o-Minut e Rule

14 How to Make Good H abits I nevita ble an d Bad Habits Imposs ible

The 4th L aw

Make It S atisfy ing

15 The Ca rdinal Rule of Beha vior C hange

16 How to Stick with Good Ha bits E very D ay

17 How an Accou ntabil ity Par tner C an Cha nge Ev erythin g

Advanced Tactic s

How to Go from Being Merely Good t o Bein g Trul y Great

18 The Tr uth Ab out Ta lent (W hen Ge nes Ma tter a nd When They Don’t' )

19 The Go ldiloc ks Rul e: How to Sta y Moti vated in Life and W ork

20 The Do wnside of Cr eating Good H abits

Conclusio n: The Secre t to Re sults That L ast

A ppendix

What Shou ld You Read Next?

Little Le ssons from t he Four Laws

How to Ap ply Th ese Id eas to Busine ss

How to Ap ply Th ese Id eas to Parent ing

Acknowled gments

Notes

Index

About the Autho r

Introduct ion

My Story

O n the f inal d ay of my soph omore year o f high school , I wa s hit in

the face with a baseb all bat . As m y clas smate took a full s wing, the

bat slipp ed out of hi s hands and c ame fl ying t oward m e befo re str iking

me direct ly bet ween t he eyes . I ha ve no memory of the momen t of

impact.

The bat s mashed into my face with such f orce t hat it crushe d my

nose into a dis torted U-shap e. The colli sion s ent the soft tissue of my

brain sla mming into t he insi de of my sku ll. Im mediate ly, a wave o f

swelling surged throu ghout m y head . In a fract ion of a seco nd, I had a

broken no se, mu ltiple skull fractu res, a nd two shatte red ey e sock ets.

When I op ened m y eyes , I saw peopl e star ing at me and runni ng

over to h elp. I looke d down and no ticed spots of red on my clothe s.

One of my class mates took th e shir t off his ba ck and handed it to me. I

used it t o plug the s tream o f bloo d rush ing fr om my b roken nose.

Shocked a nd con fused, I was unawar e of h ow ser iously I had been

injured.

My teache r loop ed his arm ar ound m y shou lder a nd we b egan t he

long walk to th e nurs e’s off ice: a cross the fi eld, do wn the hill, and b ack

into scho ol. Ra ndom h ands to uched my sid es, ho lding m e upri ght. W e

took our time a nd wal ked slo wly. N obody realiz ed that every minut e

mattered.

When we a rrived at th e nurse ’s off ice, s he ask ed me a serie s of

questions .

“What yea r is i t?”

“1998,” I answe red. I t was a ctuall y 2002 .

“Who is t he pre sident of the Unite d Stat es?”

“Bill Cli nton,” I sai d. The correc t answ er was George W. Bu sh.

“What is your m om’s n ame?”

“Uh. Um.” I sta lled. Ten sec onds p assed.

“Patti,” I said casua lly, ig noring the f act th at it h ad tak en me ten

seconds t o reme mber m y own m other’ s name .

That is t he las t ques tion I rememb er. My body was una ble to handl e

the rapid swell ing in my bra in and I los t cons ciousne ss bef ore th e

ambulance arriv ed. Mi nutes l ater, I was carrie d out o f scho ol and taken
to the lo cal ho spital .

Shortly a fter a rrivin g, my b ody be gan sh utting down. I stru ggled

with basi c func tions like sw allowi ng and breat hing. I had m y firs t

seizure o f the day. T hen I s topped breat hing e ntirely . As t he doc tors

hurried t o supp ly me with ox ygen, they a lso de cided t he loc al hos pital

was unequ ipped to han dle the situa tion a nd ord ered a helico pter t o fly

me to a l arger hospit al in C incinn ati.

I was rol led ou t of t he emer gency room d oors a nd towa rd the

helipad a cross the st reet. T he str etcher rattl ed on a bumpy sidew alk as

one nurse pushe d me a long wh ile an other pumped each b reath into m e

by hand. My mot her, w ho had arrive d at t he hos pital a few m oments

before, c limbed into the hel icopte r besi de me. I rema ined u nconsc ious

and unabl e to b reathe on my own as she h eld my hand d uring the

flight.

While my mother rode with me in th e heli copter , my fa ther w ent

home to c heck o n my b rother and si ster a nd bre ak the news t o them .

He choked back tears as he e xplain ed to my sis ter tha t he w ould m iss

her eight h-grad e grad uation ceremo ny tha t nigh t. Afte r pass ing my

siblings off to famil y and f riends , he d rove t o Cinci nnati to mee t my

mother.

When my m om and I lan ded on the ro of of the ho spital, a tea m of

nearly tw enty d octors and nu rses s printe d onto the he lipad and

wheeled m e into the t rauma u nit. B y this time, the sw elling in my brain

had becom e so s evere that I was ha ving r epeate d post - trauma tic

seizures. My br oken b ones ne eded t o be f ixed, but I w as in no

condition to un dergo surgery . Afte r yet anothe r seizu re —my third of

the day—I was p ut int o a med ically induc ed com a and p laced on a

ventilato r.
My parent s were no st rangers to th is hos pital. Ten ye ars ea rlier,

they had entere d the same bu ilding on th e grou nd floo r afte r my s ister

was diagn osed w ith le ukemia at age three . I wa s five at the time. My

brother w as jus t six months old. A fter t wo and a half years of

chemother apy tr eatmen ts, spi nal ta ps, an d bone marrow biops ies, m y

little si ster f inally walked out o f the hospit al happ y, hea lthy, and

cancer fr ee. An d now, after ten ye ars of norma l life, my pa rents found

themselve s back in th e same place with a diffe rent ch ild.

While I s lipped into a coma, the h ospita l sent a prie st and a soc ial

worker to comfo rt my parents . It w as the same priest who ha d met

with them a dec ade ea rlier o n the evenin g they found out my siste r had

cancer.

As day fa ded in to nig ht, a s eries of mac hines kept me alive . My

parents s lept r estles sly on a hosp ital m attres s—one m oment they

would col lapse from f atigue, the n ext th ey wou ld be w ide aw ake wi th

worry. My mothe r woul d tell me lat er, “I t was one of the wo rst ni ghts

I’ve ever had.”

MY RECOVE RY

Mercifull y, by the ne xt morn ing my breat hing h ad rebo unded to the

point whe re the docto rs felt comfo rtable relea sing me from the co ma.

When I fi nally regain ed cons ciousn ess, I disco vered t hat I had lo st my

ability t o smel l. As a test, a nur se ask ed me to blow my no se and sniff

an apple juice box. M y sense of sm ell re turned , but —t o ever yone’s

surprise— the ac t of b lowing my nos e forc ed air throug h the fractu res

in my eye socke t and pushed my lef t eye outwar d. My e yeball bulge d

out of th e sock et, he ld prec arious ly in place by my e yelid and th e opti c

nerve att aching my ey e to my brain .

The ophth almolo gist s aid my eye wo uld gr aduall y slide back into

place as the ai r seep ed out, but i t was hard t o tell how lo ng thi s woul d

take. I w as sch eduled for su rgery one we ek lat er, whi ch wou ld all ow me

some addi tional time to heal . I lo oked l ike I had bee n on t he wro ng end

of a boxi ng mat ch, bu t I was clear ed to leave the hos pital. I ret urned

home with a bro ken no se, hal f a do zen fa cial f racture s, and a bul ging

left eye.

The follo wing m onths were ha rd. It felt like e verythi ng in my lif e

was on pa use. I had d ouble v ision for we eks; I litera lly co uldn’t see

straight. It to ok mor e than a mont h, but my ey eball d id eve ntuall y

return to its n ormal locatio n. Bet ween t he sei zures a nd my vision

problems, it wa s eigh t month s befo re I c ould d rive a car ag ain. A t

physical therap y, I p ractice d basi c moto r patt erns li ke wal king i n a

straight line. I was determi ned no t to l et my injury get me down, but

there wer e more than a few m oments when I felt depres s ed an d

overwhelm ed.

I became painfu lly aw are of how fa r I ha d to g o when I retu rned t o

the baseb all fi eld on e year later. Baseb all ha d alway s been a maj or par t

of my lif e. My dad ha d playe d mino r leag ue bas eball f or the St. L ouis

Cardinals , and I had a dream of pl aying profes sionall y, too . Afte r

months of rehab ilitat ion, wh at I w anted more t han any thing was to get

back on t he fie ld.

But my re turn t o base ball wa s not smooth . When the se ason r olled

around, I was t he onl y junio r to b e cut from t he vars ity ba seball team. I

was sent down t o play with t he sop homore s on j unior v arsity . I ha d

been play ing si nce ag e four, and f or som eone w ho had spent so muc h
time and effort on th e sport , gett ing cu t was humilia ting. I vivi dly

remember the da y it h appened . I sa t in m y car and cri ed as I flip ped

through t he rad io, de sperate ly sea rching for a song t hat wo uld ma ke

me feel b etter.

After a y ear of self- doubt, I mana ged to make the var sity t eam as a

senior, b ut I r arely made it on th e fiel d. In total, I play ed ele ven

innings o f high schoo l varsi ty bas eball, barel y more than a singl e game .

Despite m y lack luster high s chool career , I st ill bel ieved I coul d

become a great player . And I knew that i f thin gs were going to

improve, I was the on e respo nsible for m aking it happ en. Th e turn ing

point cam e two years after m y inju ry, wh en I b egan co llege at Den ison

Universit y. It was a new beg inning , and it was the pl ace wh ere I would

discover the su rprisi ng powe r of s mall h abits for the first time.

HOW I LEA RNED A BOUT H ABITS

Attending Denis on was one of the b est de cision s of my life. I ear ned a

spot on t he bas eball team an d, alt hough I was at the bottom of th e

roster as a fre shman, I was thrill ed. De spite the cha os of my hig h

school ye ars, I had m anaged to bec ome a colleg e athle te.

I wasn’t going to be startin g on t he bas eball team an ytime soon, so I

focused o n gett ing my life i n orde r. Whi le my peers s tayed up lat e and

played vi deo ga mes, I built good s leep h abits and wen t to b ed ear ly

each nigh t. In the me ssy wor ld of a coll ege do rm, I m ade a point to

keep my r oom ne at and tidy. These improv ements were m inor, but

they gave me a sense of cont rol ov er my life. I start ed to feel c onfide nt

again. An d this growi ng beli ef in myself rippl ed into the c lassro om as I

improved my stu dy hab its and manag ed to earn s traight A’s d uring my

first yea r.

A habit i s a ro utine or beha vior t hat is perfo rmed re gularl y —and, in

many case s, aut omatic ally. A s each semes ter pa ssed, I accum ulated

small but consi stent habits that u ltimat ely le d to re sults that w ere

unimagina ble to me wh en I st arted. For e xample , for t he fir st tim e in

my life, I made it a habit t o lift weigh ts mul tiple t imes p er wee k, and in

the years that follow ed, my six-fo ot-fou r-inch frame bulked up fr om a

featherwe ight 1 70 to a lean 200 po unds.

When my s ophomo re sea son arr ived, I earn ed a s tarting role on the

pitching staff. By my junior year, I was voted team c aptain and a t the

end of th e seas on, I was sel ected for th e all- confere nce te am. Bu t it w as

not until my se nior s eason t hat my sleep habit s, stud y habi ts, an d

strength- traini ng hab its rea lly be gan to pay o ff.

Six years after I had been h it in the fa ce wit h a bas eball bat, f lown t o

the hospi tal, a nd pla ced int o a co ma, I was se lected as the top m ale

athlete a t Deni son Un iversit y and named to the ESPN A cademi c All -

America T eam—an honor given to jus t thir ty -thr ee play ers ac ross t he

country. By the time I gradu ated, I was listed in the schoo l reco rd

books in eight differ ent cat egorie s. Tha t same year , I was awarde d the

universit y’s hi ghest academi c hono r, the Presi dent’s Medal.

I hope yo u’ll f orgive me if this s ounds boastf ul. To be hon est, t here

was nothi ng leg endary or his toric about my ath letic c areer. I nev er

ended up playin g prof essiona lly. H owever , look ing bac k on t hose

years, I believ e I ac complis hed so methin g just as rar e: I f ulfill ed my

potential . And I beli eve the conce pts in this book ca n help you f ulfill

your pote ntial as wel l.

We all fa ce cha llenge s in li fe. Th is inj ury wa s one o f mine , and the

experienc e taug ht me a criti cal le sson: change s that seem s mall a nd

unimporta nt at first will co mpound into remark able re sults if you ’re

willing t o stic k with them f or yea rs. We all d eal wit h setb acks b ut in the

long run, the q uality of our lives often depen ds on t he qua lity o f our

habits. W ith th e same habits , you’ ll end up wi th the same r esults . But

with bett er hab its, a nything is po ssible .

Maybe the re are peopl e who c an ach ieve i ncredi ble suc cess

overnight . I do n’t kn ow any of the m, and I’m c ertainl y not one of them.

There was n’t on e defi ning mo ment o n my j ourney from m edical ly

induced c oma to Acade mic All -Ameri can; t here w ere man y. It wa s a

gradual e voluti on, a long se ries o f smal l wins and ti ny bre akthro ughs.

The only way I made p rogress —the o nly ch oice I had—wa s to s tart

small. An d I em ployed this s ame st rategy a few years later when I

started m y own busine ss and began workin g on t his boo k.

HOW AND W HY I W ROTE T HIS BOO K

In Novemb er 201 2 ,1 b egan pu blishi ng art icles atjames clear. com. F or

years, I had be en kee ping no tes ab out my perso nal exp erimen ts wit h

habits an d I wa s fina lly rea dy to share some o f them public ly. I began

by publis hing a new a rticle every Monday and T hursday . With in a f ew

months, t his si mple w riting habit led to my fi rst one thous and em ail

subscribe rs, an d by t he end of 201 3 that numbe r had g rown t o more

than thir ty tho usand people.

In 2014, my ema il lis t expan ded to over one hu ndred t housan d

subscribe rs, wh ich ma de it o ne of the fa stest- growing newsl etters on

the inter net. I had f elt lik e an i mposto r when I bega n writ ing tw o year s

earlier, but no w I wa s becom ing kn own as an ex pert on habit s —a ne w

label tha t exci ted me but al so fel t unco mforta ble. I had ne ver
considere d myse lf a m aster o f the topic, but r ather s omeone who w as

experimen ting a longsi de my r eaders .

In 2015 , 1 reac hed tw o hundr ed tho usand email subscri bers a nd

signed a book d eal wi th Peng uin Ra ndom H ouse t o begin writi ng the

book you are re ading now. As my au dience grew, so did my bu siness

opportuni ties. I was increas ingly asked to spe ak at t op com panies

about the scien ce of habit f ormati on, be havior change , and contin uous

improveme nt. I found myself delive ring k eynote speech es at

conferenc es in the Un ited St ates a nd Eur ope.

In 2016, my art icles began t o appe ar reg ularly in maj or pub licati ons

like Time , Entr eprene ur, and Forbe s. Inc redibl y, my w riting was r ead

by over e ight m illion people that year. Coache s in th e NFL, NBA, and

MLB began readi ng my work an d shar ing it with their t eams.

At the st art of 2017 ,1 laun ched t he Hab its Ac ademy, which became

the premi er tra ining platfor m for organi zation s and i ndivid uals

intereste d in b uildin g bette r habi ts in life a nd work .* For t une 5 00

companies and g rowing start- ups be gan to enrol l their leade rs and

train the ir sta ff. In total, over ten th ousand leader s, man agers,

coaches, and te achers have g raduat ed fro m the Habits Academ y, and

my work w ith th em has taught me an incre dible amount about what i t

takes to make h abits work in the r eal wo rld.

As I put the fi nishin g touch es on this b ook in 2018, jamesc lear.c om

is receiv ing mi llions of vis itors per mo nth an d nearl y five hundr ed

thousand people subsc ribe to my we ekly e mail n ewslett er —a n umber

that is s o far beyond my exp ectati ons wh en I b egan th at I’m not e ven

sure what to th ink of it.

HOW THIS BOOK W ILL BE NEFIT Y OU

The entre preneu r and investo r Nava l Ravi kant h as said , “To write a

great boo k, you must first b ecome the bo ok.” I origin ally l earned about

the ideas menti oned h ere bec ause I had t o live them. I had to rel y on

small hab its to rebou nd from my in jury, to get strong er in the gy m, to

perform a t a hi gh lev el on t he fie ld, to becom e a wri ter, t o buil d a

successfu l busi ness, and sim ply to devel op int o a res ponsib le adu lt.

Small hab its he lped m e fulfi ll my potent ial, a nd sinc e you picked up

this book , I’m guessi ng you’ d like to fu lfill yours a s well .

In the pa ges th at fol low, I will s hare a step- by-step plan for bu ilding

better ha bits—n ot for days o r week s, but for a lifeti me. Wh ile sc ience

supports everyt hing I ’ve wri tten, this b ook is n ot an acade mic re search

paper; it ’s an operat ing man ual. Y ou’ll find w isdom a nd pra ctical

advice fr ont an d cent er as I expla in the scien ce of h ow to create and

change yo ur hab its in a way that i s easy to un derstan d and apply.

The field s I dr aw on— biology , neur oscien ce, ph ilosoph y,

psycholog y, and more— have be en aro und fo r many years. What I offe r

you is a synthe sis of the be st ide as sma rt peo ple fig ured o ut a l ong ti me

ago as we ll as the mo st comp elling disco veries scient ists h ave ma de

recently. My co ntribu tion, I hope, is to find the ide as tha t matt er mos t

and conne ct the m in a way th at is highly actio nable. Anythi ng wis e in

these pag es you shoul d credi t to t he man y expe rts who prece ded me .

Anything foolis h, ass ume it is my error.

The backb one of this book is my fo ur-ste p mode l of ha bits—c ue,

craving, respon se, an d rewar d—and the fo ur law s of be havior chang e

that evol ve out of th ese ste ps. Re aders with a psycho logy b ackgro und

may recog nize s ome of these terms from o perant condit ioning , whic h

was first propo sed as “stimu lus, r espons e, rew ard” by B. F. Skinn er in

the 1930s and h as bee n popul arized more recent ly as “ cue, r outine ,
reward” i n The Power of Habi t by C harles Duhig g.

Behaviora l scie ntists like S kinner reali zed th at if y ou off ered t he

right rew ard or punis hment, you co uld ge t peop le to a ct in a cert ain

way. But while Skinne r’s mod el did an ex cellen t job o f expl aining how

external stimul i infl uenced our ha bits, it lac ked a g ood ex planat ion fo r

how our t hought s, fee lings, and be liefs impact our be havior . Inte rnal

states—ou r mood s and emotion s—matt er, to o. In recent decade s,

scientist s have begun to det ermine the c onnect ion bet ween o ur

thoughts, feeli ngs, a nd beha vior. This r esearc h will also b e cove red in

these pag es.

In total, the f ramewo rk I of fer is an in tegrat ed mode l of t he

cognitive and b ehavio ral sci ences. I bel ieve i t is on e of t he fir st mod els

of human behavi or to accurat ely ac count for bo th the influe nce of

external stimul i and interna l emot ions o n our habits. While some of

the langu age ma y be f amiliar , I am confi dent t hat the detai ls —and the

applicati ons of the F our Law s of B ehavio r Chan ge —will offer a new

way to th ink ab out yo ur habi ts.

Human beh avior is alw ays cha nging: situa tion t o situa tion, moment

to moment , seco nd to second. But t his bo ok is about w hat do esn’t

change. I t’s ab out th e funda mental s of h uman b ehavior . The lastin g

principle s you can re ly on y ear af ter ye ar. Th e ideas you c an bui ld a

business around , buil d a fam ily ar ound, build a lif e around .

There is no one right way to creat e bett er hab its, bu t this book

describes the b est wa y I kno w—an a pproac h that will b e effe ctive

regardles s of w here y ou star t or w hat yo u’re t rying t o chan ge. Th e

strategie s I co ver wi ll be r elevan t to a nyone looking for a step- by-ste p

system fo r impr ovemen t, whet her yo ur goa ls cen ter on health , mone y,

productiv ity, r elatio nships, or al l of t he abo ve. As long a s huma n

behavior is inv olved, this b ook wi ll be your g uide.

THE

FUNDAMENT ALS

Why Tiny Change s Make a Big Differ ence

The Surpr ising Power of Atom ic Hab its

T he fate of Br itish Cycling chang ed one day i n 2003. The

organizat ion, w hich w as the govern ing bo dy for profes sional

cycling i n Grea t Brit ain, ha d rece ntly h ired D ave Bra ilsfor d as i ts new

performan ce dir ector. At the time, profe ssiona l cycli sts in Great Brita in

had endur ed nea rly on e hundr ed yea rs of medioc rity. S ince 1 908,

British r iders had wo n just a sing le gol d meda l at th e Olym pic Ga mes,

and they had fa red ev en wors e in c ycling ’s big gest ra ce, th e Tour de

France. I n 110 years, no Bri tish c yclist had e ver won the e vent.

In fact, the pe rforma nce of Britis h ride rs had been s o

underwhel ming t hat on e of th e top bike m anufac turers in Eur ope

refused t o sell bikes to the team becaus e they were a fraid that i t woul d

hurt sale s if o ther p rofessi onals saw th e Brit s using their gear.

Brailsfor d had been h ired to put B ritish Cycli ng on a new t raject ory.

What made him d iffere nt from previ ous co aches was his relen tless

commitmen t to a strat egy tha t he r eferre d to a s “the aggreg ation of

marginal gains, ” whic h was t he phi losoph y of s earc hin g for a tiny

margin of impro vement in eve rythin g you do. Br ailsfor d said , “The

whole pri nciple came from th e idea that if you broke down e veryth ing
you could think of th at goes into riding a bik e, and then i mprove it by 1

percent, you wi ll get a sign ifican t incr ease w hen you put t hem al l

together. ”

Brailsfor d and his co aches b egan b y maki ng sma ll adju stment s you

might exp ect fr om a p rofessi onal c ycling team. They r edesig ned th e

bike seat s to m ake th em more comfo rtable and r ubbed a lcohol on th e

tires for a bet ter gr ip. The y aske d ride rs to wear el ectric ally h eated

overshort s to m aintai n ideal muscl e temp eratur e while ridin g and used

biofeedba ck sen sors t o monit or how each athlet e respo nded t o a

particula r work out. T he team teste d vari ous fa brics i n a wi nd tun nel

and had t heir o utdoor riders switc h to i ndoor racing suits, which

proved to be li ghter and mor e aero dynami c.

But they didn’t stop there. Brails ford a nd his team c ontinu ed to find

1 percent impro vement s in ov erlook ed and unexp ected a reas. They

tested di fferen t type s of ma ssage gels t o see which o ne led to th e fast est

muscle re covery . They hired a surg eon to teach each r ider t he bes t way

to wash t heir h ands t o reduc e the chance s of c atching a col d. The y

determine d the type o f pillo w and mattre ss tha t led t o the best n ight’s

sleep for each rider. They e ven pa inted the in side of the t eam tr uck

white, wh ich he lped t hem spo t litt le bit s of d ust tha t woul d norm ally

slip by u nnotic ed but could degrad e the perfor mance o f the finely

tuned bik es.

As these and hu ndreds of oth er sma ll imp roveme nts acc umulat ed,

the resul ts cam e fast er than anyon e coul d have imagin ed.

Just five years after Brails ford t ook ov er, th e Briti sh Cyc ling t eam

dominated the r oad an d track cycli ng eve nts at the 20 08 Oly mpic

Games in Beijin g, whe re they won a n asto unding 60 per cent o f the

gold meda ls ava ilable . Four years later, when the Oly mpic G ames c ame
to London , the Brits raised the ba r as t hey se t nine Olympi c reco rds

and seven world recor ds.

That same year, Bradl ey Wigg ins be came t he fir st Brit ish cy clist to

win the T our de Franc e. The next y ear, h is tea mmate C hris F roome

won the r ace, a nd he would g o on t o win again in 2015 , 2016 , and 2017,

giving th e Brit ish te am five Tour de Fra nce vi ctories in si x year s.

During th e ten- year s pan fro m 2007 to 20 17, Br itish c yclist s won

178 world champ ionshi ps and sixty - six Ol ympic or Para lympic gold

medals an d capt ured f ive Tou r de F rance victor ies in what i s wide ly

regarded as the most success ful ru n in c ycling histor y.*

How does this h appen? How do es a t eam of previ ously o rdinar y

athletes transf orm in to worl d cham pions with t iny cha nges t hat, a t

first gla nce, w ould s eem to make a modes t diff erence at bes t? Why do

small imp roveme nts ac cumulat e into such remark able re sul ts, and

how can y ou rep licate this a pproac h in y our ow n life?

WHY SMALL HABIT S MAKE A BIG DIFFER ENCE

It is so easy t o over estimat e the import ance o f one d efinin g mome nt

and under estima te the value of mak ing sm all im proveme nts on a dai ly

basis. To o ofte n, we convinc e ours elves that m assive succes s requ ires

massive a ction. Wheth er it i s losi ng wei ght, b uilding a bus iness,

writing a book, winni ng a ch ampion ship, or ach iev ing any ot her go al,

we put pr essure on ou rselves to ma ke som e eart h-shatt ering

improveme nt tha t ever yone wi ll tal k abou t.

Meanwhile , impr oving by 1 pe rcent isn’t partic ularly notabl e —

sometimes it is n’t ev en noti ceable —but it can be far more meanin gf ul,

especiall y in t he lon g run. The di fferen ce a t iny imp roveme nt can make
over time is as toundi ng. Her e’s ho w the math w orks ou t: if you ca n get

1 percent bette r each day fo r one year, you’ll end up thirt y -seve n time s

better by the t ime yo u’re do ne. Co nverse ly, if you ge t 1 pe rcent worse

each day for on e year , you’l l decl ine ne arly d own to zero. What s tarts

as a smal l win or a m inor se tback accumu lates into so methin g much

more.

1% BETTER EVERY DAY

1% worse every day fo r one y ear. 0 .99 36 5 = 00 .03

1 % bette r ever y day for one year. 1.01 365 = 37.78

1% IMPROV EMENT

TIME

FIGURE 1: The e ffects of sma ll hab its co mpound over t ime. F or exa mple, if

you can g et jus t 1 pe rcent b etter each d ay, yo u’ ll en d up w ith re sults that ar e

nearly 37 times bette r after one y ear.

Habits ar e the compou nd inte rest o f self -impro vement. The s ame

way that money multip lies th rough compou nd int erest, the ef fects of

your habi ts mul tiply as you repeat them. They seem to make little

differenc e on a ny giv en day and ye t the impact they d eliver over the

months an d year s can be enor mous. It is only w hen loo king b ack tw o,

five, or perhap s ten years l ater t hat th e valu e of go od hab its an d the

cost of b ad one s beco mes str ikingl y appa rent.

This can be a d ifficu lt conc ept to appre ciate in dail y life . We o ften

dismiss s mall c hanges becaus e they don’t seem to matt er ver y much in

the momen t. If you sa ve a li ttle m oney n ow, yo u’re st ill no t a

millionai re. If you g o to th e gym three days i n a row , you’ re sti ll out of

shape. If you s tudy M andarin for a n hour tonig ht, you still haven ’t

learned t he lan guage. We mak e a fe w chan ges, b ut the result s neve r

seem to c ome qu ickly and so we sli de bac k into our pr evious routi nes.

Unfortuna tely, the sl ow pace of tr ansfor mation also m akes i t easy to

let a bad habit slide . If yo u eat an unh ealthy meal t oday, the sc ale

doesn’t m ove mu ch. If you wo rk lat e toni ght an d ignor e your famil y,

they will forgi ve you . If yo u proc rastin ate an d put y our pr oject off un til

tomorrow, there will usually be ti me to finish it lat er. A single decis ion

is easy t o dism iss.

But when we rep eat 1 percent error s, day after day, b y repl icatin g

poor deci sions, dupli cating tiny m istake s, and ration alizin g litt le

excuses, our sm all ch oices c ompoun d into toxic result s. It’ s the

accumulat ion of many misstep s—a 1 percen t decl ine her e and there —

that even tually leads to a p roblem .

The impac t crea ted by a chan ge in your h abits is simi lar to the e ffect

of shifti ng the route of an airpla ne by just a few de grees. Imagi ne you

are flyin g from Los A ngeles to New York City. If a pi lot le aving from

LAX adjus ts the headi ng just 3.5 d egrees south , you w ill la nd in

Washingto n, D.C ., ins tead of New Y ork. S uch a small c hange is bar ely
noticeabl e at t akeoff —the no se of the ai rplane moves just a few f eet —

but when magnif ied ac ross th e enti re Uni ted St ate s, y ou end up

hundreds of mil es apa rt.*

Similarly , a sl ight c hange i n your daily habit s can g uide y our li fe to a

very diff erent destin ation. Making a cho ice th at is 1 perce nt bet ter or 1

percent w orse s eems i nsignif icant in the momen t, but over t he sp a n of

moments t hat ma ke up a lifet ime th ese ch oices determi ne the

differenc e betw een wh o you a re and who y ou cou ld be. Succes s is t he

product o f dail y habi ts—not once-i n-a-li fetime transf ormati ons.

That said , it d oesn’t matter how s uccess ful or unsucc essful you a re

right now . What matte rs is w hether your habits are pu tting you on the

path towa rd suc cess. You sho uld be far m ore co ncerned with your

current t raject ory th an with your curren t resu lts. If you’r e a mi lliona ire

but you s pend m ore th an you earn e ach mo nth, t hen you ’re on a bad

trajector y. If your s pending habit s don’ t chan ge, it’ s not going to end

well. Con versel y, if you’re broke, but y ou sav e a lit tle bi t ever y mont h,

then you’ re on the pa th towa rd fin ancial freed om —even if yo u’re

moving sl ower t han yo u’d lik e.

Your outc omes a re a l agging measur e of y our ha bits. Y our ne t wort h

is a lagg ing me asure of your finan cial h abits. Your w eight is a l agging

measure o f your eatin g habit s. You r know ledge is a la gging measur e of

your lear ning h abits. Your c lutter is a laggin g measu re of your c leanin g

habits. Y ou get what you rep eat.

If you wa nt to predic t where you’l l end up in life, a ll you have to do

is follow the c urve o f tiny gains or tin y loss es, and see h ow you r dail y

choices w ill co mpound ten or twent y year s down the li ne. Ar e you

spending less t han yo u earn each m onth? Are yo u makin g it i nto th e

gym each week? Are yo u readi ng boo ks and learn ing som ething new

each day? Tiny battle s like these are th e ones that w ill de fine y our
future se lf.

Time magn ifies the ma rgin be tween succes s and failure . It w ill

multiply whatev er you feed i t. Goo d habi ts mak e time your a lly. B ad

habits ma ke tim e your enemy.

Habits ar e a do uble-e dged sw ord. B ad hab its ca n cut y ou dow n just

as easily as go od hab its can build you u p, whi ch is w hy und erstan ding

the detai ls is crucia l. You need t o know how h abits w ork an d how to

design th em to your l iking, so you can a void t he dang erous half o f the

blade.

YOUR HABI TS CAN COMPO UND FOR YOU O R AGAI NST YO U

Positive Compou nding

Productiv ity co mpound s. Acco mplish ing on e extr a task is a s mall f eat on any gi ven da y,

but it co unts f or a l ot over an en tire c areer. The ef fect o f auto mating an old task or mas t

ering

a new ski ll can be ev en grea ter. T he mor e task s you c an han dle wi thout thinkin g, the more

your brai n is f ree to focus on oth er are as.

Knowledge compo unds. Learnin g one new id ea won ’t make you a geniu s, but a

commitmen t to l ifelon g learn ing ca n be t ransfo rmative . Furt hermor e, eac h book you re ad not

only teac hes yo u some thing n ew but also opens up diff erent ways o f thin king ab out ol d

ideas. As Warre n Buff ett say s, “Th at’s h ow kno wledge works. It bu ilds u p, like compo und

interest. ”

Relations hips c ompoun d. Peop le ref lect y our be havior back t o you. The m ore you help

others, t he mor e othe rs want to he lp you . Bein g a lit tle bi t nice r in e ach int eracti on can
result
in a netw ork of broad and st rong c onnect ions o ver tim e.

Negative Compou nding

Stress co mpound s. The frustr ation of a t raffic jam. T he wei ght of paren ting re sponsi biliti e

s.

The worry of ma king e nds mee t. The strai n of s ligh tly high blood pressu re. By themse lves,

these com mon ca uses o f stres s are manage able. But whe n they persi st for years, littl e

stresses compou nd int o serio us hea lth is sues.

Negative though ts com pound. The mo re you think of you rself as wor thless , stupi d, or ugly,

the more you co nditio n yours elf to inter pret l ife tha t way. You g et tra pped in a tho ught l o

op.

The same is tru e for how you think about other s. Once you f all in to t he habit of see ing pe o

ple

as angry, unjus t, or selfish , you see th ose ki nd of p eople everyw here.

Outrage c ompoun ds. Ri ots, pr otests , and mass m ovement s are rarely the r esult o f a si ngle

event. In stead, a lon g serie s of m icroag gressi ons and daily aggra v ation s slowl y mult iply u n

til

one event tips the sc ales an d outr age sp reads like wi ldfire .

WHAT PROG RESS I S REAL LY LIKE

Imagine t hat yo u have an ice cube sittin g on t he tabl e in f ront o f you.

The room is col d and you can see y our br eath. It is c urrent ly twe nty -

five degr ees. E ver so slowly , the room b egins to heat up.

Twenty-si x degr ees.

Twenty-se ven.

Twenty-ei ght.

The ice c ube is still sittin g on t he tab le in front o f you.

Twenty-ni ne deg rees.

Thirty.

Thirty-on e.

Still, no thing has ha ppened.

Then, thi rty-tw o degr ees. Th e ice begins to me lt. A o ne -deg ree sh ift,

seemingly no di fferen t from the te mperat ure in creases befor e it, has

unlocked a huge chang e.

Breakthro ugh mo ments are oft en the resul t of m any pre vious

actions, which build up the potent ial re quired to unl eash a major

change. T his pa ttern shows u p ever ywhere . Canc er spen ds 80 percen t

of its li fe und etecta ble, th en tak es ove r the body in month s. Bam boo

can barel y be s een fo r the f irst f ive ye ars as it bui lds ex tensiv e root

systems u ndergr ound b efore e xplodi ng nin ety fe et into the a ir wit hin

six weeks .

Similarly , habi ts oft en appe ar to make n o diff erence until you cr oss

a critica l thre shold and unl ock a new le vel of perfor mance. In th e earl y
and middl e stag es of any que st, th ere is often a Vall ey of

Disappoin tment. You e xpect t o make progr ess in a line ar fas hion a nd

it’s frus tratin g how ineffec tive c hanges can s eem dur ing th e firs t days ,

weeks, an d even month s. It d oesn’t feel like y ou are going anywhe re.

It’s a ha llmark of an y compo unding proce ss: th e most powerf ul

outcomes are de layed.

This is o ne of the co re reas ons wh y it i s so h ard to build habits that

last. Peo ple ma ke a f ew smal l chan ges, f ail to see a tangib le res ult, a nd

decide to stop. You t hink, “ I’ve b een ru nning every d ay for a mon th, so

why can’t I see any c hange i n my b ody?” Once t his kin d of t hinkin g

takes ove r, it’ s easy to let good habits fall by the waysid e. But in or der

to make a meani ngful differe nce, h abits need t o persi st lon g enou gh to

break thr ough t his pl ateau—w hat I call t he Pla teau of Laten t Pote ntial.

If you fi nd you rself struggl ing to build a goo d habit or br eak a bad

one, it i s not becaus e you h ave lo st you r abil ity to improv e. It is oft en

because y ou hav e not yet cro ssed t he Pla teau o f Laten t Pote ntial.

Complaini ng abo ut not achiev ing su ccess despit e worki ng har d is l ike

complaini ng abo ut an ice cub e not meltin g when you he ated i t from

twenty-fi ve to thirty -one de grees. Your work w as not wasted ; it i s just

being sto red. A ll the action happe ns at thirty -two de grees.

When you finall y brea k throu gh the Plate au of Latent Potent ial,

people wi ll cal l it a n overn ight s uccess . The outside world only sees t he

most dram atic e vent r ather t han al l that prece ded it. But y ou kno w that

it’s the work y ou did long a go—whe n it s eemed that yo u were n’t

making an y prog ress—t hat mak es the jump today possibl e.

It is the human equiv alent o f geol ogical press ure. Tw o tect onic

plates ca n grin d agai nst one anoth er for milli ons of years, the t ension
slowly bu ilding all t he whil e. The n, one day, they ru b each other once

again, in the s ame fa shion t hey ha ve for ages, but th is tim e the tensio n

is too gr eat. A n eart hquake erupts . Chan ge can take y ears —b efore it

happens a ll at once.

Mastery r equire s pati ence. T he San Anton io Spu rs, one of th e most

successfu l team s in N BA hist ory, h ave a quote from so cial r eforme r

Jacob Rii s hang ing in their locker room: “When nothin g seem s to h elp,

I go and look a t a st onecutt er ham mering away at his rock, perhap s a

hundred t imes w ithout as muc h as a crack showi ng in i t. Yet at th e

hundred a nd fir st blo w it wi ll spl it in two, a nd I kn ow it was no t that

last blow that did it —but al l that had g one be fore.”

THE PLATE AU OF LATENT POTENT IAL

DISAPPOIN TMENT

FIGURE 2: We of ten ex pect pr ogress to be linea r. At t he ver y leas t, we hope

it will c ome qu ickly. In rea lity, the re sults of our effort s are often delayed . It i s

not until month s or y ears la ter th at we realiz e the t rue va lue of the p revious

work we h ave do ne. Th is can result in a “valle y of di sappoi ntment ” wher e

people fe el dis courag ed afte r putt ing in weeks or mon ths of hard work

without e xperie ncing any res ults. Howeve r, thi s work was no t wast ed. It was

simply be ing st ored. It is n ot unt il muc h late r that the fu ll val ue of previou s

efforts i s reve aled.

All big t hings come f rom sma ll beg inning s. The seed o f ever y habi t

is a sing le, ti ny dec ision. But as that decisi on is r epeate d, a h abit

sprouts a nd gro ws str onger. Roots entren ch the mselves and b ranche s
grow. The task of bre aking a bad h abit i s like uproot ing a powerf ul oak

within us . And the ta sk of b uildin g a go od hab it is l ike cu ltivat ing a

delicate flower one d ay at a time.

But what determ ines w hether we sti ck wit h a ha bit lon g enou gh to

survive t he Pla teau o f Laten t Pote ntial and br eak thr ough t o the other

side? Wha t is i t that causes some people to sl ide int o unwa nted h abits

and enabl es oth ers to enjoy the co mpound ing ef fects o f good ones?

FORGET AB OUT GO ALS, F OCUS ON SYSTE MS INS TEAD

Prevailin g wisd om cla ims tha t the best w ay to achieve what we wan t in

life—gett ing in to bet ter sha pe, bu ilding a suc cess ful busin ess, r elaxin g

more and worryi ng les s, spen ding m ore ti me wit h frien ds and famil y —

is to set speci fic, a ctionab le goa ls.

For many years, this was how I app roache d my h abits, too. E ach on e

was a goa l to b e reac hed. I set go als fo r the grades I want ed to get in

school, f or the weigh ts I wa nted t o lift in th e gym, for th e prof its I

wanted to earn in bus iness. I succ eeded at a f ew, but I fai led at a lot of

them. Eve ntuall y, I b egan to reali ze tha t my r esults had ve ry lit tle to do

with the goals I set and nea rly ev erythi ng to do with the s ystems I

followed.

What’s th e diff erence betwee n syst ems an d goal s? It’s a dis tincti o n I

first lea rned f rom Sc ott Ada ms, th e cart oonist behind the D ilbert

comic. Go als ar e abou t the r esults you w ant to achiev e. Sys tems a re

about the proce sses t hat lea d to t hose r esults .

■ If you’ re a c oach, your go al mig ht be to win a cham pionsh ip. Yo ur

system is the w ay you recrui t play ers, m anage your as sistan t

coaches, and co nduct practic e.

■ If you’ re an entrep reneur, your goal m ight b e to bu ild a millio n -

dollar bu siness . Your system is ho w you test p roduct ideas, hire

employees , and run ma rketing campa igns.

■ If you’ re a m usicia n, your goal might be to play a new pi ece. Y our

system is how o ften y ou prac tice, how yo u brea k down and ta ckle

difficult measu res, a nd your metho d for receiv ing fee dback from

your inst ructor .

Now for t he int eresti ng ques tion: If you compl etely i gnored your

goals and focus ed onl y on yo ur sys tem, w ould y ou stil l succ eed? F or

example, if you were a baske tball coach and yo u ignor ed you r goal to

win a cha mpions hip an d focus ed onl y on w hat yo ur team does at

practice each d ay, wo uld you still get r esults ?

I think y ou wou ld.

The goal in any sport is to finish with the be st scor e, but it wo uld be

ridiculou s to s pend t he whol e game stari ng at the sco reboar d. The only

way to ac tually win i s to ge t bett er eac h day. In the words of th ree -ti me

Super Bow l winn er Bil l Walsh , “The score takes care o f itse lf.” T he

same is t rue fo r othe r areas of li fe. If you w ant bet ter re sults, then

forget ab out se tting goals. Focus on you r syst em inst ead.

What do I mean by thi s? Are goals comple tely u seless? Of co urse

not. Goal s are good f or sett ing a direct ion, b ut syst ems ar e best for

making pr ogress . A ha ndful o f prob lems a rise w hen you spend too

much time think ing ab out you r goal s and not en ough t i me des igning
your syst ems.

Problem # 1: Win ners a nd lose rs hav e the same g oals.

Goal sett ing su ffers from a seriou s case of su rvivors hip bi as. We

concentra te on the pe ople wh o end up win ning—t he surv ivors— and

mistakenl y assu me tha t ambit ious g oals l ed to their s uccess while

overlooki ng all of th e peopl e who had th e same object ive bu t didn ’t

succeed.

Every Oly mpian wants to win a gold medal . Ever y candi date w ants

to get th e job. And i f succe ssful and un succes sful pe ople s hare t he

same goal s, the n the goal ca nnot b e what diffe rentiat es the winne rs

from the losers . It w asn’t t he goa l of w inning the To ur de France that

propelled the B ritish cyclis ts to the to p of t he spor t. Pre sumabl y, the y

had wante d to w in the race e very y ear be fore—j ust lik e ever y othe r

professio nal te am. Th e goal had al ways b een th ere. It was o nly wh en

they impl emente d a sy stem of conti nuous small improve ments that

they achi eved a diffe rent ou tcome.

Problem # 2: Ach ieving a goal is on ly a m omenta ry chan ge.

Imagine y ou hav e a me ssy roo m and you se t a go al to c lean i t. If you

summon th e ener gy to tidy up , then you w ill ha ve a cl ean ro om —for

now. But if you maint ain the same sloppy , pack -rat ha bits t hat le d to a

messy roo m in t he fir st plac e, soo n you’ ll be looking at a new pi le of

clutter a nd hop ing fo r anoth er bur st of motiva tion. Y ou’re left c hasing

the same outcom e beca use you never chang ed the system behin d it.

You treat ed a s ymptom withou t addr essing the c ause.

Achieving a goa l only change s your life for th e momen t. Tha t’s th e

counterin tuitiv e thin g about impro vement . We t hink we need to

change ou r resu lts, b ut the result s are not th e probl em. Wh at we really

need to c hange are th e syste ms tha t caus e thos e resul ts. Wh en you

solve pro blems at the result s leve l, you only solve t hem te mporar ily. I n

order to improv e for good, y ou nee d to s olve p roblems at th e syst ems

level. Fi x the inputs and th e outp uts wi ll fix themse lves.

Problem # 3: Goa ls res trict y our ha ppines s.

The impli cit as sumpti on behi nd any goal is thi s: “Onc e I re ach my goal,

then I’ll be ha ppy.” The pro blem w ith a goals- first m entali ty is that

you’re co ntinua lly pu tting h appine ss off until the ne xt mil estone . I’ve

slipped i nto th is tra p so ma ny tim es I’v e lost count. For y ears,

happiness was a lways somethi ng for my fu ture s elf to enjoy. I

promised myself that once I gained twent y poun ds of m uscle or aft er

my busine ss was featu red in the Ne w York Times , then I coul d fina lly

relax.

Furthermo re, go als cr eate an “eith er-or” confl ict: ei ther y ou ach ieve

your goal and a re suc cessful or yo u fail and y ou are a disa ppoint ment.

You menta lly bo x your self in to a n arrow versio n of ha ppines s. Thi s is

misguided . It i s unli kely th at you r actu al pat h throu gh lif e will match

the exact journ ey you had in mind when y ou set out. I t make s no s ense

to restri ct you r sati sfactio n to o ne sce nario when th ere ar e many paths

to succes s.

A systems -first menta lity pr ovides the a ntidot e. When you f all in

love with the p rocess rather than the pr oduct, you do n’t ha ve to wait t o

give your self p ermiss ion to be hap py. Yo u can be sati sfied anytim e

your syst em is runnin g. And a syst em can be su ccessfu l in m any

different forms , not just th e one you fi rst en vision.

Problem # 4: Goa ls are at odd s with long- term p rogress .

Finally, a goal -orien ted min d-set can cr eate a “yo-yo ” effe ct. Ma ny

runners w ork ha rd for months , but as soo n as t hey cro ss the finis h line ,

they stop train ing. T he race is no longe r ther e to mo tivate them. When

all of yo ur har d work is foc used o n a pa rticul ar goal , what is le ft to

push you forwar d afte r you a chieve it? T his is why ma ny peo ple fi nd

themselve s reve rting to thei r old habits after accomp lishin g a go al.

The purpo se of settin g goals is to win t he gam e. The purpos e of

building system s is t o conti nue pl aying the ga me. Tru e long -term

thinking is goa l-less thinki ng. It ’s not about any si ngle

accomplis hment. It is about the cy cle of endle ss refi nement and

continuou s impr ovemen t. Ulti mately , it i s your commit ment t o the

process t hat wi ll det ermine your p rogres s.

A SYSTEM OF ATO MIC HA BITS

If you’re havin g trou ble cha nging your h abits, the pr oblem isn’t you.

The probl em is your s ystem. Bad ha bits r epeat themsel ves ag ain an d

again not becau se you don’t want t o chan ge, bu t becau se you have the

wrong sys tem fo r chan ge.

You do no t rise to th e level of yo ur goa ls. Yo u fall to the level of yo ur

systems.

Focusing on the overa ll syst em, ra ther t han a single goal, is one of

the core themes of th is book . It i s also one o f the d eeper meanin gs

behind th e word atomi c. By n ow, yo u’ve p robabl y rea li zed th at an

atomic ha bit re fers t o a tin y chan ge, a margin al gain , a 1 percen t

improveme nt. Bu t atom ic habi ts are not j ust an y old h abits, howev er

small. Th ey are littl e habit s that are p art of a larg er sys tem. J ust as

atoms are the b uildin g block s of m olecul es, at omic ha bits a re the

building blocks of re markabl e resu lts.

Habits ar e like the a toms of our l ives. Each o ne is a funda mental

unit that contr ibutes to you r over all im provem ent. At first , thes e tiny

routines seem i nsigni ficant, but s oon th ey bui ld on e ach ot her an d fuel

bigger wi ns tha t mult iply to a deg ree th at far outwei ghs th e cost of

their ini tial i nvestm ent. Th ey are both small and mig hty. T his is the

meaning o f the phrase atomic habit s —a r egular practi ce or routin e

that is n ot onl y smal l and e asy to do, b ut als o the s ource of inc redibl e

power; a compon ent of the sy stem o f comp ound g rowth.

Chapter S ummary

■ Habits are th e comp ound in terest of se lf-imp rovemen t. Get ting 1

percent b etter every day cou nts fo r a lo t in t he long -run.

■ Habits are a double -edged sword. They can wo rk for you or

against y ou, wh ich is why un dersta nding the de tails i s esse ntial.

■ Small c hanges often appear to ma ke no differ ence un til yo u cros s

a critica l thre shold. The mo st pow erful outcom es of a ny

compoundi ng pro cess a re dela yed. Y ou nee d to b e patie nt.

■ An atom ic hab it is a littl e habi t that is pa rt of a large r syst em. Ju st

as atoms are th e buil ding bl ocks o f mole cules, atomic habit s are

the build ing bl ocks o f remar kable result s.

If you wa nt bet ter re sults, then f orget about setting goals . Focu s

on your s ystem instea d.

You do no t rise to th e level of yo ur goa ls. Yo u fall to the level of

your syst ems.

How Your Habits Shape Your I dentit y (and

Vice Vers a)

W hy is i t so e asy to repeat bad h abits and so hard t o form good

ones? Few thing s can have a more p owerfu l impa ct on y our li fe

than impr oving your d aily ha bits. And ye t it i s likel y that this time n ext

year you’ ll be doing the sam e thin g rath er tha n somet hing b etter.

It often feels diffic ult to keep g ood ha bits g oin g fo r more than a few

days, eve n with since re effo rt and the o ccasio nal bur st of motiva tion.

Habits li ke exe rcise, medita tion, journa ling, and coo king a re

reasonabl e for a day or two and th en bec ome a hassle.

However, once y our ha bits ar e esta blishe d, the y seem to sti ck

around fo rever— especi ally th e unwa nted o nes. D espite our be st

intention s, unh ealthy habits like eating junk food, w atchin g too much

televisio n, pro crasti nating, and s moking can f eel imp ossibl e to b reak.

Changing our ha bits i s chall enging for t wo rea sons: ( 1) we try to

change th e wron g thin g and ( 2) we try to chang e our h abits in the

wrong way . In t his ch apter, I’ll a ddress the f irst po int. I n the chapte rs

that foll ow, I’ ll ans wer the secon d.

Our first mista ke is that we try t o chan ge the wrong thing. To

understan d what I mea n, cons ider t hat th ere ar e three level s at w hich

change ca n occu r. You can im agine them l ike th e layer s of a n onio n.

THREE LAY ERS OF BEHAV IOR CHA NGE

OUTCOMES

PROCESSES

IDENTITY

FIGURE 3: There are t hree la yers o f beha vior c hange: a chan ge in your

outcomes, a cha nge in your p rocess es, or a cha nge in your i dentit y.

The first layer is ch anging your o utcome s. Thi s level is

concerned with changi ng your resul ts: lo sing w eight, publis hing a

book, win ning a champ ionship . Most of th e goal s you s et are

associate d with this level o f chan ge.

The secon d laye r is c hanging your proces s. Thi s level is

concerned with changi ng your habit s and system s: impl ementi ng a

new routi ne at the gy m, decl utteri ng you r desk for be tter w orkflo w,

developin g a me ditati on prac tice. Most o f the habits you bu ild ar e

associate d with this level.

The third and d eepest layer is cha nging your i dentity . This

level is concer ned wi th chan ging y our be liefs: your w orldvi ew, yo ur
self-imag e, you r judg ments a bout y oursel f and others. Most of the

beliefs, assump tions, and bi ases y ou hol d are associa ted wi th thi s leve l.

Outcomes are ab out wh at you get. P rocess es are about what y ou do.

Identity is abo ut wha t you b elieve . When it co mes to buildi ng hab its

that last —when it com es to b uildin g a sy stem o f 1 per cent

improveme nts—th e prob lem is not th at one level is “be tter” or “wo rse”

than anot her. A ll lev els of change are u seful in thei r own way. T he

problem i s the direct ion of change .

Many peop le beg in the proces s of c hangin g thei r habit s by f ocusin g

on what t hey wa nt to achieve . This leads us to outcom e -base d habi ts.

The alter native is to build identi ty-bas ed hab its. Wi th thi s appr oach,

we start by foc using on who we wis h to b ecome.

OUTCOME-B ASED H ABITS

FIGURE 4: With outcom e-based habit s, the focus is on what y ou wan t to

achieve. With i dentit y-based habit s, the focus is on who yo u wish to

become.

Imagine t wo peo ple re sisting a cig arette . When offere d a sm oke, t he

first per son sa ys, “N o thank s. I’m tryin g to q uit.” I t soun ds lik e a

reasonabl e resp onse, but thi s pers on sti ll bel ieves t hey ar e a sm oker

who is tr ying t o be s omethin g else . They are h oping t heir b ehavio r will

change wh ile ca rrying around the s ame be liefs.

The secon d pers on dec lines b y sayi ng, “N o than ks. I’m not a

smoker.” It’s a small differ ence, but th is sta tement signal s a sh ift in

identity. Smoki ng was part o f thei r form er lif e, not their curren t one.
They no l onger identi fy as s omeone who s mokes.

Most peop le don ’t eve n consi der id entity chang e when they s et out

to improv e. The y just think, “I wa nt to be ski nny (ou tcome) and i f I

stick to this d iet, t hen I’l l be s kinny (proce ss).” T hey se t goal s and

determine the a ctions they s hould take t o achi eve tho se goa ls wit hout

consideri ng the belie fs that drive their actio ns. The y neve r shif t the

way they look a t them selves, and t hey do n’t re alize t hat th eir ol d

identity can sa botage their new pl ans fo r chan ge.

Behind ev ery sy stem o f actio ns are a sys tem of belief s. The syste m of

a democra cy is founde d on be liefs like f reedom , major ity ru le, an d

social eq uality . The system of a d ictato rship has a v ery di fferen t set of

beliefs l ike ab solute author ity an d stri ct obe dience. You c an ima gine

many ways to tr y to g et more peopl e to v ote in a demo cracy, but s uch

behavior change would never get of f the ground in a d ictato rship.

That’s no t the identi ty of t he sys tem. V oting is a be havior that is

impossibl e unde r a ce rtain s et of belief s.

A similar patte rn exi sts whe ther w e are discus sing in dividu als,

organizat ions, or soc ieties. There are a set o f belie fs and assum ptions

that shap e the system , an id entity behin d the habits.

Behavior that i s inco ngruent with the se lf wil l not l ast. Y ou may

want more money , but if your ident ity is someo ne who consum es

rather th an cre ates, then yo u’ll c ontinu e to b e pulle d towa rd spe nding

rather th an ear ning. You may want better healt h, but if you conti nue to

prioritiz e comf ort ov er acco mplish ment, you’ll be dra wn to relaxi ng

rather th an tra ining. It’s h ard to chang e your habits if yo u neve r

change th e unde rlying belief s that led t o your past b ehavio r. You have

a new goa l and a new plan, b ut you haven ’t cha nged wh o you are.

The story of Br ian Cl ark, an entre preneu r from Bou lde r, Col orado,

provides a good examp le. “Fo r as l ong as I can rememb er, I’ ve che wed

my finger nails, ” Clar k told me. “I t star ted as a nerv ous ha bit wh en I

was young , and then m orphed into a n unde sirabl e groom ing ri tual.

One day, I reso lved t o stop chewin g my n ails u ntil th ey gre w out a bit.

Through m indful willp ower al one, I manag ed to do it.”

Then, Cla rk did somet hing su rprisi ng.

“I asked my wif e to s chedule my fi rst-ev er man icure,” he sa id. “M y

thought w as tha t if I starte d payi ng to mainta in m y n ails, I woul dn’t

chew them . And it wor ked, bu t not for th e mone tary re ason. What

happened was th e mani cure ma de my finger s look really nice for th e

first tim e. The manic urist e ven sa id tha t—othe r than the ch ewing— I

had reall y heal thy, a ttracti ve nai ls. Su ddenly , I was proud of my

fingernai ls. An d even though that’ s some thing I had n ever a spired to, i t

made all the di fferen ce. I’v e neve r chew ed my nails s ince; not ev en a

single cl ose ca ll. An d it’s becaus e I no w take pride in pro perly caring

for them. ”

The ultim ate fo rm of intrins ic mot ivatio n is w hen a h abit b ecomes

part of y our id entity . It’s one th ing to say I ’m the type o f pers on who

wants thi s. It’ s some thing v ery di fferen t to s ay I’m the ty pe of person

who is th is.

The more pride you ha ve in a parti cular aspect of you r iden tity, the

more moti vated you wi ll be t o main tain t he hab its ass ociate d with it. I f
you’re pr oud of how y our hai r look s, you ’ll de velop a ll sor ts of habits to

care for and ma intain it. If you’r e prou d of t he size of yo ur bic eps,

you’ll ma ke sur e you never s kip an upper -body workout . If y ou’re

proud of the sc arves you kni t, you ’ll be more likely to spe nd hou rs

knitting each w eek. O nce you r prid e gets invol ved, yo u’ll f ight t ooth

and nail to mai ntain your ha bits.

True beha vior c hange is iden tity c hange. You m ight st art a habit

because o f moti vation , but t he onl y reas on you ’ll sti ck wit h one is tha t

it become s part of yo ur iden tity. Anyone can c onvince thems elves to

visit the gym o r eat healthy once or twi ce, bu t if yo u don’ t shif t the

belief be hind t he beh avior, then i t is h ard to stick with l ong -te rm

changes. Improv ements are on ly tem porary until they b ec ome part o f

who you a re.

■ The goa l is n ot to read a book, the go al is to beco me a r eader.

■ The goa l is n ot to run a m aratho n, the goal is to b ecome a runn er.

■ The goa l is n ot to learn a n inst rument , the goal is to be come a

musician.

Your beha viors are us ually a refle ction of you r ident ity. W hat yo u do

is an ind icatio n of t he type of pe rson y ou bel ieve th at you are —e ither

conscious ly or noncon sciousl y.* Re search has s hown th at onc e a

person be lieves in a particu lar as pect o f thei r ident ity, t hey ar e more

likely to act i n alig nment w ith th at bel ief. F or exam ple, p eople who

identifie d as “ being a voter ” were more likely to vot e than those who

simply cl aimed “votin g” was an act ion th ey wan ted to perfor m.

Similarly , the person who in corpor ates e xercis e into their identi ty

doesn’t h ave to convi nce the mselve s to t rain. Doing t he rig ht thi ng is

easy. Aft er all , when your b ehavio r and your i dentity are f ully a ligned ,
you are n o long er pur suing b ehavio r chan ge. Yo u are s imply acting like

the type of per son yo u alrea dy bel ieve y oursel f to be .

Like all aspect s of h abit fo rmatio n, thi s, too , is a double -edged

sword. Wh en wor king f or you, ident ity ch ange c an be a power ful fo rce

for self- improv ement. When w orking again st you , thoug h, ide ntity

change ca n be a curse . Once you ha ve ado pted a n ident ity, i t can be

easy to l et you r alle giance to it impact your ability to ch ange. Many

people wa lk thr ough l ife in a cogn itive slumbe r, blin dly fo llowin g the

norms att ached to the ir iden tity.

■ “I’m te rrible with directi ons.”

■ “I’m no t a mo rning person. ”

■ “I’m ba d at r emembe ring pe ople’s names .”

■ “I’m al ways l ate.”

■ “I’m no t good with technol ogy.”

■ “I’m ho rrible at ma th.”

... and a thous and ot her var iation s.

When you have r epeate d a sto ry to yourse lf for years, it is easy to

slide int o thes e ment al groo ves an d acce pt the m as a fact. In tim e, you

begin to resist certa in acti ons be cause “that’ s not w ho I a m.” Th ere is

internal pressu re to maintai n your self- image and beh ave in a way that

is consis tent w ith yo ur beli efs. Y ou fin d what ever wa y you can to avoid

contradic ting y oursel f.

The more deeply a tho ught or actio n is t ied to your i dentit y, the

more diff icult it is to chan ge it. It ca n feel comfor table to bel ieve w hat
your cult ure be lieves (group ident ity) o r to d o what uphold s your self -

image (pe rsonal ident ity), e ven if it’s wrong. The b i ggest barrie r to

positive change at an y level —indiv idual, team, societ y—is i dentit y

conflict. Good habits can ma ke rat ional sense, but if they confli ct wit h

your iden tity, you wi ll fail to pu t them into action.

On any gi ven da y, you may st ruggle with your h abits b ecause you’r e

too busy or too tired or too overw helmed or hu ndreds of oth er rea sons.

Over the long r un, ho wever, the re al rea son yo u fail to sti ck wit h habi ts

is that y our se lf-ima ge gets in th e way. This is why you ca n’t ge t too

attached to one versi on of y our id entity . Prog ress re quires unlea rning.

Becoming the be st ver sion of yours elf re quires you to conti nuousl y edit

your beli efs, a nd to upgrade and e xpand your i dentity .

This brin gs us to an importa nt que stion: If yo ur beli efs an d

worldview play such a n impor tant r ole in your behavio r, whe re do they

come from in th e firs t place ? How, exact ly, is your i dentit y form ed?

And how c an you empha size ne w aspe cts of your identit y that serve

you and g radual ly era se the pieces that hinder you?

THE TWO-S TEP PR OCESS TO CHAN GING Y OUR ID ENTITY

Your iden tity e merges out of your habits . You are not born with p reset

beliefs. Every belief , inclu ding t hose a bout y ourself , is l earned and

condition ed thr ough e xperien ce.*

More prec isely, your habits are ho w you embody your i dentit y.

When you make y our be d each day, y ou emb ody th e ident ity of an

organized perso n. Whe n you w rite e ach da y, you embody the i dentit y

of a crea tive p erson. When y ou tra in eac h day, you em body t he ide ntity
of an ath letic person .

The more you re peat a behavi or, th e more you r einforc e the identi ty

associate d with that behavio r. In fact, the wo rd iden tity w as ori ginall y

derived f rom th e Lati n words essen titas, which means being, and

identidem , whic h mean s repea tedly. Your identi ty is l iteral ly you r

“repeated being ness.”

Whatever your i dentit y is ri ght no w, you only believe it be cause you

have proo f of i t. If you go to chu rch ev ery Su nday fo r twen ty yea rs, yo u

have evid ence t hat yo u are r eligio us. If you s tudy bi ology for on e hour

every nig ht, yo u have eviden ce tha t you are st udious. If yo u go t o the

gym even when i t’s sn owing, you ha ve evi dence that yo u are commit ted

to fitnes s. The more evidenc e you have f or a b elief, the mo re str ongly

you will believ e it.

For most of my early life, I didn’ t cons ider m yself a write r. If you

were to a sk any of my high s chool teache rs or college profe ssors, they

would tel l you I was an aver age wr iter a t best : certa inly n ot a s tandou t.

When I be gan my writi ng care er, I publis hed a new art icle e very

Monday an d Thur sday f or the first few ye ars. A s the e videnc e grew , so

did my id entity as a writer. I did n’t st art ou t as a writer . I be came o ne

through m y habi ts.

Of course , your habit s are n ot the only action s that influe nce yo ur

identity, but b y virt ue of t heir f requen cy the y are u sually the m ost

important ones. Each experie nce in life modifi es your self - image, but

it’s unli kely y ou wou ld cons ider y oursel f a so ccer pl ayer b ecause you

kicked a ball o nce or an art ist be cause you sc ribbled a pic ture. As you

repeat th ese ac tions, howeve r, the evide nce ac cumulat es and your self -

image beg ins to chang e. The effect of on e-off experie nces t ends t o fade

away whil e the effect of hab its ge ts rei nforce d with time, which means

your habi ts con tribut e most of the evide nce th at shap es you r iden tity.
In this w ay, th e proc ess of buildi ng hab its is actual ly the proce ss of

becoming yourse lf.

This is a gradu al evo lution. We do not c hange by snap ping o ur

fingers a nd dec iding to be s omeone entir ely ne w. We c hange bit by bit,

day by da y, hab it by habit. We are conti nually underg oing

microevol utions of th e self.

Each habi t is l ike a suggest ion: “ Hey, m aybe t his is who I am.” I f you

finish a book, then p erhaps you ar e the type o f perso n who likes

reading. If you go to the gy m, the n perh aps yo u are t he typ e of p erson

who likes exerc ise. I f you p ractic e play ing th e guita r, per haps y ou are

the type of per son wh o likes music .

Every act ion yo u take is a v ote fo r the type o f perso n you wish t o

become. N o sing le ins tance w ill tr ansfor m your belief s, but as th e vote s

build up, so do es the eviden ce of your n ew ide nti ty. This i s one reason

why meani ngful change does n ot req uire r adical change . Smal l habi ts

can make a mean ingful differ ence b y prov iding evidenc e of a new

identity. And i f a ch ange is meani ngful, it ac tually is big . That ’s the

paradox o f maki ng sma ll impr ovemen ts.

Putting t his al l toge ther, y ou can see t hat ha bits ar e the path t o

changing your i dentit y. The most p ractic al way to cha nge wh o you are

is to cha nge wh at you do.

■ Each ti me you write a page , you are a writer .

■ Each ti me you pract ice the violi n, you are a musici an.

■ Each ti me you start a work out, y ou are an at hlete.

■ Each ti me you encou rage yo ur emp loyees , you are a l eader.

Each habi t not only g ets res ults b ut als o teac hes you somet hing f ar

more impo rtant: to tr ust you rself. You s tart t o belie ve you can a ctuall y

accomplis h thes e thin gs. Whe n the votes mount up and the ev idence

begins to chang e, the story you te ll you rself begin s to cha nge as well.

Of course , it w orks t he oppo site w ay, to o. Eve ry time you c hoose to

perform a bad h abit, it’s a vote f or tha t iden tity. T he goo d news is th at

you don’t need to be perfect . In a ny ele ction, there are go ing to be vo tes

for both sides. You d on’t ne ed a u nanimo us vot e to wi n an e lectio n;

you just need a major ity. It doesn ’t mat ter if you ca st a f ew vot es for a

bad behav ior or an un product ive ha bit. Y our go al is s imply to win the

majority of the time.

New ident ities requir e new e videnc e. If you ke ep cast ing th e same

votes you ’ve al ways c ast, yo u’re g oing t o get the sam e resu lts yo u’ve

always ha d. If nothin g chang es, no thing is goi ng to c hange.

It is a s imple two-st ep proc ess:

1. Decide the t ype of person you w ant to be.

2. Prove it to yourse lf with small wins.

First, de cide w ho you want t o be. This h olds a t any l evel —a s an

individua l, as a team , as a commun ity, a s a na tion. W hat do you w ant

to stand for? W hat ar e your princi ples a nd val ues? Wh o do y ou wis h to

become?

These are big q uestio ns, and many people aren’ t sure where to beg in

—but they do kn ow wha t kind of res ults t hey wa nt: to get si x -pack abs

or to fee l less anxio us or t o doub le the ir sal ary. Th at’s f ine. S tart t here

and work backwa rd fro m the r esults you w ant to the ty pe of person
who could get t hose r esults. Ask y oursel f, “Wh o is th e type of pe rson

that coul d get the ou tcome I want? ” Who is the type o f pers on tha t

could los e fort y poun ds? Who is th e type of pe rson th at cou ld lea rn a

new langu age? W ho is the typ e of p erson that c ould ru n a su ccessf ul

start-up?

For examp le, “W ho is the typ e of p erson who co uld wri te a b ook?”

It’s prob ably s omeone who is consi stent and re liable. Now y our fo cus

shifts fr om wri ting a book ( outcom e-base d) to being t he typ e of p erson

who is co nsiste nt and reliab le (id entity -based ).

This proc ess ca n lead to bel iefs l ike:

“I’m the kind o f teac her who stand s up f or her studen ts.”

■ “I’m th e kind of do ctor wh o give s each patie nt the time a nd

empathy t hey ne ed.”

■ “I’m th e kind of ma nager w ho adv ocates for h er empl oyees. ”

Once you have a handl e on th e type of pe rson y ou want to be , you

can begin takin g smal l steps to re inforc e your desire d iden tity. I have a

friend wh o lost over 100 pou nds by askin g hers elf, “W hat wo uld a

healthy p erson do?” A ll day long, she wo uld us e this questi on as a

guide. Wo uld a health y perso n walk or ta ke a c ab? Wou ld a h ealthy

person or der a burrit o or a salad? She f igured if she acted like a heal thy

person lo ng eno ugh, e ventual ly she would becom e that person . She

was right .

The conce pt of identi ty-base d habi ts is our fi rst int roduct ion to

another k ey the me in this bo ok: fe edback loops . Your hab its shape
your iden tity, and yo ur iden tity s hapes your h abits. It’s a two -w ay

street. T he for mation of all habit s is a feedb ack loo p (a c oncept we wi ll

explore i n dept h in t he next chapt er), b ut it’ s impor tant t o let your

values, p rincip les, a nd iden tity d rive t he loo p rathe r than your result s.

The focus shoul d alwa ys be o n beco ming t hat ty pe of p erson, not

getting a parti cular outcome .

THE REAL REASON HABIT S MATTE R

Identity change is th e North Star of hab it cha nge. Th e rema inder of

this book will provid e you w ith st ep-by- step i nstruct ions o n how to

build bet ter ha bits i n yours elf, y our fa mily, your te am, yo ur com pany,

and anywh ere el se you wish. But th e true quest ion is: “Are you

becoming the ty pe of person you wa nt to become ?” The first step i s not

what or h ow, bu t who. You ne ed to know w ho you want t o be.

Otherwise , your quest for ch ange i s like a boa t witho ut a r udder. And

that’s wh y we a re sta rting h ere.

You have the po wer to change your belief s abou t yours elf. Y our

identity is not set i n stone . You have a choic e in ev ery mo ment. You

can choos e the identi ty you want t o rein force today w ith th e habi ts you

choose to day. A nd thi s bring s us t o the deeper purpos e of t his bo ok

and the r eal re ason h abits m atter.

Building better habit s isn’t about litte ring y our day with life h acks.

It’s not about flossi ng one tooth each n ight o r takin g a co ld sho wer

each morn ing or weari ng the same o utfit each d ay. It’ s not about

achieving exter nal me asures of suc cess l ike ea rning m ore mo ney,

losing we ight, or red ucing s tress. Habit s can help yo u achi eve al l of

these thi ngs, b ut fun damenta lly th ey are not a bout ha ving s omethi ng.

They are about becomi ng some one.

Ultimatel y, you r habi ts matt er bec ause t hey he lp you become the

type of p erson you wi sh to b e. The y are the ch annel t hrough which you

develop y our de epest beliefs about yours elf. Q uite li terall y, you becom e

your habi ts.

Chapter S ummary

■ There a re thr ee lev els of change : outc ome ch ange, p rocess chang e,

and ident ity ch ange.

■ The mos t effe ctive way to change your habits is to focus not on

what you want t o achi eve, bu t on w ho you wish to beco me.

■ Your id entity emerg es out of you r habi ts. Ev ery act ion is a vot e for

the type of per son yo u wish to bec ome.

■ Becomin g the best v ersion of you rself requir es you to

continuou sly ed it you r belie fs, an d to u pgrade and ex pand y our

identity.

■ The rea l reas on hab its mat ter is not b ecause they c an get you

better re sults (altho ugh the y can do tha t), bu t becau se the y can

change yo ur bel iefs a bout yo urself .

How to Bu ild Be tter H abits i n 4 Si mple

Steps
I n 1898, a psy cholog ist nam ed Edw ard Th orndik e condu cted a n

experimen t that would lay th e foun dation for o ur unde rstand ing of

how habit s form and t he rule s that guide our b ehavior . Thor ndike was

intereste d in s tudyin g the b ehavio r of a nimals , and h e star ted by

working w ith ca ts.

He would place each c at insi de a d evice known as a pu zzle b ox. Th e

box was d esigne d so t hat the cat c ould e scape through a doo r “by some

simple ac t, suc h as p ulling at a l oop of cord, pressi ng a l ever, or

stepping on a p latfor m.” For examp le, on e box contain ed a l ever t hat,

when pres sed, w ould o pen a d oor on the s ide of the bo x. Onc e the door

had been opened , the cat cou ld dar t out and ru n over to a b owl of food.

Most cats wante d to e scape a s soon as th ey wer e place d insi de the

box. They would poke their n ose in to the corne rs, sti ck the ir paw s

through o pening s, and claw a t loos e obje cts. A fter a few mi nutes of

explorati on, th e cats would happen to pr ess th e magic al lev er, th e door

would ope n, and they would e scape.

Thorndike track ed the behavi or of each c at acr oss man y tria ls. In

the begin ning, the an imals m oved a round the bo x at ra ndom. But as

soon as t he lev er had been p ressed and t he doo r opene d, the proce ss of

learning began. Gradu ally, e ach ca t lear ned to associ ate th e acti on of

pressing the le ver wi th the reward of es caping the bo x and gettin g to

the food.

After twe nty to thirt y trial s, thi s beha vior b ecame s o auto matic and

habitual that t he cat could escape withi n a fe w secon ds. Fo r exam ple,

Thorndike noted , “Cat 12 too k the follow ing ti mes to perfor m the act.

160 secon ds, 30 secon ds, 90 second s, 60, 15, 28 , 20, 3 0, 22, 11,15, 20,

12,10,14, 10, 8, 8, 5, 10, 8, 6, 6, 7.”

During th e firs t thre e trial s, the cat e scaped in an averag e of 1 .5

minutes. During the l ast thr ee tri als, i t esca ped in an ave rage o f 6.3

seconds. With p ractic e, each cat m ade fe wer er rors an d thei r acti ons

became qu icker and mo re auto matic. Rathe r than repeat the s ame

mistakes, the c at beg an to c ut str aight to the soluti on.

From his studie s, Tho rndike descri bed th e lear ning pr ocess by

stating, “behav iors f ollowed by sa tisfyi ng con sequenc es ten d to b e

repeated and th ose th at prod uce un pleasa nt con sequenc es are less

likely to be re peated .” His work p rovide s the perfect start ing po int fo r

discussin g how habits form i n our own li ves. I t also provid es ans wers

to some f undame ntal q uestion s like : What are h abits? And wh y does

the brain bothe r buil ding th em at all?

WHY YOUR BRAIN BUILDS HABITS

A habit i s a be havior that h as bee n repe ated e nough t imes t o beco me

automatic . The proces s of ha bit fo rmatio n begi ns with trial and e rror.

Whenever you en counte r a new situa tion i n life , your brain has to

make a de cision . How do I re spond to thi s? The first time y ou com e

across a proble m, you ’re not sure how to solve it. Li ke Tho rndike ’s cat ,

you’re ju st try ing th ings ou t to s ee wha t work s.

Neurologi cal ac tivity in the brain is hi gh dur ing thi s peri od. Yo u are

carefully analy zing t he situ ation and ma king c onsciou s deci sions about

how to ac t. You ’re ta king in tons of new infor mation and tr ying t o

make sens e of i t all. The br ain is busy learni ng the most e ffecti ve

course of actio n.

Occasiona lly, l ike a cat pre ssing on a l ever, you stu mble a cross a

solution. You’r e feel ing anx ious, and yo u disc over th at goi ng for a run

calms you down. You’r e menta lly ex hauste d from a long day o f work ,

and you l earn t hat pl aying v ideo g ames r elaxes you. Y ou’re explor ing,
exploring , expl oring, and th en—BAM —a rew ard.

After you stumb le upo n an un expect ed rew ard, y ou alte r your

strategy for ne xt tim e. Your brain immed iately begins to ca talog the

events th at pre ceded the rew ard. W ait a minute —that f elt go od. Wh at

did I do right before that?

This is t he fee dback loop be hind a ll hum an beh avior: try, f ail, l earn,

try diffe rently . With practi ce, th e usel ess mo vements fade away a nd

the usefu l acti ons ge t reinf orced. That’ s a ha bit for ming.

Whenever you fa ce a p roblem repeat edly, your b rain be gins t o

automate the pr ocess of solv ing it . Your habit s are j ust a series of

automatic solut ions t hat sol ve the probl ems an d stres ses yo u face

regularly . As b ehavio ral sci entist Jason Hreha writes , “Hab its ar e,

simply, r eliabl e solu tions t o recu rring proble ms in o ur env ironme nt.”

As habits are c reated , the l evel o f acti vity i n the b rain d ecreas es.

You learn to lo ck in on the cues t hat pr edict success an d t une ou t

everythin g else . When a simi lar si tuatio n aris es in t he fut ure, y ou kno w

exactly w hat to look for. Th ere is no lo nger a need t o anal yze ev ery

angle of a situ ation. Your b rain s kips t he pro cess of trial and e rror a nd

creates a menta l rule : if th is, th en tha t. The se cogn itive script s can be

followed automa ticall y whene ver th e situ ation is appr opriat e. Now ,

whenever you fe el str essed, you ge t the itch t o run. As soo n as y ou wal k

in the do or fro m work , you g rab th e vide o game contro ller. A choi ce

that once requi red ef fort is now a utomat ic. A habit h as bee n crea ted.

Habits ar e ment al sho rtcuts learne d from exper ience. In a s ense, a

habit is just a memor y of th e step s you previo usly fo llowed to so lve a

problem i n the past. Wheneve r the condit ions a re righ t, you can d raw

on this m emory and au tomatic ally a pply t he sam e solut ion. T he

primary r eason the br ain rem embers the p ast is to bet ter pr edi ct what

will work in th e futu re.

Habit for mation is in credibl y usef ul bec ause t he cons cious mind i s

the bottl eneck of the brain. It ca n only pay a ttentio n to o ne pro blem a t

a time. A s a re sult, your br ain is alway s work ing to preser ve you r

conscious atten tion f or what ever t ask is most essenti al. Wh enever

possible, the c onscio us mind likes to pa wn off tasks to the

nonconsci ous mi nd to do auto matica lly. T his is precis ely wh at hap pens

when a ha bit is forme d. Habi ts red uce co gnitiv e load and fr ee up

mental ca pacity , so y ou can alloca te you r atte ntion t o othe r task s.

Despite t heir e fficie ncy, so me peo ple st ill wo nde r ab out th e bene fits

of habits . The argume nt goes like this: “Will habits make m y life dull? I

don’t wan t to p igeonh ole mys elf in to a l ifesty le I do n’t en joy. D oesn’t

so much r outine take away th e vibr ancy a nd spo ntaneit y of l ife?”

Hardly. S uch qu estion s set u p a fa lse di chotom y. They make you th ink

that you have t o choo se betw een bu ilding habit s and a ttaini ng

freedom. In rea lity, the two compl ement each o ther.

Habits do not r estric t freed om. Th ey cre ate it . In fa ct, th e peop le

who don’t have their habits handle d are often the one s with the l east

amount of freed om. Wi thout g ood fi nancia l habi ts, you will always be

strugglin g for the ne xt doll ar. Wi thout good h ealth h abits, you w ill

always se em to be sho rt on e nergy. Witho ut goo d learn ing ha bits, you

will alwa ys fee l like you’re behin d the curve. If you ’re al ways b eing

forced to make decisi ons abo ut sim ple ta sks—wh en shou ld I w ork ou t,

where do I go t o writ e, when do I pay th e bill s—then you ha ve les s time

for freed om. It ’s onl y by ma king t he fun dament als of life e asier that
you can c reate the me ntal sp ace ne eded f or fre e think ing an d

creativit y.

Conversel y, whe n you have yo ur hab its di aled i n and t he bas ics of

life are handle d and done, y our mi nd is free t o focus on ne w chal lenges

and maste r the next s et of p roblem s. Bui lding habits in the prese nt

allows yo u to d o more of wha t you want i n the future.

THE SCIEN CE OF HOW HA BITS WO RK

The proce ss of buildi ng a ha bit ca n be d ivided into f our si mple s teps:

cue, crav ing, r espons e, and reward .* Bre aking it down into these

fundament al par ts can help u s unde rstand what a habit is, h ow it

works, an d how to imp rove it .

CUE

j CRAVING

| RESPONS E j

REWARD

1 3 1

4
TIME- >

FIGURE 5: All h abits proceed throu gh fou r stag es in t he sam e orde r: cue ,

craving, respon se, an d rewar d.

This four -step patter n is th e back bone o f ever y habit , and your b rain

runs thro ugh th ese st eps in the sa me ord er eac h time.

First, th ere is the c ue. The cue t rigger s your brain to ini tiate a

behavior. It is a bit of inf ormati on tha t pred icts a rewar d . Our

prehistor ic anc estors were p aying attent ion to cues t hat si gnaled the

location of pri mary r ewards like f ood, w ater, and sex . Toda y, we spend

most of o ur tim e lear ning cu es tha t pred ict se condary rewar ds lik e

money and fame, power and st atus, praise and a pproval , love and

friendshi p, or a sens e of pe rsonal satis factio n. (Of course , thes e

pursuits also i ndirec tly imp rove o ur odd s of s urvival and r eprodu ction,

which is the de eper m otive b ehind everyt hing w e do.)

Your mind is co ntinuo usly an alyzin g your inter nal and exter nal

environme nt for hints of whe re rew ards a re loc ated. B ecause the c ue is

the first indic ation that we ’re cl ose to a rew ard, it natur ally l eads t o a

craving.

Cravings are th e seco nd step , and they a re the motiva tional force

behind ev ery ha bit. W ithout some l evel o f moti vation or des ire —

without c raving a cha nge—we have n o reas on to act. Wh at you crave is

not the h abit i tself but the chang e in s tate i t deliv ers. Y ou do not cr ave

smoking a cigar ette, you cra ve the feeli ng of relief it pro vides. You a re

not motiv ated b y brus hing yo ur tee th but rathe r by th e feel ing of a

clean mou th. Yo u do n ot want to tu rn on the te levisio n, you want to be

entertain ed. Ev ery cr aving i s link ed to a desi re to c hange your i nterna l

state. Th is is an imp ortant point that w e will discus s in d etail later.

Cravings differ from person to per son. I n theo ry, any piece of

informati on cou ld tri gger a cravin g, but in pr actice, peopl e are not

motivated by th e same cues. For a gamble r, the sound of slo t mach ines

can be a potent trigg er that spark s an i ntense wave o f desi re. Fo r

someone w ho rar ely ga mbles, the ji ngles and ch imes of the c asino are

just back ground noise . Cues are me aningl ess un til the y are interp reted.

The thoug hts, f eeling s, and emotio ns of the ob server are wh at

transform a cue into a cravi ng.

The third step is the respon se. Th e resp onse i s the a ctual habit you

perform, which can ta ke the form o f a th ought or an a ction. Wheth er a

response occurs depen ds on h ow mot ivated you a re and how mu ch

friction is ass ociate d with the be havior . If a partic ular a ction requir es

more phys ical o r ment al effo rt tha n you are wi lling t o expe nd, th en you

won’t do it. Yo ur res ponse a lso de pends on you r abili ty. It sound s

simple, b ut a h abit c an occu r only if yo u are capable of do ing it . If y ou

want to d unk a basket ball bu t can’ t jump high enough to rea ch the

hoop, wel l, you ’re ou t of lu ck.

Finally, the re sponse delive rs a r eward. Rewar ds are the en d goal of

every hab it. Th e cue is abou t noti cing t he rew ard. Th e crav ing is about

wanting t he rew ard. T he resp onse i s abou t obta ining t he rew ard. W e

chase rew ards b ecause they s erve t wo pur poses: (1) th ey sat isfy u s and

(2) they teach us.

The first purpo se of rewards is to satis fy you r cravi ng. Ye s, rew ards

provide b enefit s on t heir ow n. Foo d and water deliver the e nergy you

need to s urvive . Gett ing a p romoti on bri ngs mo re mone y and respec t.
Getting i n shap e impr oves yo ur hea lth an d your dating prosp ects. But

the more immedi ate be nefit i s that rewar ds sat isfy yo ur cra ving t o eat

or to gai n stat us or to win approv al. At least for a moment , rewa rds

deliver c ontent ment a nd reli ef fro m crav ing.

Second, r ewards teach us whi ch act ions a re wor th reme mberin g in

the futur e. You r brai n is a reward detec tor. A s you g o abou t your life,

your sens ory ne rvous system is con tinuou sly mo nitorin g whic h acti ons

satisfy y our de sires and del iver p leasur e. Fee lings o f plea sure a nd

disappoin tment are pa rt of t he fee dback mechan ism tha t help s your

brain dis tingui sh use ful act ions f rom us eless ones. R ewards close the

feedback loop a nd com plete t he hab it cyc le.

If a beha vior i s insu fficien t in a ny of the fo ur stag es, it will not

become a habit. Elimi nate th e cue and yo ur hab it will never start .

Reduce th e crav ing an d you w on’t e xperie nce en ough mo tivati on to

act. Make the b ehavio r diffi cult a nd you won’t be ab l e to d o it. And if

the rewar d fail s to s atisfy your d esire, then you’ll have n o reas on to do

it again in the futur e. With out th e firs t thre e steps , a be havior will not

occur. Wi thout all fo ur, a b ehavio r will not b e repea ted.

THE HABIT LOOP

FIGURE 6: The f our st ages of habit are b est de scribed as a feedba ck loo p.

They form an en dless cycle t hat is runni ng eve ry mome nt you are a live. This

“habit lo op” is conti nually scanni ng the envir onment, predi cting what w ill

happen ne xt, tr ying o ut diff erent respon ses, a nd lear ning f rom th e resu lts.!

In summar y, the cue t riggers a cra ving, which motivat es a r espons e,

which pro vides a rewa rd, whi ch sat isfies the c raving and, u ltimat ely,

becomes a ssocia ted wi th the cue. T ogethe r, the se four steps form a

neurologi cal fe edback loop—c ue, cr aving, respo nse, re ward; cue,

craving, respon se, re ward—th at ult imatel y allo ws you to cre ate

automatic habit s. Thi s cycle is kn own as the h abit lo op.

This four -step proces s is no t some thing that h appens occasi onally ,

but rathe r it i s an e ndless feedba ck loo p that is run ning a nd act ive

during ev ery mo ment y ou are alive— even n ow. Th e brain is co ntinua lly

scanning the en vironm ent, pr edicti ng wha t will happen next, tryin g

out diffe rent r espons es, and learn ing fr om the result s. The entir e

process i s comp leted in a sp lit se cond, and we use it again and a gain

without r ealizi ng eve rything that has be en pac ked int o the previo us

moment.

We can sp lit th ese fo ur step s into two p hases: the pr oblem phase

and the s olutio n phas e. The proble m phas e incl udes th e cue and th e

craving, and it is wh en you realiz e that somet hing ne eds to chang e. T he

solution phase includ es the respon se and the r eward, and it is wh en

you take action and a chieve the ch ange y ou des ire.

Problem p hase

All behav ior is drive n by th e desi re to solve a probl em. So metime s

the probl em is that y ou noti ce som ething good and you want to obt ain

it. Somet imes t he pro blem is that you ar e expe riencin g pain and y ou

want to r elieve it. E ither w ay, th e purp ose of ev ery habit is to solve the

problems you fa ce.

In the ta ble on the f ollowin g page , you can se e a few examp les of

what this looks like in real life.

Imagine w alking into a dark room a nd fli pping on the light switch .

You have perfor med th is simp le hab it so many t imes th at it occurs

without t hinkin g. You procee d thro ugh al l four stages in th e frac tion o f

a second. The u rge to act st rikes you wi thout thinkin g.

Problem p hase

1. Cue: Y our ph one bu zzes wi th a n ew tex t mess age.

2. Cravin g: You want to lear n the conten ts of the mes sage.

Solution phase

3. Respon se: Yo u grab your p hone a nd rea d the text.

4. Reward : You satisf y your cravin g to r ead th e messa ge. Gr abbing you r phone b ecomes

associate d with your phone b uzzing .

i i

Problem p hase

1. Cue: Y ou are answe ring em ails.

2. Cravin g: You begin to fee l stre ssed a nd ove rwhelme d by w ork. Y ou wan t to fe el in contro l

Solution phase

3. Respon se: Yo u bite your n ails.

4. Reward : You satisf y your cravin g to r educe stress. Bitin g your nails become s asso ciated

with answ ering email.

i i

Solution phase
3. Respon se: Yo u drin k a cup of co ffee.

4. Reward : You satisf y your cravin g to f eel al ert. Dr inking coffe e beco mes ass ociate d with

waking up .

Problem p hase

1. Cue: Y ou sme ll a d oughnut shop as you walk down th e stre et nea r your office .

2. Cravin g: You begin to cra ve a d oughnu t.

Solution phase

3. Respon se: Yo u buy a dough nut an d eat it.

4. Reward : You satisf y your cravin g to e at a d oughnut . Buyi ng a d oughnu t becom es

associate d with walki ng down the s treet near y our off ice.

Problem p hase

1. Cue: Y ou hit a stu mbling block on a p roject at wor k.

2. Cravin g: You feel stuck a nd wan t to r elieve your f rustra tion.

Solution phase

3. Respon se: Yo u pull out yo ur pho ne and check social media .

4. Reward : You satisf y your cravin g to f eel re lieved. Check ing so cial m edia be comes

associate d with feeli ng stal led at work.

i i

Problem p hase

1. Cue: Y ou wal k into a dark room.

2. Cravin g: You want to be a ble to see.

Solution phase

3. Respon se: Yo u flip the li ght sw itch.

4. Reward : You satisf y your cravin g to s ee. Tu rning o n the light switch become s asso ciated

with bein g in a dark room.

By the ti me we become adults , we r arely notice the ha bits t hat ar e

running o ur liv es. Mo st of u s neve r give a sec ond tho ught t o the fact

that we t ie the same shoe fi rst ea ch mor ning, or unpl ug the toast er

after eac h use, or al ways ch ange i nto co mforta ble clo thes a fter g etting

home from work. After decade s of m ental progra mming, we

automatic ally s lip in to thes e patt erns o f thin king an d acti ng.

THE FOUR LAWS O F BEHA VIOR CH ANGE

In the fo llowin g chap ters, w e will see t ime an d again how t he fou r

stages of cue, cravin g, resp onse, and re ward i nfluenc e near ly

everythin g we d o each day. B ut bef ore we do th at, we need t o

transform these four steps i nto a practi cal fr amework that we can use

to design good habits and el iminat e bad ones.

I refer t o this frame work as the F our La ws of Behavio r Chan ge, an d

it provid es a s imple set of rules for cr eating good h abits and br eaki ng

bad ones. You c an thi nk of e ach la w as a lever that i nfluen ces hu man

behavior. When the le vers ar e in t he rig ht pos itions, creat ing go od

habits is effor tless. When t hey ar e in t he wro ng posi tions, it is nearl y

impossibl e.

How to Cr eate a Good Habit

The 1st l aw (Cu e): Ma ke it o bvious .

The 2nd l aw (Cr aving) : Make it att ractiv e.

The 3rd l aw (Re sponse ): Make it ea sy.

The 4th l aw (Re ward): Make i t sati sfying .

We can in vert t hese l aws to learn how to break a bad habit.

I I

How to Br eak a Bad Ha bit

Inversion of th e 1st law (Cu e): Ma ke it invisi ble.

Inversion of th e 2nd law (Cr aving) : Make it un attract ive.

Inversion of th e 3rd law (Re sponse ): Mak e it d ifficul t.

Inversion of th e 4th law (Re ward): Make it uns atisfyi ng.

It would be irr espons ible fo r me t o clai m that these four l aws ar e an

exhaustiv e fram ework for cha nging any hu man be havior, but I think

they’re c lose. As you will s oon se e, the Four Laws of Behav ior Ch ange

apply to nearly every field, from sports to po litics, art t o medi cine,

comedy to manag ement. These laws c an be used n o matte r what

challenge you a re fac ing. Th ere is no ne ed for comple tely d iffere nt

strategie s for each h abit.

Whenever you wa nt to change your b ehavio r, you can si mply a sk

yourself:

1. How ca n I ma ke it obvious ?
2. How ca n I ma ke it attract ive?

3. How ca n I ma ke it easy?

4. How ca n I ma ke it satisfy ing?

If you ha ve eve r wond ered, “ Why do n’t I do wha t I say I’m g oing t o

do? Why d on’t I lose the wei ght or stop smokin g or sa ve for retir ement

or start that s ide bu siness? Why d o I sa y some thing i s impo rtant but

never see m to m ake ti me for it?” T he ans wers t o those quest ions c an be

found som ewhere in th ese fou r laws . The key to creati ng goo d habi ts

and break ing ba d ones is to unders tand t hese f undamen tal la ws and

how to al ter th em to your sp ecific ations . Ever y goal is doo med to fail if

it goes a gainst the g rain of human natur e.

Your habi ts are shape d by th e syst ems in your life. I n the chapte rs

that foll ow, we will discuss these laws one by one an d show how y ou

can use t hem to creat e a sys tem in which good habits emerge natur ally

and bad h abits wither away.

Chapter S ummary

■ A habit is a behavi or that has b een re peated enough times to

become au tomati c.

■ The ult imate purpos e of ha bits i s to s olve t he prob lems o f life with

as little energ y and effort as pos sible.

■ Any hab it can be br oken do wn int o a fe edback loop t hat in volves

four step s: cue , crav ing, re sponse , and reward .

■ The Fou r Laws of Be havior Change are a simpl e set o f rule s we

can use t o buil d bett er habi ts. Th ey are (1) m ake it obviou s, (2)

make it a ttract ive, ( 3) make it ea sy, an d (4) make it satis fying.

THE 1ST L AW

Make It O bvious

The Man W ho Did n’t Lo ok Righ t

The psych ologis t Gary Klein once t old me a sto ry abou t a wo man wh o

attended a fami ly gat hering. She h ad spe nt yea rs work ing as a

paramedic and, upon a rriving at th e even t, too k one l ook at her f ather -

in-law an d got very c oncerne d.

“I don’t like t he way you lo ok,” s he sai d.

Her fathe r-in-l aw, wh o was f eeling perfe ctly f ine, jo kingly repli ed,

“Well, I don’t like y our loo ks, ei ther.”

“No,” she insis ted. “ You nee d to g o to t he hos pital n ow.”

A few hou rs lat er, th e man w as und ergoin g life saving surger y afte r

an examin ation had re vealed that h e had a bloc kage to a maj or art ery

and was a t imme diate risk of a hea rt att ack. W ithout his da ughter -in-

law’s int uition , he c ould ha ve die d.

What did the pa ramedi c see? How di d she predic t his i mpendi ng

heart att ack?

When majo r arte ries a re obst ructed , the body f ocuses on sen ding

blood to critic al org ans and away from p eriphe ral loc ations near the

surface o f the skin. The res ult is a cha nge in the pa ttern of dis tribut ion

of blood in the face. After many y ears o f work ing wit h peop le wit h

heart fai lure, the wo man had unkno wingly devel oped th e abil ity to

recognize this patter n on si ght. S he cou ldn’t explain what it was that

she notic ed in her fa ther-in -law’s face, but s he knew somet hing w as

wrong.

Similar s tories exist in oth er fie lds. F or exa mple, m ilitar y anal ysts

can ident ify wh ich bl ip on a radar scree n is a n enemy missi le and

which one is a plane from th eir ow n flee t even though they are

traveling at th e same speed, flyin g at t he sam e alti t ude, a nd loo k

identical on ra dar in nearly every respe ct. Du ring th e Gulf War,

Lieutenan t Comm ander Michael Riley saved an en tire ba ttlesh ip whe n

he ordere d a mi ssile shot do wn—des pite t he fac t that it loo ked ex actly

like the battle ship’s own pl anes o n rada r. He made th e righ t call , but

even his superi or off icers c ouldn’ t expl ain ho w he di d it.

Museum cu rators have been kn own to disce rn the differ ence

between a n auth entic piece o f art and an exper tly pro duced counte rfeit
even thou gh the y can’ t tell you pr ecisel y whic h detai ls tip ped th em off .

Experienc ed rad iologi sts can look at a b rain s can and predi ct the area

where a s troke will d evelop before any o bvious signs are vi sible to the

untrained eye. I’ve e ven hea rd of hairdr essers notici ng whe ther a clien t

is pregna nt bas ed onl y on th e feel of he r hair .

The human brain is a predict ion ma chine. It is contin uously takin g

in your s urroun dings and ana lyzing the i nforma tion it comes acros s.

Whenever you ex perien ce some thing repeat edly—l ike a p aramed ic

seeing th e face of a heart a ttack patien t or a milita ry ana lyst s eeing a

missile o n a ra dar sc reen—yo ur bra in beg ins no ticing what i s

important , sort ing th rough t he det ails a nd hig hlighti ng the relev ant

cues, and catal oging that in format ion fo r futu re use.

With enou gh pra ctice, you ca n pick up on the c ues tha t pred ict

certain o utcome s with out con scious ly thi nking about i t . Aut omatic ally,

your brai n enco des th e lesso ns lea rned t hrough experi ence. We can ’t

always ex plain what i t is we are l earnin g, but learni ng is happen ing al l

along the way, and yo ur abil ity to notic e the relevan t cues in a given

situation is th e foun dation for ev ery ha bit yo u have.

We undere stimat e how much ou r brai ns and bodie s can d o with out

thinking. You d o not tell yo ur hai r to g row, y our hea rt to pump, your

lungs to breath e, or your st omach to dig est. A nd yet your b ody ha ndles

all this and mo re on autopil ot. Yo u are much m ore tha n your consc ious

self.

Consider hunger . How do you know w hen yo u’re h ungry? You do n’t

necessari ly hav e to s ee a co okie o n the counte r to re alize that i t is t ime

to eat. A ppetit e and hunger are go verned nonco nscious ly. Yo ur bod y

has a var iety o f feed back lo ops th at gra dually alert you wh en it is tim e

to eat ag ain an d that track what i s goin g on a round y ou and withi n you.

Cravings can ar ise th anks to hormo nes an d chem icals c ircula ting
through y our bo dy. Su ddenly, you’r e hung ry eve n thoug h you’ re not

quite sur e what tippe d you o ff.

This is o ne of the mo st surp rising insig hts ab out ou r habit s: you

don’t nee d to b e awar e of th e cue for a habit to begi n. You can n otice an

opportuni ty and take action withou t dedi cating consci ous at tentio n to

it. This is wha t make s habit s usef ul.

It’s also what makes them da ngerou s. As habits form, yo ur a ctions

come unde r the direct ion of your a utomat ic and noncon scious mind.

You fall into o ld pat terns b efore you re alize what’s happen ing. U nless

someone p oints it out , you m ay not notic e that you co ver yo ur mou th

with your hand whenev er you laugh, that you ap ologize befor e aski ng a

question, or th at you have a habit of fi nishin g other peopl e’s se ntence s.

And the m ore yo u repe at thes e patt erns, the le ss like ly you becom e to

question what y ou’re doing a nd why you’r e doin g it.

I once he ard of a ret ail cle rk who was i nstruc ted to cut up empty gift

cards aft er cus tomers had us ed up the ba lance on the card. One da y,

the clerk cashe d out a few c ustome rs in a row who pur chased with gift

cards. Wh en the next person walked up, t he cle rk swip ed the

customer’ s actu al cre dit car d, pic ked up the s cissors , and then c ut it in

half—enti rely o n auto pilot—b efore lookin g up a t the s tunned custo mer

and reali zing w hat ha d just happen ed.

Another w oman I came across in my resear ch was a form er

preschool teach er who had sw itched to a corpor ate job . Even thoug h

she was n ow wor king w ith adu lts, h er old habit s would kick in and she

kept aski ng cow orkers if the y had washed their hands after going to the

bathroom. I als o foun d the s tory o f a ma n who had spe nt yea rs

working a s a li feguar d and w ould o ccasio nally yell “W alk!” whenev er

he saw a child runnin g.

Over time , the cues t hat spa rk our habit s beco me so c ommon that

they are essent ially invisib le: th e trea ts on the kit chen c ounter , the

remote co ntrol next t o the c ouch, the ph one in our po cket. Our

responses to th ese cu es are so dee ply en coded that it may f eel li ke the

urge to a ct com es fro m nowhe re. Fo r this reaso n, we m ust be gin th e

process o f beha vior c hange w ith aw arenes s.

Before we can e ffecti vely bu ild ne w habi ts, we need t o get a hand le

on our cu rrent ones. This ca n be m ore ch alleng ing tha n it s ounds

because o nce a habit is firm ly roo ted in your life, i t is m ostly

nonconsci ous an d auto matic. If a h abit r emains mindle ss, yo u can’ t

expect to impro ve it. As the psych ologis t Carl Jung s a id, “ Until you

make the uncons cious conscio us, it will direct your l ife an d you will

call it f ate.”

THE HABIT S SCOR ECARD

The Japan ese ra ilway system is reg arded as one of the best in the

world. If you e ver fi nd your self r iding a trai n in To kyo, y ou’ll notice

that the conduc tors h ave a p eculia r habi t.

As each o perato r runs the tr ain, t hey pr oceed through a rit ual of

pointing at dif ferent object s and callin g out command s. Whe n the train

approache s a si gnal, the ope rator will p oint a t it an d say, “Sign al is

green.” A s the train pulls i nto an d out of eac h stati on, th e oper ator w ill

point at the sp eedome ter and call out th e exac t speed . When it’s time

to leave, the o perato r will point at the timet able an d stat e the time. Out

on the pl atform , othe r emplo yees a re per formin g simil ar act ions.

Before ea ch tra in dep arts, s taff m embers will point a long t he edg e of
the platf orm an d decl are, “A ll cle ar!” E very d etail i s iden tified , poin ted

at, and n amed a loud.*

This proc ess, k nown a s Point ing-an d-Call ing, i s a saf ety sy stem

designed to red uce mi stakes. It se ems si lly, b ut it w orks i ncredi bly

well. Poi nting- and-Ca lling r educes error s by u p to 85 perce nt and cuts

accidents by 30 perce nt. The MTA s ubway system in New York City

adopted a modif ied ve rsion t hat is “poin t-only ,” and “withi n two years

of implem entati on, in cidents of in correc tly be rthed s ubways fell 57

percent.”

Pointing- and-Ca lling is so e ffecti ve bec ause i t raise s the level of

awareness from a nonc onsciou s habi t to a more conscio us lev el.

Because t he tra in ope rators must u se the ir eye s, hand s, mou th, an d

ears, the y are more l ikely t o noti ce pro blems before someth ing go es

wrong.

My wife d oes so methin g simil ar. Wh enever we ar e prepa ring t o

walk out the do or for a trip , she verbal ly cal ls out the mo st ess en tial

items in her pa cking list. “ I’ve g ot my keys. I’ve go t my w allet. I’ve got

my glasse s. I’v e got my husb and.”

The more automa tic a behavio r beco mes, t he les s likel y we a re to

conscious ly thi nk abo ut it. And wh en we’ ve don e somet hing a

thousand times before , we be gin to overl ook th ings. W e assu me tha t

the next time w ill be just l ike th e last . We’r e so us ed to doing what

we’ve alw ays do ne tha t we do n’t st op to questi on whet her it ’s the right

thing to do at all. M any of our fa ilures in pe rforman ce are large ly

attributa ble to a lac k of se lf-awa reness .

One of ou r grea test c halleng es in changi ng hab its is mainta ining

awareness of wh at we are act ually doing. This helps e xplain why t he

consequen ces of bad h abits c an sne ak up on us. We nee d a “p oint -a nd-

call” sys tem fo r our persona l live s. Tha t’s th e origi n of t he Hab its

Scorecard , whic h is a simple exerc ise yo u can use to become more

aware of your b ehavio r. To c reate your o wn, ma ke a li st of your d aily

habits.

Here’s a sample of wh ere you r list might start :

■ Wake up

■ Turn of f alar m

■ Check m y phon e

■ Go to t he bat hroom

■ Weigh m yself

■ Take a shower

■ Brush m y teet h

■ Floss m y teet h

■ Put on deodor ant

■ Hang up towel to dr y

■ Get dre ssed

■ Make a cup of tea

... and s o on.

Once you have a full list, l ook at each behavi or, and ask y oursel f, “Is
this a go od hab it, a bad hab it, or a neu tral h abit?” If it is a g ood ha bit,

write “+” next to it. If it is a b ad hab it, wr ite If it is a neut ral ha bit,

write “=” .

For examp le, th e list above might look l ike th is:

■ Wake up =

■ Turn of f alar m =

■ Check m y phon e -

■ Go to t he bat hroom =

■ Weigh m yself +

■ Take a shower +

■ Brush m y teet h +

■ Floss m y teet h +

■ Put on deodor ant +

■ Hang up towel to dr y =

■ Get dre ssed =

■ Make a cup of tea +

The marks you g ive to a part icular habit will depend on you r

situation and y our go als. Fo r some one wh o is t rying t o lose weigh t,

eating a bagel with p eanut b utter every mornin g might be a bad ha bit.

For someo ne who is tr ying to bulk up and add m uscle, the sa me

behavior might be a g ood hab it. It all d epends on wha t you’ re wor king

toward.*

Scoring y our ha bits c an be a bit m ore co mplex for ano ther r eason as

well. The label s “goo d habit ” and “bad h abit” are sli ghtly inaccu rate.

There are no go od hab its or bad ha bits. There are onl y effe ctive habits .

That is, effect ive at solvin g prob lems. All ha bits se rve yo u in s ome wa y

—even the bad o nes—wh ich is why yo u repe at the m. For this e xercis e,

categoriz e your habit s by ho w they will benefi t you i n the long r un.

Generally speak ing, g ood hab its wi ll hav e net positiv e outc omes. Bad

habits ha ve net negat ive out comes. Smoki ng a c igarett e may reduce

stress ri ght no w (tha t’s how it’s servin g you) , but i t’s no t a he althy

long-term behav ior.

If you’re still havin g troub le det ermini ng how to rat e a pa rticul ar

habit, he re is a ques tion I like t o use: “Does this b ehavio r help me

become th e type of pe rson I wish t o be? Does t his hab it cas t a vo te for

or agains t my d esired identi ty?” H abits that r einforc e your desir ed

identity are us ually good. H abits that c onflic t with your d esired

identity are us ually bad.

As you cr eate y our Ha bits Sc orecar d, the re is no need to ch ange

anything at fir st. Th e goal is to simply notic e what is act ually going on.

Observe y our th oughts and ac tions withou t judg ment or inter nal

criticism . Don’ t blam e yours elf fo r your fault s. Don’ t prai se you rself for

your succ esses.

If you ea t a ch ocolat e bar e very m orning , ackn owledge it, a lmost as

if you we re wat ching someone else. Oh, h ow int ere stin g that they

would do such a thing . If yo u bing e-eat, simpl y notic e that you a re

eating mo re cal ories than yo u shou ld. If you w aste ti me onl ine, n otice

that you are sp ending your l ife in a way that you do not wa nt to.

The first step to cha nging b ad hab its is to be on the looko ut for

them. If you fe el lik e you n eed ex tra he lp, th en you can tr y Poin ting -

and-Calli ng in your o wn life . Say out lo ud the action that you ar e

thinking of tak ing an d what the ou tcome will b e. If y ou wan t to c ut

back on y our ju nk foo d habit but n otice yourse lf grab bing a nother

cookie, s ay out loud, “I’m a bout t o eat this c ookie, but I don’t need i t.

Eating it will cause me to g ain we ight a nd hur t my he alth.”

Hearing y our ba d habi ts spok en alo ud mak es the conseq uences

seem more real. It ad ds weig ht to the ac tion r ather t han le tting

yourself mindle ssly s lip int o an o ld rou tine. This ap proach is us eful

even if y ou’re simply trying to re member a tas k on yo ur to - do lis t. Jus t

saying ou t loud , “Tom orrow, I need to go to th e post office after lunch ,”

increases the o dds th at you’ ll act ually do it. You’re getti ng you rself to

acknowled ge the need for act ion—an d that can m ake all the d iffere nce.

The proce ss of behavi or chan ge alw ays st arts w ith awa reness .

Strategie s like Point ing-and -Calli ng and the H abits S coreca rd are

focused o n gett ing yo u to re cogniz e your habit s and a cknowl e dge t he

cues that trigg er the m, whic h make s it p ossibl e to re spond in a w ay

that bene fits y ou.

Chapter S ummary

■ With en ough p ractic e, your brain will pick u p on th e cues that

predict c ertain outco mes wit hout c onscio usly t hinking about it.
Once our habits becom e autom atic, we sto p payi ng atte ntion to

what we a re doi ng.

The proce ss of behavi or chan ge alw ays st arts w ith awa reness . You

need to b e awar e of y our hab its be fore y ou can change them.

Pointing- and-Ca lling raises your l evel o f awar eness f rom a

nonconsci ous ha bit to a more consc ious l evel b y verba lizing your

actions.

The Habit s Scor ecard is a si mple e xercis e you can use to be come

more awar e of y our be havior.

The Best Way to Start a New Habit

I n 2001, resea rchers in Gre at Bri tain b egan w orking with 2 48 peo ple

to build better exerc ise hab its ov er the cours e of tw o week s. The

subjects were d ivided into t hree g roups.

The first group was t he cont rol gr oup. T hey we re simp ly ask ed to

track how often they exercis ed.

The secon d grou p was the “mo tivati on” gr oup. T hey wer e aske d not

only to t rack t heir w orkouts but a lso to read some ma terial on th e

benefits of exe rcise. The re search ers al so exp lained to the group how

exercise could reduce the ri sk of corona ry hea rt dise ase an d impr ove

heart hea lth.

Finally, there was th e third group . Thes e subj ects re ceived the s ame

presentat ion as the s econd g roup, which ensure d that they h ad equ al

levels of motiv ation. Howeve r, the y were also asked t o form ulate a plan

for when and wh ere th ey woul d exer cise o ver th e follo wing w eek.

Specifica lly, e ach me mber of the t hird g roup c omplete d the follow ing

sentence: “Duri ng the next w eek, I will partak e in at least 20 mi nutes

of vigoro us exe rcise on [DAY ] at [ TIME] in [PL ACE].”

In the fi rst an d seco nd grou ps, 35 to 38 perce nt of p eople exerci sed

at least once p er wee k. (Int eresti ngly, the mo tivatio nal pr esenta tion

given to the se cond g roup se emed t o have no me aningfu l impa ct on

behavior. ) But 91 per cent of the t hird g roup e xercise d at l east o nce pe r

week—more than double the no rmal r ate.

The sente nce th ey fil led out is wh at res earche rs refe r to a s an

implement ation intent ion, wh ich is a pla n you make be foreha nd abo ut

when and where to act . That is, ho w you intend to imp lement a

particula r habi t.

The cues that c an tri gger a habit come i n a wi de rang e of f orms —t he

feel of y our ph one bu zzing i n your pocke t, the smell of cho colate chip

cookies, the so und of ambula nce si rens—b ut the two mo st com mon

cues are time a nd loc ation. Implem entati on int entio ns lever age bo th of

these cue s.

Broadly s peakin g, the format for c reatin g an i mplemen tation

intention is:

“When sit uation X ari ses, I will p erform respo nse Y.”

Hundreds of stu dies h ave sho wn tha t impl ementa tion in tentio ns are
effective for s tickin g to ou r goal s, whe ther i t’s wri ting d own th e exac t

time and date o f when you wi ll get a flu shot or reco rding the ti me of

your colo noscop y appo intment . They incre ase th e odds that p eople will

stick wit h habi ts lik e recyc ling, studyi ng, go ing to sleep early, and

stopping smokin g.

Researche rs hav e even found that v oter t urnout increa ses wh en

people ar e forc ed to create implem entati on int entions by an swerin g

questions like: “What route are yo u taki ng to the pol ling s tation ? At

what time are y ou pla nning t o go? What b us wil l get y ou the re?” O ther

successfu l gove rnment progra ms hav e prom pted c itizens to ma ke a

clear pla n to s end ta xes in on tim e or p rovide d direc tions on whe n and

where to pay la te tra ffic bi lls.

The punch line is cle ar: peo ple wh o make a spe cific p lan fo r when

and where they will p erform a new habit are mo re like ly to follow

through. Too ma ny peo ple try to ch ange t heir h abits w ithout these

basic det ails f igured out. W e tell ourse lves, “I’m go ing to eat h ealthi er”

or “I’m g oing t o writ e more, ” but we nev er say when a nd whe re the se

habits ar e goin g to h appen. We lea ve it up to chance and ho pe tha t we

will “jus t reme mber t o do it ” or f eel mo tivate d at th e righ t time . An

implement ation intent ion swe eps aw ay fog gy not ions li ke “I want t o

work out more” or “I want to be mo re pro ductiv e” or “ I shou ld vot e”

and trans forms them i nto a c oncret e plan of ac tion.

Many peop le thi nk the y lack motiva tion w hen wh at they reall y lack

is clarit y. It is not always obvio us whe n and where t o take actio n. Som e

people sp end th eir en tire li ves wa iting for th e time to be right to mak e

an improv ement.

Once an i mpleme ntatio n inten tion h as bee n set, you do n’t ha ve to

wait for inspir ation to stri ke. Do I wri te a c hapter today or not ? Do I
meditate this m orning or at lunch? When the mo ment of actio n

occurs, t here i s no n eed to make a decis ion. S imply f ollow your

predeterm ined p lan.

The simpl e way to app ly this strat egy to your habits is to fill

out this senten ce:

I will [B EHAVIO R] at [TIME] in [LO CATION ].

■ Meditat ion. I will meditat e for one mi nute a t 7 a.m . in m y kitc hen.

■ Studyin g. I w ill st udy Spa nish f or twe nty mi nutes a t 6 p. m. in my

bedroom.

■ Exercis e. I w ill ex ercise for on e hour at 5 p.m. in my lo cal gy m.

■ Marriag e. I w ill ma ke my p artner a cup of te a at 8 a.m. i n the

kitchen.

If you ar en’t s ure wh en to s tart y our ha bit, t ry the first day of the

week, mon th, or year. People are m ore li kely t o take action at th ose

times bec ause h ope is usuall y high er. If we ha ve hope , we h ave a

reason to take action . A fre sh sta rt fee ls mot ivating .

There is anothe r bene fit to implem entati on int entions . Bein g

specific about what y ou want and h ow you will achieve it he lps yo u say

no to thi ngs th at der ail pro gress, distr act yo ur atte ntion, and p ull yo u

off cours e. We often say yes to li ttle r equest s becau se we are no t clea r

enough ab out wh at we need to be do ing in stead. When y our dr eams

are vague , it’s easy to rati onaliz e litt le exc eptions all d ay lon g and never

get aroun d to t he spe cific t hings you ne ed to do to s ucceed .

Give your habit s a ti me and a spac e to l ive in the wo rld. T he goa l is

to make t he tim e and locatio n so o bvious that, with e nough repeti tion,

you get a n urge to do the ri ght th ing at the r ight ti me, ev en if you ca n’t

say why. As the write r Jason Zweig noted , “Obv iously you’re never

going to just w ork ou t witho ut con scious thoug ht. But like a dog

salivatin g at a bell, maybe you st art to get a ntsy ar ound t he tim e of d ay

you norma lly wo rk out .”

There are many ways t o use i mpleme ntatio n inte ntions in you r life

and work. My fa vorite approa ch is one I learne d from Stanfo rd

professor BJ Fo gg and it is a stra tegy I refer to as habit stacki ng.

HABIT STA CKING: A SIM PLE PLA N TO O VERHAU L YOUR

HABITS

The Frenc h phil osophe r Denis Dider ot liv ed nea rly his entir e life in

poverty, but th at all change d one day in 1765.

Diderot’s daugh ter wa s about to be marri ed and he cou ld not affor d

to pay fo r the weddin g. Desp ite hi s lack of we alth, D iderot was w ell

known for his r ole as the co -found er and write r of En cyclop edic, one of

the most compre hensiv e encyc lopedi as of the ti me. Whe n Cath erine

the Great , the Empres s of Ru ssia, heard of Did erot’s financ ial tr oubles ,

her heart went out to him. S he was a boo k love r and g reatly enjoy ed his

encyclope dia. S he off ered to buy D iderot ’s per sonal l ibrary for £ 1,000

—more tha n $150 ,000 t oday .* Sudde nly, D iderot had mo ney to spare .

With his new we alth, he not only p aid fo r the wedding but a lso

acquired a scar let ro be for himsel f.

Diderot’s scarl et rob e was b eautif ul. So beaut iful, i n fact , that he

immediate ly not iced h ow out of pla ce it seemed when s urroun ded by

his more common posse ssions. He wr ote th at the re was “no mo re

coordinat ion, n o more unity, no mo re bea uty” b etween his el egant robe

and the r est of his s tuff.

Diderot s oon fe lt the urge t o upgr ade hi s poss essions . He r eplace d

his rug w ith on e from Damasc us. He decor ated h is home with

expensive sculp tures. He bou ght a mirror to pl ace abo ve the mante l,

and a bet ter ki tchen table. He tos sed as ide hi s old s traw c hair f or a

leather o ne. Li ke fal ling do minoes , one purcha se led to the next.

Diderot’s behav ior is not un common . In f act, t he tend ency f or one

purchase to lea d to a nother one ha s a na me: th e Dider ot Eff ect. T he

Diderot E ffect states that o btaini ng a n ew pos session often creat es a

spiral of consu mption that l eads t o addi tional purcha ses.

You can s pot th is pat tern ev erywhe re. Yo u buy a dress and h ave to

get new s hoes a nd ear rings t o matc h. You buy a couch and su ddenly

question the la yout o f your entire livin g room . You b uy a t oy for your

child and soon find y ourself purch asing all of the ac cessor ies th at go

with it. It’s a chain reacti on of purcha ses.

Many huma n beha viors follow this c ycle. You of ten dec ide wh at to

do next b ased o n what you ha ve jus t fini shed d oing. G oing t o the

bathroom leads to was hing an d dryi ng you r hand s, whic h remi nds yo u

that you need t o put the dir ty tow els in the l aundry, so yo u add laundr y

detergent to th e shop ping li st, an d so o n. No behavio r happ ens in

isolation . Each actio n becom es a c ue tha t trig gers th e next behav ior.

Why is th is imp ortant ?

When it c omes t o buil ding ne w habi ts, yo u can use the

connected ness o f beha vior to your advant age. O ne of t he bes t ways to

build a n ew hab it is to iden tity a curre nt hab it you alread y do e ach da y

and then stack your n ew beha vior o n top. This is call ed hab it sta cking.

Habit sta cking is a s pecial form o f an i mpleme ntation inten tion.

Rather th an pai ring y our new habit with a part icular time a nd loc ation,

you pair it wit h a cu rrent h abit. This m ethod, which was cr eated by BJ

Fogg as p art of his T iny Hab its pr ogram, can b e used to des ign an

obvious c ue for nearl y any h abit.*

The habit stack ing fo rmula i s:

“After [C URRENT HABIT ], I wi ll [NE W HABI T].”

For examp le:

■ Meditat ion. A fter I pour m y cup of cof fee ea ch morn ing, I will

meditate for on e minu te.

■ Exercis e. Aft er I t ake off my wo rk sho es, I will im mediat ely

change in to my workou t cloth es.

■ Gratitu de. Af ter I sit dow n to d inner, I wil l say o ne thi ng I’m

grateful for th at hap pened t oday.

■ Marriag e. Aft er I g et into bed a t nigh t, I w ill giv e my p artner a

kiss.

■ Safety. After I put on my runnin g shoe s, I w ill tex t a fr iend o r

family me mber w here I am run ning a nd how long it will take.

The key i s to t ie you r desir ed beh avior into s omethin g you alread y

do each d ay. On ce you have m astere d this basic struct ure, y ou can

begin to create large r stack s by c hainin g smal l habit s toge ther. This

allows yo u to t ake ad vantage of th e natu ral mo ment um that c omes

from one behavi or lea ding in to the next— a posi tive ve rsion of the

Diderot E ffect.

HABIT STA CKING

CUE

HABIT 1 I —

HABIT 2 L

HABIT 3 i

HABIT 4 | -

4 ^

CRAVING R ESPONS E REWA RD

i

-i

FIGURE 7: Habit stack ing inc reases the l ikelih ood tha t you’ ll sti ck wit h a

habit by stacki ng you r new b ehavio r on t op of an old one. T his pr ocess can
be repeat ed to chain numerou s habi ts tog ether, each o ne act ing as the c ue

for the n ext.

Your morn ing ro utine habit s tack m ight l ook li ke this :

1. After I pour my mo rning c up of coffee , I wi ll medi tate f or six ty

seconds.

2. After I medi tate f or sixt y seco nds, I will write m y to -d o list for

the day.

3. After I writ e my t o-do li st for the d ay, I will im mediat ely be gin

my first task.

Or, consi der th is hab it stac k in t he eve ning:

1. After I fini sh eat ing din ner, I will put my plate direct ly int o the

dishwashe r.

2. After I put my dis hes awa y, I w ill im mediat ely wip e down the

counter.

3. After I wipe down the cou nter, I will set o ut my c offee mug fo r
tomorrow mornin g.

You can a lso in sert n ew beha viors into t he mid dle of your c urrent

routines. For e xample , you m ay alr eady h ave a morning routi ne tha t

looks lik e this : Wake up > M ake my bed > Take a showe r. Let ’s say you

want to d evelop the h abit of readi ng mor e each night. You c an exp and

your habi t stac k and try som ething like: Wake up > Ma ke my bed >

Place a b ook on my pi llow > Take a showe r. Now , when you cl imb in to

bed each night, a boo k will be sit ting t here w aiting for yo u to e njoy.

Overall, habit stacki ng allo ws you to cr eate a set of simpl e rule s that

guide you r futu re beh avior. It’s l ike yo u alwa ys have a gam e plan for

which act ion sh ould c ome nex t. Onc e you get co mfortab le wit h this

approach, you c an dev elop ge neral habit stacks to gui de you whene ver

the situa tion i s appr opriate :

■ Exercis e. Whe n I se e a set of st airs, I will take t hem in stead of

using the eleva tor.

■ Social skills . When I walk into a part y, I w ill int roduce mysel f to

someone I don’t know yet.

■ Finance s. Whe n I wa nt to b uy som ething over $100 ,1 will wait

twenty-fo ur hou rs bef ore pur chasin g.

■ Healthy eatin g. Whe n I ser ve mys elf a meal, I will always put

veggies o n my p late f irst.

■ Minimal ism. W hen I buy a n ew ite m, I w ill gi ve some thing away.

(“One in, one o ut.”)

■ Mood. W hen th e phon e rings , I wi ll tak e one deep br eath a nd

smile bef ore an swerin g.

■ Forgetf ulness . When I leav e a pu blic p lace, I will check the ta ble

and chair s to m ake su re I do n’t le ave an ything behind .

No matter how y ou use this s trateg y, the secre t to cr eating a

successfu l habi t stac k is se lectin g the right cue to kick t hings off.

Unlike an imple mentat ion int ention , whic h spec ificall y stat es the time

and locat ion fo r a gi ven beh avior, habit stack ing imp licitl y has the ti me

and locat ion bu ilt in to it. When a nd whe re you choose to in sert a habit

into your daily routi ne can make a big d iffere nce. If you’r e tryi ng to

add medit ation into y our mor ning r outine but m ornings are c haotic

and your kids k eep ru nning i nto th e room , then that m ay be the wr ong

place and time. Consi der whe n you are mo st lik ely to be suc cessfu l.

Don’t ask yours elf to do a h abit w hen yo u’re l ikely t o be o ccupie d with

something else.

Your cue should also have th e same frequ ency a s your desire d habi t.

If you wa nt to do a h abit ev ery da y, but you s tack it on to p of a habit

that only happe ns on Mondays , that ’s not a goo d choic e.

One way t o find the r ight tr igger for yo ur hab it stac k is b y

brainstor ming a list of your curre nt hab its. Y ou can use yo ur Hab its

Scorecard from the la st chap ter as a sta rting point. Altern ativel y , you

can creat e a li st wit h two c olumns . In t he fir st colu mn, wr ite do wn the

habits yo u do e ach da y witho ut fai l.*

For examp le:

■ Get out of be d.

■ Take a shower .
■ Brush y our te eth.

■ Get dre ssed.

■ Brew a cup of coffe e.

■ Eat bre akfast .

■ Take th e kids to sc hool.

■ Start t he wor k day.

■ Eat lun ch.

■ End the work day.

■ Change out of work clothes .

■ Sit dow n for dinner .

■ Turn of f the lights .

■ Get int o bed.

Your list can b e much longer , but you ge t the idea. I n the second

column, w rite d own al l of th e thin gs tha t happ en to y ou eac h day

without f ail. F or exa mple:

■ The sun rises .

■ You get a tex t mess age.

■ The son g you are li stening to en ds.

■ The sun sets.

Armed wit h thes e two lists, you ca n begi n sear ching f or the best

place to layer your n ew habi t into your lifest yle.

Habit sta cking works best wh en the cue i s high ly spec ific a nd

immediate ly act ionabl e. Many peopl e sele ct cue s that are to o va gu e. I

made this mista ke mys elf. Wh en I w anted to sta rt a pu sh -up habit, my

habit sta ck was “When I take a bre ak for lunch , I wil l do t en pus h -ups. ”

At first glance , this sounde d reas onable . But soon, I reali zed th e trig ger

was uncle ar. Wo uld I do my p ush-up s befo re I a te lunc h? Aft er I a te

lunch? Wh ere wo uld I do them ? Afte r a fe w inco nsisten t days , I

changed m y habi t stac k to: “ When I close my la ptop fo r lunc h, I w ill do

ten push- ups ne xt to my desk .” Amb iguity gone.

Habits li ke “re ad mor e” or “ eat be tter” are wo rthy ca uses, but th ese

goals do not pr ovide instruc tion o n how and wh en to a ct. Be speci fic

and clear : Afte r I cl ose the door. After I bru sh my t eeth. After I sit

down at t he tab le. Th e speci ficity is im portan t. The more t ightly bound

your new habit is to a speci fic cu e, the bette r the o dds ar e that you w ill

notice wh en the time comes t o act.

The 1st L aw of Behavi or Chan ge is to mak e it o bvious. Strat egies

like impl ementa tion i ntentio ns and habit stack ing are among the m ost

practical ways to cre ate obv ious c ues fo r your h abits and d esign a clea r

plan for when a nd whe re to t ake ac tion.

Chapter S ummary

■ The 1st Law o f Beha vior Ch ange i s make it ob vious.

The two m ost co mmon c ues are time and lo cation .

Creating an imp lement ation i ntenti on is a stra tegy yo u can use to

pair a ne w habi t with a spec ific t ime an d loca tion.

The imple mentat ion in tention formu la is: I wil l [BEHA VIOR] at

[TIME] in [LOCA TION].

Habit sta cking is a s trategy you c an use to pa ir a ne w habi t with a

current h abit.

The habit stack ing fo rmula i s: Aft er [CU RRENT HABIT], I wil l

[NEW HABI T].

Motivatio n Is O verrat ed; Env ironme nt

Often Mat ters M ore

Anne Thor ndike, a pri mary ca re phy sician at Ma ssachus etts G eneral

Hospital in Bos ton, h ad a cr azy id ea. Sh e beli eved sh e coul d impr ove

the eatin g habi ts of thousan ds of hospit al sta ff and visito rs wit hout

changing their willpo wer or motiva tion i n the sl ighte st way . In f act, s he

didn’t pl an on talkin g to th em at all.

Thorndike and h er col leagues desig ned a six-mo nth stu dy to alter

the “choi ce arc hitect ure” of the h ospita l cafe teria. They s tarted by

changing how dr inks w ere arr anged in the room. Origi n ally, the

refrigera tors l ocated next t o the cash r egiste rs in t he caf eteria were
filled wi th onl y soda . The r esearc hers a dded w ater as an op tion t o each

one. Addi tional ly, th ey plac ed bas kets o f bott led wat er nex t to t he foo d

stations throug hout t he room . Soda was s till i n the p rimary

refrigera tors, but wa ter was now a vailab le at all dri nk loc ations .

Over the next t hree m onths, the nu mber o f soda sales at the hospi tal

dropped b y 11.4 perce nt. Mea nwhile , sale s of b ottled water increa sed

by 25.8 p ercent . They made s imilar adjus tments —and sa w simi lar

results—w ith th e food in the cafet eria. Nobody had s a id a w ord to

anyone ea ting t here.

BEFORE

AFTER

FIGURE 8: Here is a r epresen tation of wh at the cafete ria lo oked l ike be fore

the envir onment desig n chang es wer e made (left ) and a fter ( right) . The

shaded bo xes in dicate areas where bottle d wate r was a vailab le in each

instance. Becau se the amount of wa ter in the e nvironm ent wa s incr eased,

behavior shifte d natu rally a nd wit hout a dditio nal mot ivatio n.

People of ten ch oose p roducts not b ecause of wh at they are, but

because o f wher e they are. I f I wa lk int o the kitchen and s ee a p late o f

cookies o n the counte r, I’ll pick up hal f a do zen and start eatin g, eve n if

I hadn’t been t hinkin g about them before hand a nd didn ’t nec essari ly

feel hung ry. If the c ommunal table at th e offi ce is a lways filled with

doughnuts and b agels, it’s g oing t o be h ard no t to gr ab one every now

and then. Your habits change depen ding o n the room yo u are in and
the cues in fro nt of you.

Environme nt is the in visible hand that s hapes human b ehavio r.

Despite o ur uni que pe rsonali ties, certai n beha viors t end to arise again

and again under certa in envi ronmen tal co nditio ns. In church , peop le

tend to t alk in whisp ers. On a dar k stre et, pe ople ac t wary and g uarded .

In this w ay, th e most common form of cha nge is not in ternal , but

external: we ar e chan ged by the wo rld ar ound u s. Ever y habi t is

context d epende nt.

In 1936, psycho logist Kurt L ewin w rote a simpl e equat ion th at

makes a p owerfu l stat ement: Behavi or is a func tion of the P erson in

their Env ironme nt, or B =/(P ,E).

It didn’t take long f or Lewi n’s Eq uation to be tested in bu siness . In

1952, the econo mist H awkins Stern descri bed a phenome non he calle d

Suggestio n Impu lse Bu ying, w hich “ is tri ggered when a shopp er see s a

product f or the first time a nd vis ualize s a ne ed for it.” I n othe r word s,

customers will occasi onally buy pr oducts not b ecause they w ant th em

but becau se of how th ey are presen ted to them.

For examp le, it ems at eye le vel te nd to be pur chased more t han

those dow n near the f loor. F or thi s reas on, yo u’ll fi nd exp ensive brand

names fea tured in eas y-to-re ach lo cation s on s tore sh elves becaus e
they driv e the most p rofit, while cheape r alte rnati ve s are tucked away

in harder -to-re ach sp ots. Th e same goes for en d caps, which are t he

units at the en d of a isles. End ca ps are money making machin es for

retailers becau se the y are o bvious locat ions t hat enc ounter a lot of fo ot

traffic. For ex ample, 45 per cent o f Coca -Cola sales c ome sp ecific ally

from end- of-the -aisle racks.

The more obviou sly av ailable a pro duct o r serv ice is, the m ore li kely

you are t o try it. Pe ople dr ink Bu d Ligh t beca use it is in every bar an d

visit Sta rbucks becau se it i s on e very c orner. We lik e to t hink t hat we

are in co ntrol. If we choose water over soda, we assu me it is bec ause

we wanted to do so. T he trut h, how ever, is tha t many of the actio ns we

take each day a re sha ped not by pu rposef ul dri ve and choice but b y the

most obvi ous op tion.

Every liv ing be ing ha s its o wn met hods f or sen sing an d

understan ding t he wor ld. Eag les ha ve rem arkabl e long - distan ce vis ion.

Snakes ca n smel l by “ tasting the a ir” wi th the ir high ly sen sitive

tongues. Sharks can d etect s mall a mounts of el ectrici ty and vibra tions

in the wa ter ca used b y nearb y fish . Even bacte ria hav e chem orecep tors

—tiny sen sory c ells t hat all ow the m to d etect toxic c h emica ls in their

environme nt.

In humans , perc eption is dir ected by the senso ry nerv ous sy stem.

We percei ve the world throug h sigh t, sou nd, sm ell, to uch, a nd tas te.

But we al so hav e othe r ways of sen sing s timuli . Some are co nsciou s,

but many are no nconsc ious. F or ins tance, you c an “not ice” w hen th e

temperatu re dro ps bef ore a s torm, or whe n the pain in your gut ri ses

during a stomac hache, or whe n you fall o ff bal anc e wh ile wa lking on

rocky gro und. R ecepto rs in y our bo dy pic k up o n a wid e rang e of

internal stimul i, suc h as th e amou nt of salt i n your blood or the need to

drink whe n thir sty.

The most powerf ul of all hum an sen sory a biliti es, how ever, is vis ion.

The human body has ab out ele ven mi llion sensor y recep tors.

Approxima tely t en mil lion of those are d edicat ed to s ight. Some

experts e stimat e that half o f the brain’ s reso urces a re use d on v ision.

Given tha t we a re mor e depen dent o n visi on tha n on an y othe r sens e, it

should co me as no sur prise t hat vi sual c ues ar e the g reates t cata lyst o f

our behav ior. F or thi s reaso n, a s mall c hange in what you s ee can lead

to a big shift in wha t you d o. As a resu lt, yo u can i magine how

important it is to li ve and work i n envi ronmen ts that are f illed with

productiv e cues and d evoid o f unpr oducti ve one s.

Thankfull y, the re is good ne ws in this r espect . You d on’t h ave to be

the victi m of y our en vironme nt. Yo u can also b e the a rchite ct of it.

HOW TO DE SIGN Y OUR EN VIRONME NT FOR SUCCE SS

During th e ener gy cri sis and oil e mbargo of th e 1970s , Dutc h

researche rs beg an to pay clo se att ention to th e count ry’s e nergy usage.

In one su burb n ear Am sterdam , they found that some ho meowne rs

used 30 p ercent less energy than t heir n eighbo rs —desp ite th e home s

being of simila r size and ge tting electr icity for the same price.

It turned out t he hou ses in this n eighbo rhood were ne arly i d entic al

except fo r one featur e: the locati on of the el ectrica l mete r. Som e had

one in th e base ment. Others had th e elec trical meter upstai rs in the

main hall way. A s you may gue ss, th e home s with the me ters l ocated in

the main hallwa y used less e lectri city. When t heir en ergy u se was

obvious a nd eas y to t rack, p eople change d thei r behav ior.

Every hab it is initia ted by a cue, and w e are more li kely t o noti ce

cues that stand out. Unfortu nately , the enviro nments where w e liv e

and work often make i t easy not to do ce rtain actions becau se the re is
no obviou s cue to tri gger th e beha vior. It’s e asy not to pr actice the

guitar wh en it’ s tuck ed away in th e clos et. It ’s easy not t o read a boo k

when the booksh elf is in the corne r of t he gue st room . It’s easy not to

take your vitam ins wh en they are o ut of sight in the pantry . When the

cues that spark a hab it are subtle or hi dden, they ar e easy to ig nore.

By compar ison, creati ng obvi ous vi sual c ues ca n draw your

attention towar d a de sired h abit. In the early 1990s, the c leanin g staf f

at Schiph ol Air port i n Amste rdam i nstall ed a s mall st icker that l ooked

like a fl y near the c enter o f each urina l. App arently , when men s tepped

up to the urina ls, th ey aime d for what t hey th ought w as a b ug. Th e

stickers improv ed the ir aim and si gnific antly reduced “spil lage” around

the urina ls. Fu rther analysi s dete rmined that the sti ckers cut ba throom

cleaning costs by 8 p ercent per ye ar.

I’ve expe rience d the power o f obvi ous cu es in my own life. I used to

buy apple s from the s tore, p ut the m in t he cri sper in the b ottom of the

refrigera tor, a nd for get all about them. By th e time I reme mbered , the

apples wo uld ha ve gon e bad. I neve r saw them, so I ne ver at e them .

Eventuall y, I t ook my own ad vice a nd red esigne d my en vironm ent. I

bought a large displa y bowl and pl aced i t in t he midd le of the ki tchen

counter. The ne xt tim e I bou ght ap ples, that w as wher e they went — out

in the op en whe re I c ould se e them . Almo st lik e magic , I be gan ea ting a

few apple s each day s imply b ecause they were o bvious rather than out

of sight.

Here are a few ways y ou can redesi gn you r envi ronment and m ake

the cues for yo ur pre ferred habits more obviou s:

■ If you want t o reme mber to take your m edicat ion eac h nigh t, put
your pill bottl e dire ctly ne xt to the fa ucet o n the b athroo m

counter.

■ If you want t o prac tice gu itar m ore fr equent ly, pla ce you r guit ar

stand in the mi ddle o f the l iving room.

■ If you want t o reme mber to send more t hank-y ou note s, kee p a

stack of statio nery o n your desk.

■ If you want t o drin k more water, fill up a f ew wate r bott les ea ch

morning a nd pla ce the m in co mmon l ocatio ns aro und the house .

If you wa nt to make a habit a big part o f your life, make t he cue a big

part of y our en vironm ent. Th e most persi stent behavio rs usu ally h ave

multiple cues. Consid er how many d iffere nt way s a smo ker co uld be

prompted to pul l out a cigar ette: drivin g in t he car, seein g a fr iend

smoke, fe eling stress ed at w ork, a nd so on.

The same strate gy can be emp loyed for go od hab its. By sprin kling

triggers throug hout y our sur roundi ngs, y ou inc rease t he odd s that

you’ll th ink ab out yo ur habi t thro ughout the d ay. Mak e sure the b est

choice is the m ost ob vious o ne. Ma king a bette r decis ion is easy and

natural w hen th e cues for go od hab its ar e righ t in fr ont of you.

Environme nt des ign is powerf ul not only becaus e it in fluenc es how

we engage with the wo rld but also becaus e we r arel y d o it. Most p eople

live in a world other s have create d for them. But you can a lter t he

spaces wh ere yo u live and wo rk to increa se you r expos ure to posit ive

cues and reduce your exposur e to n egativ e ones . Envir onment desig n

allows yo u to t ake ba ck cont rol an d beco me the archit ect of your life.

Be the de signer of yo ur worl d and not me rely t he cons umer o f it.

THE CONTE XT IS THE CU E

The cues that t rigger a habi t can start out ve ry spec ific, but ov er tim e

your habi ts bec ome as sociate d not with a singl e trigg er but with the

entire co ntext surrou nding t he beh avior.

For examp le, ma ny peo ple dri nk mor e in s ocial situati ons th an the y

would eve r drin k alon e. The trigge r is r arely a singl e cue, but r ather the

whole sit uation : watc hing yo ur fri ends o rder d rinks, hearin g the music

at the ba r, see ing th e beers on ta p.

We mental ly ass ign ou r habit s to t he loc ations in whi ch the y occu r:

the home, the o ffice, the gy m. Eac h loca tion d evelops a con nectio n to

certain h abits and ro utines. You e stabli sh a p articul ar rel ations hip wi th

the objec ts on your d esk, th e item s on y our ki tchen c ounter , the things

in your b edroom .

Our behav ior is not d efined by the objec ts in the env ironme nt but by

our relat ionshi p to t hem. In fact, this is a u seful w ay to think about the

influence of th e envi ronment on yo ur beh avior. Stop t hinkin g abou t

your envi ronmen t as f illed w ith ob jects. Start thinki ng abo ut it as fil led

with rela tionsh ips. T hink in terms of ho w you interac t with the s paces

around yo u. For one p erson, her co uch is the p lace wh ere sh e read s for

an hour e ach ni ght. F or some one el se, th e couc h is wh ere he watch es

televisio n and eats a bowl o f ice cream after work. D iffere nt peo ple ca n

have diff erent memori es—and thus d iffere nt hab its—ass ociate d with

the same place.

The good news? You ca n train yours elf to link a parti cular habit with

a particu lar co ntext.

In one st udy, s cienti sts ins tructe d inso mniacs to get into bed on ly

when they were tired. If the y coul dn’t f all as leep, t hey we re tol d to s it
in a diff erent room u ntil th ey bec ame sl eepy. Over ti me, su bjects began

to associ ate th e cont ext of their bed wi th the action of sl eeping , and it

became ea sier t o quic kly fal l asle ep whe n they climbe d in b ed. Th eir

brains le arned that s leeping —not b rowsin g on t heir ph ones, not

watching televi sion, not sta ring a t the clock— was the only action that

happened in tha t room .

The power of co ntext also re veals an imp ortant strate gy: ha bits c an

be easier to ch ange i n a new envir onment . It h elps to escap e the subtle

triggers and cu es tha t nudge you t oward your c urrent habits . Go t o a

new place —a dif ferent coffee shop, a ben ch in the par k, a c orner of

your room you s eldom use—and creat e a ne w rout ine the re.

It is eas ier to assoc iate a new ha bit wi th a n ew cont ext t h an to build

a new hab it in the fa ce of c ompeti ng cue s. It can be diffic ult to go to

bed early if yo u watc h telev ision in you r bedr oom eac h nigh t. It can be

hard to s tudy i n the living room w ithout getti ng dist racted if th at’s

where you alway s play video games. But w hen yo u step outsid e your

normal en vironm ent, y ou leav e your behav ioral biases behind . You

aren’t ba ttling old e nvironm ental cues, which allows new ha bits t o

form with out in terrup tion.

Want to t hink m ore cr eativel y? Mov e to a bigge r room, a roo ftop

patio, or a bui lding with ex pansiv e arch itectu re. Tak e a br eak fr om the

space whe re you do yo ur dail y work , whic h is a lso lin ked to your

current t hought patte rns.

Trying to eat h ealthi er? It is lik ely th at you shop o n auto pilot at you r

regular s uperma rket. Try a n ew gro cery s tore. You may find it eas ier to

avoid unh ealthy food when yo ur bra in doe sn’t a utomati cally know

where it is loc ated i n the s tore.

When you can’t manage to get to an entir ely ne w envir onment ,

redefine or rea rrange your c urrent one. Create a sepa rate s pace f or

work, stu dy, ex ercise , enter tainme nt, an d cook ing. Th e mant ra I f ind

useful is “One space, one us e.”

When I st arted my car eer as an ent repren eur, I would often work

from my c ouch o r at t he kitc hen ta ble. I n the evening s, I f ound i t very

difficult to st op wor king. T here w as no clear divisio n betw een th e end

of work t ime an d the beginni ng of person al tim e. Was the ki tchen ta ble

my office or th e spac e where I ate meals ? Was the cou ch whe re I

relaxed o r wher e I se nt emai ls? Ev erythi ng hap pened i n the same

place.

A few yea rs lat er, I could f inally affor d to m ove to a home with a

separate room f or my office. Sudde nly, w ork wa s somet hing t hat

happened “in he re” an d perso nal li fe was somet hing th at hap pened

“out ther e.” It was e asier f or me to tur n off the pro fessio nal si de of my

brain whe n ther e was a clear divid ing li ne bet ween wo rk lif e and home

life. Eac h room had o ne prim ary us e. The kitch en was for co oking. The

office wa s for workin g.

Whenever possib le, av oid mix ing th e cont ext of one ha bit wi th

another. When y ou sta rt mixi ng con texts, you’l l start mixin g habi ts —

and the e asier ones w ill usu ally w in out . This is one reaso n why the

versatili ty of modern techno logy i s both a str ength a nd a w eaknes s.

You can u se you r phon e for a ll sor ts of tasks, which makes it a

powerful device . But when yo u can use yo ur pho ne to d o near ly

anything, it be comes hard to assoc iate i t with one ta sk. Yo u want to be

productiv e, but you’r e also condit ioned to bro wse soc ial me dia, c heck

email, an d play video games whenev er you open your ph one . I t’s a

mishmash of cue s.
You may b e thin king, “You do n’t un dersta nd. I live in New Y ork

City. My apartm ent is the si ze of a smar tphone . I nee d each room to

play mult iple r oles.” Fair e nough. If yo ur spa ce is l imited , divi de you r

room into activ ity zo nes: a chair for re ading, a desk for w riting , a ta ble

for eatin g. You can d o the s ame wi th you r digi tal spa ces. I know a

writer wh o uses his c omputer only for wr iting, his ta blet o nly fo r

reading, and hi s phon e only for so cial m edia a nd text ing. E very h abit

should ha ve a h ome.

If you ca n mana ge to stick w ith th is str ategy, each c ontext will

become as sociat ed wit h a par ticula r habi t and mode of thoug ht. Ha bits

thrive un der pr edicta ble cir cumsta nces l ike th ese. Fo cus co mes

automatic ally w hen yo u are s itting at yo ur wor k desk. Relax ation is

easier wh en you are i n a spa ce des igned for th at purp ose. S leep c omes

quickly w hen it is th e only thing that h appens in you r bedr oom. I f you

want beha viors that a re stab le and predi ctable , yo u n eed an

environme nt tha t is s table a nd pre dictab le.

A stable enviro nment where e veryth ing ha s a pl ace and a pur pose i s

an enviro nment where habits can ea sily f orm.

Chapter S ummary

Small cha nges i n cont ext can lead to lar ge cha nges in behav ior

over time .

Every hab it is initia ted by a cue. We ar e more likely to no tice c ues

that stan d out.

Make the cues o f good habits obvio us in your e nvironm ent.

Gradually , your habit s becom e asso ciated not w ith a s ingle trigge r

but with the en tire c ontext surrou nding the be havior. The c ontext

becomes t he cue .

It is eas ier to build new ha bits i n a ne w envi ronment becau se you

are not f ightin g agai nst old cues.

The Secre t to S elf-Co ntrol

I n 1971, as th e Viet nam War was h eading into its six teenth year,

congressm en Rob ert St eele fr om Con nectic ut and Morgan Murph y

from Illi nois m ade a discove ry tha t stun ned th e Ameri can pu blic.

While vis iting the tr oops, t hey ha d lear ned th at over 15 pe rcent of U.S .

soldiers statio ned th ere wer e hero in add icts. Follow - up res earch

revealed that 3 5 perc ent of servic e memb ers in Vietna m had tried

heroin an d as m any as 20 per cent w ere ad dicted —the pr oblem was

even wors e than they had ini tially thoug ht.

The disco very l ed to a flurr y of a ctivit y in W ashingt on, in cludin g the

creation of the Speci al Acti on Off ice of Drug Abuse P revent ion un der

President Nixon to pr omote p revent ion an d reha bilitat ion an d to t rack

addicted servic e memb ers whe n they retur ned ho me.

Lee Robin s was one of the re search ers in charg e. In a findi ng tha t

completel y upen ded th e accep ted be liefs about addicti on, Ro bins

found tha t when soldi ers who had b een he roin u sers re turned home,

only 5 pe rcent of the m becam e re-a ddicte d with in a ye ar, an d just 12

percent r elapse d with in thre e year s. In other words, approx imatel y

nine out of ten soldi ers who used heroin in Vi etnam e limina ted th eir

addiction nearl y over night.

This find ing co ntradi cted th e prev ailing view at the time, which

considere d hero in add iction to be a perm anent and irr eversi ble

condition . Inst ead, R obins r eveale d that addic tions c ould

spontaneo usly d issolv e if th ere wa s a ra dical change in the

environme nt. In Vietn am, sol diers spent all da y surro unded by cue s

triggerin g hero in use : it wa s easy to ac cess, they we re eng ulfed by the

constant stress of wa r, they built frien dships with f ellow soldie rs who

were also heroi n user s, and they w ere th ousand s of mi les fr om hom e.

Once a so ldier return ed to t he Uni ted St ates, though, he fo und hi mself

in an env ironme nt dev oid of those trigge rs. Wh en the contex t chan ged,

so did th e habi t.

Compare t his si tuatio n to th at of a typi cal dr ug user . Some one

becomes a ddicte d at h ome or with f riends , goes to a c linic to get clean

—which is devoi d of a ll the enviro nmenta l stim uli tha t prom pt the ir

habit—the n retu rns to their old ne ighbor hood w ith all of th eir pr evious

cues that cause d them to get addic ted in the f irst pl ace. I t’s no wonde r

that usua lly yo u see numbers that are th e exac t oppos ite of those in th e

Vietnam s tudy. Typica lly, 90 perce nt of heroin users become re¬

addicted once t hey re turn ho me fro m reha b.

The Vietn am stu dies r an coun ter to many of our cultur al bel iefs

about bad habit s beca use it challe nged t he con vention al ass ociati on of

unhealthy behav ior as a mora l weak ness. If you ’re ove rweigh t, a

smoker, o r an a ddict, you’ve been told y our en tire li fe tha t it i s beca use

you lack self-c ontrol —maybe even t hat yo u’re a bad pe rson. The id ea

that a li ttle b it of discipl ine wo uld so lve al l our p roblem s is d eeply

embedded in our cultu re.

Recent re search , howe ver, sh ows so methin g diff erent. When

scientist s anal yze pe ople wh o appe ar to have t remendo us sel f -cont rol,

it turns out th ose in dividua ls are n’t al l that differ ent fr om tho se who

are strug gling. Inste ad, “di scipli ned” p eople are bet ter at struc turing

their liv es in a way that do es not requi re her oic wil lpower and s elf -

control. In oth er wor ds, the y spen d less time in temp ting s ituati ons.

The peopl e with the b est sel f-cont rol ar e typi cally t he one s who need

to use it the l east. It’s ea sier t o prac tice s elf -res traint when you do n’t

have to u se it very o ften. S o, yes , pers everan ce, gri t, and willp ower a re

essential to su ccess, but th e way to imp rove t hese qu alitie s is n ot by

wishing y ou wer e a mo re disc ipline d pers on, bu t by cr eating a mor e

disciplin ed env ironme nt.

This coun terint uitive idea m akes e ven mo re sen se on ce you

understan d what happe ns when a hab it is formed in the brain . A ha bit

that has been e ncoded in the mind is rea dy to be used whene ver th e

relevant situat ion ar ises. W hen Pa tty 01 well, a ther apist from A ustin,

Texas, st arted smokin g, she would often light up whil e ridi ng hor ses

with a fr iend. Eventu ally, s he qui t smok ing an d avoid ed it for ye ars.

She had a lso st opped riding. Decad es lat er, sh e hoppe d on a horse

again and found herse lf crav ing a cigare tte fo r the f irst t ime in forev er.

The cues were s till i nternal ized; she ju st had n’t bee n expo sed to them

in a long time.

Once a ha bit ha s been encode d, the urge to act follow s when ever t he

environme ntal c ues re appear. This is one reaso n behav ior ch ange

technique s can backfi re. Sha ming o bese p eople with we ight -l oss

presentat ions c an mak e them feel s tresse d, and as a r esult many

people re turn t o thei r favor ite co ping s trateg y: over eating . Show ing
pictures of bla ckened lungs to smo kers l eads t o highe r leve ls of

anxiety, which drives many p eople to rea ch for a ciga rette. If yo u’re n ot

careful a bout c ues, y ou can cause the ve ry beh avior y ou wan t to s top.

Bad habit s are autoca talytic : the proces s feed s itsel f. The y fost er the

feelings they t ry to numb. Y ou fee l bad, so yo u eat j unk fo od. Be cause

you eat j unk fo od, yo u feel bad. W atchin g tele vision makes you fe el

sluggish, so yo u watc h more televi sion b ecause you do n’t ha ve the

energy to do an ything else. Worryi ng abo ut you r healt h make s you feel

anxious, which causes you to smoke to ea se you r anxie ty, wh ich ma kes

your heal th eve n wors e and s oon yo u’re f eeling more a nxious . It’s a

downward spiral , a ru naway t rain o f bad habits .

Researche rs ref er to this ph enomen on as “cue-i nduced wantin g”: an

external trigge r caus es a co mpulsi ve cra ving t o repea t a ba d habi t.

Once you notice somet hing, y ou beg in to want i t. This proce ss is

happening all t he tim e—often witho ut us realiz ing it. Scien tists have

found tha t show ing ad dicts a pictu re of cocain e for j ust th irty -t hree

milliseco nds st imulat es the reward pathw ay in the bra in and spark s

desire. T his sp eed is too fa st for the b rain t o consc iously regis ter —th e

addicts c ouldn’ t even tell y ou wha t they had s een —but they craved the

drug all the sa me.

Here’s th e punc h line : You c an bre ak a h abit, but you ’re un likely to

forget it . Once the m ental g rooves of ha bit ha ve been carve d into your

brain, th ey are nearl y impos sible to rem ove en tirely — even i f they go

unused fo r quit e a wh ile. An d that means that simply resist ing

temptatio n is a n inef fective strat egy. I t is h ard to mainta in a Z en

attitude in a l ife fi lled wi th int errupt ions. It take s too much e nergy. In

the short -run, you ca n choos e to o verpow er tem ptation . In t he lon g -

run, we b ecome a prod uct of the en vironm ent th at we l ive in . To p ut it

bluntly, I have never seen s omeone consi stentl y stick to po sitive habit s

in a nega tive e nviron ment.

A more re liable appro ach is to cut bad h abits off at the so urce. One

of the mo st pra ctical ways t o elim inate a bad habit i s to r educe

exposure to the cue t hat cau ses it .

■ If you can’t seem t o get a ny wor k done , leav e your phone in

another r oom fo r a fe w hours .

■ If you’ re con tinual ly feel ing li ke you ’re no t enoug h, sto p foll owing

social me dia ac counts that t rigger jealo usy an d envy.

■ If you’ re was ting t oo much time watchi ng tel evision , move the T V

out of th e bedr oom.

■ If you’ re spe nding too muc h mone y on e lectro nics, q uit re ading

reviews o f the latest tech g ear.

■ If you’ re pla ying t oo many video games , unpl ug the consol e and

put it in a clo set af ter eac h use.

This prac tice i s an i nversio n of t he 1st Law o f Behav ior Ch ange.

Rather th an mak e it o bvious, you c an mak e it i nvisibl e. I’m often

surprised by ho w effe ctive s imple change s like these can be . Remo ve a

single cu e and the en tire ha bit of ten fa des aw ay.

Self-cont rol is a sho rt-term strat egy, n ot a l ong-ter m one. You m ay

be able t o resi st tem ptation once or twi ce, bu t it’s unlike ly you can

muster th e will power to over ride y our de sires every t ime. I nstead of

summoning a new dose of will power whenev er you want t o do t he rig ht

thing, yo ur ene rgy wo uld be better spent optim izing y our en vironm ent.

This is t he sec ret to self-c ontrol . Make the c ues of your g ood ha bits

obvious a nd the cues of your bad h abits invisi ble.

Chapter S ummary

■ The inv ersion of th e 1st L aw of Behavi or Cha nge is make i t

invisible .

■ Once a habit is for med, it is un likely to be forgot ten.

■ People with h igh se lf-cont rol te nd to spend less ti me in tempti ng

situation s. It’ s easi er to a void t emptat ion th an resi st it.

■ One of the mo st pra ctical ways t o elim inate a bad h abit i s to

reduce ex posure to th e cue t hat ca uses i t.

■ Self-co ntrol is a s hort-te rm str ategy, not a long-t erm on e.

HOW TO CR EATE A GOOD HABIT

The 1st L aw: Ma ke It Obvious

1.1: Fill out t he Hab its Sco recard . Writ e down your c urrent habit s to b ecome a ware o f them .

1.2: Use implem entati on inte ntions : “I w ill [B EHAVIOR ] at [ TIME] in [LO CATION] .”

1.3: Use habit stacki ng: “Af ter [C URRENT HABIT ], I wi ll [NE W HABI T].”

1.4: Desi gn you r envi ronment . Make the c ues of good h abits obviou s and visible .

The 2nd L aw: Ma ke It Attract ive

The 3rd L aw: Ma ke It Easy

The 4th L aw: Ma ke It Satisfy ing

HOW TO BR EAK A BAD HA BIT

Inversion of th e 1st Law: Ma ke It Invisi ble

1.5: Redu ce exp osure. Remove the c ues of your bad hab its fr om you r envi ronment .

Inversion of th e 2nd Law: Ma ke It Unattr active

Inversion of th e 3rd Law: Ma ke It Diffic ult

Inversion of th e 4th Law: Ma ke It Unsati sfying

I_I

You can d ownloa d a pr intable versi on of this h abits c heat s heet a t:

atomichab its.co m/chea tsheet

THE 2ND L AW

Make It A ttract ive

How to Ma ke a H abit I rresist ible

I n the 1 940s, a Dutc h scien tist n amed N iko Ti nbergen perfo rmed a

series of exper iments that t ransfo rmed o ur und erstand ing of what

motivates us. T inberg en—who eventu ally w on a N obel Pr ize fo r his

work—was invest igatin g herri ng gul ls, th e gray and wh ite bi rds of ten

seen flyi ng alo ng the seasho res of North Ameri ca.

Adult her ring g ulls h ave a s mall r ed dot on th eir bea k, and

Tinbergen notic ed tha t newly hatch ed chi cks wo uld pec k this spot

whenever they w anted food. T o begi n one experi ment, h e crea ted a

collectio n of f ake ca rdboard beaks , just a hea d witho ut a b ody. W hen

the paren ts had flown away, he wen t over to th e nest and of fered these

dummy bea ks to the ch icks. T he bea ks wer e obvi ous fak es, an d he

assumed t he bab y bird s would rejec t them altog ether.

However, when t he tin y gulls saw t he red spot on the cardbo ard
beak, the y peck ed awa y just as if it wer e atta ched to their own m other.

They had a clea r pref erence for th ose re d spot s—as if they had be en

genetical ly pro gramme d at bi rth. S oon Ti nberge n disco vered that t he

bigger th e red spot, the fas ter th e chic ks pec ked. Ev entual ly, he creat ed

a beak wi th thr ee lar ge red dots o n it. When h e place d it o ver th e nest ,

the baby birds went c razy wi th del ight. They p ecked a t the little red

patches a s if i t was the gre atest beak t hey ha d ever seen.

Tinbergen and h is col leagues disco vered simila r behav ior in other

animals. For ex ample, the gr eylag goose is a g round -n esting bird.

Occasiona lly, a s the mother moves around on th e nest, one o f the eggs

will roll out a nd set tle on the gr ass ne arby. Wheneve r this happe ns, th e

goose wil l wadd le ove r to th e egg and us e its beak an d neck to pu ll it

back into the n est.

Tinbergen disco vered that th e goos e will pull any nea rby ro und

object, s uch as a bil liard b all or a lig htbulb , back into t he nes t. The

bigger th e obje ct, th e great er the ir res ponse. One go ose ev en mad e a

tremendou s effo rt to roll a volley ball b ack an d sit o n top. Like the ba by

gulls aut omatic ally p ecking at red dots, the g reylag goose was fo llowin g

an instin ctive rule: When I see a round object nearby , I mu st rol l it

back into the n est. T he bigg er the round objec t, the harder I sho uld tr y

to get it .

It’s like the b rain o f each animal is pr eloade d with certai n rule s for

behavior, and w hen it comes across an ex aggera ted ver sion o f th at rule,

it lights up li ke a C hristma s tree . Scie ntists refer to the se exa ggerat ed

cues as s uperno rmal s timuli. A sup ernorm al sti mulus i s a he ighten ed

version o f real ity—li ke a be ak wit h thre e red dots or an eg g the size o f a

volleybal l—and it eli cits a strong er res ponse than us ual.

Humans ar e also prone to fal l for exagge rated version s of r eality .

Junk food , for exampl e, driv es our rewar d syst ems int o a fr enzy. After
spending hundre ds of thousan ds of years huntin g and f oragin g for

food in t he wil d, the human brain has ev olved to plac e a hi gh val ue on

salt, sug ar, an d fat. Such f oods a re oft en cal orie -de nse an d they were

quite rar e when our a ncient ancest ors we re roa ming th e sava nnah.

When you don’t know w here yo ur nex t meal is co ming fr om, ea ting a s

much as p ossibl e is a n excel lent s trateg y for surviva l.

Today, ho wever, we li ve in a calor ie-ric h envi ronment . Food is

abundant, but y our br ain con tinues to cr ave it like i t is s carce. Placi ng

a high va lue on salt, sugar, and f at is no lon ger adv antage ous to our

health, b ut the cravi ng pers ists b ecause the b rain’s reward cente rs hav e

not chang ed for appro ximatel y fift y thou sand y ears. T he mod ern fo od

industry relies on st retchin g our Paleol ithic instinc ts bey ond th eir

evolution ary pu rpose.

A primary goal of foo d scien ce is to cre ate pr oducts that a re mor e

attractiv e to c onsume rs. Nea rly ev ery fo od in a bag, box, o r jar has

been enha nced i n some way, i f only with additi onal fl avorin g.

Companies spend milli ons of dollar s to d iscove r the m ost sa tisfyi ng

level of crunch in a potato chip o r the perfec t amoun t of f izz in a sod a.

Entire de partme nts ar e dedic ated t o opti mizing how a produc t feel s in

your mout h—a qu ality known a s oros ensati on. Fr ench fr ies, f or

example, are a potent combin ation— golden brown and cr unchy on the

outside, light and sm ooth on the i nside.

Other pro cessed foods enhanc e dyna mic co ntrast , which refer s to

items wit h a co mbinat ion of sensat ions, like c runchy and cr eamy.

Imagine t he goo eyness of mel ted ch eese o n top of a cr ispy p izza c rust,

or the cr unch o f an O reo coo kie co mbined with its smo oth ce nter. With

natural, unproc essed foods, you te nd to experi ence th e same

sensation s over and o ver —ho w’s th at sev enteen th bite of ka le tas te?

After a f ew min utes, your br ain lo ses in terest and yo u begi n to f eel fu ll.
But foods that are hi gh in d ynamic contr ast ke ep the experi ence n ovel

and inter esting , enco uraging you t o eat more.

Ultimatel y, suc h stra tegies enable food scient ists to find the “b liss

point” fo r each produ ct—the precis e comb inatio n of sa lt, su gar, a nd fat

that exci tes yo ur bra in and keeps you co ming b ack for more. The

result, o f cour se, is that y ou ove reat b ecause hyperp alatab le foo ds are

more attr active to th e human brain . As S tephan Guyene t, a

neuroscie ntist who sp ecializ es in eating behav ior and obesi ty, sa ys,

“We’ve go tten t oo goo d at pu shing our ow n butt ons.”

The moder n food indus try, an d the overea ting h abits i t has

spawned, is jus t one example of th e 2nd Law of Behavi or Cha nge:

Make it a ttract ive. T he more attra ctive an opp ortunit y is, the mo re

likely it is to becom e habit -formi ng.

Look arou nd. So ciety is fill ed wit h high ly eng ineered versi ons of

reality t hat ar e more attrac tive t han th e worl d our a ncesto rs evo lved i n.

Stores fe ature manneq uins wi th exa ggerat ed hip s and b reasts to se ll

clothes. Social media delive rs mor e “lik es” an d prais e in a few m inutes

than we c ould e ver ge t in th e offi ce or at hom e. Onli ne por n spli ces

together stimul ating scenes at a r ate th at wou ld be i mpossi ble to

replicate in re al lif e. Adve rtisem ents a re cre ated wi th a c ombina tion o f

ideal lig hting, profe ssional makeu p, and Photo shopped edits —even the

model doe sn’t l ook li ke the person in th e fina l image . Thes e are the

supernorm al sti muli o f our m odern world. They exagger ate fe atures

that are natura lly at tractiv e to u s, and our i nstinct s go w ild as a res ult,

driving u s into exces sive sh opping habit s, soc ial med ia hab its, p orn

habits, e ating habits , and m any ot hers.

If histor y serv es as a guide , the opport unitie s of th e futu re wil l be

more attr active than those o f toda y. The trend is for rewar ds to become

more conc entrat ed and stimul i to b ecome more e nticing . Junk food is a
more conc entrat ed for m of ca lories than natura l foods . Hard liquo r is a

more conc entrat ed for m of al cohol than b eer. V ideo ga mes ar e a mo re

concentra ted fo rm of play th an boa rd gam es. Co mpared to nat ure,

these ple asure- packed experi ences are ha rd to resist. We ha ve the

brains of our a ncesto rs but tempta tions they n ever ha d to f ace.

If you wa nt to increa se the odds t hat a behavi or will occur , then you

need to m ake it attra ctive. Throug hout o ur dis cussion of th e 2nd Law,

our goal is to learn how to make o ur hab its ir resisti ble. W hile i t is n ot

possible to tra nsform every habit into a super normal stimul us, w e can

make any habit more e nticing . To d o this , we m ust sta rt by

understan ding w hat a craving is an d how it wor ks.

We begin by exa mining a biol ogical signa ture t hat all habit s shar e —

the dopam ine sp ike.

THE DOPAM INE-DR IVEN F EEDBACK LOOP

Scientist s can track the pre cise m oment a crav ing occ urs by measu ring

a neurotr ansmit ter ca lled do pamine .* The impor tance o f dopa mine

became ap parent in 19 54 when the n eurosc ientis ts Jame s Olds and

Peter Mil ner ra n an e xperime nt tha t reve aled t he neur ologic al

processes behin d crav ing and desir e. By implan ting el ectrod es in the

brains of rats, the r esearch ers bl ocked the re lease o f dopa mine. To the

surprise of the scien tists, the ra ts los t all will to live. They woul dn ’t eat.

They woul dn’t h ave se x. They didn’ t crav e anyt hing. W ithin a few days,

the anima ls die d of t hirst.

In follow -up st udies, other scient ists a lso in hibited the d opamin e¬

releasing parts of th e brain , but this t ime, t hey squ irted little dropl ets
of sugar into t he mou ths of the do pamine -deple ted rat s. The ir lit tle ra t

faces lit up wi th ple asurabl e grin s from the t asty su bstanc e. Eve n

though do pamine was b locked, they liked the su gar jus t as m uch as

before; t hey ju st did n’t wan t it a nymore . The ability to ex perien ce

pleasure remain ed, bu t witho ut dop amine, desir e died. And w ithout

desire, a ction stoppe d.

When othe r rese archer s rever sed th is pro cess a nd floo ded th e

reward sy stem o f the brain w ith do pamine , anim als per formed habit s

at breakn eck sp eed. I n one s tudy, mice r eceive d a pow erful hit of

dopamine each t ime th ey poke d thei r nose in a box. Wi thin m inutes ,

the mice develo ped a craving so st rong t hey be gan pok ing th eir no se

into the box ei ght hu ndred t imes p er hou r. (Hu mans ar e not so

different : the averag e slot machin e play er wil l spin the wh eel si x

hundred t imes p er hou r.)

Habits ar e a do pamine -driven feedb ack lo op. Ev ery beh avior that i s

highly ha bit-fo rming— taking drugs, eatin g junk food, playin g vide o

games, br owsing socia l media —is as sociat ed wit h highe r leve ls of

dopamine. The s ame ca n be sa id for our m ost ba sic hab itual behavi ors

like eati ng foo d, dri nking w ater, having sex, and int eracti ng soc ially.

For years , scie ntists assume d dopa mine w as all about pleasu re, bu t

now we kn ow it plays a centr al rol e in m any ne urologi cal pr ocesse s,

including motiv ation, learni ng and memor y, pun ishment and a versio n,

and volun tary m ovemen t.

When it c omes t o habi ts, the key t akeawa y is t his: do pamine is

released not on ly whe n you e xperie nce pl easure , but a lso wh en you

anticipat e it. Gambli ng addi cts ha ve a d opamin e spike right befor e

they plac e a be t, not after they w in. Co caine addicts get a surge of

dopamine when t hey se e the p owder, not a fter t hey tak e it. Whenev er
you predi ct tha t an o pportun ity wi ll be reward ing, yo ur lev els of

dopamine spike in ant icipati on. An d when ever d opamine ris es , so d oes

your moti vation to ac t.

It is the antic ipatio n of a reward —not t he ful fillmen t of i t—that gets

us to tak e acti on.

Interesti ngly, the re ward sy stem t hat is activ ated in the b rain w hen

you recei ve a r eward is the same s ystem that i s activ ated w hen yo u

anticipat e a re ward. This is one r eason the an ticipat ion of an

experienc e can often feel be tter t han th e atta inment of it. As a child,

thinking about Christ mas mor ning c an be better than o pening the

gifts. As an ad ult, d aydream ing ab out an upcom ing vac ation can be

more enjo yable than a ctually being on va cation . Scien tists refer to thi s

as the di fferen ce bet ween “w anting ” and “likin g.”

THE DOPAM INE SP IKE

CUE

| CRAVING

IRESPONSE I

REWARD |

1 2

1 3
4

FIGURE 9: Befor e a ha bit is learne d (A), dopam ine is releas ed whe n the

reward is exper ienced for th e firs t time . The next ti me aro und (B ), dop amine

rises bef ore ta king a ction, immedi ately after a cue i s reco gnized . This spike

leads to a feel ing of desire and a cravi ng to take ac tion w heneve r the cue is

spotted. Once a habit is lea rned, dopami ne wil l not r ise wh en a r eward is

experienc ed bec ause y ou alre ady ex pect t he rew ard. Ho wever, if yo u see a

cue and e xpect a rewa rd, but do no t get one, t hen dop amine will d rop in

disappoin tment (C). T he sens itivit y of t he dop amine r e spons e can clearl y be

seen when a rew ard is provid ed lat e (D). First , the c ue is identi fied a nd

dopamine rises as a c raving builds . Next , a re sponse is tak en but the r eward

does not come a s quic kly as expect ed and dopam ine beg ins to drop. Final ly,

when the reward comes a litt le lat er tha n you had hop ed, do pamine spike s

again. It is as if th e brain is sa ying, “See! I knew I was right. Don’t forget to

repeat th is act ion ne xt time .”

Your brai n has far mo re neur al cir cuitry alloc ated fo r want ing

rewards t han fo r liki ng them . The wantin g cent ers in the br ain ar e

large: th e brai n stem , the n ucleus accum bens, the ven tral t egment al

area, the dorsa l stri atum, t he amy gdala, and p ortions of th e pref rontal

cortex. B y comp arison , the l iking center s of t he brai n are much

smaller. They a re oft en refe rred t o as “ hedoni c hot s pots” and ar e

distribut ed lik e tiny island s thro ughout the b rain. F or ins tance,

researche rs hav e foun d that 100 pe rcent of the nucleu s accu mbens is

activated durin g want ing. Me anwhil e, onl y 10 p ercent of the struc ture

is activa ted du ring l iking.

The fact that t he bra in allo cates so muc h prec ious sp ace to the

regions r espons ible f or crav ing an d desi re pro vides f urther evide nce of

the cruci al rol e thes e proce sses p lay. D esire is the engine that drives

behavior. Every actio n is ta ken be cause of the antici pation that

precedes it. It is th e cravi ng tha t lead s to t he resp onse.

These ins ights reveal the im portan ce of the 2n d Law o f Beha vior

Change. W e need to ma ke our habits attra ctive because it is the

expectati on of a rewa rding e xperie nce th at mot ivates us to act in the

first pla ce. Th is is where a strat egy kn own as tempta tion b undlin g

comes int o play .

HOW TO US E TEMP TATION BUNDLI NG TO MAKE Y OUR HA BITS

MORE ATTR ACTIVE

Ronan Byr ne, an elect rical e nginee ring s tudent in Dub lin, I reland ,

enjoyed w atchin g Netf lix, bu t he a lso kn ew tha t he sh ould e xercis e

more ofte n than he di d. Putt ing hi s engi neerin g skill s to u se, By rne

hacked hi s stat ionary bike a nd con nected it to his la ptop a nd

televisio n. The n he w rote a comput er pro gram t hat wou ld all ow Net flix

to run on ly if he was cyclin g at a certa in spe ed. If he slo wed do wn for

too long, whate ver sh ow he w as wat ching would pause u ntil h e star ted

pedaling again. He wa s, in t he wor ds of one fa n, “eli minati ng obe sity

one Netfl ix bin ge at a time. ”

He was al so emp loying tempta tion b undlin g to m ake his exerc ise

habit mor e attr active . Tempt ation bundli ng wor ks by l inking an ac tion

you want to do with a n actio n you need t o do. In Byrn e’s ca se, he

bundled w atchin g Netf lix (th e thin g he w anted to do) with r iding his

stationar y bike (the thing h e need ed to do).

Businesse s are master s at te mptati on bun dling. For in stance , when

the Ameri can Br oadcas ting Co mpany, more common ly know n as A BC,

launched its Th ursday -night televi sion l ineup for the 2014 - 2015

season, t hey pr omoted tempta tion b undlin g on a massiv e sc al e.

Every Thu rsday, the c ompany would air th ree sh ows cre ated b y

screenwri ter Sh onda R himes— Grey’s Anato my, Sc andal, and Ho w to

Get Away with M urder. They b randed it as “TGIT on ABC ” (TGI T

stands fo r Than k God It’s Th ursday ). In additi on to p romoti ng the

shows, AB C enco uraged viewer s to m ake po pcorn, drink red wi ne, an d

enjoy the eveni ng.

Andrew Ku bitz, head o f sched uling for AB C, des cribed the id ea

behind th e camp aign: “We see Thurs day ni ght as a view ership

opportuni ty, wi th eit her cou ples o r wome n by t hemselv es who want to

sit down and es cape a nd have fun a nd dri nk the ir red wine a nd hav e

some popc orn.” The br illianc e of t his st rategy is tha t ABC was

associati ng the thing they n eeded viewer s to d o (watc h thei r show s)

with acti vities their viewer s alre ady wa nted t o do (r elax, drink wine,

and eat p opcorn ).

Over time , peop le beg an to c onnect watch ing AB C with feelin g

relaxed a nd ent ertain ed. If you dr ink re d wine and ea t popc orn at 8

p.m. ever y Thur sday, then ev entual ly “8 p.m. o n Thurs day” m eans

relaxatio n and entert ainment . The reward gets associa ted wi th the cue,

and the h abit o f turn ing on the te levisi on bec omes mo re att ractiv e.

You’re mo re lik ely to find a behav ior at tracti ve if y ou get to do one

of your f avorit e thin gs at t he sam e time . Perh aps you want to hea r

about the lates t cele brity g ossip, but y ou nee d to ge t in s hape. Using

temptatio n bund ling, you cou ld onl y read the t abloids and w atch

reality s hows a t the gym. Ma ybe yo u want to ge t a ped icure, but y ou

need to c lean o ut you r email inbox . Solu tion: only ge t a pe dicure while

processin g over due wo rk emai ls.

Temptatio n bund ling i s one w ay to apply a psyc hology theory

known as Premac k’s Pr inciple . Name d afte r the work of profe ssor

David Pre mack, the pr inciple state s that “more p robab le beh aviors will

reinforce less probab le beha viors. ” In o ther w ords, e ven if you d on’t

really wa nt to proces s overd ue wor k emai ls, yo u’ll be come c onditi oned

to do it if it means you get to do somet hing y ou real ly wan t to d o alon g

the way.

You can e ven co mbine temptat ion bu ndling with the hab it sta cking

strategy we dis cussed in Cha pter 5 to cr eate a set of rules to gu ide yo ur

behavior.

The habit stack ing + temptat ion bu ndling formu la is:

1. After [CURRE NT HAB IT], I will [ HABIT I NEED ].

2. After [HABIT I NEE D], I w ill [H ABIT I WANT] .

If you wa nt to read t he news , but you ne ed to express more

gratitude :

1. After I get my mor ning co ffee, I will say o ne thin g I’m gratef ul

for that happen ed yes terday (need) .

2. After I say one th ing I’m grate ful fo r, I w ill rea d the news ( want).

If you wa nt to watch sports, but y ou nee d to m ake sal es cal ls:

1. After I get back f rom my lunch break, I wil l call three potent ial
clients ( need).

2. After I call three potent ial cl ients, I wil l check ESPN (want) .

If you wa nt to check Faceboo k, but you n eed to exerci se mor e:

1. After I pull out m y phone , I wi ll do ten bu rpees ( need).

2. After I do t en bur pees, I will check Facebo ok (wan t).

The hope is tha t even tually you’ll look forwar d to ca lling three

clients o r doin g ten burpees becau se it means you get to re ad the lates t

sports ne ws or check Faceboo k. Doi ng the thing you ne ed to do mea ns

you get t o do t he thi ng you want t o do.

We began this c hapter by dis cussin g supe rnorma l stimu li, wh ich ar e

heightene d vers ions o f reali ty tha t incr ease o ur desi re to take a ction.

Temptatio n bund ling i s one w ay to create a hei ghtened versi on of any

habit by connec ting i t with someth ing yo u alre ady wan t. Eng ineeri ng a

truly irr esisti ble ha bit is a hard task, but t his sim ple st rategy can b e

employed to mak e near ly any habit more a ttract ive tha n it w ould b e

otherwise .

Chapter S ummary

■ The 2nd Law o f Beha vior Ch ange i s make it at tractiv e.

■ The mor e attr active an opp ortuni ty is, the m ore lik ely it is to

become ha bit-fo rming.

■ Habits are a dopami ne-driv en fee dback loop. When do pamine

rises, so does our mo tivatio n to a ct.

■ It is t he ant icipat ion of a rewa rd—not the f ulfillm ent of it—th at

gets us t o take actio n. The greate r the antici pation, the g reater the

dopamine spike.

■ Temptat ion bu ndling is one way t o make your habits more

attractiv e. The strat egy is to pai r an a ction you wan t to d o with an

action yo u need to do .

The Role of Fam ily an d Frien ds in Shapin g

Your Habi ts

I n 1965, a Hun garian man na med La szlo P olgar wrote a serie s of

strange l etters to a woman n amed K lara.

Laszlo wa s a fi rm bel iever i n hard work. In fa ct, it was al l he

believed in: he compl etely r ejecte d the idea o f innat e tale nt. He

claimed t hat wi th del iberate pract ice an d the develop ment o f good

habits, a child could become a gen ius in any f ield. H is man tra wa s “A

genius is not b orn, b ut is e ducate d and traine d.”

Laszlo be lieved in th is idea so st rongly that he want ed to test i t with

his own c hildre n—and he was writin g to K lara b ecause he “ne eded a

wife will ing to jump on boar d.” Kl ara wa s a te acher a nd, al though she

may not h ave be en as adamant as La szlo, she al so beli eved t hat wi th

proper in struct ion, a nyone c ould a dvance their skills .

Laszlo de cided chess would b e a su itable field for th e expe riment ,

and he la id out a pla n to ra ise hi s chil dren t o becom e ches s prod igies.

The kids would be hom e-schoo led, a rarit y in H ungary at the time. The

house wou ld be filled with c hess b ooks a nd pic tures o f famo us che ss

players. The ch ildren would play a gainst each other c onstan tly an d

compete i n the best t ourname nts th ey cou ld fin d. The family would

keep a me ticulo us fil e syste m of t he tou rnamen t histo ry of every

competito r the childr en face d. The ir liv es wou ld be d edicat ed to chess.

Laszlo su ccessf ully c ourted Klara, and w ithin a few y ears, the

Polgars w ere pa rents to thre e youn g girl s: Sus an, Sof ia, an d Judi t.

Susan, th e olde st, be gan pla ying c hess w hen sh e was f our ye ars ol d.

Within si x mont hs, sh e was d efeati ng adu lts.

Sofia, th e midd le chi ld, did even better . By f ourteen , she was a world

champion, and a few y ears la ter, s he bec ame a grandma ster.

Judit, th e youn gest, was the best of all . By a ge five , she could beat

her fathe r. At twelve , she w as the young est pl ayer ev er l is ted am ong

the top o ne hun dred c hess pl ayers in the world . At fi fteen years and

four mont hs old , she became the yo ungest grand master of all time -

younger t han Bo bby Fi scher, the pr evious recor d holde r. For twent y -

seven yea rs, sh e was the num ber-on e-rank ed fem ale che ss pla yer in

the world .

The child hood o f the Polgar sister s was atypic al, to say th e leas t.

And yet, if you ask t hem abo ut it, they claim their l ifesty le was

attractiv e, eve n enjo yable. In int erview s, the sister s talk about their

childhood as en tertai ning ra ther t han gr ueling . They loved playin g

chess. Th ey cou ldn’t get eno ugh of it. O nce, L aszlo r eporte dly fo und

Sofia pla ying c hess i n the b athroo m in t he mid dle of the ni ght.

Encouragi ng her to go back t o slee p, he said, “Sofia, leave the p ieces

alone!” T o whic h she replied , “Dad dy, th ey won ’t leav e me a lone!”

The Polga r sist ers gr ew up i n a cu lture that p rioriti zed ch ess ab ove

all else— praise d them for it , rewa rded t hem fo r it. I n thei r worl d, an

obsession with chess was nor mal. A nd as we are about to see , what ever

habits ar e norm al in your cu lture are am ong th e most attrac tive

behaviors you’l l find .

THE SEDUC TIVE P ULL OF SOCIAL NORMS

Humans ar e herd anima ls. We want t o fit in, to bond w ith ot hers, and

to earn t he res pect a nd appr oval o f our peers. Such i nclina tions are

essential to ou r surv ival. F or mos t of o ur evo lutiona ry his tory, our

ancestors lived in tr ibes. B ecomin g sepa rated from th e trib e —or w orse,

being cas t out— was a death s entenc e. “Th e lone wolf d ies, b ut the pack

survives. ”*

Meanwhile , thos e who collabo rated and bo nded w ith oth ers en joyed

increased safet y, mat ing opp ortuni ties, and ac cess to resou rces. As

Charles D arwin noted, “In th e long histo ry of humanki nd, th ose wh o

learned t o coll aborat e and i mprovi se mos t effe ctively have prevai led.”

As a resu lt, on e of t he deep est hu man de sires is to b elong. And t his

ancient p refere nce ex erts a powerf ul inf luence on our moder n

behavior.

We don’t choose our e arliest habit s, we imitat e them. We fo llow t he

script ha nded d own by our fr iends and fa mily, our chu rch or schoo l,

our local commu nity a nd soci ety at large . Each of the se cul tures and

groups co mes wi th its own se t of e xpecta tions and sta ndards —when
and wheth er to get ma rried, how ma ny chi ldren to have , whic h

holidays to cel ebrate , how m uch mo ney to spend on you r chil d’s

birthday party. In ma ny ways , thes e soci al nor ms are the in visibl e rule s

that guid e your behav ior eac h day. You’r e alwa ys keep ing th em in

mind, eve n if t hey ar e at th e not top of your mind. O ften, you fo llow t he

habits of your cultur e witho ut thi nking, witho ut ques tionin g, and

sometimes witho ut rem emberin g. As the Fr ench p hi losop her Mi chel

de Montai gne wr ote, “ The cus toms a nd pra ctices of lif e in s ociety

sweep us along. ”

Most of t he tim e, goi ng alon g with the g roup d oes not feel like a

burden. E veryon e want s to be long. If you grow up in a famil y that

rewards y ou for your chess s kills, playi ng che ss will seem like a very

attractiv e thin g to d o. If y ou wor k in a job w here ev eryone wears

expensive suits , then you’ll be in clined to sp lurge o n one as wel l. If all

of your f riends are s haring an ins ide jo ke or using a new p h rase, you’l l

want to d o it, too, s o they know t hat yo u “get it.” B ehavio rs are

attractiv e when they help us fit i n.

We imitat e the habits of thr ee gro ups in parti cular:

1. The cl ose.

2. The ma ny.

3. The po werful .

Each grou p offe rs an opportu nity t o leve rage t he 2nd Law of

Behavior Change and m ake our habit s more attra ctive.

1. Imitat ing th e Clos e

Proximity has a power ful eff ect on our b ehavio r. This is tr ue of the
physical enviro nment, as we discus sed in Chapt er 6, b ut it is als o true

of the so cial e nviron ment.

We pick u p habi ts fro m the p eople around us. W e copy the wa y our

parents h andle argume nts, th e way our pe ers fl irt wit h one anothe r,

the way o ur cow orkers get re sults. When your f riends smoke pot, y ou

give it a try, too. W hen you r wife has a habit of dou ble -ch ecking that

the door is loc ked be fore go ing to bed, you pi ck it u p as w ell.

I find th at I o ften i mitate the be havior of th ose aro und me witho ut

realizing it. I n conv ersatio n, Ill autom atical ly assu me the body postur e

of the ot her pe rson. In coll ege, I began to ta lk like my ro ommate s.

When trav eling to oth er coun tries, I unc onscio usly im itate the lo cal

accent de spite remind ing mys elf to stop.

As a gene ral ru le, th e close r we a re to someon e, the more l ikely we

are to im itate some o f their habit s. One groun dbreak i ng stu dy tra cked

twelve th ousand peopl e for t hirty- two ye ars an d found that “a per son’s

chances o f beco ming o bese in crease d by 5 7 perc ent if he or she ha d a

friend wh o beca me obe se.” It works the o ther w ay, too . Anot her st udy

found tha t if o ne per son in a rela tionsh ip los t weigh t, the other partn er

would als o slim down about o ne thi rd of the ti me. Our frien ds and

family pr ovide a sort of inv isible peer pressu re that pulls us in their

direction .

Of course , peer press ure is bad on ly if you’re surrou nded b y bad

influence s. Whe n astr onaut M ike Ma ssimin o was a gradu ate st udent at

MIT, he t ook a small robotic s clas s. Of the te n peopl e in t he cla ss, fo ur

became as tronau ts. If your g oal wa s to m ake it into s pace, then t hat

room was about the be st cult ure yo u coul d ask for. Si milarl y, one study

found tha t the higher your b est fr iend’s IQ at age el even o r twel ve, th e
higher yo ur IQ would be at a ge fif teen, even a fter co ntroll ing fo r

natural l evels of int elligen ce. We soak up the qualit ies an d prac tices of

those aro und us .

One of th e most effec tive th ings y ou can do to build better habit s is

to join a cultu re whe re your desir ed beh avior is the normal behav ior.

New habit s seem achie vable w hen yo u see others doing them e very

day. If y ou are surro unded b y fit people , you’ re more likel y to c onside r

working o ut to be a c ommon h abit. If you ’re su rrounde d by j azz lo vers,

you’re mo re lik ely to believ e it’s reaso nable to play jazz every day. Y our

culture s ets yo ur exp ectatio n for what i s “nor mal.” S urroun d your self

with peop le who have the hab its yo u want to ha ve your self. You’ll rise

together.

To make y our ha bits e ven mor e attr active , you can tak e this strat egy

one step furthe r.

Join a cu lture where (1) you r desi red be havior is the norma l

behavior and (2 ) you already have someth ing in common with the

group. St eve Ka mb, an entrep reneur in Ne w York City, runs a compa ny

called Ne rd Fit ness, which “ helps nerds, misfi ts, and mutan ts los e

weight, g et str ong, a nd get health y.” Hi s clie nts inc lude v ideo g ame

lovers, m ovie f anatic s, and averag e Joes who w ant to get in shape .

Many peop le fee l out of plac e the first time t hey go to the gym o r try to

change th eir di et, bu t if yo u are alread y simi lar to the ot her me mbers

of the gr oup in some way—say , your mutua l love of Sta r Wars — chan ge

becomes m ore ap pealin g becau se it feels like s omethin g peop le lik e

you alrea dy do.

Nothing s ustain s moti vation better than belong ing to the tr ibe. I t

transform s a pe rsonal quest into a share d one. Previo usly, you we re on

your own. Your identi ty was singul ar. Yo u are a reade r. You are a
musician. You a re an athlete . When you j oin a book cl ub or a band or a

cycling g roup, your i dentity becom es lin ked to those around you.

Growth an d chan ge is no long er an indivi dual p ursuit. We ar e read ers.

We are mu sician s. We are cyc lists. The s hared identit y begi ns to

reinforce your person al iden tity. This i s why remaini ng par t of a group

after ach ieving a goa l is cr ucial to mai ntaini ng your habit s. It’ s

friendshi p and commun ity tha t embe d a ne w iden tity an d help

behaviors last over t he long run.

2. Imitat ing th e Many

In the 19 50s, p sychol ogist S olomon Asch conduc ted a s eries of

experimen ts tha t are now tau ght to legio ns of undergr ads ea ch yea r. To

begin eac h expe riment , the s ubject enter ed the room w ith a group of

strangers . Unbe knowns t to th em, th e othe r part icipant s were actor s

planted b y the resear cher an d inst ructed to de liver s cripte d answ ers to

certain q uestio ns.

The group would be sh own one card with a line on it a nd the n a

second ca rd wit h a se ries of lines . Each perso n was a sked t o sele ct the

line on t he sec ond ca rd that was s imilar in le ngth to the l ine on the f irst

card. It was a very s imple t ask. H ere is an ex ample o f two cards used i n

the exper iment:

CONFORMIN G TO S OCIAL NORMS

ABC

FIGURE 10 : This is a represe ntatio n of t wo car ds used by So lomon Asch i n

his famou s soci al con formity exper iments . The length of the line on the first

card (lef t) is obviou sly the same as lin e C, b ut when a gro up of actors

claimed i t was a diff erent l ength the re search subjec ts wou ld oft en cha nge

their min ds and go wi th the crowd rather than believe their own e yes.

The exper iment always began the sa me. Fi rst, t here wo uld be some

easy tria ls whe re eve ryone a greed on the corre ct line . Afte r a fe w

rounds, t he par ticipa nts wer e show n a te st tha t was j ust as obvio us as

the previ ous on es, ex cept th e acto rs in the ro om woul d sele ct an

intention ally i ncorre ct answ er. Fo r exam ple, t hey wou ld res pond “ A”

to the co mparis on sho wn in F igure 10. Ev eryone wo uld agree that t he

lines wer e the same e ven tho ugh th ey wer e clea rly dif ferent .

The subje ct, wh o was unaware of th e ruse , woul d immed iately

become be wilder ed. Th eir eye s woul d open wide. They w ould l augh

nervously to th emselv es. The y woul d doub le-che ck the reacti ons of

other par ticipa nts. T heir ag itatio n woul d grow as one perso n afte r

another d eliver ed the same i ncorre ct res ponse. Soon, the su bject began

to doubt their own ey es. Eve ntuall y, the y deli vered t he ans wer th ey

knew in t heir h eart t o be in correc t.

Asch ran this e xperim ent man y time s and in man y diffe rent w ays.

What he d iscove red wa s that as the numbe r of a ctors i ncreas ed, so did

the confo rmity of the subjec t. If it was just the sub ject a nd one actor ,

then ther e was no eff ect on the pe rson’s choic e. They just assume d they

were in t he roo m with a dumm y. Whe n two actors were i n the room
with the subjec t, the re was still little impac t. But as the numbe r of

people in crease d to t hree ac tors a nd fou r and all the way t o eigh t, the

subject b ecame more l ikely t o seco nd-gue ss the mselves . By t he end of

the exper iment, nearl y 75 pe rcent of the subje cts had agree d with the

group ans wer ev en tho ugh it was ob viousl y inco rrect.

Whenever we are unsur e how t o act, we lo ok to the gro up to guide

our behav ior. W e are constan tly sc anning our e nvironm ent an d

wondering , “Wha t is e veryone else doing? ” We c heck re views on

Amazon or Yelp or Tri pAdviso r beca use we want to imit ate th e “bes t”

buying, e ating, and t ravel h abits. It’s usuall y a sma rt str ategy. There is

evidence in num bers.

But there can b e a do wnside.

The norma l beha vior o f the t ribe o ften o verpow ers the desir ed

behavior of the indiv idual. For ex ample, one s tudy fo und th at whe n a

chimpanze e lear ns an effecti ve way to cr ack nu ts open as a member of

one group and t hen sw itches to a n ew gro up tha t uses a less effec tive

strategy, it wi ll avo id usin g the superi or nut cracki ng met hod ju st to

blend in with t he res t of th e chim ps.

Humans ar e simi lar. T here is treme ndous intern al pres sure t o

comply wi th the norms of the group . The reward of bei ng acc epted is

often gre ater t han th e rewar d of w inning an ar gument, looki ng sma rt,

or findin g trut h. Mos t days, we’d rather be wr ong wit h the crowd than

be right by our selves .

The human mind knows how to get al ong wi th oth ers. It wants to

get along with others . This is our natur al mod e. You can ov erride it —

you can c hoose to ign ore the group or to stop caring what o ther p eople

think—but it ta kes wo rk. Run ning a gainst the g rai n of your cultur e

requires extra effort .

When chan ging y our ha bits me ans ch alleng ing th e tribe , chan ge is

unattract ive. W hen ch anging your h abits means fitting in wi th the

tribe, ch ange i s very attrac tive.

3. Imitat ing th e Powe rful

Humans ev erywhe re pur sue pow er, pr estige , and status. We wa nt pin s

and medal lions on our jacket s. We want P reside nt or P artner in ou r

titles. W e want to be acknow ledged , reco gnized , and p raised . This

tendency can se em vai n, but overal l, it’ s a sm art mov e. His torica lly, a

person wi th gre ater p ower an d stat us has acces s to mo re res ources ,

worries l ess ab out su rvival, and p roves to be a more attrac tive m ate.

We are dr awn to behav iors th at ear n us r espect , appro val,

admiratio n, and statu s. We w ant to be th e one in the gym wh o can do

muscle-up s or t he mus ician w ho can play the ha rdest c hord

progressi ons or the p arent w ith th e most accom plished child ren

because t hese t hings separat e us f rom th e crow d. Once we fi t in, we

start loo king f or way s to st and ou t.

This is o ne rea son we care s o much about the h abits o f high ly

effective peopl e. We try to copy t he beh avior of succ essful peopl e

because w e desi re suc cess ou rselve s. Man y of o ur dail y habi ts are

imitation s of p eople we admi re. Yo u repl icate the mar keting strat egies

of the mo st suc cessfu l firms in yo ur ind ustry. You ma ke a r ecipe from

your favo rite b aker. You bor row th e stor ytelli ng stra tegies of yo ur

favorite writer . You mimic t he com munica tion s tyle of your boss. We

imitate p eople we env y.

High-stat us peo ple en joy the appro val, r espect , and p raise of oth ers.

And that means if a b ehavior can g et us approv al, res pect, and pr aise,

we find i t attr active .

We are al so mot ivated to avo id beh aviors that would l ower o ur

status. W e trim our h edges a nd mow our l awn be cause w e don’ t want

to be the slob of the neighb orhood . When our m other c omes t o visi t,

we clean up the house becaus e we d on’t w ant to be jud ged. W e are

continual ly won dering “What will o thers think of me?” and a lterin g

our behav ior ba sed on the an swer.

The Polga r sist ers—th e chess prodi gies m ention ed at t he beg inning

of this c hapter —are e vidence of th e powe rful a nd last ing im pact s ocial

influence s can have o n our b ehavio r. The siste rs prac ticed chess for

many hour s each day a nd cont inued this r emarka ble eff ort fo r deca des.

But these habit s and behavio rs mai ntaine d thei r attra ctiven ess, i n part ,

because t hey we re val ued by their cultur e. Fro m the p raise of the ir

parents t o the achiev ement o f diff erent status marker s like becom ing a

grandmast er, th ey had many r easons to co ntinue their effort .

Chapter S ummary

■ The cul ture w e live in det ermine s whic h beha viors a re att ractiv e

to us.

■ We tend to ad opt ha bits th at are prais ed and approv ed of by our

culture b ecause we ha ve a st rong d esire to fit in and belon g to t he

tribe.

■ We tend to im itate the hab its of three socia l group s: the close

(family a nd fri ends), the ma ny (th e trib e), an d the p owerfu l (tho se

with stat us and prest ige).

■ One of the mo st eff ective things you c an do to buil d bett er hab its
is to joi n a cu lture where ( 1) you r desi red be havior is the norma l

behavior and (2 ) you already have someth ing in common with the

group.

■ The nor mal be havior of the tribe often overp owers t he des ired

behavior of the indiv idual. Most d ays, w e’d ra ther be wrong with

the crowd than be rig ht by o urselv es.

■ If a be havior can g et us a pprova l, res pect, and pra ise, w e find it

attractiv e.

10

How to Fi nd and Fix t he Caus es of Your

Bad Habit s

I n late 2012,1 was s itting in an old ap artmen t just a few blocks from

Istanbul’ s most famou s stree t, Ist iklal Caddes i. I wa s in t he mid dle of

a four-da y trip to Tu rkey an d my g uide, Mike, was rel axing in a w orn -

out armch air a few fe et away .

Mike wasn ’t rea lly a guide. He was just a guy from Ma ine wh o had

been livi ng in Turkey for fi ve yea rs, bu t he o ffered to sho w me a round

while I w as vis iting the cou ntry a nd I t ook hi m up on it. O n this

particula r nigh t, I h ad been invit ed to dinner with h im and a han dful o f

his Turki sh fri ends.

There wer e seve n of u s, and I was the on ly one who ha dn’t, at som e

point, sm oked a t leas t one p ack of cigar ettes per day . I as ked on e of t he
Turks how he go t star ted. “F riends ,” he said. “It alw ays st arts w ith yo ur

friends. One fr iend s mokes, then y ou try it.”

What was truly fascin ating w as tha t half of th e peopl e in t he roo m

had manag ed to quit s moking. Mike had be en smo ke -free for a few

years at that p oint, and he swore up and down that he broke the h abit

because o f a bo ok cal led All en Car r’s Ea sy Way to Sto p Smok ing.

“It frees you f rom th e menta l burd en of smokin g,” he said. “It te lls

you: ‘Sto p lyin g to y ourself . You know y ou don ’t actu ally w ant to

smoke. Yo u know you d on’t re ally e njoy t his.’ It help s you feel l ike

you’re no t the victim anymor e. You start to re alize t hat yo u don’ t need

to smoke. ”

I had nev er tri ed a c igarett e, but I too k a lo ok at t he boo k afte rward

out of cu riosit y. The author emplo ys an intere sting s trateg y to h elp

smokers e limina te the ir crav ings. He sys temati cally r eframe s each cue

associate d with smoki ng and gives it a n ew mea ning.

He says t hings like:

■ You thi nk you are q uitting somet hing, but yo u’re no t quit ting

anything becaus e ciga rettes do not hing f or you .

■ You thi nk smo king i s somet hing y ou nee d to d o to be socia l, but

it’s not. You c an be social withou t smok ing at all.

■ You thi nk smo king i s about relie ving s tress, but it ’s not . Smok ing

does not reliev e your nerves , it d estroy s them .

Over and over, he rep eats th ese ph rases and ot hers li ke the m. “Ge t

it clearl y into your mind,” he say s. “Yo u are losing nothin g and you ar e
making ma rvelou s posi tive ga ins no t only in he alth, e nergy and mo ney

but also in con fidenc e, self -respe ct, fr eedom and, mo st imp ortant of

all, in t he len gth an d quali ty of your f uture life.”

By the ti me you get t o the e nd of the bo ok, sm oking s eems l ike th e

most ridi culous thing in the world to do . And if you no lon ger ex pect

smoking t o brin g you any ben efits, you h ave no reason to sm oke. I t is

an invers ion of the 2 nd Law of Beh avior Change : make it una ttract ive.

Now, I kn ow thi s idea might sound overly simpl istic. Just c hange your

mind and you ca n quit smokin g. But stick with me for a minu te.

WHERE CRA VINGS COME F ROM

Every beh avior has a surface level cravi ng and a deep er, un derlyi ng

motive. I often have a cravi ng tha t goes somet hing li ke thi s: “I want t o

eat tacos .” If you we re to a sk me why I want t o eat t acos, I woul dn’t

say, “Bec ause I need food to survi ve.” B ut the truth is, so mewher e deep

down, I a m moti vated to eat tacos becaus e I ha ve to e at to surviv e. The

underlyin g moti ve is to obta in foo d and water even if my sp ecific

craving i s for a taco .

Some of o ur und erlyin g motiv es inc lude:*

■ Conserv e ener gy

■ Obtain food a nd wat er

■ Find lo ve and repro duce

■ Connect and b ond wi th othe rs

■ Win soc ial ac ceptan ce and approv al

■ Reduce uncert ainty

■ Achieve statu s and prestig e

A craving is ju st a s pecific manif estati on of a deepe r unde rlying

motive. Y our br ain di d not e volve with a desir e to sm oke ci garett es or

to check Instag ram or to pla y vide o game s. At a deep level, you s imply

want to r educe uncert ainty a nd rel ieve a nxiety , to wi n soci al

acceptanc e and approv al, or to ach ieve s tatus.

Look at n early any pr oduct t hat is habit -formi ng and you’ll see t hat

it does n ot cre ate a new mot ivatio n, but rathe r latch es ont o the

underlyin g moti ves of human nature .

■ Find lo ve and repro duce = using Tinder

■ Connect and b ond wi th othe rs = b rowsin g Face book

■ Win soc ial ac ceptan ce and approv al = p osting on Ins tagram

■ Reduce uncert ainty = searc hing o n Goog le

■ Achieve statu s and prestig e = pl aying video games

Your habi ts are moder n-day s olutio ns to ancien t desir es. Ne w

versions of old vices . The u nderly ing mo tives behind human behavi or

remain th e same . The specifi c habi ts we perfor m diffe r base d on t he

period of histo ry.

Here’s th e powe rful p art: th ere ar e many diffe rent wa ys to addres s

the same underl ying m otive. One pe rson m ight l earn to reduc e stre ss

by smokin g a ci garett e. Anot her pe rson l earns to ease their anxie ty by

going for a run . Your curren t habi ts are not n ecessar ily th e best way t o

solve the probl ems yo u face; they are ju st the method s you learne d to

use. Once you a ssocia te a so lution with the pr oblem y ou nee d to s olv e,

you keep coming back to it.

Habits ar e all about associa tions. These assoc iations deter mine

whether w e pred ict a habit t o be w orth r epeati ng or n ot. As we co vered

in our di scussi on of the 1st Law, your b rain i s conti nually absor bing

informati on and notic ing cue s in t he env ironme nt. Eve ry tim e you

perceive a cue, your brain r uns a simula tion a nd make s a pr edicti on

about wha t to d o in t he next momen t.

Cue: You notice that the sto ve is hot.

Predictio n: If I touc h it II I get burned , so I should avoid touch ing it .

Cue: You see th at the traffi c ligh t turn ed gre en.

Predictio n: If I step on the gas, III ma ke it safely throug h the

intersect ion an d get closer to my destin ation, so I s hould step o n the

gas.

You see a cue, catego rize it based on pa st exp erience , and determ ine

the appro priate respo nse.

This all happen s in a n insta nt, bu t it p lays a crucia l role in yo ur

habits be cause every action is pre ceded by a p redicti on. Li fe fee ls

reactive, but i t is a ctually predi ctive. All d ay long , you are ma king y our

best gues s of h ow to act giv en wha t you’ ve jus t seen and wh at has

worked fo r you in the past. You ar e endl essly predict ing wh at wil l

happen in the n ext mo ment.

Our behav ior is heavi ly depe ndent on the se pre diction s. Put anoth er

way, our behavi or is heavily depen dent o n how we inte rpret the ev ents

that happ en to us, no t neces sarily the o bjecti ve real ity of the e vents

themselve s. Two peopl e can l ook at the s ame ci garette , and one fe els

the urge to smo ke whi le the other is rep ulsed by the smell. The s ame

cue can s park a good habit o r a ba d habi t depe nding o n your

predictio n. The cause of you r habi ts is actual ly the predic tion t hat

precedes them.

These pre dictio ns lea d to fe elings , whic h is h ow we t ypical ly

describe a crav ing—a feeling , a de sire, an urg e. Feel ings a nd emo tions

transform the c ues we percei ve and the p redict ions we make into a

signal th at we can ap ply. Th ey hel p expl ain wh at we a re cur rently

sensing. For in stance , wheth er or not yo u real ize it, you a re not icing

how warm or col d you feel ri ght no w. If the te mperatu re dro ps by one

degree, y ou pro bably won’t d o anyt hing. If the temper ature drops ten

degrees, howeve r, you ’ll fee l cold and p ut on another layer of cl othing .

Feeling c old wa s the signal that p rompte d you to act. You h ave be en

sensing t he cue s the entire time, but it is on ly when you p redict that

you would be be tter o ff in a diffe rent s tate t hat you take action .

A craving is th e sens e that someth ing is missi ng. It is the desir e to

change yo ur int ernal state. When t he tem peratu re fall s, the re is a gap

between w hat yo ur bod y is cu rrentl y sens ing an d what it wan ts to be

sensing. This g ap bet ween yo ur cur rent s tate a nd your desir ed sta te

provides a reas on to act.

Desire is the d iffere nce bet ween w here y ou are now an d wher e you

want to b e in t he fut ure. Ev en the tinie st act ion is tinged with the

motivatio n to f eel di fferent ly tha n you do in the mom ent. W hen yo u

binge-eat or li ght up or bro wse so cial m edia, what yo u real ly wan t is

not a pot ato ch ip or a cigar ette o r a bu nch of likes. What you re ally

want is t o feel diffe rent.

Our feeli ngs an d emot ions te ll us whethe r to h old ste ady in our

current s tate o r to m ake a c hange. They help u s decid e the best c ourse

of action . Neur ologis ts have disco vered that w hen emo tions and

feelings are im paired , we ac tually lose the ab ility t o make decis ions.

We have n o sign al of what to pursu e and what t o avoid . As t he

neuroscie ntist Antoni o Damas io exp lains, “It i s emoti on tha t allo ws

you to ma rk thi ngs as good, bad, o r indi fferen t.”

To summar ize, t he spe cific c raving s you feel a nd habi ts you perfo rm

are reall y an a ttempt to add ress y our fu ndamen tal und erlyin g moti ves.

Whenever a habi t succ essfull y addr esses a moti ve, you devel op a

craving t o do i t agai n. In t ime, y ou lea rn to pred ict that checki ng soc ial

media wil l help you f eel lov ed or that w atchin g YouTu be wil l allo w you

to forget your fears. Habits are a ttract ive wh en we a ssocia te the m with

positive feelin gs, an d we ca n use this i nsight to our advan tage r ather

than to o ur det riment .

HOW TO RE PROGRA M YOUR BRAIN TO ENJ OY HAR D HABI TS

You can m ake ha rd hab its mor e attr active if yo u can l earn t o asso ciate

them with a pos itive experie nce. S ometim es, al l you n eed is a sli ght

mind-set shift. For i nstance , we o ften t alk ab out eve rythin g we h ave to

do in a g iven d ay. Yo u have to wak e up e arly f or work . You have t o

make anot her sa les ca ll for your b usines s. You have t o cook dinne r for

your fami ly.

Now, imag ine ch anging just o ne wor d: You don’t “have” to. Y ou

“get” to.
You get t o wake up ea rly for work. You g et to make an other sales

call for your b usines s. You get to cook dinner for yo ur fam ily. B y

simply ch anging one w ord, yo u shif t the way yo u view each e vent. You

transitio n from seein g these behav iors a s burd ens and turn them i nto

opportuni ties.

The key p oint i s that both v ersion s of r eality are tr ue. Yo u have to

do those things , and you als o get to do them. We can find e videnc e for

whatever mind-s et we choose.

I once he ard a story about a man w ho use s a wh eelchai r. Whe n

asked if it was diffi cult be ing co nfined , he r esponde d, “I’ m not confin ed

to my whe elchai r—I am libera ted by it. I f it w asn’t f or my wheelc hair, I

would be bed-bo und an d never able to lea ve my house.” This shift in

perspecti ve com pletel y trans formed how h e live d each day.

Reframing your habits to hig hlight their benef its rat her th an the ir

drawbacks is a fast a nd ligh tweigh t way to rep rogram your m ind an d

make a ha bit se em mor e attra ctive.

Exercise. Many people associ ate ex ercise with being a chall enging

task that drain s ener gy and wears you do wn. Yo u can j ust as easil y

view it a s a wa y to d evelop skills and b uild y ou up. Instea d of t elling

yourself “I nee d to g o run i n the mornin g,” sa y “It’s time to bui ld

endurance and g et fas t.”

Finance. Saving money is oft en ass ociate d with sacrif ice. H owever ,

you can a ssocia te it with fr eedom rather than limitat ion if you r ealize

one simpl e trut h: liv ing bel ow you r curr ent me ans inc reases your

future me ans. T he mon ey you save t his mo nth in creases your

purchasin g powe r next month.

Meditatio n. Any one wh o has t ried m editat ion fo r more than t hree

seconds k nows h ow fru stratin g it c an be when t he next distr action

inevitabl y pops into your mi nd. Yo u can transf orm fru strati on int o

delight w hen yo u real ize tha t each inter ruptio n gives yo u a chanc e to

practice return ing to your b reath. Distr action is a g ood th ing be cause

you need distra ctions to pra ctice medita tion.

Pregame j itters . Many people feel anxiou s befo re deli vering a big

presentat ion or compe ting in an im portan t even t. They exper ience

quicker b reathi ng, a faster heart rate, height ened ar ousal. If we

interpret these feeli ngs neg ativel y, the n we f eel thr eatene d and tense

up. If we inter pret t hese fe elings posit ively, then w e can respon d with

fluidity and gr ace. Y ou can refram e “I a m nerv ous” to “I am excit ed

and I’m g etting an ad renalin e rush to he lp me concent rate.”

These lit tle mi nd-set shifts aren’ t magi c, but they c an hel p chan ge

the feeli ngs yo u asso ciate w ith a partic ular h abit or situa tion.

If you wa nt to take i t a ste p furt her, y ou can create a mot ivatio n

ritual. Y ou sim ply pr actice associ ating your h abits w ith so methin g you

enjoy, th en you can u se that cue w heneve r you nee d a bit of

motivatio n. For insta nce, if you a lways play t he same song before

having se x, the n you’ ll begi n to l ink th e musi c with the ac t. Whe never

you want to get in th e mood, just press play.

Ed Latimo re, a boxer and wri ter fr om Pit tsburg h, bene fited from a

similar s trateg y with out kno wing i t. “Od d real ization ,” he wrote. “My

focus and conce ntrati on goes up ju st by puttin g my he adphon es [on ]

while wri ting. I don’ t even have t o play any m usic .” Withou t real izing

it, he wa s cond itioni ng hims elf. I n the beginn ing, he put h is

headphone s on, played some m usic h e enjo yed, a nd did focuse d work .
After doi ng it five, ten, tw enty t imes, puttin g his h eadpho nes on

became a cue th at he automat ically assoc iated with in crease d focu s.

The cravi ng fol lowed natural ly.

Athletes use si milar strateg ies to get t hemsel ves in the mi nd -set to

perform. During my ba seball career , I de velope d a spe cific ritual of

stretchin g and throwi ng befo re eac h game . The whole s equenc e took

about ten minut es, an d I did it th e same way e very si ngle t ime. W hile i t

physicall y warm ed me up to p lay, m ore im portan tly, it put m e in t he

right men tal st ate. I began to ass ociate my pr egame r itual with f eeling

competiti ve and focus ed. Eve n if I wasn’ t moti vated b eforeh and, b y the

time I wa s done with my ritu al, I was in “game mode.”

You can a dapt t his st rategy for ne arly a ny pur pose. S ay you want to

feel happ ier in gener al. Fin d some thing that m akes yo u trul y happ y -

like pett ing yo ur dog or tak ing a bubble bath— and the n crea te a s hort

routine t hat yo u perf orm eve ry tim e befo re you do the thing you l ove.

Maybe you take three deep br eaths and sm ile.

Three dee p brea ths. S mile. P et the dog. Repeat .

Eventuall y, you ’ll be gin to associ ate th is bre athe -an d-smil e rout ine

with bein g in a good mood. I t beco mes a cue th at mean s feel ing ha ppy.

Once esta blishe d, you can br eak it out a nytime you ne ed to change

your emot ional state. Stress ed at work? Take t hree de ep bre aths a nd

smile. Sa d abou t life ? Three deep breath s and smile. Once a habit has

been buil t, the cue c an prom pt a c raving , even if it has li ttle t o do w ith

the origi nal si tuatio n.

The key t o find ing an d fixin g the causes of yo ur bad habits is to

reframe t he ass ociati ons you have about them. It’s no t easy , but if you
can repro gram y our pr edictio ns, yo u can transf orm a h ard ha bit in to

an attrac tive o ne.

Chapter S ummary

■ The inv ersion of th e 2nd L aw of Behavi or Cha nge is make i t

unattract ive.

■ Every b ehavio r has a surfa ce lev el cra ving a nd a de eper

underlyin g moti ve.

■ Your ha bits a re mod ern-day solut ions t o anci ent des ires.

■ The cau se of your h abits i s actu ally t he pre diction that preced es

them. The predi ction leads t o a fe eling.

■ Highlig ht the benef its of avoidi ng a b ad hab it to m ake it seem

unattract ive.

■ Habits are at tracti ve when we as sociat e them with p ositiv e

feelings and un attrac tive wh en we associ ate th em with negat ive

feelings. Creat e a mo tivatio n ritu al by doing so methi ng you enjoy

immediate ly bef ore a difficu lt hab it.

HOW TO CR EATE A GOOD HABIT

| |

The 1st L aw: Ma ke It Obvious

1.1: Fill out t he Hab its Sco recard . Writ e down your c urrent habit s to b ecome a ware o f them .

1.2: Use implem entati on inte ntions : “I w ill [B EHAVIOR ] at [ TIME] in [LO CATION] .”
1.3: Use habit stacki ng: “Af ter [C URRENT HABIT ], I wi ll [NE W HABI T].”

1.4: Desi gn you r envi ronment . Make the c ues of good h abits obviou s and visible .

The 2nd L aw: Ma ke It Attract ive

2.1: Use tempta tion b undling . Pair an ac tion y ou want to do with an act ion you need to do.

2.2: Join a cul ture w here yo ur des ired b ehavio r is th e norm al beh avior.

2.3: Crea te a m otivat ion rit ual. D o some thing you enj oy imm ediate ly bef ore a d ifficu lt hab i

t.

The 3rd L aw: Ma ke It Easy

The 4th L aw: Ma ke It Satisfy ing

HOW TO BR EAK A BAD HA BIT

Inversion of th e 1st Law: Ma ke It Invisi ble

1.5: Redu ce exp osure. Remove the c ues of your bad hab its fr om you r envi ronment .

Inversion of th e 2nd Law: Ma ke It Unattr active

2.4: Refr ame yo ur min d-set. Highli ght th e bene fits of avoid ing yo ur bad habits .

Inversion of th e 3rd Law: Ma ke It Diffic ult

Inversion of th e 4th Law: Ma ke It Unsati sfying

You can d ownloa d a pr intable versi on of this h abits c heat s heet a t:

atomichab its.co m/chea tsheet

THE 3RD L AW
Make It E asy

11

Walk Slow ly, bu t Neve r Backw ard

O n the f irst d ay of class, Jerry Uelsma nn, a profess or at the

Universit y of F lorida , divid ed his film photog raphy s tudent s into

two group s.

Everyone on the left side of the c lassro om, he explai ned, w ould b e in

the “quan tity” group. They w ould b e grad ed sol ely on the am ount o f

work they produ ced. O n the f inal d ay of class, he wou ld tal ly the

number of photo s subm itted b y each stude nt. On e hundr ed pho tos

would rat e an A , nine ty phot os a B , eigh ty pho tos a C , and so on.

Meanwhile , ever yone o n the r ight s ide of the r oom wou ld be in the

“quality” group . They would be gra ded on ly on the exc ellenc e of t heir

work. The y woul d only need t o prod uce on e phot o durin g the semest er,

but to ge t an A , it h ad to b e a ne arly p erfect image.

At the en d of t he ter m, he w as sur prised to fi nd that all t he bes t

photos we re pro duced by the quanti ty gro up. Du ring th e seme ster,

these stu dents were b usy tak ing ph otos, experi menting with

compositi on and light ing, te sting out va rious methods in th e

darkroom, and l earnin g from their mistak es. In the pr ocess of cre ating

hundreds of pho tos, t hey hon ed the ir ski lls. M eanwhil e, the quali ty

group sat aroun d spec ulating about perfe ction. In the end, they h ad

little to show for th eir eff orts o ther t han un verifie d theo ries a nd one
mediocre photo. *

It is eas y to g et bog ged dow n tryi ng to find t he opti mal pl an for

change: t he fas test w ay to l ose we ight, the be st prog ram to build

muscle, t he per fect i dea for a sid e hust le. We are so focus ed on figuri ng

out the b est ap proach that w e neve r get around to tak ing ac tion. As

Voltaire once w rote, “The be st is the en emy of the go od.”

I refer t o this as th e diffe rence betwee n bein g in mo tion a nd tak ing

action. T he two ideas sound simila r, but they’ re not the sa me. Wh en

you’re in motio n, you ’re pla nning and st rategi zing an d lear ning. Those

are all g ood th ings, but the y don’ t prod uce a result.

Action, o n the other hand, i s the type o f beha vior th a t wil l deli ver an

outcome. If I o utline twenty ideas for a rticle s I wan t to w rite, that’s

motion. I f I ac tually sit do wn and write an ar ticle, that’s actio n. If I

search fo r a be tter d iet pla n and read a few b ooks on the t opic, that’s

motion. I f I ac tually eat a health y meal , that ’s acti on.

Sometimes motio n is u seful, but it will never produce an ou tcome

by itself . It d oesn’t matter how m any ti mes yo u go ta lk to the pe rsonal

trainer, that m otion will ne ver ge t you in sha pe. Onl y the action of

working o ut wil l get the res ult yo u’re l ooking to ach ieve.

If motion doesn ’t lea d to re sults, why d o we d o it? S ometim es we do

it becaus e we a ctuall y need to pla n or l earn m ore. Bu t more often than

not, we d o it b ecause motion allow s us t o feel like w e’re m aking

progress withou t runn ing the risk of fai lure. Most of us ar e expe rts at

avoiding critic ism. I t doesn ’t fee l good to fa il or t o be j udged public ly,

so we ten d to a void s ituatio ns whe re tha t migh t happe n. And that’ s the

biggest r eason why yo u slip into m otion rather than t aking action : you

want to d elay f ailure .

It’s easy to be in mo tion an d conv ince y oursel f that you’re still

making pr ogress . You think, “I’ve got co nversa tions g oing w ith fo ur

potential clien ts rig ht now. This is goo d. We’ re movi ng in the ri ght

direction .” Or, “I br ainstor med so me ide as for that b ook I want t o

write. Th is is coming togeth er.”

Motion ma kes yo u feel like y ou’re gettin g thin gs done . But really ,

you’re ju st pre paring to get somet hing d one. W hen pre parati on

becomes a form of pro crastin ation, you n eed to change somet hing. You

don’t wan t to m erely be plan ning. You wa nt to be prac ticing .

If you wa nt to master a habi t, the key i s to s tart wi th rep etitio n, not

perfectio n. You don’t need t o map out ev ery fe ature o f a ne w habi t. You

just need to pr actice it. Th is is the fi rst ta keaway of the 3rd L aw: yo u

just need to ge t your reps i n.

HOW LONG DOES I T ACTU ALLY TA KE TO FORM A NEW H ABIT?

Habit for mation is th e proce ss by which a beha vior be comes

progressi vely m ore au tomatic throu gh rep etitio n. The more y ou rep eat

an activi ty, th e more the st ructur e of y our br ain cha nges t o beco me

efficient at th at act ivity. Neuros cienti sts ca ll this long - term

potentiat ion, w hich r efers t o the streng thenin g of co nnecti ons be tween

neurons i n the brain based o n rece nt pat terns of a cti vity. With e ach

repetitio n, cel l-to-c ell sig naling impro ves an d the n eural connec tions

tighten. First descri bed by neurop sychol ogist Donald Hebb i n 1949 ,

this phen omenon is co mmonly known as Heb b’s La w: “Neu rons t hat

fire toge ther w ire to gether. ”

Repeating a hab it lea ds to c lear p hysica l chan ges in the br ain. I n

musicians , the cerebe llum—cr itical for p hysica l movem ents l ike
plucking a guit ar str ing or pullin g a vi olin b ow —is l arger than i t is i n

nonmusici ans. M athema ticians , mean while, have increas ed gra y

matter in the i nferio r parie tal lo bule, which plays a key r ole in

computati on and calcu lation. Its s ize is direc tly cor relate d with the

amount of time spent in the field; the o lder a nd more exper ienced the

mathemati cian, the gr eater t he inc rease in gra y matte r.

When scie ntists analy zed the brain s of t axi dr ivers i n Lond on, th ey

found tha t the hippoc ampus—a regio n of t he bra in invo lved i n spat ial

memory—wa s sign ifican tly lar ger in their subje cts tha n in n on -tax i

drivers. Even m ore fa scinati ng, th e hipp ocampu s d ecre ased i n size

when a dr iver r etired . Like the mu scles of the body r espond ing to

regular w eight traini ng, par ticula r regi ons of the br ain ad apt as they

are used and at rophy as they are a bandon ed.

Of course , the import ance of repet ition in est ablishi ng hab its wa s

recognize d long befor e neuro scient ists b egan p oking a round. In i8 60,

the Engli sh phi losoph er Geor ge H. Lewes noted, “In le arning to sp eak

a new lan guage, to pl ay on a music al ins trumen t, or t o perf orm

unaccusto med mo vement s, grea t diff iculty is fe lt, bec ause t he cha nnels

through w hich e ach se nsation has t o pass have not bec ome

establish ed; bu t no s ooner h as fre quent repeti tion cu t a pa thway, than

this diff iculty vanis hes; th e acti ons be come s o autom atic t hat th ey can

be perfor med wh ile th e mind is oth erwise engag ed.” Bo th com mon

sense and scien tific evidenc e agre e: rep etitio n is a form o f chan ge.

Each time you r epeat an acti on, yo u are activa ting a partic ular

neural ci rcuit associ ated wi th tha t habi t. Thi s means that simply

putting i n your reps is one of the most critic al step s you can ta ke to

encoding a new habit. It is why th e stud ents w ho took tons of pho tos

improved their skills while those who me rely t heorize d abou t perf ect
photos di d not. One g roup en gaged in act ive pr actice, the o ther i n

passive l earnin g. One in act ion, t he oth er in motion.

All habit s foll ow a s imilar trajec tory f rom ef fortful pract ice to

automatic behav ior, a proces s know n as a utomad city . Automa ticity is

the abili ty to perfor m a beh avior withou t thin king ab out ea ch ste p,

which occ urs wh en the noncon scious mind takes over.

It looks someth ing li ke this :

THE HABIT LINE

FIGURE 11 : In t he beg inning (point A), a habit requir es a g ood de al of effort

and conce ntrati on to perform . Afte r a fe w repe titions (poin t B), it get s easie r,

but still requi res so me cons cious attent ion. W ith eno ugh pr actice (poin t C),

the habit becom es mor e autom atic t han co nsciou s. Beyo nd thi s thre shold

—the habi t line —the behavio r can be don e more or les s with out th inking . A

new habit has b een fo rmed.

On the fo llowin g page , you’l l see what i t look s like when r esearc hers

track the level of au tomatic ity fo r an a ctual habit l ike wa lking for te n

minutes e ach da y. The shape of the se cha rts, w hich sc ientis ts cal l

learning curves , reve als an import ant tr uth ab out beh avior change :

habits fo rm bas ed on frequen cy, no t time .

WALKING 1 0 MINU TES PE R DAY

AUTOMATIC ITY

FIGURE 12 : This graph shows someon e who built the hab it of walkin g for

ten minut es aft er bre akfast each d ay. No tice t hat as the re petiti ons in crease,

so does a utomat icity, until the be havior is as easy a nd aut omatic as it can

be.

One of th e most commo n quest ions I hear is, “H ow long does it tak e

to build a new habit? ” But w hat pe ople r eally should be ask ing is , “How

many does it ta ke to form a new ha bit?” That i s, how many r epetit ions

are requi red to make a habit autom atic?

There is nothin g magi cal abo ut tim e pass ing wi th rega rd to habit

formation . It d oesn’t matter if it ’s bee n twen ty -one days o r thir ty day s

or three hundre d days . What matter s is t he rat e at wh ich yo u perf orm

the behav ior. Y ou cou ld do s omethi ng twi ce in thirty days, or two

hundred t imes. It’s t he freq uency that m akes t he diff erence . Your

current h abits have b een int ernali zed ov er the course of hu ndreds , if

not thous ands, of rep etition s. New habit s requ ire the same level of

frequency . You need t o strin g toge ther e nough success ful at tempts

until the behav ior is firmly embed ded in your mind an d you cross the

Habit Lin e.

In practi ce, it doesn ’t real ly mat ter ho w long it tak es for a hab it to
become au tomati c. Wha t matte rs is that y ou tak e the a ctions you n eed

to take t o make progr ess. Wh ether an act ion is fully a utoma tic is of le ss

importanc e.

To build a habi t, you need t o prac tice i t. And the mo st eff ective way

to make p ractic e happ en is t o adhe re to the 3r d Law o f Beha vior

Change: m ake it easy. The ch apters that follow will s how yo u how to

do exactl y that .

Chapter S ummary

■ The 3rd Law o f Beha vior Ch ange i s make it ea sy.

■ The mos t effe ctive form of learn ing is pract ice, no t plan ning.

■ Focus o n taki ng act ion, no t bein g in m otion.

■ Habit f ormati on is the pro cess b y whic h a be havior become s

progressi vely m ore au tomatic throu gh rep etitio n.

■ The amo unt of time you hav e been perfo rming a habit is no t as

important as th e numb er of t imes y ou hav e perf ormed i t.

12

The Law o f Leas t Effo rt

I n his a ward-w inning book, Guns, Germs, and S teel, a nthrop ologis t

and biolo gist J ared D iamond points out a simpl e fact: diffe rent

continent s have diffe rent sh apes. At fir st gla nce, th is sta tement seems

rather ob vious and un importa nt, bu t it t urns o ut t o h ave a profou nd

impact on human behav ior.

The prima ry axi s of t he Amer icas r uns fr om nor th to s outh. That i s,

the landm ass of North and So uth Am erica tends to be t all an d thin

rather th an wid e and fat. Th e same is ge nerall y true for Af rica.

Meanwhile , the landma ss that makes up Eu rope, Asia, a nd the Middl e

East is t he opp osite. This m assive stret ch of land te nds to be mo re eas t -

west in s hape. Accord ing to Diamon d, thi s diff erence in sha pe pla yed a

significa nt rol e in t he spre ad of agricu lture ov er th e cent uries.

When agri cultur e bega n to sp read a round the gl obe, fa rmers had an

easier ti me exp anding along east-w est ro utes t han alo ng nor th -sou th

ones. Thi s is b ecause locati ons al ong th e same latitu de gen erally share

similar c limate s, amo unts of sunli ght an d rain fall, a nd cha nges i n

season. T hese f actors allowe d farm ers in Europ e and A sia to

domestica te a f ew cro ps and grow t hem al ong th e entir e stre tch of land

from Fran ce to China.

THE SHAPE OF HU MAN BE HAVIOR

EAST - WE ST ORI ENTATI ON

FIGURE 13 : The primar y axis of Eur ope an d Asia is eas t -west . The primar y

axis of t he Ame ricas and Afr ica is north -south . This leads to a w ider r ange of

climates up-and -down the Ame ricas than a cross Europe and As ia. As a

result, a gricul ture s pread n early twice as fas t acros s Euro pe and Asia than it
did elsew here. The be havior of far mers—e ven ac ross hu ndreds or

thousands of ye ars—wa s const rained by th e amou nt of f rictio n in t he

environme nt.

By compar ison, the cl imate v aries greatl y when travel ing fr om nor th

to south. Just imagin e how d iffere nt the weath er is i n Flor ida

compared to Can ada. Y ou can be the most talent ed farm er in the

world, bu t it w on’t h elp you grow Florid a oran ges in the Ca nadian

winter. S now is a poo r subst itute for so il. In order to spr ead cr ops

along nor th-sou th rou tes, fa rmers would need t o find and do mestic ate

new plant s when ever t he clim ate ch anged.

As a resu lt, ag ricult ure spr ead tw o to t hree t imes fa ster a cross Asia

and Europ e than it di d up an d down the A merica s. Over the s pan of

centuries , this small differ ence h ad a v ery bi g impac t. Inc reased food

productio n allo wed fo r more rapid popula tion g rowth. With m ore

people, t hese c ulture s were able t o buil d stro nger ar mies a nd wer e

better eq uipped to de velop n ew tec hnolog ies. T he chan ges st arted out

small—a c rop th at spr ead sli ghtly farthe r, a p opulati on tha t grew

slightly faster —but c ompound ed int o subs tantia l diffe rences over time.

The sprea d of a gricul ture pr ovides an ex ample of the 3rd La w of

Behavior Change on a global scale. Conve ntiona l wisdo m hold s that

motivatio n is t he key to hab it cha nge. M aybe i f you r eally wanted it,

you’d act ually do it. But th e trut h is, our re al moti vation is to be la zy

and to do what is con venient . And despit e what the la test p roduct ivity

best sell er wil l tell you, t his is a sma rt str ategy, not a dumb o ne.
Energy is preci ous, a nd the brain is wir ed to conserv e it w henev e r

possible. It is human nature to fo llow t he Law of Lea st Eff ort, w hich

states th at whe n deci ding be tween two si milar options , peop le wil l

naturally gravi tate t oward t he opt ion th at req uires t he lea st amo unt of

work.* Fo r exam ple, e xpandin g your farm to the east w here y ou can

grow the same c rops r ather t han he ading north where t he cli mate i s

different . Out of all the po ssible actio ns we co uld t ake, t he one that is

realized is the one t hat del ivers the mo st val ue for the le ast ef fort. We

are motiv ated t o do w hat is easy.

Every act ion re quires a cert ain am ount o f ener gy. The more energy

required, the l ess li kely it is to occur . If y our g oa l is t o do a hundr ed

push-ups per da y, tha t’s a l ot of energy ! In t he begi nning, when you’re

motivated and e xcited , you c an mus ter th e stre ngth to get s tarted . But

after a f ew day s, suc h a mas sive e ffort feels exhaust ing. M eanwhi le,

sticking to the habit of doi ng one push- up per day re quires almos t no

energy to get s tarted . And t he les s ener gy a h abit re quires , the more

likely it is to occur .

Look at a ny beh avior that fi lls up much of you r life and yo u’ll s ee

that it c an be perfor med wit h very low l evels of moti vation . Habi ts lik e

scrolling on ou r phon es, che cking email, and w atching telev ision steal

so much o f our time b ecause they c an be perfor med alm ost wi thout

effort. T hey ar e rema rkably conven ient.

In a sens e, eve ry hab it is j ust an obsta cle to gettin g what you r eally

want. Die ting i s an o bstacle to ge tting fit. M editati on is an obs tacle to

feeling c alm. J ournal ing is an obs tacle to thi nking c learly . You don’t

actually want t he hab it itse lf. Wh at you reall y want is the outco me the

habit del ivers. The g reater the ob stacle —that is, the more diffic ult th e

habit—the more fricti on ther e is b etween you a nd your desir ed end

state. Th is is why it is cru cial t o make your habits so eas y that you’l l do
them even when you do n’t fee l like it. I f you can mak e your good habits

more conv enient , you’ ll be m ore li kely t o foll ow thro ugh on them.

But what about all th e momen ts whe n we s eem to do the oppos ite?

If we’re all so lazy, then h ow do you ex plain people accomp lishin g hard

things li ke rai sing a child or sta rting a busi ness or climb ing Mo unt

Everest?

Certainly , you are ca pable o f doin g very hard things. The p roblem is

that some days you fe el like doing the h ard wo rk and some d ays yo u

feel like givin g in. On the tough days, it’s c rucial to hav e as m any th ings

working i n your favor as pos sible so tha t you can ove rcome the

challenge s life natur ally th rows y our wa y. The less f rictio n you face, the

easier it is fo r your strong er sel f to e merge. The id ea beh ind ma ke it

easy is n ot to only d o easy things . The idea i s to ma ke it as eas y as

possible in the momen t to do thing s that payof f in th e long run.

HOW TO AC HIEVE MORE W ITH LES S EFFO RT

Imagine y ou are holdi ng a ga rden h ose th at is bent in the m iddle.

Some wate r can flow t hrough, but n ot ver y much . If yo u want to

increase the ra te at which w ater p asses throug h the h ose, y ou hav e two

options. The fi rst op tion is to cr ank up the v alve an d forc e more water

out. The second optio n is to simpl y remo ve the bend i n the hose a nd let

water flo w thro ugh na turally .

Trying to pump up you r motiv ation to sti ck wit h a har d habi t is l ike

trying to force water throug h a be nt hos e. You can do it, b ut it requir es

a lot of effort and i ncrease s the tensio n in y our lif e. Mea nwhile , maki ng

your habi ts sim ple an d easy is lik e remo ving t he bend in th e hose .

Rather th an try ing to overco me the frict ion in your l ife, y ou red uce it .
One of th e most effec tive wa ys to reduce the f riction assoc iated with

your habi ts is to pra ctice e nviron ment d esign. In Cha pter 6 , we

discussed envir onment design as a method for m aking c ues mo re

obvious, but yo u can also op timize your enviro nment t o make actio ns

easier. F or exa mple, when de ciding where to pr actice a new habit, it is

best to c hoose a plac e that is alr eady a long t he path of yo ur dai ly

routine. Habits are e asier t o buil d when they fit int o the flow o f your

life. You are m ore li kely to go to the g ym if it is o n your way t o work

because s toppin g does n’t add much fricti on to your li festyl e. By

compariso n, if the gy m is of f the path o f your normal commu te —eve n

by just a few b locks— now you ’re go ing “o ut of your wa y” to get th ere.

Perhaps e ven mo re eff ective is red ucing the fr iction within your

home or o ffice. Too o ften, w e try to sta rt hab its in high -f rictio n

environme nts. W e try to foll ow a s trict diet w hile we are o ut to dinner

with frie nds. W e try to writ e a bo ok in a chao tic hou sehold . We t ry to

concentra te whi le usi ng a sm artpho ne fil led wi th dist ractio ns. It

doesn’t h ave to be th is way. We ca n remo ve the points of fr iction that

hold us b ack. T his is precis ely wh at ele ctroni cs manu factur ers in Japan

began to do in the 19 70s.

In an art icle p ublish ed in t he New Yorke r titl ed “Bet ter Al l the

Time,” Ja mes Su roweic ki writ es:

“Japanese firms empha sized w hat ca me to be kno wn as ‘ lean

productio n,’ re lentle ssly lo oking to rem ove wa ste of all ki nds fr om the

productio n proc ess, d own to redesi gning worksp aces, s o work ers

didn’t ha ve to waste time tw isting and t urning to rea ch the ir too ls. Th e

result wa s that Japan ese fac tories were more e fficien t and Japane se

products were m ore re liable than A merica n ones . In 19 74, se rvice calls

for Ameri can-ma de col or tele vision s were five times a s comm o n as for
Japanese televi sions. By 197 9, it took A merica n worke rs thr ee tim es as

long to a ssembl e thei r sets. ”

I like to refer to th is stra tegy a s addi tion b y subtr action .* Th e

Japanese compan ies lo oked fo r ever y poin t of f riction in th e

manufactu ring p rocess and el iminat ed it. As th ey subt racted waste d

effort, t hey ad ded cu stomers and r evenue . Simi larly, when w e remo ve

the point s of f rictio n that sap ou r time and e nergy, we c an achie ve

more with less effort . (This is on e reas on tid ying up can f eel so good:

we are si multan eously moving forwa rd and light ening t he cog nitive

load our enviro nment places on us. )

If you lo ok at the mo st habi t-form ing pr oducts , you’l l noti ce tha t

one of th e thin gs the se good s and servic es do best is remov e litt le bit s

of fricti on fro m your life. Meal d eliver y serv ices re duce t he fri ction of

shopping for gr ocerie s. Dati ng app s redu ce the fricti on of making

social in troduc tions. Ride-s haring servi ces re duce th e fric tion o f

getting a cross town. Text me ssagin g redu ces th e frict ion of sendi ng a

letter in the m ail.

Like a Ja panese telev ision m anufac turer redesi gning t heir

workspace to re duce w asted m otion, succe ssful compani es des ign th eir

products to aut omate, elimin ate, o r simp lify a s many steps as pos sible.

They redu ce the numbe r of fi elds o n each form. They p are do wn the

number of click s requ ired to creat e an a ccount . They delive r thei r

products with e asy-to -unders tand d irecti ons or ask th eir cu stomer s to

make fewe r choi ces.

When the first voice- activat ed spe akers were r eleased —produ cts

like Goog le Hom e, Ama zon Ech o, and Apple HomeP od—I as ked a

friend wh at he liked about t he pro duct h e had purchas ed. He said it

was just easier to sa y “Play some countr y musi c” than to pu ll out his

phone, op en the music app, a nd pic k a pl aylist . Of co urse, just a few

years ear lier, having unlimi ted ac cess t o musi c in yo ur poc ket wa s a

remarkabl y fric tionle ss beha vior c ompare d to d riving to the store and

buying a CD. Bu siness is a n ever-e nding quest to deli ver th e same

result in an ea sier f ashion.

Similar s trateg ies ha ve been used effect ively by gove rnment s. Whe n

the Briti sh gov ernmen t wante d to i ncreas e tax collect ion ra tes, t hey

switched from s ending citize ns to a web page w here th e tax form c ould

be downlo aded t o link ing dir ectly to the form. Reduci ng tha t one step

in the pr ocess increa sed the respo nse ra te fro m 19.2 percen t to 2 3.4

percent. For a countr y like the Un ited K ingdom , those perce ntage

points re presen t mill ions in tax r evenue .

The centr al ide a is t o creat e an e nviron ment w here do ing th e righ t

thing is as eas y as p ossible . Much of th e batt le of b uildin g bett er hab its

comes dow n to f inding ways t o redu ce the frict ion ass ociate d with our

good habi ts and incre ase the frict ion as sociat ed with our b ad one s.

PRIME THE ENVIR ONMENT FOR FU TURE U SE

Oswald Nu ckols is an IT deve loper from N atchez , Missi ssippi . He i s

also some one wh o unde rstands the p ower o f prim ing his envir onment .

Nuckols d ialed in his cleani ng hab its by follo wing a st rate gy he

refers to as “r esetti ng the room.” For i nstanc e, when he fi nishes

watching televi sion, he plac es the remot e back on the TV st and,

arranges the pi llows on the couch, and f olds t he blan ket. W hen he

leaves hi s car, he th rows an y tras h away . When ever he takes a sho wer,

he wipes down t he toi let whi le the showe r is w arming up. (A s he n otes,

the “perf ect ti me to clean t he toi let is right before you w ash yo urself in
the showe r anyw ay.”) The pur pose o f rese tting each ro om is not si mply

to clean up aft er the last a ction, but t o prep are for the n ext ac tion.

“When I w alk in to a r oom eve rythin g is i n its right p lace,” Nucko ls

wrote. “B ecause I do this ev ery da y in e very r oom, st uff al ways s tays i n

good shap e.... People think I work hard but I’ m actua lly re ally l azy.

I’m just proact ively lazy. I t give s you so muc h time back.”

Whenever you or ganize a spac e for its in tended purpos e, you are

priming i t to m ake th e next action easy. For i nstance , my w ife ke eps a

box of gr eeting cards that a re pre sorted by oc casion — birthd ay,

sympathy, weddi ng, gr aduatio n, and more. Whene ver nec essary , she

grabs an approp riate card an d send s it o ff. Sh e is in credib ly goo d at

rememberi ng to send c ards be cause she ha s redu ced the frict ion of

doing so. For y ears, I was t he opp osite. Someo ne woul d have a bab y

and I wou ld thi nk, “I should send a card .” But then w eeks w ould p ass

and by th e time I rem embered to pi ck one up at the st ore, i t was too

late. The habit wasn’ t easy.

There are many ways t o prime your enviro nment so it’s ready for

immediate use. If you want t o cook a hea lthy b reakfas t, pla ce the skill et

on the st ove, s et the cookin g spra y on t he cou nter, a nd lay out a n y

plates an d uten sils y ou’ll n eed th e nigh t befo re. Whe n you wake u p,

making br eakfas t will be eas y.

■ Want to draw more? Put you r penc ils, p ens, n otebook s, and

drawing t ools o n top of your desk, withi n easy reach.

■ Want to exerc ise? S et out your w orkout cloth es, sho es, gy m bag,

and water bottl e ahea d of ti me.

■ Want to impro ve you r diet? Chop up a t on of fruits and ve getabl es

on weeken ds and pack them in conta iners, so yo u have easy

access to healt hy, re ady-to- eat op tions during the we ek.

These are simpl e ways to mak e the good h abit t he path of le ast

resistanc e.

You can a lso in vert t his pri nciple and p rime t he envi ronmen t to

make bad behavi ors di fficult . If y ou fin d your self wa t ching too m uch

televisio n, for examp le, the n unpl ug it after each us e. Onl y plug it ba ck

in if you can s ay out loud t he nam e of t he sho w you w ant to watch . This

setup cre ates j ust en ough fr iction to pr event mindles s view ing.

If that d oesn’t do it , you c an tak e it a step further . Unpl ug the

televisio n and take t he batt eries out of the r emote a fter e ach us e, so it

takes an extra ten se conds t o turn it ba ck on. And if you’r e real ly har d¬

core, mov e the televi sion ou t of t he liv ing ro om and into a cl ose t afte r

each use. You c an be sure yo u’ll o nly ta ke it out whe n you really want

to watch someth ing. T he grea ter th e fric tion, the les s like ly the habit .

Whenever possib le, I leave m y phon e in a diffe rent ro om unt il

lunch. Wh en it’ s righ t next to me, I’ll check it all mornin g for no rea son

at all. B ut whe n it i s in an other room, I rare ly thin k abou t it. And th e

friction is hig h enou gh that I won ’t go get it withou t a re ason. As a

result, I get t hree t o four hours each m orning when I can w ork wi thout

interrupt ion.

If sticki ng you r phon e in an other room d oesn’t seem l ike en ough,

tell a fr iend o r fami ly memb er to hide i t from you fo r a fe w hour s. Ask a

coworker to kee p it a t their desk in the morni ng and give i t back to yo u

at lunch.

It is rem arkabl e how little fricti on is requir ed to p revent unwan ted

behavior. When I hide beer i n the back o f the fridge where I can’ t see it,
I drink l ess. W hen I delete social media apps from my phone , it c an be

weeks bef ore I downlo ad them again and l og in. These tricks are

unlikely to cur b a tr ue addi ction, but f or man y of us , a li ttle b it of

friction can be the d ifferen ce bet ween s tickin g with a good habit or

sliding i nto a bad on e. Imag ine th e cumu lative impact of ma king

dozens of these chang es and living in an envir onment design ed to

make the good b ehavio rs easi er and the b ad beh aviors harder .

Whether w e are approa ching b ehavio r chan ge as an indi vidual , a

parent, a coach , or a leader , we s hould ask ou rselves the s ame

question: “How can we design a wor ld whe re it’ s easy to do what’s

right?” R edesig n your life s o the action s that matter most are al so the

actions t hat ar e easi est to do.

Chapter S ummary

■ Human b ehavio r foll ows the Law o f Leas t Effo rt. We will n atur al ly

gravitate towar d the option that r equire s the least a mount of

work.

Create an envir onment where doing the ri ght th ing is as eas y as

possible.

Reduce th e fric tion a ssociat ed wit h good behav iors. W hen fr iction

is low, h abits are ea sy.

Increase the fr iction associ ated w ith ba d beha viors. When f rictio n

is high, habits are d ifficul t.

Prime you r envi ronmen t to ma ke fut ure ac tions easier.

13

How to St op Pro crasti nating by Usi ng the

Two-Minut e Rule

T wyla Th arp is widel y regar ded as one o f the greates t danc ers an d

choreogra phers of the modern era. In 199 2, she was aw arded a

MacArthur Fello wship, often referr ed to as the Genius Grant , and she

has spent the b ulk of her ca reer t ouring the g lobe to perfo rm her

original works. She a lso cre dits m uch of her s uccess to sim ple da ily

habits.

“I begin each d ay of my life with a ritu al,” s he writ es. “I wake up at

5:30 A.M. , put on my workout cloth es, my leg w armers, my sw eat sh irt,

and my ha t. I w alk ou tside m y Manh attan home, hail a taxi, and te ll

the drive r to t ake me to the Pumpi ng Iro n gym at 91st Stree t and First

Avenue, w here I work out for two h ours.

“The ritu al is not th e stret ching and we ight t raining I put my bo dy

through e ach mo rning at the gym; t he rit ual is the ca b. The momen t I

tell the driver where to go I have compl eted t he ritu al.

“It’s a s imple act, b ut doin g it t he sam e way each mo rning

habituali zes it —makes it rep eatabl e, eas y to d o. It r educes the c hance

that I wo uld sk ip it or do i t diff erentl y. It is one more i tem in my

arsenal o f rout ines, and one less thing to thi nk abou t.”

Hailing a cab e ach mo rning m ay be a tiny actio n, but it is a sple ndid

example o f the 3rd La w of Be havior Chang e.

Researche rs est imate that 40 to 50 perce nt of our act ions o n any

given day are d one ou t of ha bit. T his is alrea dy a su bstant ial

percentag e, but the t rue inf luence of yo ur hab its is even g reater than

these num bers s uggest . Habit s are automa tic ch oices t h at in fluenc e the

conscious decis ions t hat fol low. Y es, a habit can be comple ted in just a

few secon ds, bu t it c an also shape the a ctions that y ou tak e for minute s

or hours afterw ard.

Habits ar e like the e ntrance ramp to a h ighway . They lead y ou dow n

a path an d, bef ore yo u know it, yo u’re s peedin g towar d the next

behavior. It se ems to be eas ier to conti nue wh at you are al ready doing

than to s tart d oing s omethin g diff erent. You s it thro ugh a bad mo vie

for two h ours. You ke ep snac king e ven wh en you ’re alr eady f ull. Y ou

check you r phon e for “just a secon d” and soon you hav e spen t twen ty

minutes s taring at th e scree n. In this w ay, th e habit s you follow

without t hinkin g ofte n deter mine t he cho ices y ou make when you ar e

thinking.

Each even ing, t here i s a tin y mome nt—usu ally a round 5 :15 p. m.—

that shap es the rest of my n ight. My wif e walk s in th e door from work

and eithe r we c hange into ou r work out cl othes and hea d to t he gym or

we crash onto t he cou ch, ord er Ind ian fo od, an d watch The O ffice .*

Similar t o Twyl a Thar p haili ng the cab, the ri tual is chang ing in to my

workout c lothes . If I change cloth es, I know t he work out wi ll hap pen.

Everythin g that follo ws—driv ing to the g ym, de ciding which exerci ses

to do, st epping under the ba r—is e asy on ce I’v e taken the f irst s tep.

Every day , ther e are a handf ul of moment s that delive r an o utsize d

impact. I refer to th ese lit tle ch oices as dec isive m oments . The moment

you decid e betw een or dering takeou t or c ooking dinner . The moment

you choos e betw een dr iving y our ca r or r iding your bi ke. Th e mome nt

you decid e betw een st arting your h omewor k or g rabbing the v ideo
game cont roller . Thes e choic es are a for k in t he road .

DECISIVE MOMENT S

FIGURE 14 : The differ ence be tween a good day a nd a ba d day is oft en a

few produ ctive and he althy c hoices made at dec isive m oments . Each one i s

like a fo rk in the ro ad, and these choic es sta ck up t hrough out th e day and

can ultim ately lead t o very differ ent ou tcomes .

Decisive moment s set the opt ions a vailab le to your fu tu re s elf. F or

instance, walki ng int o a res tauran t is a decis ive mom ent be cause it

determine s what you’l l be ea ting f or lun ch. Te chnical ly, yo u are in

control o f what you o rder, b ut in a larg er sen se, you can o nly or der an

item if i t is o n the menu. I f you walk i nto a steakho use, y ou can get a

sirloin o r a ri b eye, but no t sush i. You r opti ons are const rained by

what’s av ailabl e. The y are s haped by the first choice .

We are li mited by whe re our habits lead us. Th is is w hy mas tering

the decis ive mo ments through out yo ur day is so import ant. E ach da y is

made up o f many momen ts, but it is reall y a fe w habit ual ch oices that

determine the p ath yo u take. These littl e choi ces sta ck up, each one

setting t he tra jector y for h ow you spend the n ext chu nk of time.

Habits ar e the entry point, not th e end point. They a re the cab, not

the gym.

THE TWO-M INUTE RULE

Even when you k now yo u shoul d star t smal l, it’ s easy to sta rt too big.

When you dream about making a chan ge, ex citeme nt inev itably takes

over and you en d up t rying t o do t oo muc h too soon. T he mos t effe ctive

way I kno w to c ounter act thi s tend ency i s to u se the Two -Mi nute R ule,

which sta tes, “ When y ou star t a ne w habi t, it should take l ess th an two

minutes t o do.”

You’ll fi nd tha t near ly any habit can be scale d down into a two -

minute ve rsion:

■ “Read b efore bed ea ch nigh t” bec omes “ Read o ne page .”

■ “Do thi rty mi nutes of yoga ” beco mes “T ake ou t my yo ga mat .”

■ “Study for cl ass” b ecomes “Open my not es.”

■ “Fold t he lau ndry” becomes “Fold one p air of socks. ”

■ “Run th ree mi les” b ecomes “Tie m y runn ing sh oes.”

The idea is to make y our hab its as easy as pos sible t o star t. Any one

can medit ate fo r one minute, read one pa ge, or put on e item of cl othing

away. And , as w e have just d iscuss ed, th is is a power ful st rategy

because o nce yo u’ve s tarted doing the ri ght th ing, it is mu ch eas ier to

continue doing it. A new hab it sho uld no t feel like a chall enge. The

actions t hat fo llow c an be c hallen ging, but th e first two m inutes shoul d

be easy. What y ou wan t is a “gatew ay hab it” th at natu rally leads you

down a mo re pro ductiv e path.

You can u sually figur e out t he gat eway h abits that wi ll lea d to y our

desired o utcome by ma pping o ut you r goal s on a scale from “ very e asy”

to “very hard.” For i nstance , runn ing a marath on is v ery ha rd. Ru nning

a 5K is h ard. W alking ten th ousand steps is mo deratel y diff icult.

Walking t en min utes i s easy. And p utting on yo ur runn ing sh oes is very

easy. You r goal might be to run a marath on, bu t your gatewa y habi t is

to put on your runnin g shoes . That ’s how you f ollow t he Two -Minut e

Rule.

Very easy

Easy

Moderate

Hard

Very hard

Put on yo ur run ning

shoes

Walk ten

minutes

Walk ten thousa nd

steps

Run a 5K

Run a

marathon

Write one sente nce

Write one
paragraph

Write one thous and

words

Write a f ive-th ousand -

word arti cle

Write a

book

Open your notes

Study for ten

minutes

Study for three

hours

Get strai ght A’ s

Earn a Ph D

People of ten th ink it ’s weir d to g et hyp ed abo ut read ing on e page or

meditatin g for one mi nute or makin g one sales call. B ut the point is no t

to do one thing . The point i s to m aster the ha bit of showin g up. The

truth is, a hab it mus t be es tablis hed be fore i t can b e impr oved. If you

can’t lea rn the basic skill of sho wing u p, the n you h ave li ttle h ope of

mastering the f iner d etails. Inste ad of trying to eng ineer a perf ect ha bit

from the start, do th e easy thing on a m ore co nsisten t basi s. You have

to standa rdize before you ca n opti mize.

As you ma ster t he art of sho wing u p, the first two mi nutes simply
become a ritual at th e begin ning o f a la rger r outine. This is not merel y

a hack to make habits easier but a ctuall y the ideal w ay to master a

difficult skill . The more yo u ritu alize the be ginning of a proces s, the

more like ly it become s that you ca n slip into the sta te of deep f ocus

that is r equire d to d o great thing s. By doing the sam e warm -up be fore

every wor kout, you ma ke it e asier to get into a state of pe ak

performan ce. By follo wing th e same creat ive ri tual, y ou mak e it e asier

to get in to the hard work of creat ing. B y deve loping a cons istent

power-dow n habi t, you make i t easi er to get to bed at a rea sonabl e time

each nigh t. You may n ot be a ble to autom ate th e whole proce ss, bu t

you can m ake th e firs t actio n mind less. Make i t easy to sta rt and the

rest will follo w.

The Two-M inute Rule c an seem like a tric k to s ome peo ple. Y ou

know that the r eal go al is t o do m ore th an jus t two m inutes , so i t may

feel like you’r e tryi ng to f ool yo urself . Nobo dy is a ctuall y aspi ring t o

read one page o r do o ne push -up or open their notes. And if you k now

it’s a me ntal t rick, why wou ld you fall for it ?

If the Tw o-Minu te Rul e feels force d, try this: do it for tw o minu tes

and then stop. Go for a run, but y ou mus t stop after two mi nutes. Start

meditatin g, but you m ust sto p afte r two minute s. Stud y Arab ic, bu t you
must stop after two m inutes. It’s not a strate gy for starti ng, it ’s the

whole thi ng. Yo ur hab it can only l ast on e hund red and twent y seco nds.

One of my reade rs use d this strate gy to lose o ver one hundr ed

pounds. I n the beginn ing, he went to the gym e ac h day , but he tol d

himself h e wasn ’t all owed to stay for mo re tha n five minute s. He would

go to the gym, exerci se for five m inutes , and leave a s soon as hi s time

was up. A fter a few w eeks, h e look ed aro und an d thoug ht, “W ell, I ’m

always co ming h ere an yway. I might as we ll sta rt stay ing a little

longer.” A few years later, the we ight w as gon e.

Journalin g prov ides a nother exampl e. Nea rly ev eryone can be nefit

from gett ing th eir th oughts out of their head and ont o pape r, but most

people gi ve up after a few d ays or avoid it en tirely becaus e jour naling

feels lik e a ch ore.* The sec ret is to al ways s tay bel ow the point where it

feels lik e work . Greg McKeow n, a l eaders hip co nsultan t from the

United Ki ngdom, built a dail y jour naling habit by spe cifica lly wr iting

less than he fe lt lik e. He a lways stoppe d jour naling before it se emed

like a ha ssle. Ernest Heming way be lieved in si milar a dvice for an y kind

of writin g. “Th e best way is to al ways s top wh en you are go ing go od,”

he said.

Strategie s like this work fo r anot her re ason, too: th ey rei nforce the

identity you wa nt to build. If you show up at the gym five days i n a ro w

—even if it’s j ust fo r two m inutes —you a re cas ting vo tes fo r your new

identity. You’r e not worried about getti ng in shape. You’re focus ed on

becoming the ty pe of person who do esn’t miss w orkouts . You’ re tak ing

the small est ac tion t hat con firms the ty pe of person you wa nt to be.

We rarely think about change this way be cause everyon e is

consumed by the end g oal. Bu t one push-u p is b etter t han no t

exercisin g. One minut e of gu itar p ractic e is b etter t han no ne at all. O ne

minute of readi ng is better than n ever p icking up a b ook. I t ’s be tter t o

do less t han yo u hope d than to do nothin g at a ll.

At some p oint, once y ou’ve e stabli shed t he hab it and you’re showi ng

up each d ay, yo u can combine the T wo-Min ute Ru le with a tec hnique

we call h abit s haping to sca le you r habi t back up tow a rd yo ur ult imate

goal. Sta rt by master ing the first two m inutes of the small est ve rsion of

the behav ior. T hen, a dvance to an interm ediate step a nd rep eat th e

process—f ocusin g on j ust the first two m inutes and ma sterin g that

stage bef ore mo ving o n to th e next level . Even tually, you’l l end up wit h

the habit you h ad ori ginally hoped to bu ild wh ile sti ll kee ping y our

focus whe re it should be: on the f irst t wo min utes of the b ehavio r.

EXAMPLES OF HAB IT SHA PING

Becoming an Ear ly Ris er

Phase 1: Be hom e by 1 0 p.m. every night.

Phase 2: Have a ll dev ices (T V, pho ne, et c.) tu rned of f by 1 0 p.m. every night.

Phase 3: Be in bed by 10 p.m . ever y nigh t (rea ding a book, talkin g with your p artner ).

Phase 4: Lights off b y 10 p. m. eve ry nig ht.

Phase 5: Wake u p at 6 a.m. e very d ay.

Becoming Vegan
Phase 1: Start eating vegeta bles a t each meal.

Phase 2: Stop e ating animals with four l egs (c ow, pig , lamb , etc. ).

Phase 3: Stop e ating animals with two le gs (ch icken, turkey , etc. ).

Phase 4: Stop e ating animals with no leg s (fis h, clam s, sca llops, etc.) .

Phase 5: Stop e ating all ani mal pr oducts (eggs , milk, chees e).

i i

Starting to Exe rcise

Phase 1: Change into workout cloth es.

Phase 2: Step o ut the door ( try ta king a walk) .

Phase 3: Drive to the gym, e xercis e for five m inutes, and l eave.

Phase 4: Exerci se for fiftee n minu tes at least once p er wee k.

Phase 5: Exerci se thr ee time s per week.

Nearly an y larg er lif e goal can be trans formed into a two -m inute

behavior. I wan t to l ive a h ealthy and l ong li fe > I need t o stay in sh ape

> I need to exe rcise > I nee d to c hange into m y worko ut clo thes. I want

to have a happy marri age > I need to be a good partne r > I should do

something each day to make m y part ner’s life e asier > I sho uld me al

plan for next w eek.

Whenever you ar e stru ggling to sti ck wit h a ha bit, yo u can employ

the Two-M inute Rule. It’s a simple way t o make your h abits easy.

Chapter S ummary

■ Habits can be compl eted in a few secon ds but con tin ue to impact

your beha vior f or min utes or hours after ward.

■ Many ha bits o ccur a t decis ive mo ments— choice s that are li ke a

fork in t he roa d—and either send y ou in the di rection of a

productiv e day or an unprodu ctive one.

The Two-M inute Rule s tates, “When you st art a new hab it, it

should ta ke les s than two mi nutes to do. ”

The more you ri tualiz e the b eginni ng of a proc ess, th e more likel y

it become s that you c an slip into the st ate of deep f ocus t hat is

required to do great things.

Standardi ze bef ore yo u optim ize. Y ou can ’t imp rove a habit that

doesn’t e xist.

14

How to Ma ke Goo d Habi ts Inev itable and

Bad Habit s Impo ssible

I n the s ummer of 183 0 , Vic tor Hu go was facin g an im possib le dea dline.

Twelve mo nths e arlier , the F rench author had p romised his

publisher a new book. But in stead of wri ting, he spen t that year

pursuing other projec ts, ent ertain ing gu ests, and del aying his wo rk.

Frustrate d, Hug o’s pu blisher respo nded b y sett ing a d eadlin e less than

six month s away . The book ha d to b e fini shed b y Febru ary 18 31.

Hugo conc octed a stra nge pla n to b eat hi s proc rastina tion. He

collected all o f his clothes and a sked a n assi stant t o lock them away i n

a large c hest. He was left w ith no thing to wea r excep t a la rge sh awl.

Lacking a ny sui table clothin g to g o outd oors, he rema ined i n his study

and wrote furio usly d uring t he fal l and winter of 183 0. The Hunch back

of Notre Dame w as pub lished two we eks ea rly on Januar y 14,1 831.*

Sometimes succe ss is less ab out ma king g ood ha bits ea sy and more

about mak ing ba d habi ts hard . This is an inver sion of the 3 rd Law of

Behavior Change : make it dif ficult . If y ou fin d yours elf co ntinua lly

strugglin g to f ollow through on yo ur pla ns, th en you can ta ke a p age

from Vict or Hug o and make yo ur bad habit s more diffic ult by creat ing

what psyc hologi sts ca ll a co mmitme nt dev ice.

A commitm ent de vice i s a cho ice yo u make in th e prese nt tha t

controls your a ctions in the futur e. It is a w ay to l ock in futur e

behavior, bind you to good h abits, and r estric t you f rom ba d ones .

When Vict or Hug o shut his cl othes away s o he c ould fo cus o n writi ng,

he was cr eating a com mitment devic e.*

There are many ways t o creat e a co mmitme nt dev ice. Yo u can

reduce ov ereati ng by purchas ing fo od in indivi dual pa ckages rathe r

than in b ulk si ze. Yo u can v olunta rily a sk to be adde d to t he ban ned li st

at casino s and online poker sites to pre vent f uture g amblin g spre es.

I’ve even heard of at hletes who ha ve to “make weight” for a

competiti on cho osing to leav e thei r wall ets at home d uring the we ek

before we igh-in so th ey won’ t be t empted to bu y fast fo od.

As anothe r exam ple, m y frien d and fellow habit s exper t Nir Eyal

purchased an ou tlet t imer, w hich i s an a dapter that h e plug ged in

between h is int ernet router and th e powe r outl et. At 10 p.m . each

night, th e outl et tim er cuts off t he pow er to the r ou ter. W hen th e

internet goes o ff, ev eryone knows it is time t o go to bed.

Commitmen t devi ces ar e usefu l beca use th ey ena ble you to ta ke

advantage of go od int entions befor e you can fa ll vict im to tempta tion.

Whenever I’m lo oking to cut calori es, fo r exam ple, I will a sk the waite r

to split my mea l and box hal f of i t to g o befo re the meal i s serv ed. If I

waited un til th e meal came o ut and told myself “I’ll just e at hal f,” it

would nev er wor k.

The key i s to c hange the tas k such that it req uires m ore wo rk to get

out of th e good habit than t o get starte d on i t. If y ou’re feelin g

motivated to ge t in s hape, s chedul e a yo ga ses sion an d pay a head of

time. If you’re excit ed abou t the busine ss you want t o star t, ema il an

entrepren eur yo u resp ect and set u p a co nsulti ng call . When the t ime

comes to act, t he onl y way t o bail is to cance l the m eeting , whic h

requires effort and m ay cost money .

Commitmen t devi ces in crease the od ds tha t you’ ll do t he rig ht thi ng

in the fu ture b y maki ng bad habits diffi cult i n the p resent . Howe ver,

we can do even better . We ca n make good habits inevit able a nd bad

habits im possib le.

HOW TO AU TOMATE A HAB IT AND NEVER THINK ABOUT IT

AGAIN

John Henr y Patt erson was bor n in D ayton, Ohio, in 184 4. He spent his

childhood doing chore s on th e fami ly far m and working shift s at h is

father’s sawmil l. Aft er atte nding colleg e at D artmout h, Pa t terson

returned to Ohi o and opened a smal l supp ly sto re for coal m iners.

It seemed like a good opport unity. The s tore f aced li ttle c ompeti tion

and enjoy ed a s teady stream of cus tomers , but still s truggl ed to make

money. Th at was when Patters on dis covere d his employe es wer e

stealing from h im.

In the mi d-i8oo s, emp loyee t heft w as a c ommon problem . Rece ipts

were kept in an open drawer and co uld ea sily b e alter ed or discar ded.

There wer e no v ideo c ameras to rev iew be havior and no softw are to

track tra nsacti ons. U nless y ou wer e will ing to hover over y our

employees every minut e of th e day, or to manag e all t ransac tions

yourself, it wa s diff icult t o prev ent th eft.

As Patter son mu lled o ver his predi cament , he c ame acr oss an

advertise ment f or a n ew inve ntion called Ritty ’s Inco rrupti ble Ca shier.

Designed by fel low Da yton re sident James Ritty , it wa s the first cash

register. The m achine automa ticall y lock ed the cash a nd rec eipt s inside

after eac h tran sactio n. Patt erson bought two f or fift y doll ars ea ch.

Employee theft at his store vanish ed ove rnight . In th e next six

months, P atters on’s b usiness went from l osing money t o maki ng

$5,000 in profi t—the equival ent of more than $ 1 00,000 today .

Patterson was s o impr essed w ith th e mach ine th at he c hanged

businesse s. He bought the ri ghts t o Ritt y’s in vention and o pened the

National Cash R egiste r Compa ny. Te n year s late r, Nati onal C ash

Register had ov er one thousa nd emp loyees and w as on i ts way to

becoming one of the m ost suc cessfu l busi nesses of its time.

The best way to break a bad habit is to make i t impra ctical to do .

Increase the fr iction until you do n’t ev en hav e the o ption to act . The

brillianc e of t he cas h regis ter wa s that it au tomated ethic al beh avior by

making st ealing pract ically imposs ible. Rather than t rying to cha nge

the emplo yees, it mad e the p referr ed beh avior automat ic.

Some acti ons—li ke ins talling a cas h regi ster —p ay off again and

again. Th ese on etime choices requi re a l ittle bit of effort up fr ont bu t

create in creasi ng val ue over time. I’m f ascina ted by the id ea tha t a

single ch oice c an del iver re turns again and ag ain, an d I su rveyed my

readers o n thei r favo rite on etime action s that lead t o bett er lon g -term

habits. T he tab le on the fol lowing page shares some o f the most

popular a nswers .

I’d wager that if the averag e pers on wer e to s imply d o half of th e

onetime a ctions on th is list —even if the y didn ’t give anoth er tho ught t o
their hab its—mo st wou ld find thems elves living a bett er lif e a ye ar

from now. These oneti me acti ons ar e a st raight forward way t o empl oy

the 3rd L aw of Behavi or Chan ge. Th ey mak e it e asier t o slee p well , eat

healthy, be pro ductiv e, save money , and genera lly liv e bett er.

ONETIME A CTIONS THAT LOCK IN GOOD HABITS

Nutrition

Buy a wat er fil ter to clean your d rinkin g wate r.

Use small er pla tes to reduce calor ic int ake.

Sleep

Buy a goo d matt ress.

Get black out cu rtains .

Remove yo ur tel evisio n from your b edroom .

Productiv ity

Unsubscri be fro m emai ls.

Turn off notifi cation s and m ute gr oup ch ats.

Set your phone to sil ent.

Use email filte rs to clear u p your inbox .

Delete ga mes an d soci al medi a apps on yo ur pho ne.

Happiness

Get a dog .

Move to a frien dly, s ocial n eighbo rhood.

General H ealth

Get vacci nated.

Buy good shoes to avo id back pain.

Buy a sup portiv e chai r or st anding desk.

Finance

Enroll in an au tomati c savin gs pla n.

Set up au tomati c bill pay.

Cut cable servi ce.

Ask servi ce pro viders to low er you r bill s.

Of course , ther e are many wa ys to automa te goo d habit s and

eliminate bad o nes. T ypicall y, the y invo lve pu tting t echnol ogy to work

for you. Techno logy c an tran sform action s that were o nce ha rd,

annoying, and c omplic ated in to beh aviors that are eas y, pai nless, and

simple. I t is t he mos t relia ble an d effe ctive way to guaran tee th e righ t

behavior.

This is p articu larly useful for be havior s that happen too

infrequen tly to becom e habit ual. T hings you ha ve to d o mont hly or

yearly—li ke reb alanci ng your inves tment portfo lio —are never repea ted

frequentl y enou gh to become a habi t, so they b enefit in par ticula r from

technolog y “rem emberi ng” to do the m for you.

Other exa mples includ e:

■ Medicin e: Pre script ions ca n be a utomat ically refill ed.

■ Persona l fina nce: E mployee s can save f or ret ireme nt with an

automatic wage deduct ion.

■ Cooking : Meal -deliv ery ser vices can do your grocery shopp ing.

■ Product ivity: Socia l media brows ing ca n be c ut off with a websi te

blocker.

When you automa te as much of your life a s poss ible, y ou can spend

your effo rt on the ta sks mac hines cannot do ye t. Each habit that we

hand over to th e auth ority o f tech nology frees up tim e and energy to

pour into the n ext st age of growth . As m athema tician and ph ilosop her

Alfred No rth Wh itehea d wrote , “Civ ilizat ion ad vanc es by ext ending the

number of opera tions we can perfor m with out th inking about them.”

Of course , the power of tech nology can w ork ag ainst u s as w ell.

Binge-wat ching become s a hab it bec ause y ou hav e to pu t more effor t in

to stop l ooking at th e scree n than to co ntinue doing so. In stead of

pressing a butt on to advance to th e next episo de, Net flix o r YouT ube

will auto play i t for you. Al l you have t o do i s keep your e yes op en.

Technolog y crea tes a level o f conv enienc e that enable s you to act on

your smal lest w hims a nd desi res. A t the mere s uggesti on of hunger ,

you can h ave fo od del ivered to you r door . At t he slig htest hint o f

boredom, you ca n get lost in the v ast ex panse of soci al med ia. Wh en

the effor t requ ired t o act o n your desir es bec omes ef fectiv ely ze ro, yo u

can find yourse lf sli pping i nto wh atever impul se aris es at the mo ment.

The downs ide of autom ation i s that we ca n find oursel ves ju mping
from easy task to eas y task withou t maki ng tim e for m ore di fficul t, but

ultimatel y more rewar ding, w ork.

I often f ind my self g ravitat ing to ward s ocial media d uring any

downtime. If I feel b ored fo r just a fra ction of a se cond, I reac h for my

phone. It ’s eas y to w rite of f thes e mino r dist raction s as “ just t aking a

break,” b ut ove r time they c an acc umulat e into a seri ous is sue. T he

constant tug of “just one mo re min ute” c an pre vent me from doing

anything of con sequen ce. (I’ m not the on ly one . The a verage perso n

spends ov er two hours per da y on s ocial media. What c ould y ou do

with an e xtra s ix hun dred ho urs pe r year ?)

During th e year I was writin g this book, I exp eriment ed wit h a ne w

time mana gement strat egy. Ev ery Mo nday, my ass istant would reset

the passw ords o n all my soci al med ia acc ounts, which logged me ou t

on each d evice. All w eek I w orked withou t dist raction . On F riday, she

would sen d me t he new passwo rds. I had t he ent ire wee kend t o enjo y

what soci al med ia had to off er unt il Mon day mo rning w hen sh e woul d

do it aga in. (I f you don’t h ave an assis tant, team up with a frie nd or

family me mber a nd res et each other ’s pas swords each w eek.)

One of th e bigg est su rprises was h ow qui ckly I adapte d. Wit hin th e

first wee k of l ocking myself out o f soci al med ia, I r ealize d that I did n’t

need to c heck i t near ly as o ften a s I ha d been , and I certa inly d idn’t

need it e ach da y. It had sim ply be en so easy t hat it had be come t he

default. Once m y bad habit b ecame imposs ible, I disco vered that I did

actually have t he mot ivation to wo rk on more m eaningf ul tas ks. Af ter I

removed t he men tal ca ndy fro m my e nviron ment, it beca me muc h

easier to eat t he hea lthy st uff.

When work ing in your favor, automa tion c an mak e your good h abits
inevitabl e and your b ad habi ts imp ossibl e. It is the ultima te way to lo ck

in future behav ior ra ther th an rel ying o n will power i n the mom ent . By

utilizing commi tment devices , stra tegic onetim e decis ions, and

technolog y, you can c reate a n envi ronmen t of i nevitab ility — a spac e

where goo d habi ts are not ju st an outcom e you hope fo r but an

outcome t hat is virtu ally gu arante ed.

Chapter S ummary

■ The inv ersion of th e 3rd L aw of Behavi or Cha nge is make i t

difficult .

■ A commi tment device is a c hoice you ma ke in the pre sent t hat

locks in better behav ior in the fu ture.

■ The ult imate way to lock i n futu re beh avior is to a utomat e your

habits.

■ Onetime choic es—lik e buyin g a be tter m attres s or en rollin g in a n

automatic savin gs pla n—are s ingle action s that automa te you r

future ha bits a nd del iver in creasi ng ret urns o ver tim e.

■ Using t echnol ogy to automa te you r habi ts is the mos t reli able a nd

effective way t o guar antee t he rig ht beh avior.

HOW TO CR EATE A GOOD HABIT

The 1st L aw: Ma ke It Obvious

1.1: Fill out t he Hab its Sco recard . Writ e down your c urrent habit s to b ecome a ware o f them .
1.2: Use implem entati on inte ntions : “I w ill [B EHAVIOR ] at [ TIME] in [LO CATION] .”

1.3: Use habit stacki ng: “Af ter [C URRENT HABIT ], I wi ll [NE W HABI T].”

1.4: Desi gn you r envi ronment . Make the c ues of good h abits obviou s and visible .

The 2nd L aw: Ma ke It Attract ive

2.1: Use tempta tion b undling . Pair an ac tion y ou want to do with an act ion you need to do.

2.2: Join a cul ture w here yo ur des ired b ehavio r is th e norm al beh avior.

2.3: Crea te a m otivat ion rit ual. D o some thing you enj oy imm ediate ly bef ore a d ifficu lt hab i

t.

The 3rd L aw: Ma ke It Easy

3.1: Redu ce fri ction. Decrea se the numbe r of s teps be tween you an d your good h abits.

3.2: Prim e the enviro nment. Prepar e your envir onment to mak e futu re act ions ea sier.

3.3: Mast er the decis ive mom ent. O ptimiz e the small c hoices that delive r outsi zed i m pact.

3.4: Use the Tw o-Minu te Rule . Down scale your h abits u ntil t hey ca n be d one in two mi nutes

or less.

3.5: Auto mate y our ha bits. I nvest in tec hnolog y and o netime purch ases t hat loc k in f uture

behavior.

The 4th L aw: Ma ke It Satisfy ing

HOW TO BR EAK A BAD HA BIT

Inversion of th e 1st Law: Ma ke It Invisi ble

1.5: Redu ce exp osure. Remove the c ues of your bad hab its fr om you r envi ronment .

Inversion of th e 2nd Law: Ma ke It Unattr active

2.4: Refr ame yo ur min d-set. Highli ght th e bene fits of avoid ing yo ur bad habits .

Inversion of th e 3rd Law: Ma ke It Diffic ult

3.6: Incr ease f rictio n. Incr ease t he num ber of steps betwee n you and yo ur bad habits .

3.7: Use a comm itment device . Rest rict y our fu ture ch oices to the ones that be nefit you.

Inversion of th e 4th Law: Ma ke It Unsati sfying

You can d ownloa d a pr intable versi on of this h abits c heat s heet a t:

atomichab its.co m/chea tsheet

THE 4TH L AW

Make It S atisfy ing

15

The Cardi nal Ru le of Behavio r Chan ge

I n the l ate 19 90s, a public healt h work er nam ed Step hen Lu by lef t his

hometown of Oma ha, Ne braska, and b ought a one- way tic ket to

Karachi, Pakist an.

Karachi w as one of th e most populo us cit ies in the wo rld. B y 1998 ,

over nine milli on peo ple cal led it home. It wa s the e conomi c cent er of

Pakistan and a transp ortatio n hub, with some o f the m ost ac tive

airports and se aports in the regio n. In the co mmercia l part s of t own,

you could find all of the st andard urban ameni ties an d bust ling

downtown street s. But Karach i was also o ne of the lea st liv able c ities in

the world .

Over 60 p ercent of Ka rachi’s resid ents l ived i n squat ter se ttleme nts

and slums . Thes e dens ely pac ked ne ighbor hoods were fi lled w ith

makeshift house s cobb led tog ether from o ld boa rds, ci nder b locks, and

other dis carded mater ials. T here w as no waste removal syste m, no

electrici ty gri d, no clean w ater s upply. When dry, th e stre ets we re a

combinati on of dust a nd tras h. Whe n wet, they became a mudd y pit of

sewage. M osquit o colo nies th rived in poo ls of stagnan t wate r, and

children played among the ga rbage.

The unsan itary condit ions le ad to widesp read i llness and di sease.

Contamina ted wa ter so urces c aused epidem ics of diarrh ea, vo miting ,

and abdom inal p ain. N early o ne thi rd of the ch ildren living there were

malnouris hed. W ith so many p eople cramme d into such a small space ,

viruses a nd bac terial infect ions s pread rapidl y. It w as thi s pub l ic hea lth

crisis th at had broug ht Step hen Lu by to Pakist an.

Luby and his te am rea lized t hat in an en vironm ent wit h poor

sanitatio n, the simpl e habit of wa shing your h ands co uld ma ke a r eal

differenc e in t he hea lth of the re sident s. But they s oon di scover ed tha t
many peop le wer e alre ady awa re tha t hand washin g was i mporta nt.

And yet, despit e this knowle dge, m any re sident s were washin g thei r

hands in a haph azard fashion . Some peopl e woul d just run th eir ha nds

under the water quick ly. Oth ers wo uld on ly was h one h and. M any

would sim ply fo rget t o wash their hands before prepar ing fo od.

Everyone said h andwas hing wa s impo rtant, but f ew peop le ma d e a

habit out of it . The problem wasn’ t know ledge. The pr oblem was

consisten cy.

That was when L uby an d his t eam pa rtnere d with Procte r & Ga mble

to supply the n eighbo rhood w ith Sa feguar d soap . Compa red to your

standard bar of soap, using Safegu ard wa s a mo re enjo yable

experienc e.

“In Pakis tan, S afegua rd was a prem ium so ap,” L uby tol d me. “The

study par ticipa nts co mmonly mentio ned ho w much they l iked i t.” Th e

soap foam ed eas ily, a nd peop le wer e able to la ther th eir ha nds wi th

suds. It smelle d grea t. Inst antly, handw ashing became sligh tly mo re

pleasurab le.

“I see th e goal of ha ndwashi ng pro motion not a s behav ior ch ange

but as ha bit ad option ,” Luby said. “It i s a lo t easie r for people to ad opt

a product that provid es a st rong p ositiv e sens ory sig nal, f or exa mple

the mint taste of too thpaste , than it is to ad opt a h abit t hat do es not

provide p leasur able s ensory feedba ck, li ke flo ssing o ne’s t eeth. The

marketing team at Pro cter & Gamble talke d abou t tryin g to c reate a

positive handwa shing experie nce.”

Within mo nths, the re searche rs saw a rap id shi ft in t he hea lth of

children in the neigh borhood . The rate o f diar rhea fe ll by 52 per cent;

pneumonia by 48 perce nt; and impet igo, a bacte rial sk in inf ection , by

35 percen t.
The long- term e ffects were e ven be tter. “We we nt back to so me of

the house holds in Kar achi si x year s afte r,” Lu by told me. “ Over 9 5

percent o f hous eholds who ha d been given the s oap for free and

encourage d to w ash th eir han ds had a han dwashi ng stat ion wi th soa p

and water avail able w hen our study team visite d.... W e had not gi ven

any soap to the inter vention group for o ver fi ve year s, but durin g the

trial the y had become so hab ituate d to w ash th eir han ds, th at the y had

maintaine d the practi ce.” It was a power ful ex ample o f the fourth and

final Law of Be havior Change : make it sa tisfyi ng.

We are mo re lik ely to repeat a beh avior when t he expe rience is

satisfyin g. Thi s is e ntirely logic al. Fe elings of ple asure — even m inor

ones like washi ng you r hands with soap t hat sm ells ni ce and lathe rs

well—are signal s that tell t he bra in: “T his fe els goo d. Do this a gain,

next time .” Ple asure teaches your brain that a behavi or is worth

rememberi ng and repea ting.

Take the story of che wing gu m. Che wing g um had been s old

commercia lly th rougho ut the 1800s, but i t wasn ’t unti l Wrig ley

launched in 189 1 that it bec ame a worldw ide ha bit. Ea rly ve rsions were

made from relat ively bland r esins— chewy, but n ot tast y. Wri gley

revolutio nized the in dustry by add ing fl avors like Sp earmin t and Juicy

Fruit, wh ich ma de the produc t flav orful and fu n to us e. The n they went

a step fu rther and be gan pus hing c hewing gum a s a pat hway t o a cl ean

mouth. Ad vertis ements told r eaders to “R efresh Your T aste.”

Tasty fla vors a nd the feelin g of a fresh mouth provid ed lit tle bi ts of

immediate reinf orceme nt and made t he pro duct s atisfyi ng to use.

Consumpti on sky rocket ed, and Wrigl ey bec ame th e large st che wing

gum compa ny in the wo rld.

Toothpast e had a simi lar tra jector y. Man ufactu rers en joyed great

success w hen th ey add ed flav ors li ke spe armint , peppe rmint, and

cinnamon to the ir pro ducts. These flavor s don’ t impro ve the

effective ness o f toot hpaste. They simply creat e a “cl ean mo uth” f eel

and make the ex perien ce of b rushin g your teeth more p leasur able. My

wife actu ally s topped using Sensod yne be cause she did n’t li ke the

aftertast e. She switc hed to a bran d with a str onger m int fl avor, which

proved to be mo re sat isfying .

Conversel y, if an exp erience is no t sati sfying , we ha ve lit tle re ason t o

repeat it . In m y rese arch, I came across the s tory of a wom an who had

a narciss istic relati ve who drove her nu ts. In an att empt t o spen d less

time with this egoman iac, sh e acte d as d ull an d as bo ring a s poss ible

whenever he was aroun d. With in a f ew enc ounter s, he s tarted avoid ing

her becau se he found her so uninte restin g.

Stories l ike th ese ar e evide nce of the C ardina l Rule of Beh avior

Change: W hat is rewar ded is repeat ed. Wh at is punishe d is a voided .

You learn what to do in the future based on wh at you were r ewarde d

for doing (or p unishe d for d oing) in the past. Positi ve emo tions

cultivate habit s. Neg ative e motion s dest roy th em.

The first three laws of beha vior c hange— make it obvi ous, m ake it

attractiv e, and make it easy — incr ease t he odd s that a beha vior w ill be

performed this time. The fou rth la w of b ehavio r chang e — mak e it

satisfyin g— inc reases the od ds tha t a be havior will b e repe ated n ext

time. It comple tes th e habit loop.

But there is a trick. We are not l ooking for j ust any type of

satisfact ion. W e are looking for i mmedia te sat isfacti on.

THE MISMA TCH BE TWEEN IMMEDIA TE AND DELAY ED

REWARDS

Imagine y ou’re an ani mal roa ming t he pla ins of Africa —a gir affe o r an

elephant or a l ion. O n any g iven d ay, mo st of your de cision s have an

immediate impac t. You are al ways t hinkin g abou t what to eat or wh ere

to sleep or how to av oid a p redato r. You are c onstant ly foc used o n the

present o r the very n ear fut ure. Y ou liv e in w hat sci entist s call an

immediate -retur n envi ronment becau se you r acti ons ins tantly deliv er

clear and immed iate o utcomes .

Now switc h back to yo ur huma n self . In m odern society , many of

the choic es you make today w ill no t bene fit yo u immed iately . If y ou do

a good jo b at w ork, y ou’ll g et a p aychec k in a few we eks. I f you exerci se

today, pe rhaps you wo n’t be overwe ight n ext ye ar. If you sa ve mon ey

now, mayb e you’ ll hav e enoug h for retire ment d ecades from n ow. Yo u

live in w hat sc ientis ts call a del ayed-r eturn environ ment b ecause you

can work for ye ars be fore yo ur act ions d eliver the in tended payof f.

The human brain did n ot evol ve for life in a d elayed - return

environme nt. Th e earl iest re mains of mod ern hu mans, k nown a s

Homo sapi ens sa piens, are ap proxim ately two hu ndred t housan d year s

old. Thes e were the f irst hu mans t o have a bra in rela tively simil ar to

ours. In partic ular, the neo cortex —the n ewest part of the b rain a nd the

region re sponsi ble fo r highe r func tions like l anguage —was r oughly the

same size two h undred thousa nd yea rs ago as to day. Yo u are walkin g

around wi th the same hardwar e as y our Pa leolit hic anc estors .

It is onl y rece ntly—d uring t he las t five hundr ed year s or s o —that

society h as shi fted t o a pre domina ntly d elayed -return envir onment .*
Compared to the age o f the b rain, modern socie ty is b rand -n ew. In the

last one hundre d year s, we h ave se en the rise of the car, t he air plane,

the telev ision, the p ersonal compu ter, t he int ernet, the sm artpho ne,

and Beyon ce. Th e worl d has c hanged much in rec ent yea rs, bu t huma n

nature ha s chan ged li ttle.

Similar t o othe r anim als on the Af rican savann ah, our ances tors

spent the ir day s resp onding to gra ve thr eats, securin g the next m eal,

and takin g shel ter fr om a st orm. I t made sense to pla ce a h igh va lue on

instant g ratifi cation . The d istant futur e was less of a con cern. And af ter

thousands of ge nerati ons in an imm ediate -retur n envir onment , our

brains ev olved to pre fer qui ck pay offs t o long -term o nes.

Behaviora l econ omists refer to thi s tend ency a s time incons istenc y.

That is, the wa y your brain evalua tes re wards is inco nsiste nt acr oss

time.* Yo u valu e the present more than t he fut ure. Us ually, this

tendency serves us we ll. A r eward that i s cert ain rig ht now is ty picall y

worth mor e than one t hat is merely possi ble in the fu ture. But

occasiona lly, o ur bia s towar d inst ant gr atific ation c auses proble ms.

Why would someo ne smo ke if t hey kn ow it increa ses the risk of lun g

cancer? W hy wou ld som eone ov ereat when t hey kn ow it i ncreas es the ir

risk of o besity ? Why would s omeone have unsafe sex if they kno w i t

can resul t in s exuall y trans mitted disea se? On ce you unders tand h ow

the brain prior itizes reward s, the answe rs bec ome cle ar: th e

consequen ces of bad h abits a re del ayed w hile t he rewa rds ar e

immediate . Smok ing mi ght kil l you in ten years , but i t redu ces st ress

and eases your nicoti ne crav ings n ow. Ov ereati ng is h armful in th e

long run but ap petizi ng in t he mom ent. S ex—saf e or no t—prov ides

pleasure right away. Disease and i nfecti on won ’t sho w up fo r days or

weeks, ev en yea rs.

Every hab it pro duces multipl e outc omes a cross time. U nfortu nately ,

these out comes are of ten mis aligne d. Wit h our bad hab its, t he
immediate outco me usu ally fe els go od, bu t the ultimat e outc ome fe els

bad. With good habits , it is the r everse : the immedia te out come i s

unenjoyab le, bu t the ultimat e outc ome fe els go od. The Frenc h

economist Frede ric Ba stiat e xplain ed the probl em clea rly wh en he

wrote, “I t almo st alw ays hap pens t hat wh en the immedi ate

consequen ce is favora ble, th e late r cons equenc es are disast rous, and

vice vers a.... Often, the sw eeter the fi rst fr uit of a habi t, the more

bitter ar e its later fruits. ”

Put anoth er way , the costs o f your good habits are in the p resent .

The costs of yo ur bad habits are i n the future .

The brain ’s ten dency to prio ritize the p resent moment means you

can’t rel y on g ood in tention s. Whe n you make a plan —t o lose weigh t,

write a b ook, o r lear n a lan guage— you ar e actu ally ma king p lans f or

your futu re sel f. And when y ou env ision what y ou want your life t o be

like, it is eas y to s ee the value in tak ing ac tions w ith lo ng-ter m bene fits.

We all wa nt bet ter li ves for our f uture selves . Howev er, wh en the

moment of decis ion ar rives, instan t grat ificat ion usu ally w ins. Y ou are

no longer makin g a ch oice fo r Futu re You , who dreams of bei ng fit ter

or wealth ier or happi er. You are c hoosin g for Present You, who wa nts

to be ful l, pam pered, and en tertai ned. A s a ge neral r ule, t he mor e

immediate pleas ure yo u get f rom an actio n, the more s trongl y you

should qu estion wheth er it a ligns with y our lo ng -term goals .*

With a fu ller u nderst anding of wha t caus es our brain to rep eat so me

behaviors and a void o thers, let’s update the C ardinal Rule of Beh avior

Change: W hat is immed iately reward ed is repeat ed. Wha t is

immediate ly pun ished is avoi ded.

Our prefe rence for in stant g ratifi cation revea ls an i mporta nt tru th

about suc cess: becaus e of ho w we a re wir ed, mo st peop le wil l spen d all

day chasi ng qui ck hit s of sa tisfac tion. The ro ad less trave led is the r oad
of delaye d grat ificat ion. If you’r e will ing to wait f or the rewar ds, yo u’ll

face less compe tition and of ten ge t a bi gger p ayoff. As the sayin g goes ,

the last mile i s alwa ys the least crowde d.

This is p recise ly wha t resea rch ha s show n. Peo ple who are b etter at

delaying gratif icatio n have higher SAT s cores, lower levels of su bstanc e

abuse, lo wer li keliho od of o besity , bett er res ponses to str ess, a nd

superior social skill s. We’v e all seen t his pl ay out in our own l ives. If

you delay watch ing te levisio n and get yo ur hom ework d one, y ou’ll

generally learn more and get bette r grad es. If you do n’t bu y dess erts

and chips at th e stor e, you’ ll oft en eat healt hier fo od whe n you get

home. At some p oint, success in ne arly e very f ield re quires you t o

ignore an immed iate r eward i n favo r of a delay ed rewa rd.

Here’s th e prob lem: m ost peo ple kn ow tha t dela ying gr atific ation is

the wise approa ch. Th ey want the b enefit s of g ood hab its: t o b e

healthy, produc tive, at peac e. But these outco mes are seldo m top - of-

mind at t he dec isive moment. Thank fully, it’s possibl e to t rain y oursel f

to delay gratif icatio n—but y ou nee d to w ork wi th the grain of hum an

nature, n ot aga inst i t. The best w ay to do thi s is to add a littl e bit of

immediate pleas ure to the ha bits t hat pa y off in the long -r un and a

little bi t of i mmedia te pain to on es tha t don’ t.

HOW TO TU RN INS TANT G RATIFIC ATION TO YOU R ADVA NTAGE

The vital thing in ge tting a habit to st ick is to fee l succ essful —even if

it’s in a small way. The fee ling o f succ ess is a sign al tha t your habit paid

off and t hat th e work was wo rth th e effo rt.

In a perf ect wo rld, t he rewa rd for a goo d habi t is th e habi t itse lf. In

the real world, good habits tend t o feel worth while o nly af ter th ey hav e
provided you wi th som ething. Early on, i t’s al l sacri fice. You’ve gone to

the gym a few t imes, but you ’re no t stro nger o r fitte r or f aster — at lea st,

not in an y noti ceable sense. It’s only m onths later, once y ou she d a fe w

pounds or your arms g ain som e defi nition , that it bec omes e asier to

exercise for it s own sake. I n the beginn ing, y ou need a rea son to stay

on track. This is why immedi ate re wards are es sential . They keep you

excited w hile t he del ayed re wards accumu late i n the b ackgro und.

What we’r e real ly tal king ab out he re—whe n we’r e discu ssing

immediate rewar ds—is the end ing of a beh avior. The en ding o f any

experienc e is v ital b ecause we ten d to r emembe r it mo re tha n othe r

phases. Y ou wan t the ending of you r habi t to b e satis fying. The b est

approach is to use re inforce ment, which refers to the proce ss of using

an immedi ate re ward t o incre ase th e rate of a behavio r. Hab it sta cking,

which we covere d in C hapter 5, tie s your habit to an immedi ate cu e,

which mak es it obviou s when to sta rt. Re inforc ement t ies yo ur hab it to

an immedi ate re ward, which m akes i t sati sfying when y ou fin ish.

Immediate reinf orceme nt can be esp eciall y help ful whe n deal ing

with habi ts of avoida nce, wh ich ar e beha viors you wan t to s top do ing.

It can be chall enging to sti ck wit h habi ts lik e “no f rivolo us pur chases ”

or “no al cohol this m onth” b ecause nothi ng hap pens wh en you skip

happy hou r drin ks or don’t b uy tha t pair of sh oes. It can b e hard to fe el

satisfied when there is no a ction in the first place. All y ou’re doing is

resisting tempt ation, and th ere is n’t mu ch sat isfying about that.

One solut ion is to tu rn the situat ion on its h ead. Yo u want to ma ke

avoidance visib le. Op en a sa vings accoun t and label i t for someth ing

you want— maybe “Leath er Jack et.” W heneve r you pas s on a pur chase,

put the s ame am ount o f money in th e acco unt. S kip you r morn ing

latte? Tr ansfer $5. P ass on anothe r mont h of N etflix? Move $10 ov er.
It’s like creat ing a loyalty progr am for yours elf. Th e imme diate reward

of seeing yours elf sa ve mone y towa rd the leath er jack et fee ls a l ot

better th an bei ng dep rived. You ar e maki ng it satisfy ing to do no thing.

One of my reade rs and his wi fe use d a si milar setup. They w anted to

stop eati ng out so mu ch and start cookin g toge ther mo re. Th ey lab eled

their sav ings a ccount “Trip to Eur ope.” Whenev er they skipp ed goi ng

out to ea t, the y tran sferred $50 i nto th e acco unt. At the e nd of the ye ar,

they put the mo ney to ward th e vaca tion.

It is wor th not ing th at it i s impo rtant to sel ect sho rt -ter m rewa rds

that rein force your i dentity rathe r than ones that co nflict with it.

Buying a new ja cket i s fine if you ’re tr ying t o lose weight or re ad mor e

books, bu t it d oesn’t work i f you’ re try ing to budget and s ave mo ney.

Instead, taking a bub ble bat h or g oing o n a le isurely walk are go od

examples of rew arding yourse lf wit h free time, which aligns with your

ultimate goal o f more freedo m and financ ial in depende nce. S imilar ly,

if your r eward for ex ercisin g is e ating a bowl of ice cream , then you’r e

casting v otes f or con flictin g iden tities , and it ends up be ing a wash.

Instead, maybe your r eward i s a ma ssage, which is bot h a lu xury a nd a

vote towa rd tak ing ca re of y our bo dy. No w the short -t erm re ward i s

aligned w ith yo ur lon g-term vision of be ing a healthy perso n.

Eventuall y, as intrin sic rew ards l ike a better mood, more e nergy,

and reduc ed str ess ki ck in, you’ll becom e less concer ned wi th cha sing

the secon dary r eward. The id entity itsel f beco mes the reinf orcer. You

do it bec ause i t’s wh o you a re and it fe els go od to b e you. The m ore a

habit bec omes p art of your l ife, t he les s you need ou tside

encourage ment t o foll ow thro ugh. I ncenti ves ca n start a hab it. Id entity

sustains a habi t.

That said , it t akes t ime for the e videnc e to a ccumula te and a new

identity to eme rge. I mmediat e rein forcem ent he lps mai ntain

motivatio n in t he sho rt term while you’r e wait ing for the l ong -te rm
rewards t o arri ve.

In summar y, a h abit n eeds to be en joyabl e for it to l ast. S imple bits

of reinfo rcemen t—like soap t hat sm ells g reat o r tooth paste that h as a

refreshin g mint flavo r or se eing $ 50 hit your savings accou nt —can

offer the immed iate p leasure you n eed to enjoy a habi t. And chang e is

easy when it is enjoy able.

Chapter S ummary

■ The 4th Law o f Beha vior Ch ange i s make it sa tisfyin g.

■ We are more l ikely to repe at a b ehavio r when the ex perien ce is

satisfyin g.

■ The hum an bra in evo lved to prior itize immedi ate rew ards o ver

delayed r ewards .

■ The Car dinal Rule o f Behav ior Ch ange: What i s immed iately

rewarded is rep eated. What i s imme diatel y puni shed is avoid ed.

■ To get a habi t to s tick yo u need to fe el imm ediatel y succ essful -

even if i t’s in a sma ll way.

■ The fir st thr ee law s of be havior chang e— mak e it ob vious, make it

attractiv e, and make it easy — incr ease t he odd s that a beha vior

will be p erform ed thi s time. The f ourth law of behavi or cha nge

—make it satisf ying— increas es the odds that a behavi or wil l be

repeated next t ime.

16

How to St ick wi th Goo d Habit s Ever y Day

I n 1993, a ban k in A bbotsfo rd, Ca nada, hired a twent y -thre e-year -old

stockbrok er nam ed Tre nt Dyrs mid. A bbotsf ord wa s a rel ativel y smal l

suburb, t ucked away i n the s hadow of nea rby Va ncouver , wher e most

of the bi g busi ness d eals we re bei ng mad e. Giv en t he locati on, an d the

fact that Dyrsm id was a rook ie, no body e xpecte d too m uch of him. But

he made b risk p rogres s thank s to a simpl e dail y habit .

Dyrsmid b egan e ach mo rning w ith tw o jars on hi s desk. One w as

filled wi th 120 paper clips. The o ther w as emp ty. As soon a s he s ettled

in each d ay, he would make a sales call. Immed iately after, he wo uld

move one paper clip f rom the full jar to the e mpty ja r and the pr ocess

would beg in aga in. “E very mo rning I woul d star t with 120 pa per cl ips

in one ja r and I woul d keep dialin g the phone until I had m oved t hem

all to th e seco nd jar ,” he t old me .

Within ei ghteen month s, Dyrs mid wa s brin ging i n $5 mi llion to the

firm. By age tw enty-f our, he was m aking $75,00 0 per y ear —th e

equivalen t of $ 125,00 0 today . Not long a fter, he land ed a s ix -fig ure jo b

with anot her co mpany.

I like to refer to th is tech nique as the Paper Clip S trateg y and, over

the years , I’ve heard from r eaders who h ave em ployed it in a vari ety of

ways. One woman shift ed a ha irpin from o ne con tainer to ano ther

whenever she wr ote a page of her b ook. A nother man mo ved a marble

from one bin to the n ext aft er eac h set of pus h-ups.

Making pr ogress is sa tisfyin g, and visua l meas ures —li ke mov ing

paper cli ps or hairpi ns or m arbles —provi de cle ar evid ence o f your

progress. As a result , they reinfo rce yo ur beh avior a nd add a lit tle bi t of
immediate satis factio n to an y acti vity. Visual measur ement comes in

many form s: foo d jour nals, w orkout logs, loyal ty punc h card s, the

progress bar on a sof tware d ownloa d, eve n the page nu mbers in a

book. But perha ps the best w ay to measur e your progre ss is with a

habit tra cker.

HOW TO KE EP YOU R HABI TS ON T RACK

A habit t racker is a simple way to measu re whe ther yo u did a habi t.

The most basic format is to get a calend ar and cross off ea ch day you

stick wit h your routi ne. For examp le, if you m editate on Mo nday,

Wednesday , and Friday , each of tho se dat es get s a n X. As ti me rol ls by,

the calen dar be comes a recor d of y our ha bit st reak.

Countless peopl e have tracke d thei r habi ts, bu t perha ps the most

famous wa s Benj amin F ranklin . Begi nning at age twenty , Fran klin

carried a small bookl et ever ywhere he we nt and used i t to t rack

thirteen person al vir tues. T his li st inc luded goals l ike “L ose no time. Be

always em ployed in so mething usefu l” and “Avoi d trifl ing

conversat ion.” At the end of each day, F rankli n would open his bo oklet

and recor d his progre ss.

Jerry Sei nfeld report edly us es a h abit t racker to sti ck wit h his streak

of writin g joke s. In the doc umenta ry Com edian, he exp lains that h is

goal is s imply to “ne ver bre ak the chain ” of w riting jokes every day. I n

other wor ds, he is no t focus ed on how go od or bad a p articu lar jo ke is

or how in spired he fe els. He is si mply f ocused on sho wing u p and

adding to his s treak.

“Don’t br eak th e chai n” is a power ful ma ntra. Don’t b reak t he cha in

of sales calls and yo u’ll bu ild a succes sful b ook of busine ss. Do n’t br eak

the chain of wo rkouts and yo u’ll g et fit faste r than you’d expect . Don’ t

break the chain of cr eating every day an d you will en d up w ith an

impressiv e port folio. Habit tracki ng is powerf ul beca use it lever ages

multiple Laws o f Beha vior Ch ange. It sim ultane ously m akes a behav ior

obvious, attrac tive, and sat isfyin g.

Let’s bre ak dow n each one.

Benefit # 1: Hab it tra cking i s obvi ous.

Recording your last a ction c reates a tri gger t hat can initi ate yo ur nex t

one. Habi t trac king n aturall y buil ds a s eries of visu al cue s like the

streak of Xs on your calenda r or t he lis t of m eals in your food l og.

When you look a t the calenda r and see yo ur str eak, yo u’ll b e remi nded

to act ag ain. R esearc h has s hown t hat pe ople w ho trac k thei r prog ress

on goals like l osing weight, quitt ing sm oking, and lo wering blood

pressure are al l more likely to im prove than t hose wh o don’ t. One

study of more t han si xteen h undred peopl e foun d that those who ke pt

a daily f ood lo g lost twice as muc h weig ht as those w ho did not. The

mere act of tra cking a behav ior ca n spar k the urge to chang e it.

Habit tra cking also k eeps yo u hone st. Mo st of us have a dis torted

view of o ur own behav ior. We think we ac t bett er than we do .

Measureme nt off ers on e way t o over come o ur bli ndness to our own

behavior and no tice w hat’s r eally going on eac h day. One gl ance a t the

paper cli ps in the co ntainer and y ou imm ediate ly know how m uch

work you have ( or hav en’t) b een pu tting in. Wh en the eviden ce is right

in front of you , you’ re less likel y to h e to y ourself .

Benefit # 2: Hab it tra cking i s attr active .

The most effect ive fo rm of m otivat ion is progr ess. Wh en we get a

signal th at we are mo ving fo rward, we be come m ore mot ivated to

continue down t hat pa th. In this w ay, ha bit tr acking can ha ve an

addictive effec t on m otivati on. Ea ch sma ll win feeds your d esire.

This can be par ticula rly pow erful on a b ad day . When you’re feeli ng

down, it’ s easy to fo rget ab out al l the progre ss you have a lready made.

Habit tra cking provid es visu al pro of of your h ard wor k —a su btle

reminder of how far y ou’ve c ome. P lus, t he emp ty squa re you see e ach

morning c an mot ivate you to get st arted becaus e you d on’t w ant to lose

your prog ress b y brea king th e stre ak.

Benefit # 3: Hab it tra cking i s sati sfying .

This is t he mos t cruc ial ben efit o f all. Track ing can becom e its own

form of r eward. It is satisf ying t o cros s an i tem off your to -do list, to

complete an ent ry in your wo rkout log, o r to m ark an X on t he

calendar. It fe els go od to w atch y our re sults grow —th e size of yo ur

investmen t port folio, the le ngth o f your book manuscr ipt —an d if i t

feels goo d, the n you’ re more likel y to e ndure.

Habit tra cking also h elps ke ep you r eye on the ball: you’re focus ed

on the pr ocess rather than t he res ult. Y ou’re not fix ated o n gett ing si x -

pack abs, you’r e just trying to ke ep the strea k alive and b ecome the

type of p erson who do esn’t m iss wo rkouts .

In summar y, hab it tra cking ( 1) cre ates a visua l cue t hat ca n remi nd

you to ac t, (2) is in herentl y moti vating becau se you see th e prog ress
you are m aking and do n’t wan t to l ose it , and (3) fee ls sat isfyin g

whenever you re cord a nother succes sful i nstanc e of yo ur hab it.

Furthermo re, ha bit tr acking provid es vis ual pr oof tha t you are ca sting

votes for the t ype of person you w ish to becom e, whic h is a delig htful

form of i mmedia te and intrin sic gr atific ation. *

You may b e wond ering, if hab it tra cking is so useful, why h ave I

waited so long to tal k about it?

Despite a ll the benef its, I’ ve lef t this discu ssion u ntil n ow for a

simple re ason: many p eople r esist the id ea of trackin g and measur ing.

It can fe el lik e a bu rden be cause it for ces yo u into two ha bits: the ha bit

you’re tr ying t o buil d and t he hab it of tracki ng it. Counti ng cal ories

sounds li ke a h assle when yo u’re a lready strug gling t o foll ow a d iet.

Writing d own ev ery sa les cal l seem s tedi ous wh en you’ ve got work to

do. It fe els ea sier t o say, “I’ll just e at les s.” Or, “I’ll try h arder. ” Or, “ I’ll

remember to do it.” P eople i nevita bly te ll me things like, “I hav e a

decision journa l, but I wish I use d it m ore.” Or, “I record ed my

workouts for a week, but the n quit .” I’v e been there myself . I on ce

made a fo od log to tr ack my calori es. I manage d to do it fo r one meal

and then gave u p.

Tracking isn’t for ev eryone, and t here i s no n eed to measur e your

entire li fe. Bu t near ly anyo ne can benef it fro m it in some form —e ven if

it’s only tempo rary.

What can we do to mak e track ing ea sier?

First, wh enever possi ble, me asurem ent sh ould b e autom ated. You’ll

probably be sur prised by how much you’re alrea dy trac king w ithout

knowing i t. You r cred it card state ment t racks how oft en you go ou t to

eat. Your Fitbi t regi sters h ow man y step s you take an d how long y ou

sleep. Yo ur cal endar records how m any ne w plac es you travel to ea ch

year. Onc e you know w here to get t he dat a, add a note to yo ur cal endar
to review it ea ch wee k or ea ch mon th, wh ich is more p ractic al tha n

tracking it eve ry day .

Second, m anual tracki ng shou ld be limite d to y our mos t impo rtant

habits. I t is b etter to cons istent ly tra ck one habit than t o spor adical ly

track ten .

Finally, record each measure ment i mmedia tely a fter th e habi t

occurs. T he com pletio n of th e beha vior i s the cue to write it dow n. Thi s

approach allows you t o combi ne the habit -stack ing met hod me ntione d

in Chapte r 5 wi th hab it trac king.

The habit stack ing + habit t rackin g form ula is :

After [CU RRENT HABIT] , I wil l [TRA CK MY HABIT] .

■ After I hang up the phone from a sales call, I will move one pa per

clip over .

■ After I finis h each set at the g ym, I will r ecord i t in m y work out

journal.

■ After I put m y plat e in th e dish washer , I wi ll writ e down what I

ate.

These tac tics c an mak e track ing yo ur hab its ea sier. E ven if you

aren’t th e type of pe rson wh o enjo ys rec ording your b ehavio r, I t hink

you’ll fi nd a f ew wee ks of m easure ments to be insight ful. I t’s al ways

interesti ng to see ho w you’v e actu ally b een sp ending your t ime.

That said , ever y habi t strea k ends at so me poi nt. And , more

important than any si ngle me asurem ent, i s havi ng a go od pla n for

when your habit s slid e off t rack.

HOW TO RE COVER QUICKL Y WHEN YOUR H ABITS BREAK

DOWN

No matter how c onsist ent you are w ith yo ur hab its, it is in evitab le tha t

life will inter rupt y ou at s ome po int. P erfect ion is not po ssible . Befo re

long, an emerge ncy wi ll pop up—you get s ick or you ha ve to travel for

work or y our fa mily n eeds a little more of you r time.

Whenever this h appens to me, I try to re mind m yself o f a si mple

rule: nev er mis s twic e.

If I miss one d ay, I try to get ba ck int o it a s quick ly as possib le.

Missing o ne wor kout h appens, but I ’m not going to mis s two in a r ow.

Maybe I’l l eat an ent ire piz za, bu t I’ll follo w it up with a heal thy me al. I

can’t be perfec t, but I can avoid a seco nd lap se. As soon a s one streak

ends, I g et sta rted o n the n ext on e.

The first mista ke is never t he one that ruins you. It is th e spir a l of

repeated mistak es tha t follo ws. Mi ssing once i s an ac cident . Miss ing

twice is the st art of a new habit.

This is a disti nguish ing fea ture b etween winne rs and losers . Anyo ne

can have a bad perfor mance, a bad workou t, or a bad d ay at work. But

when succ essful peopl e fail, they reboun d quic kly. Th e brea king o f a

habit doe sn’t m atter if the reclai ming o f it i s fast.

I think t his pr incipl e is so impor tant t hat I’ ll stic k to i t even if I can’t

do a habi t as w ell or as com pletel y as I would like. Too of ten, w e fall

into an a ll-or- nothin g cycle with our ha bits. The pro blem i s not

slipping up; th e prob lem is thinki ng tha t if y ou can’ t do s omethi ng

perfectly , then you s houldn’ t do i t at a ll.

You don’t reali ze how valuab le it is to just s how up on you r bad (or

busy) day s. Los t days hurt y ou mor e than succe ssful d ays he lp you . If

you start with $100, then a 50 per cent g ain wi ll take you t o $150 . But

you only need a 33 pe rcent l oss to take you ba ck to $ 100. I n othe r

words, av oiding a 33 percent loss is jus t as v aluable as ac hievin g a 50

percent g ain. A s Char lie Mun ger sa ys, “T he fir st rule of co mpound ing:

Never int errupt it un necessa rily.”

This is w hy the “bad” workou ts are often the m ost imp ortant ones.

Sluggish days a nd bad workou ts mai ntain the co mpound gains you

accrued f rom pr evious good d ays. S imply doing somethi ng —ten

squats, f ive sp rints, a push -up, a nythin g real ly—is h uge. D on’t p ut up a

zero. Don ’t let losse s eat i nto yo ur com poundi ng.

Furthermo re, it ’s not always about what happen s durin g the

workout. It’s a bout b eing th e type of pe rson w ho does n’t mi ss

workouts. It’s easy t o train when you fe el goo d, but it’s c rucial to sh ow

up when y ou don ’t fee l like it—eve n if y ou do less th an you hope. Going

to the gy m for five m inutes may no t impr ove yo ur perf ormanc e, but it

reaffirms your identi ty.

The all-o r-noth ing cy cle of behavi or cha nge is just o ne pit fall t hat

can derai l your habit s. Anot her po tentia l dang er —espe cially if yo u are

using a h abit t racker —is mea suring the w rong t hing.

KNOWING W HEN (A ND WHE N NOT) TO TRA CK A H ABIT

Say you’r e runn ing a restaur ant an d you want t o know if you r chef is

doing a g ood jo b. One way to measu re suc cess i s to tr ack ho w many

customers pay f or a m eal eac h day. If mo re cus tomers come i n, the

food must be go od. If fewer custom ers co me in, someth ing mu st be

wrong.

However, this o ne mea suremen t—dail y reve nue—on ly give s a

limited p icture of wh at’s re ally g oing o n. Jus t becau se som eone p ays

for a mea l does n’t me an they enjoy the m eal. E ven dis satisf ied

customers are u nlikel y to di ne and dash. In fa ct, if you’re only

measuring reven ue, th e food might be get ting w orse bu t you’ re mak ing

up for it with market ing or discou nts or some other m ethod. Inste ad, it

may be mo re eff ective to tra ck how many custom ers fin ish th eir me al

or perhap s the percen tage of custo mers w ho lea ve a ge nerous tip.

The dark side o f trac king a partic ular b ehavio r is th at we become

driven by the n umber rather than t he pur pose b ehind i t. If your

success i s meas ured b y quart erly e arning s, you will o ptimiz e sale s,

revenue, and ac counti ng for quarte rly ea rnings . If yo ur suc cess i s

measured by a l ower n umber o n the scale, you w ill opt imize for a lower

number on the s cale, even if that means embrac ing cra sh die ts, ju ice

cleanses, and f at-los s pills . The human mind w ants to “win” whate ver

game is b eing p layed.

This pitf all is evide nt in m any ar eas of life. We foc us on workin g

long hour s inst ead of gettin g mean ingful work done. W e care more

about get ting t en tho usand s teps t han we do ab out bei ng hea lthy. We

teach for stand ardize d tests inste ad of emphas izing l earnin g, cur iosity ,

and criti cal th inking . In sh ort, w e opti mize f or what we me asure. When

we choose the w rong m easurem ent, w e get the wr ong beh avior.

This is s ometim es ref erred t o as G oodhar t’s La w. Name d afte r the

economist Charl es Goo dhart, the pr incipl e stat es, “Wh en a m easure
becomes a targe t, it ceases to be a good measu re.” Me asurem ent is only

useful wh en it guides you an d adds conte xt to a large r pict ure, n ot

when it c onsume s you. Each n umber is sim ply on e piece of fe edback in

the overa ll sys tem.

In our da ta-dri ven wo rld, we tend to ove rvalue number s and

undervalu e anyt hing e phemera l, sof t, and diffi cult to quant ify. W e

mistakenl y thin k the factors we ca n meas ure ar e the o nly fa ctors that

exist. Bu t just becau se you can me asure someth ing doe sn’t m ean it ’s

the most import ant th ing. An d just becau se you can’t measur e

something doesn ’t mea n it’s not im portan t at a ll.

All of th is to say, i t’s cru cial t o keep habit tracki ng in its pr oper

place. It can f eel sa tisfyin g to r ecord a habi t and t rack y our pr ogress ,

but the m easure ment i s not t he onl y thin g that matter s. Fur thermo re,

there are many ways t o measu re pro gress, and s ometime s it h elps t o

shift you r focu s to s omethin g enti rely d iffere nt.

This is w hy non scale victori es can be ef fectiv e for w eight loss. T he

number on the s cale m ay be s tubbor n, so if you focus solely on th at

number, y our mo tivati on will sag. But yo u may notice that y our sk in

looks bet ter or you w ake up earlie r or y our se x drive got a boost . All of

these are valid ways to trac k your impro vement . If yo u’re n ot fee ling

motivated by th e numb er on t he sca le, pe rhaps it’s ti me to focus on a

different measu rement —one th at giv es you more signals of pr ogress .

No matter how y ou mea sure yo ur imp roveme nt, ha bit tra cking

offers a simple way t o make your h abits more s atisfyi ng. Ea ch

measureme nt pro vides a littl e bit of evi dence that yo u’re m oving in the

right dir ection and a brief moment of im mediat e pleas ure fo r a jo b well

done.
Chapter S ummary

■ One of the mo st sat isfying feeli ngs is the f eeling of mak ing

progress.

■ A habit track er is a simpl e way to mea sure w hether you di d a

habit—lik e mark ing an X on a calen dar.

■ Habit t racker s and other v isual forms of mea suremen t can make

your habi ts sat isfyin g by pr ovidin g clea r evid ence of your

progress.

■ Don’t b reak t he cha in. Try to ke ep you r habi t strea k aliv e.

■ Never m iss tw ice. I f you m iss on e day, try t o get b ack on track as

quickly a s poss ible.

Just beca use yo u can measure somet hing d oesn’t mean i t’s th e

most impo rtant thing.

17

How an Ac counta bility Partne r Can

Change Ev erythi ng

A fter se rving as a p ilot in World War I I, Rog er Fish er att ended

Harvard L aw Sch ool an d spent thirt y-four years specia lizing in

negotiati on and confl ict man agemen t. He founde d the H arvard

Negotiati on Pro ject a nd work ed wit h nume rous c ountrie s and world
leaders o n peac e reso lutions , host age cr ises, and dip lomati c

compromis es. Bu t it w as in t he 197 0s and 1980s , as th e thre at of

nuclear w ar esc alated , that Fisher devel oped p erhaps his mo st

interesti ng ide a.

At the ti me, Fi sher w as focu sed on desig ning s trategi es tha t coul d

prevent n uclear war, and he had no ticed a trou bling f act. A ny sit ting

president would have access to lau nch co des th at coul d kill milli ons of

people bu t woul d neve r actua lly se e anyo ne die becaus e he w ould

always be thous ands o f miles away.

“My sugge stion was qu ite sim ple,” he wro te in 1981. “ Put th at

[nuclear] code number in a l ittle capsul e, and then i mplant that

capsule r ight n ext to the he art of a vol unteer . The v olunte er wou ld

carry wit h him a big, heavy butche r knif e as h e accom panie d the

President . If e ver th e Presi dent w anted to fir e nucle ar wea pons, the

only way he cou ld do so woul d be f or him first , with his ow n hand s, to

kill one human being. The Pr esiden t says , ‘Geo rge, I’ m sorr y but tens

of millio ns mus t die. ’ He ha s to l ook at someo ne and realiz e what death

is—what a n inno cent d eath is . Bloo d on t he Whi te Hous e carp et. It ’s

reality b rought home.

“When I s uggest ed thi s to fr iends in the Penta gon the y said , ‘My

God, that ’s ter rible. Having to ki ll som eone w ould di stort the

President ’s jud gment. He mig ht nev er pus h the button. ’”

Throughou t our discus sion of the 4 th Law of Be havior Change we

have cove red th e impo rtance of mak ing go od hab its imm ediate ly

satisfyin g. Fis her’s proposa l is a n inve rsion of the 4th La w: Mak e it

immediate ly uns atisfy ing.

Just as w e are more l ikely t o repe at an experi ence wh en the endin g

is satisf ying, we are also m ore li kely t o avoi d an ex perien ce whe n the
ending is painf ul. Pa in is a n effe ctive teache r. If a failu re is painfu l, it

gets fixe d. If a fail ure is relati vely p ainles s, it g ets ig nored. The m ore

immediate and m ore co stly a mistak e is, the fa ster yo u will learn from

it. The t hreat of a b ad revi ew for ces a plumbe r to be good at his job.

The possi bility of a custome r neve r retu rning makes r estaur ants c reate

good food . The cost o f cutti ng the wrong blood vessel makes a sur geon

master hu man an atomy and cut caref ully. When t he cons equenc es are

severe, p eople learn quickly .

The more immedi ate th e pain, the l ess li kely t he beha vior. If you

want to p revent bad h abits a nd eli minate unhea lthy be havior s, the n

adding an insta nt cos t to th e acti on is a grea t way t o redu ce the ir odd s.

We repeat bad h abits because they serve us in some wa y, and that

makes the m hard to ab andon. The be st way I kno w to ov ercome this

predicame nt is to inc rease t he spe ed of the pu nishmen t asso ciated with

the behav ior. T here c an’t be a gap betwe en the action and t he

consequen ces.

As soon a s acti ons in cur an immedi ate co nseque nce, be havior

begins to chang e. Cus tomers pay th eir bi lls on time w hen th ey are

charged a late fee. S tudents show up to class when th eir gr ade is linke d

to attend ance. We’ll jump th rough a lot of hoo ps to a void a littl e bit of

immediate pain.

There is, of co urse, a limit to th is. If you’r e going to re ly on

punishmen t to c hange behavio r, the n the streng th of t he pun ishmen t

must matc h the relati ve stre ngth o f the behavi or it i s tryi ng to correc t.

To be pro ductiv e, the cost o f proc rastin ation must be great er tha n the

cost of a ction. To be health y, the cost of laz iness m ust be great er tha n

the cost of exe rcise. Gettin g fine d for smokin g in a restau rant o r fail ing
to recycl e adds conse quence to an action . Beha vior on ly shi fts if the

punishmen t is p ainful enough and r eliabl y enfo rced.

In genera l, the more local, tangib le, co ncrete , and i mmedia te the

consequen ce, th e more likely it is to in fluenc e indiv idual behavi or. Th e

more glob al, in tangib le, vag ue, an d dela yed th e conse quence , the less

likely it is to influ ence in dividu al beh avior.

Thankfull y, the re is a strai ghtfor ward w ay to add an immedi ate co st

to any ba d habi t: cre ate a h abit c ontrac t.

THE HABIT CONTR ACT

The first seat belt l aw was passed in Ne w York on Dec ember 1, 1984 . At

the time, just 14 per cent of peopl e in t he Uni ted Sta tes re gularl y wore a

seat belt —but t hat wa s all a bout t o chan ge.

Within fi ve yea rs, ov er half of th e nati on had seat b elt la ws. To day,

wearing a seat belt i s enfor ceable by la w in f orty -ni ne of the fi fty st ates.

And it’s not ju st the legisl ation, the n umber of peop le wea ring s eat

belts has chang ed dra matical ly as well. In 201 6, over 88 pe rcent of

Americans buckl ed up each ti me the y got in a c ar. In just o ver th irty

years, th ere wa s a co mplete revers al in the ha bits of milli ons of peopl e.

Laws and regula tions are an exampl e of h ow gov ernment can

change ou r habi ts by creatin g a so cial c ontrac t. As a socie ty, we

collectiv ely ag ree to abide by cer tain r ules a nd then enfor ce the m as a

group. Wh enever a new piece of leg islati on imp acts be havior —seat belt

laws, ban ning s moking inside resta urants , mand atory r ecycli ng—it is

an exampl e of a socia l contr act sh aping our ha bits. T he gro up agr ees to

act in a certai n way, and if you d on’t f ollow along, you’ll be pu nished .
Just as g overnm ents u se laws to ho ld cit izens account able, you ca n

create a habit contra ct to h old yo urself accou ntable. A hab it con tract is

a verbal or wri tten a greemen t in w hich y ou sta te your commi tment to a

particula r habi t and the pun ishmen t that will occur i f you don’t follow

through. Then y ou fin d one o r two people to ac t as yo ur acc ountab ility

partners and si gn off on the contr act wi th you .

Bryan Har ris, a n entr epreneu r from Nashv ille, Tenness ee, wa s the

first per son I saw pu t this strate gy int o acti on. Sho rtly a fter t he bir th of

his son, Harris reali zed he wanted to sh ed a f ew poun ds. He wrote up a

habit con tract betwee n himse lf, hi s wife , and his per sonal traine r. The

first ver sion r ead, “ Bryan’s #1 ob jectiv e for Qi of 2 017 is to st art ea ting

correctly again so he feels better , look s bett er, and is ab le to hit hi s

long-term goal of 200 pounds at 10 % body fat.”

Below tha t stat ement, Harris laid out a road m ap for achiev ing hi s

ideal out come:

■ Phase # 1: Get back to a st rict “ slow -c arb” d iet in Qi.

■ Phase # 2: Sta rt a s trict m acro n utrien t trac king pr ogram in Q2.

■ Phase # 3: Ref ine an d maint ain th e deta ils of his di et and worko ut

program i n Q3.

Finally, he wro te out each o f the daily habits that w ould g et him to

his goal. For e xample , “Writ e down all f ood th at he c onsume s each day

and weigh himse lf eac h day.”

And then he lis ted th e punis hment if he failed : “If B ryan d oesn’t do

these two items then the fol lowing conse quence will b e enfo rced: He
will have to dr ess up each w orkday and e ach Su nday mo rning for th e

rest of t he qua rter. Dress u p is d efined as no t weari ng jea ns, t - shirts ,

hoodies, or sho rts. H e will also g ive Jo ey (hi s train er) $2 00 to use as

he sees f it if he mis ses one day o f logg ing fo od.”

At the bo ttom o f the page, H arris, his w ife, a nd his traine r all signed

the contr act.

My initia l reac tion w as that a con tract like t his see med ov erly

formal an d unne cessar y, espe cially the s ignatu res. Bu t Harr is

convinced me th at sig ning th e cont ract w as an indicat ion of

seriousne ss. “A nytime I skip this part,” he sa id, “I start slacki ng alm ost

immediate ly.”

Three mon ths la ter, a fter hi tting his ta rgets for Qi, Harri s upgr aded

his goals . The conseq uences escala ted, t oo. If he mis sed hi s

carbohydr ate an d prot ein tar gets, he had to pa y his t rainer $100. And

if he fai led to weigh himsel f, he had to give his wi f e $500 to us e as s he

saw fit. Perhap s most painfu lly, i f he f orgot to run sprint s, he had to

dress up for wo rk eve ry day and we ar an Alabam a hat t he res t of t he

quarter—t he bit ter ri val of his be loved Auburn team.

The strat egy wo rked. With hi s wife and t rainer acting as

accountab ility partne rs and with t he hab it con tract c larify ing ex actly

what to d o each day, Harris lost t he wei ght.*

To make b ad hab its un satisfy ing, y our be st opt ion is to mak e them

painful i n the moment . Creat ing a habit contra ct is a strai ghtfor ward

way to do exact ly tha t.

Even if y ou don ’t wan t to cr eate a full- blown habit c ontrac t, sim ply
having an accou ntabil ity par tner i s usef ul. Th e comed ian Ma rgaret Cho

writes a joke o r song every day. S he doe s the “song a day” challe nge

with a fr iend, which helps t hem bo th sta y acco untable . Know ing th at

someone i s watc hing c an be a power ful mo tivato r. You are le ss lik ely to

procrasti nate o r give up bec ause t here i s an i mmediat e cost . If y ou

don’t fol low th rough, perhap s they ’ll se e you as untr ustwor thy or lazy.

Suddenly, you a re not only f ailing to up hold y our pro mises to you rself,

but also failin g to u phold y our pr omises to ot hers.

You can e ven au tomate this p rocess . Thom as Fra nk, an

entrepren eur in Bould er, Col orado, wakes up at 5:55 e ach mo rning.

And if he doesn ’t, he has a tweet automa ticall y sched uled t hat sa ys,

“It’s 6:1 0 and I’m no t up be cause I’m la zy! Re ply to this f or $5 via

PayPal (l imit 5 ), ass uming m y alar m didn ’t mal functio n.”

We are al ways t rying to pres ent ou r best selve s to th e worl d. We

comb our hair a nd bru sh our teeth and dr ess ou rselves caref ully

because w e know these habits are l ikely to get a posi tive r eactio n. We

want to g et goo d grad es and gradua te fro m top schools to im press

potential emplo yers a nd mate s and our fr iends and fam ily. W e care

about the opini ons of those around us be cause it he lp s if o thers like u s.

This is p recise ly why gettin g an a ccount abilit y partn er or signin g a

habit con tract can wo rk so w ell.

Chapter S ummary

■ The inv ersion of th e 4th L aw of Behavi or Cha nge is make i t

unsatisfy ing.

■ We are less l ikely to repe at a b ad hab it if it is p ainful or

unsatisfy ing.

■ An acco untabi lity p artner can cr eate a n imme diate c ost to

inaction. We ca re dee ply abo ut wha t othe rs thi nk of u s, and we do

not want others to ha ve a le sser o pinion of us .

■ A habit contr act ca n be us ed to add a social cost t o any behavi or.

It makes the co sts of violat ing yo ur pro mises public and pa inful.

Knowing t hat so meone else is watch ing yo u can be a po werful

motivator .

HOW TO CR EATE A GOOD HABIT

The 1st L aw: Ma ke It Obvious

1.1: Fill out t he Hab its Sco recard . Writ e down your c urrent habit s to b ecome a ware o f them .

1.2: Use implem entati on inte ntions : “I w ill [B EHAVIOR ] at [ TIME] in [LO CATION] .”

1.3: Use habit stacki ng: “Af ter [C URRENT HABIT ], I wi ll [NE W HABI T].”

1.4: Desi gn you r envi ronment . Make the c ues of good h abits obviou s and visible .

The 2nd L aw: Ma ke It Attract ive

2.1: Use tempta tion b undling . Pair an ac tion y ou want to do with an act ion you need to do.

2.2: Join a cul ture w here yo ur des ired b ehavio r is th e norm al beh avior.
2.3: Crea te a m otivat ion rit ual. D o some thing you enj oy imm ediate ly bef ore a d ifficu lt hab i

t.

The 3rd L aw: Ma ke It Easy

3.1: Redu ce fri ction. Decrea se the numbe r of s teps be tween you an d your good h abits.

3.2: Prim e the enviro nment. Prepar e your envir onment to mak e futu re act ions ea sier.

3.3: Mast er the decis ive mom ent. O ptimiz e the small c hoices that delive r outsi zed im pact.

3.4: Use the Tw o-Minu te Rule . Down scale your h abits u ntil t hey ca n be d one in two mi nutes

or less.

3.5: Auto mate y our ha bits. I nvest in tec hnolog y and o netime purch ases t hat loc k in f uture

behavior.

The 4th L aw: Ma ke It Satisfy ing

4.1: Use reinfo rcemen t. Give yours elf an immed iate re ward w hen yo u comp lete yo ur hab it.

4.2: Make “doin g noth ing” en joyabl e. Whe n avoi ding a bad ha bit, d esign a way t o see the

benefits.

4.3: Use a habi t trac ker. Ke ep tra ck of your h abit st reak a nd “do n’t br eak the c hain .”

4.4: Neve r miss twice . When you fo rget t o do a habit, make sure y ou get back o n trac k

immediate ly.

HOW TO BR EAK A BAD HA BIT

Inversion of th e 1st Law: Ma ke It Invisi ble

1.5: Redu ce exp osure. Remove the c ues of your bad hab its fr om you r envi ronment .

Inversion of th e 2nd Law: Ma ke It Unattr active

2.4: Refr ame yo ur min d-set. Highli ght th e bene fits of avoid ing yo ur bad habits .

Inversion of th e 3rd Law: Ma ke It Diffic ult

3.6: Incr ease f rictio n. Incr ease t he num ber of steps betwee n you and yo ur bad habits .

3.7: Use a comm itment device . Rest rict y our fu ture ch oices to the ones that be nefit you.

Inversion of th e 4th Law: Ma ke It Unsati sfying

4.5: Get an acc ountab ility p artner . Ask someon e to wa tch yo ur beh avior.
4.6: Crea te a h abit c ontract . Make the c osts o f your bad ha bits p ublic and pai nful.

You can d ownloa d a pr intable versi on of this h abits c heat s heet a t:

atomichab its.co m/chea tsheet

ADVANCED TACTIC S
How to Go from Being Merely Good t o

Being Tru ly Gre at

18

The Truth About Talen t (When Genes

Matter an d When They Don’t)

M any peo ple ar e fami liar wi th Mic hael P helps, who is widel y

considere d to b e one of the greate st ath letes in hist ory. P helps has

won more Olympi c meda ls not only t han an y swim mer but also more

than any Olympi an in any spo rt.

Fewer peo ple kn ow the name H icham El Gue rrouj, but he was a

fantastic athle te in his own right . El G uerrou j is a Morocc an run ner

who holds two O lympic gold m edals and is one o f the g reates t midd le -

distance runner s of a ll time . For many y ears, he held the w orld r ecord

in the mi le, 1, 500-me ter, an d 2,00 0-mete r race s. At t he Oly mpic

Games in Athens , Gree ce, in 2004, he won gold in the 1,500 - meter and

5,000-met er rac es.

These two athle tes ar e wildl y diff erent in man y ways. (For starte rs,

one compe ted on land and the other in wa ter.) But mos t nota bly, t hey

differ si gnific antly in heig ht. El Guerr ouj is five f eet, n ine in ches t all.

Phelps is six f eet, f our inc hes ta ll. De spite this se ven -in ch dif ferenc e in

height, t he two men a re iden tical in one respe ct: Mic hael P helps and

Hicham El Guerr ouj we ar the same l ength inseam on the ir pan ts.

How is th is pos sible? Phelps has r elativ ely sh ort leg s for his he ight

and a ver y long torso , the p erfect build for s wimming . El G uerrou j has
incredibl y long legs and a s hort u pper b ody, a n ideal frame for d istanc e

running.

Now, imag ine if these world- class athlet es wer e to sw itch s ports.

Given his remar kable athleti cism, could Michae l Phelp s beco me an

Olympic-c aliber dista nce run ner wi th eno ugh tr aining? It’s unlike ly. At

peak fitn ess, P helps weighed 194 p ounds, which is 40 percen t heav ier

than El G uerrou j, who compet ed at an ult raligh t 138 p ounds. Talle r

runners a re hea vier r unners, and e very e xtra p ound is a cur se whe n it

comes to distan ce run ning. A gainst elite compe tition, Phelp s woul d be

doomed fr om the start .

Similarly , El G uerrou j might be on e of t he bes t runne rs in histor y,

but it’s doubtf ul he would e ver qu alify for th e Olymp ics as a swi mmer.

Since 197 6, the avera ge heig ht of Olympi c gold medali sts in the m en’s

1,500-met er run is fi ve feet , ten inches . In c omparis on, th e aver age

height of Olymp ic gol d medal ists i n the men’s 100 -met er fre estyle

swim is s ix fee t, fou r inche s. Swi mmers tend t o be ta ll and have long

backs and arms, which are id eal fo r pull ing th rough t he wat er. El

Guerrouj would be at a sever e disa dvanta ge bef ore he ever t ouched the

pool.

The secre t to m aximiz ing you r odds of su ccess is to c hoose the ri ght

field of compet ition. This i s just as tr ue wit h habit chang e as i t is w ith

sports an d busi ness. Habits are ea sier t o perf orm, an d more satis fying

to stick with, when t hey ali gn wit h your natur al incl inatio ns and

abilities . Like Micha el Phel ps in the po ol or Hicham El Gu e rrouj on the

track, yo u want to pl ay a ga me whe re the odds are in your f avor.

Embracing this strate gy requ ires t he acc eptanc e of th e simp le tru th

that peop le are born with di fferen t abil ities. Some p eople don’t like t o

discuss t his fa ct. On the su rface, your genes seem to be fi xed, a nd it’ s
no fun to talk about things you ca nnot c ontrol . Plus, phras es lik e

biologica l dete rminis m makes it so und li ke cer tain in dividu als ar e

destined for su ccess and oth ers do omed t o fail ure. Bu t this is a

shortsigh ted vi ew of the inf luence of ge nes on behavi or.

The stren gth of genet ics is also t heir w eaknes s. Gene s cann ot be

easily ch anged, which means they p rovide a pow erful a dvanta ge in

favorable circu mstanc es and a seri ous di sadvan tage in unfav orable

circumsta nces. If you want t o dunk a bas ketbal l, bein g seve n feet tall is

very usef ul. If you w ant to perfor m a gy mnasti cs rout ine, b eing s even

feet tall is a great hindran ce. Ou r envi ronmen t deter mines the

suitabili ty of our ge nes and the u tility of ou r natur al tal ents. When o ur

environme nt cha nges, so do t he qua lities that determi ne suc cess.

This is t rue no t just for ph ysical chara cteris tics bu t for mental ones

as well. I’m sm art if you as k me a bout h abits and hum an beh avior; not

so much w hen it comes to kni tting, rocke t prop ulsion, or gu itar c hords.

Competenc e is h ighly depende nt on contex t.

The peopl e at t he top of any compe titive field are no t only well

trained, they a re als o well suited to th e task . And t his is why, if you

want to b e trul y grea t, sele cting the ri ght pl ace to focus is cru cial.

In short: genes do no t deter mine y our de stiny. They d etermi ne you r

areas of opport unity. As phy sician Gabor Mate notes, “Genes can

predispos e, but they don’t p redete rmine. ” The areas w here y ou are

genetical ly pre dispos ed to s uccess are t he are as wher e h abi ts are more

likely to be sa tisfyi ng. The key i s to d irect your ef fort t oward areas that

both exci te you and m atch yo ur nat ural s kills, to ali gn you r ambi tion

with your abili ty.

The obvio us que stion is, “Ho w do I figur e out where t he odd s are in

my favor? How d o I id entify the op portun ities and hab its th at are right

for me?” The fi rst pl ace we will l ook fo r an a nswer i s by u nderst anding

your pers onalit y.

HOW YOUR PERSON ALITY INFLUEN CES YO UR HAB ITS

Your gene s are operat ing ben eath t he sur face o f every habit . Inde ed,

beneath t he sur face o f every behav ior. G enes h ave bee n show n to

influence every thing from th e numb er of hours you spe nd wat ching

televisio n to y our li kelihoo d to m arry o r divo rce to yo ur t endenc y to g et

addicted to dru gs, al cohol, or nic otine. There ’s a st rong g enetic

component to ho w obed ient or rebel lious you ar e when facing

authority , how vulner able or resis tant y ou are to str essful event s, how

proactive or re active you te nd to be, an d even how ca ptivat ed or bored

you feel during senso ry expe rience s like atten ding a concer t. As Robert

Plomin, a behav ioral genetic ist at King’ s Coll ege in London , told me,

“It is no w at t he poi nt wher e we h ave st opped testing to se e if t raits

have a ge netic compon ent bec ause w e lite rally can’t f ind a single one

that isn’ t infl uenced by our genes .”

Bundled t ogethe r, you r uniqu e clus ter of genet ic trai ts pre dispos e

you to a partic ular p ersonal ity. Y our pe rsonal ity is the se t of

character istics that is cons istent from situat ion to situat ion. T he mos t

proven sc ientif ic ana lysis o f pers onalit y trai ts is k nown a s the “Big

Five,” wh ich br eaks t hem dow n into five spectr ums of behavi or.

1. Openne ss to experi ence: f rom cu rious and in ventive on on e end

to cautio us and consi stent o n the other.

2. Consci entiou sness: organi zed an d effi cient to easy going and

spontaneo us.

3. Extrov ersion : outg oing an d ener getic to sol itary a nd res erved

(you like ly kno w them as ext rovert s vs. introv erts).

4. Agreea blenes s: fri endly a nd com passio nate t o chall enging and

detached.

5. Neurot icism: anxio us and sensit ive to confi dent, c alm, a nd

stable.

All five charac terist ics hav e biol ogical under pinning s. Ext rovers ion,

for insta nce, c an be tracked from birth. If sc ientist s play a lou d nois e in

the nursi ng war d, som e babie s turn towar d it w hile ot hers t urn aw ay.

When the resear chers tracked these child ren th rough l ife, t hey fo und

that the babies who t urned t oward the no ise we re more likel y to g row

up to be extrov erts. Those w ho tur ned aw ay wer e more likely to

become in trover ts.

People wh o are high i n agree ablene ss are kind, consid erate, and

warm. The y also tend to have highe r natu ral ox ytocin levels , a

hormone t hat pl ays an import ant ro le in social bondin g, inc reases

feelings of tru st, an d can a ct as a natu ral an tidepre ssant. You c an eas ily

imagine h ow som eone w ith mor e oxyt ocin m ight b e incli ned to build

habits li ke wri ting t hank-yo u note s or o rganiz ing soc ial ev ents.

As a thir d exam ple, c onsider neuro ticism , whic h is a person ality

trait all peopl e poss ess to variou s degr ees. P eople w ho are high in

neurotici sm ten d to b e anxio us and worry more than ot hers. This t rait

has been linked to hy persens itivit y of t he amy gdala, the po rtion of the

brain res ponsib le for notici ng thr eats. In oth er word s, peo ple wh o are

more sens itive to neg ative c ues in their envir onment are mo re lik ely to

score hig h in n euroti cism.

Our habit s are not so lely de termin ed by our pe rsonali ties, but th ere

is no dou bt tha t our genes n udge u s in a certa in dire ction. Our d eeply

rooted pr eferen ces ma ke cert ain be havior s easi er for some p eople than

for other s. You don’t have t o apol ogize for th ese dif ferenc es or feel

guilty ab out th em, bu t you d o have to wo rk wit h them. A per son wh o

scores lo wer on consc ientiou sness, for e xample , will be les s like ly to be

orderly b y natu re and may ne ed to rely m ore he avily o n envi ronmen t

design to stick with good ha bits. (As a remind er for the le ss

conscient ious r eaders among us, en vironm ent de sign is a str ategy we

discussed in Ch apters 6 and 12.)

The takea way is that you sho uld bu ild ha bits t hat wor k for your

personali ty.* P eople can get rippe d work ing ou t like a body builde r, but

if you pr efer r ock cl imbing or cyc ling o r rowi ng, the n shap e your

exercise habit around your i nteres ts. If your friend follow s a lo w -carb

diet but you fi nd tha t low-f at wor ks for you, then mo re pow er to you. I f

you want to rea d more , don’t be em barras sed if you pr efer s teamy

romance n ovels over n onficti on. Re ad wha tever fascina tes yo u.* Yo u

don’t hav e to b uild t he habi ts eve ryone tells you to build. Choos e the

habit tha t best suits you, n ot the one t hat is mos t p opular .

There is a vers ion of every habit that c an bri ng you joy an d

satisfact ion. F ind it . Habit s need to be enjoy able if they are go ing to

stick. Th is is the co re idea behin d the 4th La w.

Tailoring your habits to you r pers onalit y is a good s tart, but th is is

not the e nd of the st ory. Le t’s tu rn our atten tion to findi ng and

designing situa tions where y ou’re at a n atural advant age.

HOW TO FI ND A G AME WH ERE THE ODDS ARE IN YOUR FAVOR

Learning to pla y a ga me wher e the odds a re in your fa vor is criti cal fo r

maintaini ng mot ivatio n and f eeling succe ssful. In the ory, y ou can

enjoy alm ost an ything . In pr actice , you are mo re like ly to enjoy the

things th at com e easi ly to y ou. Pe ople w ho are talent ed in a part icular

area tend to be more compete nt at that t ask an d are t hen pr aised for

doing a g ood jo b. The y stay energi zed be cause they ar e maki ng

progress where others have f ailed, and b ecause they g et rew arded with

better pa y and bigger opport unitie s, whi ch not only m akes t hem

happier b ut als o prop els the m to p roduce even higher - qualit y work . It’s

a virtuou s cycl e.

Pick the right habit and pro gress is eas y. Pic k the w rong h abit a nd

life is a strug gle.

How do yo u pick the r ight ha bit? T he fir st ste p is so methin g we

covered i n the 3rd La w: make it ea sy. In many cases, when p eople pick

the wrong habit , it s imply m eans t hey pi cked a habit that w as too

difficult . When a hab it is e asy, y ou are more likely to be succes sful.

When you are su ccessf ul, you are m ore li kely t o feel satisf ied. H owever ,

there is anothe r leve l to co nsider . In t he lon g-run, if you conti nue to

advance a nd imp rove, any are a can become chall enging. At so me

point, yo u need to ma ke sure you’r e play ing th e right game for yo ur

skillset. How d o you figure that o ut?

The most common appro ach is trial and er ror. O f cours e, the re’s a

problem w ith th is str ategy: life i s shor t. You don’t have t ime to try

every car eer, d ate ev ery eli gible bachel or, or play e very m usical

instrumen t. Tha nkfull y, ther e is a n effe ctive way t o manage this

conundrum , and it is known a s the explor e/expl oit tra de -off .

In the be ginnin g of a new ac tivity , ther e shou ld be a perio d of

explorati on. In relat ionship s, it’ s call ed dat ing. In colle ge, it ’s cal led the

liberal a rts. I n busi ness, i t’s ca lled s plit t esting. The g oal is to tr y out

many poss ibilit ies, r esearch a bro ad ran ge of ideas, and ca st a w ide ne t.

After thi s init ial pe riod of explo ration , shif t your focus to the best

solution you’ve found —but ke ep exp erimen ting o ccasion ally. The

proper ba lance depend s on wh ether you’re winni ng or l osing. If yo u

are curre ntly w inning , you e xploit , expl oit, e xploit. If yo u are curren tly

losing, y ou con tinue to expl ore, e xplore , expl ore.

In the lo ng-run it is probab ly mos t effe ctive to work on th e stra tegy

that seem s to d eliver the be st res ults a bout 8 0 to 90 perce nt of the

time and keep e xplori ng with the r emaini ng 10 to 20 p ercent . Goog le

famously asks e mploye es to s pend 8 0 perc ent of the wo rkweek on th eir

official job an d 20 p ercent on pro jects of the ir choi ce, wh ich ha s led to

the creat ion of block buster produc ts lik e AdWo rds and Gmail .

The optim al app roach also de pends on how much time yo u have . If

you have a lot of tim e—like someon e at t he beg inning of the ir car eer —

it makes more s ense t o explo re bec ause o nce yo u find the ri ght th ing,

you still have a good amount of ti me to exploi t it. I f you’ re pre ssed f or

time—say, as yo u come up on the de adline for a projec t —you should

implement the b est so lution you’ve found so fa r and g et som e resu lts.

As you ex plore differ ent opt ions, there are a series of que stions you

can ask y oursel f to c ontinua lly na rrow i n on t he habi ts and areas that

will be m ost sa tisfyi ng to y ou:

What feel s like fun t o me, b ut wor k to o thers? The ma rk of

whether y ou are made for a t ask is not w hether you lo ve it but

whether y ou can handl e the p ain of the t ask ea sier th an mos t

people. W hen ar e you enjoyin g your self w hile o ther pe ople a re

complaini ng? Th e work that h urts y ou les s than it hur ts oth ers is

the work you we re mad e to do .

What make s me l ose tr ack of time? Flow i s the mental state

you enter when you ar e so fo cused on the task at hand that the

rest of t he wor ld fad es away . This blend of ha ppiness and p eak

performan ce is what a thletes and p erform ers ex perienc e when

they are “in th e zone .” It i s near ly imp ossibl e to ex perien ce a f low

state and not f ind th e task satisf ying a t leas t to so me deg ree.

Where do I get greate r retur ns tha n the averag e perso n?

We are co ntinua lly co mparing ourse lves t o thos e aroun d us, and a

behavior is mor e like ly to b e sati sfying when the com pariso n is i n

our favor . When I sta rted wr iting atjame sclear .com, m y emai l list

grew very quick ly. I wasn’t quite sure w hat I was doi ng wel l, but I

knew that resul ts see med to be com ing fa ster f or me t han fo r

some of m y coll eagues , which motiv ated m e to k eep wri ting.

What come s natu rally to me? For ju st a m oment, ignore what

you have been t aught. Ignore what societ y has told yo u. Ign ore

what othe rs exp ect of you. L ook in side y oursel f and a sk, “W hat

feels nat ural t o me? When ha ve I f elt al ive? W hen hav e I fe lt lik e

the real me?” N o inte rnal ju dgment s or p eople- pleasin g. No

second-gu essing or se lf-crit icism. Just feelin gs of e ngagem ent an d

enjoyment . When ever y ou feel authe ntic a nd gen uine, y ou are

headed in the r ight d irectio n.

To be hon est, s ome of this p rocess is ju st luc k. Mich ael Ph elps a nd

Hicham El Guerr ouj we re luck y to b e born with a rare set of abili ties

that are highly value d by so ciety and to be pl aced in the i deal

environme nt for those abilit ies. W e all have l imited time o n this plane t,

and the t ruly g reat a mong us are t he one s who not onl y work hard but

also have the g ood fo rtune t o be e xposed to op portuni ties t hat fa vor us .

But what if you don’t want t o leav e it u p to l uck?

If you ca n’t fi nd a g ame whe re the odds are st acked i n your favor ,

create on e. Sco tt Ada ms, the carto onist behind Dilber t, say s,

“Everyone has a t leas t a few areas in wh ich th ey coul d be i n the top

25% with some e ffort. In my case, I can draw b etter t han mo st peo ple,

but I’m h ardly an art ist. An d I’m not an y funn ier tha n the averag e

standup c omedia n who never m akes i t big, but I ’m funn ier th an mos t

people. T he mag ic is that fe w peop le can draw well an d writ e joke s. It’ s

the combi nation of th e two t hat ma kes wh at I d o so ra re. An d when

you add i n my b usines s backg round, sudde nly I had a t opic t hat fe w

cartoonis ts cou ld hop e to un dersta nd wit hout l iving i t.”

When you can’t win by being better , you can wi n by be ing di fferen t.

By combin ing yo ur ski lls, yo u redu ce the level of com petiti on, wh ich

makes it easier to st and out . You can sh ortcut the ne ed for a gen etic

advantage (or f or yea rs of p ractic e) by rewrit ing the rules . A go od

player wo rks ha rd to win the game everyo ne els e is pl aying. A gre at

player cr eates a new game th at fav ors th eir st rengths and a voids their

weaknesse s.

In colleg e, I d esigne d my ow n majo r, bio mechan ics, wh ich wa s a

combinati on of physic s, chem istry, biolo gy, an d anato my. I wasn’t

smart eno ugh to stand out am ong th e top physic s or bi ology majors , so

I created my ow n game . And b ecause it su ited m e—I was only taking

the cours es I w as int erested in—st udying felt like le ss of a chor e. It was
also easi er to avoid the tra p of c ompari ng mys elf to everyo ne els e. Aft er

all, nobo dy els e was taking the sa me com binati on of c lasses , so w ho

could say if th ey wer e bette r or w orse?

Specializ ation is a p owerful way t o over come t he “acc ident” of ba d

genetics. The m ore yo u maste r a sp ecific skill , the h arder it bec omes

for other s to c ompete with y ou. Ma ny bod ybuild ers are stron ger th an

the avera ge arm wrest ler, bu t even a mas sive b odybuil der ma y lose at

arm wrest ling b ecause the ar m wres tling champ has ver y spec ific

strength. Even if you ’re not the m ost na turall y gifte d, you can o ften w in

by being the be st in a very narrow categ ory.

Boiling w ater w ill so ften a potato but h arden an egg. You c an’t

control w hether you’r e a pot ato or an eg g, but you ca n deci de to play a

game wher e it’s bette r to be hard or sof t. If you can find a more

favorable envir onment , you c an tra nsform the s ituat io n from one

where the odds are ag ainst y ou to one wh ere th ey are in you r favo r.

HOW TO GE T THE MOST O UT OF Y OUR GE NES

Our genes do no t elim inate t he nee d for hard w ork. Th ey cla rify i t.

They tell us iv hat to work h ard on . Once we re alize o ur str eng ths , we

know wher e to s pend o ur time and e nergy. We kn ow whic h type s of

opportuni ties t o look for an d whic h type s of c halleng es to avoid. The

better we under stand our nat ure, t he bet ter ou r strat egy ca n be.

Biologica l diff erence s matte r. Eve n so, it’s m ore pro ductiv e to f ocus

on whethe r you are fu lfillin g your own p otenti al than compa ring

yourself to som eone e lse. Th e fact that you ha ve a na tural limit to any

specific abilit y has nothing to do with whethe r you a re rea ching the
ceiling o f your capab ilities . Peop le get so ca ught up in th e fact that they

have limi ts tha t they rarely exert the e ffort require d to g et clo se to

them.

Furthermo re, ge nes ca n’t mak e you succes sful i f you’r e not doing

the work. Yes, it’s p ossible that the ri pped t rainer at the gym h as bet ter

genes, bu t if y ou hav en’t pu t in t he sam e reps , it’s imposs ible t o say if

you have been d ealt a better or wo rse ge netic hand. U ntil y ou wor k as

hard as t hose y ou adm ire, do n’t ex plain away t heir su ccess as luc k.

In summar y, one of th e best ways t o ensu re you r habit s rema in

satisfyin g over the l ong-run is to pick behavi ors tha t alig n with your

personali ty and skill s. Work hard on the thing s that come e asy.

Chapter S ummary

■ The sec ret to maxim izing y our od ds of succes s is to choos e the

right fie ld of compet ition.

■ Pick th e righ t habi t and p rogres s is e asy. P ick the wrong habit and

life is a strug gle.

■ Genes c annot be eas ily cha nged, which means they pr ovide a

powerful advant age in favora ble ci rcumst ances and a s erious

disadvant age in unfav orable circum stance s.

■ Habits are ea sier w hen the y alig n with your natural abili ties.

Choose th e habi ts tha t best suit y ou.

■ Play a game t hat fa vors yo ur str engths . If y ou can’ t find a gam e

that favo rs you , crea te one.

■ Genes d o not elimin ate the need for ha rd wor k. They clari fy it.

They tell us wh at to work ha rd on.

19

The Goldi locks Rule: How to Stay

Motivated in Li fe and Work

I n 1955, Disne yland had jus t open ed in Anahei m, Cali fornia , when a

ten-year- old bo y walk ed in a nd ask ed for a job . Labor laws were

loose bac k then and t he boy manage d to l and a positio n sell ing

guidebook s for $0.50 apiece.

Within a year, he had transi tioned to Di sney’s magic shop, where he

learned t ricks from t he olde r empl oyees. He ex perimen ted wi th jok es

and tried out s imple routine s on v isitor s. Soo n he di scover ed tha t what

he loved was no t perf orming magic but pe rformi ng in g eneral . He s et

his sight s on b ecomin g a com edian.

Beginning in hi s teen age yea rs, he start ed per forming in li ttle c lubs

around Lo s Ange les. T he crow ds wer e smal l and his act was s hort. He

was rarel y on s tage f or more than five m inutes . Most of the peopl e in

the crowd were too bu sy drin king o r talk ing wi th frie nds to pay

attention . One night, he lit erally deliv ered h is stan d -up r outine to an

empty clu b.

It wasn’t glamo rous w ork, bu t ther e was no dou bt he w as get ting

better. H is fir st rou tines w ould o nly la st one or two minut es. By high

school, h is mat erial had exp anded to inc lude a five -m inute act an d, a

few years later , a te n-minut e show . At n inetee n, he w as per formin g

weekly fo r twen ty min utes at a tim e. He had to read t hree p oems

during th e show just to make the r outine long enough, but h is ski lls

continued to pr ogress .
He spent anothe r deca de expe riment ing, a djusti ng, and pract icing.

He took a job a s a te levisio n writ er and , grad ually, he was able to lan d

his own a ppeara nces o n talk shows. By th e mid- 1970s, he had worke d

his way i nto be ing a regular guest on Th e Toni ght Sho w and Saturd ay

Night Liv e.

Finally, after nearly fiftee n year s of w ork, t he youn g man rose t o

fame. He toured sixty cities in si xty-th ree da ys. The n seve nty-tw o citi es

in eighty days. Then eighty- five c ities in nin ety day s. He had 18 ,695

people at tend o ne sho w in Oh io. An other 45,000 ticket s were sold for

his three -day s how in New Yo rk. He catap ulted to the top of his g enre

and becam e one of the most s uccess ful co median s of hi s time .

His name is Ste ve Mar tin.

Martin’s story offers a fasc inatin g pers pectiv e on wh at it takes t o

stick wit h habi ts for the lo ng run . Come dy is not for the t imid. It is

hard to i magine a sit uation that w ould s trike fear in to the heart s of

more peop le tha n perf orming alone on sta ge and failin g to g et a s ingle

laugh. An d yet Steve Martin faced this f ear ev ery wee k for eighte en

years. In his w ords, “10 yea rs spe nt lea rning, 4 year s spen t refi ning,

and 4 yea rs as a wild succes s.”

Why is it that some p eople, like M artin, stick with t heir h abits —

whether p ractic ing jo kes or drawin g cart oons o r playi ng gui tar —wh ile

most of u s stru ggle t o stay motiva ted? H ow do we desi gn hab its th at

pull us i n rath er tha n ones that f ade aw ay? Sc ientist s have been

studying this q uestio n for m any ye ars. W hile t here is still much to

learn, on e of t he mos t consi stent findin gs is that t h e way to mai ntain

motivatio n and achiev e peak levels of de sire i s to wo rk on tasks of “ju st

manageabl e diff iculty .”

The human brain loves a chal lenge, but o nly if it is within an

optimal z one of diffi culty. If you love tennis and tr y to p lay a seriou s

match aga inst a four- year-ol d, you will quickl y becom e bore d. It’ s too

easy. You ’ll wi n ever y point . In c ontras t, if you pla y a pr ofessi onal

tennis pl ayer l ike Ro ger Fed erer o r Sere na Wil liams, you wi ll qui ckly

lose moti vation becau se the match is too diffi cult.

Now consi der pl aying tennis agains t some one wh o is yo ur equ al. As

the game progre sses, you win a few point s and you los e a fe w. You have

a good ch ance o f winn ing, bu t only if yo u real ly try. Your focus

narrows, distra ctions fade a way, a nd you find yoursel f full y inve sted i n

the task at han d. Thi s is a challe nge of just managea ble di fficul ty and it

is a prim e exam ple of the Go ldiloc ks Rul e.

The Goldi locks Rule s tates t hat hu mans e xperie nce pea k moti vation

when work ing on tasks that a re rig ht on the ed ge of t heir c urrent

abilities . Not too ha rd. Not too e asy. J ust ri ght.

THE GOLDI LOCKS RULE

MOTIVATIO N

GOLDILOCK S

DIFFICULT Y -
FIGURE 15 : Max imum m otivati on occ urs wh en fac ing a c hallen ge of just

manageabl e diff iculty . In ps ycholo gy res earch this is known as th e Yerk es -

Dodson la w, whi ch des cribes the op timal level of arou sal as the m idpoin t

between b oredom and a nxiety.

Martin’s comedy caree r is an excel lent e xample of the Goldi locks

Rule in p ractic e. Eac h year, he ex panded his c omedy r outine —but o nly

by a minu te or two. H e was a lways adding new m aterial , but he als o

kept a fe w joke s that were g uarant eed to get l aughs. There were j ust

enough vi ctorie s to k eep him motiv ated a nd jus t enoug h mist akes t o

keep him workin g hard .

When you’ re sta rting a new h abit, it’s i mporta nt to k eep th e

behavior as eas y as p ossible so yo u can stick with it even when

condition s aren ’t per fect. T his is an id ea we covered in de tail w hile

discussin g the 3rd La w of Be havior Chang e.

Once a ha bit ha s been establ ished, howev er, it ’s impo rtant to

continue to adv ance i n small ways. These littl e impro vement s and new

challenge s keep you e ngaged. And i f you hit th e Goldi locks Zone j ust

right, yo u can achiev e a flo w stat e.*

A flow st ate is the e xperien ce of being “in th e zone” and f ully

immersed in an activi ty. Sci entist s have tried to qua ntify this f eeling .

They foun d that to ac hieve a state of fl ow, a task mu st be roughl y 4

percent b eyond your c urrent abilit y. In real l ife it’ s typi c ally not

feasible to qua ntify the dif ficult y of a n acti on in t his wa y, but the c ore

idea of t he Gol dilock s Rule remain s: wor king o n chall enges of jus t

manageabl e diff iculty —someth ing on the p erimet er of y our ab ility —

seems cru cial f or mai ntainin g moti vation .

Improveme nt req uires a delic ate ba lance. You n eed to regula rly

search fo r chal lenges that p ush yo u to y our ed ge whil e cont inuing to

make enou gh pro gress to stay motiv ated. Behavi ors nee d to r emain

novel in order for th em to s tay at tracti ve and satisf ying. Withou t

variety, we get bored . And b oredom is pe rhaps the gre atest villai n on

the quest for s elf-im proveme nt.

HOW TO ST AY FOC USED W HEN YOU GET B ORED W ORKING ON

YOUR GOAL S

After my baseba ll car eer end ed, I was lo oking for a n ew spo rt. I joined

a weightl ifting team and one day a n elit e coac h visit ed our gym. He had

worked wi th tho usands of ath letes during his l ong car eer, i ncludi ng a

few Olymp ians. I intr oduced myself and w e bega n talki ng abo ut the

process o f impr ovemen t.

“What’s t he dif ferenc e betwe en the best athlet es and everyo ne els e?”

I asked. “What do the really succe ssful people do tha t most don’t ?”

He mentio ned th e fact ors you might expec t: gen etics, luck, tal ent .

But then he sai d some thing I wasn’ t expe cting: “At so me poi nt it comes

down to w ho can handl e the b oredom of tr aining every day, d oing t he

same lift s over and o ver and over. ”

His answe r surp rised me beca use it ’s a d iffere nt way of thi nking

about wor k ethi c. Peo ple tal k abou t gett ing “a mped up ” to w ork on

their goa ls. Wh ether it’s bu siness or sp orts o r art, you he ar peo ple sa y

things li ke, “I t all comes d own to passi on.” O r, “You have to rea lly wa nt
it.” As a resul t, man y of us get d epress ed whe n we lo se foc us or

motivatio n beca use we think that s uccess ful pe ople ha ve som e

bottomles s rese rve of passio n. But this coach was s ay ing th at rea lly

successfu l peop le fee l the s ame la ck of motiva tion as every one el se. Th e

differenc e is t hat th ey stil l find a way to sh ow up d espite the f eeling s of

boredom.

Mastery r equire s prac tice. B ut the more you pr actice someth ing, t he

more bori ng and routi ne it b ecomes . Once the b eginner gains have

been made and w e lear n what to exp ect, o ur int erest s tarts to fad e.

Sometimes it ha ppens even fa ster t han th at. Al l you h ave to do is hit

the gym a few d ays in a row or pub lish a coupl e of bl og pos ts on time

and letti ng one day s lip doe sn’t f eel li ke muc h. Thin gs are going well.

It’s easy to ra tional ize tak ing a day of f beca use you ’re in a goo d plac e.

The great est th reat t o succe ss is not fa ilure but bor edom. We get

bored wit h habi ts bec ause th ey sto p deli ghting us. Th e outc ome

becomes e xpecte d. And as our habit s beco me ord inary, we sta rt

derailing our p rogres s to se ek nov elty. Perhap s this is why we ge t

caught up in a never- ending cycle, jumpi ng fro m one w orkout to th e

next, one diet to the next, one bu siness idea to the next. As soo n as w e

experienc e the slight est dip in mo tivati on, we begin seekin g a ne w

strategy— even i f the old one was s till w orking . As Ma chiave lli no ted,

“Men desi re nov elty t o such an ext ent th at tho se who are do ing we ll

wish for a chan ge as much as those who a re doi ng badl y.”

Perhaps t his is why m any of the mo st hab it-for ming pr oducts are

those tha t prov ide co ntinuou s form s of n ovelty . Video games provi de

visual no velty. Porn provide s sexu al nov elty. Junk fo ods pr ovide

culinary novelt y. Eac h of th ese ex perien ces of fer con tinual eleme nts of

surprise.

In psycho logy, this i s known as a variab le rew ard Slo t mach ines

are the m ost co mmon r eal-wor ld exa mple. A gamb ler hit s the jackpo t
every now and t hen bu t not a t any predic table interva l. The pace of

rewards v aries. This varianc e lead s to t he gre atest s p ike o f dopa mine,

enhances memory recal l, and accele rates habit formati on.

Variable reward s won’ t creat e a cr aving— that i s, you can’t take a

reward pe ople a re uni nterest ed in, give it to them at a var iable interv al,

and hope it wil l chan ge thei r mind —but t hey ar e a pow erful way to

amplify t he cra vings we alre ady ex perien ce bec ause th ey red uce

boredom.

The sweet spot of des ire occ urs at a 50/ 50 spl it betw een su ccess and

failure. Half o f the time yo u get what y ou wan t. Half of th e time you

don’t. Yo u need just enough “winni ng” to exper ience s atisfa ction and

just enou gh “wa nting” to exp erienc e desi re. Th is is o ne of the be nefits

of follow ing th e Gold ilocks Rule. If you ’re al ready i nteres ted in a hab it,

working o n chal lenges of jus t mana geable diffi culty i s a go od way to

keep thin gs int eresti ng.

Of course , not all ha bits ha ve a v ariabl e rewa rd comp onent, and y ou

wouldn’t want t hem to . If Go ogle o nly de livere d a use ful se arch r esult

some of t he tim e, I w ould sw itch t o a co mpetit or pret ty qui ckly. If Ube r

only pick ed up half o f my tr ips, I doubt I’d b e using that servic e much

longer. A nd if I flos sed my teeth each n ight a nd only somet imes e nded

up with a clean mouth , I thi nk I’d skip it.

Variable reward s or n ot, no habit will s tay in teresti ng for ever. At

some poin t, eve ryone faces t he sam e chal lenge on the journe y of s elf -

improveme nt: yo u have to fal l in l ove wi th bor edom.

We all ha ve goa ls tha t we wo uld li ke to achiev e and d reams that w e

would lik e to f ulfill , but i t does n’t ma tter w hat you are t rying to bec ome

better at , if y ou onl y do th e work when it’s c onvenie nt or exciti ng, th en

you’ll ne ver be consi stent e nough to ach ieve r emarkab le res ults.
I can gua rantee that if you manage to st art a habit a nd kee p stic king

to it, th ere wi ll be days wh en you feel like q uitting . When you s tar t a

business, there will be days when you do n’t fe el like showi ng up. When

you’re at the g ym, th ere wil l be s ets th at you don’t feel l ike fi nishin g.

When it’s time to wri te, the re wil l be d ays th at you don’t feel l ike

typing. B ut ste pping up when it’s annoyi ng or painful or dr aining to do

so, that’ s what makes the di fferen ce bet ween a profes sional and a n

amateur.

Professio nals s tick t o the s chedul e; ama teurs let lif e get in the way.

Professio nals k now wh at is i mporta nt to them a nd work towar d it w ith

purpose; amateu rs get pulled off c ourse by the urgenc ies of life.

David Cai n, an author and me ditati on tea cher, encoura ges hi s

students to avo id bei ng “fai r-weat her me ditato rs.” Si milarl y, you don’t

want to b e a fa ir-wea ther at hlete or a f air-we ather w riter or a f air-

weather a nythin g. Whe n a hab it is truly import ant to you, y ou hav e to

be willin g to s tick t o it in any m ood. P rofess ionals take a ction even

when the mood i sn’t r ight. T hey mi ght no t enjo y it, b ut the y find a way

to put th e reps in.

There hav e been a lot of set s that I hav en’t f elt lik e fini shing, but I ’ve

never reg retted doing the wo rkout. There have been a lot of artic les I

haven’t f elt li ke wri ting, b ut I’v e neve r regr etted p ublish ing on

schedule. There have been a lot of days I’ve f elt lik e rela xing, but I’ ve

never reg retted showi ng up a nd wor king o n some thing t hat wa s

important to me .

The only way to becom e excel lent i s to b e endl essly f ascina ted by

doing the same thing over an d over . You have t o fall in lov e with
boredom.

Chapter S ummary

■ The Gol dilock s Rule states that humans exper ience p eak

motivatio n when worki ng on t asks t hat ar e righ t on th e edge of

their cur rent a biliti es.

■ The gre atest threat to suc cess i s not failur e but b oredom .

■ As habi ts bec ome ro utine, they b ecome less i nterest ing an d less

satisfyin g. We get bo red.

■ Anyone can wo rk har d when they f eel mo tivate d. It’s the a bility to

keep goin g when work isn’t e xcitin g that makes the di fferen ce.

■ Profess ionals stick to the sched ule; a mateur s let l ife ge t in t he

way.

20

The Downs ide of Creat ing Goo d Habi ts

H abits c reate the fo undatio n for master y. In chess, it is only a fte r

the basic movem ents o f the p ieces have b ecome automat ic tha t a

player ca n focu s on t he next level of th e game . Each chunk of

informati on tha t is m emorize d open s up t he men tal spa ce for more

effortful think ing. T his is true f or any endea vor. Wh en you know the

simple mo vement s so w ell tha t you can pe rform them wi thout

thinking, you a re fre e to pa y atte ntion to mor e advan ced de tails. In th is

way, habi ts are the b ackbone of an y purs uit of exce ll ence.

However, the be nefits of hab its co me at a cost . At fi rst, e ach

repetitio n deve lops f luency, speed , and skill. But th en, as a hab it

becomes a utomat ic, yo u becom e less sensi tive t o feedb ack. Y ou fal l

into mind less r epetit ion. It becom es eas ier to let mi stakes slide . When

you can d o it “ good e nough” on aut opilot , you stop th inking about how

to do it better .

The upsid e of h abits is that we ca n do t hings without think ing. T he

downside of hab its is that y ou get used to doi ng thin gs a c ertain way

and stop paying atten tion to littl e erro rs. Yo u assum e you’ re get ting

better be cause you’re gainin g expe rience . In r eality, you a re mer ely

reinforci ng you r curr ent hab its—no t impr oving them. I n fact , some

research has sh own th at once a ski ll has been mastere d ther e is u sually

a slight declin e in p erforma nce ov er tim e.

Usually, this m inor d ip in p erform ance i s no c ause fo r worr y. You

don’t nee d a sy stem t o conti nuousl y impr ove ho w well you br ush yo ur

teeth or tie yo ur sho es or m ake yo ur mor ning c up of t ea. Wi th hab its

like thes e, goo d enou gh is u sually good enough . The l ess en ergy y ou

spend on trivia l choi ces, th e more you c an spe nd it o n what reall y

matters.

However, when y ou wan t to ma ximize your potent ial and achie ve

elite lev els of perfo rmance, you n eed a more n uanced approa ch. Yo u

can’t rep eat th e same things blind ly and expec t to be come e xcepti onal.

Habits ar e nece ssary, but no t suff icient for m astery. What you ne ed is a

combinati on of automa tic hab its an d deli berate practi ce.

Habits + Delibe rate P ractice = Mas tery

To become great , cert ain ski lls do need to bec ome aut omatic .
Basketbal l play ers ne ed to b e able to dr ibble without think ing be fore

they can move o n to m asterin g layu ps wit h thei r nondo minant hand.

Surgeons need t o repe at the first incisi on so many ti mes th at the y

could do it wit h thei r eyes closed , so t hat th ey can focus on the

hundreds of var iables that a rise d uring surger y. But after one ha bit ha s

been mast ered, you ha ve to r eturn to the effor tful pa rt of the wo rk and

begin bui lding the ne xt habi t.

Mastery i s the proces s of na rrowin g your focus to a t iny el ement of

success, repeat ing it until you ha ve int ernali zed the skill , and then

using thi s new habit as the founda tion t o adva nce to the ne xt fro ntier

of your d evelop ment. Old tas ks bec ome ea sier t he seco nd tim e arou nd,

but it do esn’t get ea sier ov erall becaus e now you’re pourin g your

energy in to the next challen ge. Ea ch hab it unl ocks th e next level of

performan ce. It ’s an endless cycle .

MASTERING ONE H ABIT

MASTERING A FIE LD

REPETITON S

FIGURE 16 : The proces s of ma stery requir es tha t you p rogres sively layer

improveme nts on top o f one a nother , each habit buildi ng upo n the last u ntil a

new level of pe rforma nce has been reache d and a highe r rang e of s kills has

been inte rnaliz ed.

Although habits are p owerful , what you n eed is a way to rem ain

conscious of yo ur per formanc e over time, so yo u can c ontinu e to r efine

and impro ve. It is pr ecisely at th e mome nt whe n you b egin t o feel like

you have master ed a s kill—ri ght wh en thi ngs ar e start ing to feel

automatic and y ou are becomi ng com fortab le—tha t you m ust av oid

slipping into t he tra p of co mplace ncy.

The solut ion? E stabli sh a sy stem f or ref lectio n and r eview.

HOW TO RE VIEW Y OUR HA BITS AN D MAKE ADJUS TMENTS

In 1986, the Lo s Ange les Lak ers ha d one of the most t alente d

basketbal l team s ever assemb led, b ut the y are rarely rememb ered t hat

way. The team s tarted the 19 85-198 6 NBA season with a n asto unding

29-5 reco rd. “T he pun dits we re say ing th at we might b e the best t eam

in the hi story of bas ketball ,” hea d coac h Pat Riley s aid af ter th e seas on.

Surprisin gly, t he Lak ers stu mbled in the 1986 playoff s and suffer ed a

season-en ding d efeat in the Wester n Conf erence Finals . The “best

team in t he his tory o f baske tball” didn’ t even play f or the NBA

champions hip.

After tha t blow , Rile y was t ired o f hear ing ab out how much talent

his playe rs had and a bout ho w much promi se his team h eld. H e didn ’t

want to s ee fla shes o f brill iance follow ed by a gradu al fad e in

performan ce. He wante d the L akers to pla y up t o their p oten tial, night

after nig ht. In the s ummer o f 1986 , he c reated a plan to do exact ly tha t,

a system that h e call ed the Career Best Effort progra m or C BE.

“When pla yers f irst j oin the Laker s,” Ri ley ex plained , “we track their

basketbal l stat istics all th e way back t o high school . I ca ll thi s Taki ng

Their Num ber. W e look for an accur ate ga uge of what a playe r can do,

then buil d him into o ur plan for t he tea m, bas ed on t he not ion th at he

will main tain a nd the n impro ve upo n his averag es.”

After det ermini ng a p layer’s basel ine le vel of perfor mance, Riley

added a k ey ste p. He asked e ach pl ayer t o “imp rove th eir ou tput b y at

least 1 p ercent over the cou rse of the s eason. If the y succ eeded, it

would be a CBE, or Ca reer Be st Eff ort.” Simila r to th e Brit is h Cy cling

team that we di scusse d in Ch apter 1, the Laker s sough t peak

performan ce by gettin g sligh tly be tter e ach da y.

Riley was caref ul to point o ut tha t CBE was no t merel y abou t poin ts

or statis tics b ut abo ut givi ng you r “bes t effo rt spir ituall y and mental ly

and physi cally. ” Play ers got credi t for “allow ing an oppone nt to run

into you when y ou kno w that a foul will be cal led aga inst h im, di ving

for loose balls , goin g after rebou nds wh ether you are likel y to g et the m

or not, h elping a tea mmate w hen th e play er he’ s guard ing ha s surg ed

past him, and o ther ‘ unsung hero’ deeds. ”

As an exa mple, let’s say tha t Magi c John son—th e Laker s star playe r

at the ti me—had n poi nts, 8 reboun ds, 12 assis ts, 2 s teals, and 5

turnovers in a game. Magic a lso go t cred it for an “un sung h ero” d eed

by diving after a loo se ball (+1). Final ly, he played a tot al of 33 min utes

in this i magina ry gam e.

The posit ive nu mbers (11 + 8 + 12 + 2 + 1) add up to 34. Th en, we

subtract the 5 turnov ers (34 -5) to get 2 9. Fin ally, w e divi de 29 by 33

minutes p layed.

29/33 = 0 .879

Magic’s C BE num ber he re woul d be 8 79. Th is num ber was

calculate d for all of a play er’s g ames, and it was th e aver age CB E that a

player wa s aske d to i mprove by 1 p ercent over the sea son. R iley

compared each p layer’ s curre nt CBE to no t only their past

performan ces bu t also those of oth er pla yers i n the l eague. As Ri ley pu t

it, “We r ank te am mem bers al ongsid e leag ue opp onents who pl ay the

same posi tion a nd hav e simil ar rol e defi nition s.”

Sportswri ter Ja ckie M acMulla n note d, “Ri ley tr umpeted the t op

performer s in t he lea gue in bold l etteri ng on the bla ckboar d each week

and measu red th em aga inst th e corr espond ing pl ayers o n his own

roster. S olid, reliab le play ers ge nerall y rate d a sco re in the 60 0s, wh ile

elite pla yers s cored at leas t 800. Magic Johns on, who submi tted 1 38

triple-do ubles in his career , ofte n scor ed ove r 1,000 .”

The Laker s also empha sized y ear-ov er-yea r prog ress by makin g

historica l comp arison s of CB E data . Rile y said , “We s tacked the m onth

of Novemb er 198 6, nex t to No vember 1985, and s howed t he pla yers

whether t hey we re doi ng bett er or worse than a t the s ame po int la st

season. T hen we showe d them how th eir pe rforma nce f ig ures f or

December 1986, stacke d up ag ainst Novemb er’s.”

The Laker s roll ed out CBE in Octob er 198 6. Eig ht mont hs lat er, th ey

were NBA champi ons. T he foll owing year, Pat Ri ley led his t eam to

another t itle a s the Lakers became the f irst t eam in twenty years to wi n

back-to-b ack NB A cham pionshi ps. Af terwar d, he said, “ Sustai ning a n

effort is the m ost im portant thing for a ny ent erprise . The way to be

successfu l is t o lear n how t o do t hings right, then d o them the s ame

way every time. ”

The CBE p rogram is a prime e xample of th e powe r of re flecti on and

review. T he Lak ers we re alre ady ta lented . CBE helped them g et the

most out of wha t they had, a nd mad e sure their habits impro ved ra ther

than decl ined.

Reflectio n and review enable s the long-t erm im proveme nt of all

habits be cause it mak es you aware of you r mist akes an d help s you

consider possib le pat hs for improv ement. Witho ut refl ection , we c an

make excu ses, c reate rationa lizati ons, a nd he to ours elves. We ha ve no

process f or det ermini ng whet her we are p erform ing bet ter or worse

compared to yes terday .

Top perfo rmers in all fields engag e in v arious types of ref lectio n and

review, a nd the proce ss does n’t ha ve to be com plex. K enyan runner

Eliud Kip choge is one of the great est ma rathon ers of all ti me and an

Olympic g old me dalist . He st ill ta kes no tes af ter eve ry pra ctice in

which he review s his trainin g for the da y and searche s for areas that

can be im proved . Simi larly, gold m edal s wimmer Katie Ledeck y

records h er wel lness on a sc ale of 1 to 10 and includ es not es on her

nutrition and h ow wel l she s lept. She al so rec ords th e time s post ed by

other swi mmers. At th e end o f each week, her c oach go es ove r her

notes and adds his th oughts.

It’s not just a thlete s, eith er. Wh en com edian Chris R ock is prepa ring

fresh mat erial, he wi ll firs t appe ar at small nightcl ubs do zens o f time s

and test hundre ds of jokes. He bri ngs a notepa d on st age an d reco rds

which bit s go o ver we ll and where he nee ds to make ad justme nts. T he

few kille r line s that surviv e will form the ba ckbone of his new s how.

I know of execu tives and inv estors who k eep a “decisi on jou rnal” in
which the y reco rd the major decisi ons th ey mak e each week, why th ey

made them , and what t hey exp ect th e outc ome to be. Th ey rev iew th eir

choices a t the end of each m onth o r year to se e where they were c orrect

and where they went w rong.*

Improveme nt is not ju st abou t lear ning h abits, it’s a lso ab out fi ne -

tuning th em. Re flecti on and review ensur es tha t you s pend y our ti me

on the ri ght th ings a nd make cours e corr ection s whene ver ne cessar y -

like Pat Riley adjust ing the effor t of h is pla yers on a nig htly b asis. You

don’t wan t to k eep pr acticin g a ha bit if it be comes i neffec tive.

Personall y, I e mploy two pri mary m odes o f refl ection and re view.

Each Dece mber, I perf orm an Annual Revie w, in which I refle ct on the

previous year. I tall y my ha bits f or the year by coun ting u p how many

articles I publ ished, how ma ny wor kouts I put in, how many new

places I visite d, and more.* Then, I ref lect o n my pr ogress (or l ack

thereof) by ans wering three questi ons:

1. What w ent we ll thi s year?

2. What d idn’t go so well th is yea r?

3. What d id I l earn?

Six month s late r, whe n summe r roll s arou nd, I conduct an In tegrit y

Report. L ike ev eryone , I mak e a lo t of m istake s. My I ntegri ty Rep ort

helps me realiz e wher e I wen t wron g and motiva tes me to get back on

course. I use i t as a time t o revi sit my core values and co nsider wheth er

I have be en liv ing in accord ance w ith th em. Th is is w hen I reflec t on

my identi ty and how I can wo rk tow ard be ing th e type of per son I wish

to become .*
My yearly Integ rity R eport a nswers three quest ions:

1. What a re the core values that d rive m y life and wo rk?

2. How am I liv ing an d worki ng wit h inte grity right n ow?

3. How ca n I se t a hi gher st andard in th e futu re?

These two repor ts don ’t take very long—j ust a few hou rs per year—

but they are cr ucial periods of re fineme nt. Th ey prev ent th e grad ual

slide tha t happ ens wh en I do n’t pa y clos e atte ntion. They p rovide an

annual re minder to re visit m y desi red id entity and co nsider how m y

habits ar e help ing me become the t ype of perso n I wis h to b e. The y

indicate when I shoul d upgra de my habits and t ake on new ch alleng es

and when I shou ld dia l my ef forts back a nd foc us on t he fun dament als.

Reflectio n can also b ring a sense of per specti ve. Dai ly hab its ar e

powerful becaus e of h ow they compo und, b ut wor rying t oo muc h abou t

every dai ly cho ice is like l ooking at yo urself in the mirro r from an in ch

away. You can s ee eve ry impe rfecti on and lose sight o f the bigger

picture. There is too much f eedbac k. Con versel y, neve r revi ewing your

habits is like never looking in th e mirr or. Yo u aren’ t awar e of e asily

fixable f laws—a spot on your shirt , a bi t of f ood in your t eeth. There is

too littl e feed back. Periodi c refl ection and r eview i s like viewi ng

yourself in the mirro r from a conv ersati onal d istance . You can se e the

important chang es you should make withou t losi ng sigh t of t he big ger

picture. You wa nt to view th e enti re mou ntain range, not ob sess o ver

each peak and v alley.

Finally, reflec tion a nd revi ew off ers an ideal time t o revi sit on e of

the most import ant as pects o f beha vior c hange: identi ty.
HOW TO BR EAK TH E BELI EFS THA T HOLD YOU B ACK

In the be ginnin g, rep eating a habi t is e ssenti al to b uild u p evid ence o f

your desi red id entity . As yo u latc h on t o that new id entity , howe ver,

those sam e beli efs ca n hold you ba ck fro m the next le vel of growt h.

When work ing ag ainst you, yo ur ide ntity create s a kin d of “ pride” that

encourage s you to den y your weak s pots a nd pre vents y ou fro m trul y

growing. This i s one of the greate st dow nsides of bui lding habits .

The more sacred an id ea is t o us—t hat is , the more de eply i t is t ied

to our id entity —the m ore str ongly we wil l defe nd it a gainst criti cism.

You see t his in every indust ry. Th e scho olteac her who ignor es

innovativ e teac hing m ethods and st icks w ith he r tried -and-t rue le sson

plans. Th e vete ran ma nager w ho is commit ted to doing things “his

way.” The surge on who dismis ses th e idea s of h er youn ger co lleagu es.

The band who pr oduces a mind -blowi ng fir st alb um and then g ets

stuck in a rut. The t ighter we cli ng to an ide ntity, the ha rder i t beco mes

to grow b eyond it.

One solut ion is to av oid mak ing an y sing le asp ect of your i dentit y an

overwhelm ing po rtion of who you ar e. In the wo rds of invest or Pau l

Graham, “ keep y our id entity small. ” The more y ou let a sing le bel ief

define yo u, the less capable you a re of adapti ng when life challe nges

you. If y ou tie every thing u p in b eing t he poi nt guar d or t he par tner a t

the firm or wha tever else, t hen th e loss of th at face t of y our li fe wil l

wreck you . If y ou’re a vegan and t hen de velop a healt h cond ition that

forces yo u to c hange your di et, yo u’ll h ave an identi ty cri sis on your

hands. Wh en you cling too ti ghtly to one ident ity, yo u beco me bri ttle.

Lose that one t hing a nd you lose y oursel f.

For most of my young life, b eing a n athl ete wa s a maj or par t of m y

identity. After my ba seball career ended , I st ruggled to fi nd mys elf.

When you spend your w hole li fe def ining yourse lf in o ne way and t hat

disappear s, who are y ou now?

Military vetera ns and former entre preneu rs rep ort sim ilar f eeling s.

If your i dentit y is w rapped up in a beli ef lik e “I’m a grea t sold ier,” what

happens w hen yo ur per iod of servic e ends ? For many bu siness owner s,

their ide ntity is som ething along the li nes of “I’m t he CEO ” or “ I’m th e

founder.” If yo u have spent every waking momen t worki ng on your

business, how w ill yo u feel after you se ll the compan y?

The key t o miti gating these losses of id entity is to redefi ne you rself

such that you g et to keep im portan t aspe cts of your i dentit y even if

your part icular role changes .

■ “I’m an athle te” be comes “ I’m th e type of pe rson wh o is m entall y

tough and loves a phy sical c hallen ge.”

■ “I’m a great soldie r” tran sforms into “I’m t he type of pe rson w ho

is discip lined, relia ble, an d grea t on a team. ”

■ “I’m th e CEO” trans lates t o “I’m the t ype of perso n who b uilds

and creat es thi ngs.”

When chos en eff ective ly, an identi ty can be fl exible rather than

brittle. Like w ater f lowing around an ob stacle , your identi ty wor ks wit h

the chang ing ci rcumst ances r ather than a gainst them.

The follo wing q uote f rom the Tao T e Chin g enca psulate s the ideas

perfectly :

Men are b orn so ft and supple ;

dead, the y are stiff and har d.

Plants ar e born tende r and p liant;

dead, the y are brittl e and d ry.

Thus whoe ver is stiff and in flexib le

is a disc iple o f deat h.

Whoever i s soft and y ielding

is a disc iple o f life .

The hard and st iff wi ll be b roken.

The soft and su pple w ill pre vail.

—Lao Tzu

Habits de liver numero us bene fits, but th e down side is that they c an

lock us i nto ou r prev ious pa tterns of th inking and ac ting —e ven wh en

the world is sh ifting around us. E veryth ing is imperm anent. Life is

constantl y chan ging, so you need t o peri odical ly chec k in t o see if you r

old habit s and belief s are s till s erving you.

A lack of self- awaren ess is poison . Refl ection and re view i s the

antidote.

Chapter S ummary

■ The ups ide of habit s is th at we can do thing s witho ut thi nking.

The downs ide is that we stop payin g atte ntion to litt le err ors.

■ Habits + Deli berate Practi ce = M astery

■ Reflect ion an d revi ew is a proce ss tha t allo ws you to rem ain

conscious of yo ur per formanc e over time.

■ The tig hter w e clin g to an ident ity, t he har der it become s to g row

beyond it .

Conclusio n

The Secre t to R esults That L ast

T here is an an cient Greek p arable known as th e Sorit es Par adox,*

which tal ks abo ut the effect one s mall a ction can hav e w hen

repeated enough times . One f ormula tion o f the paradox goes as

follows: Can on e coin make a perso n rich ? If y ou give a per son a pile o f

ten coins , you wouldn ’t clai m that he or she i s rich. But w hat if you a dd

another? And an other? And an other? At so me poi nt, you will have t o

admit tha t no o ne can be ric h unle ss one coin can mak e him or her so.

We can sa y the same a bout at omic h abits. Can o ne tiny chang e

transform your life? It’s un likely you w ould s ay so. But wh at if you

made anot her? A nd ano ther? A nd ano ther? At som e point , you will

have to a dmit t hat yo ur life was t ransfo rmed b y one s mall c hange.

The holy grail of hab it chan ge is not a single 1 perc ent im provem ent,

but a tho usand of the m. It’s a bun ch of atomic habits stack ing up , each

one a fun dament al uni t of th e over all sy stem.

In the be ginnin g, sma ll impr ovemen ts can often seem m eaning less

because t hey ge t wash ed away by th e weig ht of the sys tem. J ust as one

coin won’ t make you r ich, on e posi tive c hange like me ditati ng for one

minute or readi ng one page e ach da y is u nlikel y to de liver a noti ceable

differenc e.

Gradually , thou gh, as you co ntinue to la yer sm all cha nges o n top of

one anoth er, th e scal es of l ife st art to move. Each i mprove ment i s like

adding a grain of san d to th e posi tive s ide of the sc ale, s lowly tiltin g

things in your favor. Eventu ally, if you stick with i t, you hit a t ippi ng

point. Su ddenly , it f eels ea sier t o stic k with good h abits. The w eight of

the syste m is w orking for yo u rath er tha n agai nst you .

Over the course of th is book , we’v e look ed at dozens of sto ries a bout

top perfo rmers. We’ve heard about Olympi c gold medali sts, a ward¬

winning a rtists , busi ness le aders, lifes aving physici ans, a nd sta r

comedians who h ave al l used the sc ience of sma ll ha bi ts to master their

craft and vault to th e top o f thei r fiel d. Eac h of th e peop le, te ams, a nd

companies we ha ve cov ered ha s face d diff erent circums tances , but

ultimatel y prog ressed in the same way: t hrough a comm itment to ti ny,

sustainab le, un relent ing imp roveme nts.

Success i s not a goal to rea ch or a fini sh lin e to cr oss. I t is a syste m

to improv e, an endles s proce ss to refine . In C hapter 1 ,1 s aid, “ If you ’re

having tr ouble changi ng your habit s, the probl em isn’ t you. The

problem i s your syste m. Bad habits repea t them selves again and ag ain

not becau se you don’t want t o chan ge, bu t beca use you have the wr ong

system fo r chan ge.”

As this b ook dr aws to a clos e, I h ope th e oppo site is true. With the

Four Laws of Be havior Change , you have a set o f tools and s trateg ies

that you can us e to b uild be tter s ystems and s hape be tter h abits.

Sometimes a hab it wil l be ha rd to rememb er and you’ll need to mak e it

obvious. Other times you won ’t fee l like start in g and you’l l need to

make it a ttract ive. I n many cases, you m ay fin d that a habi t will be to o

difficult and y ou’ll need to make it eas y. And someti mes, y ou won ’t fee l
like stic king w ith it and yo u’ll n eed to make it sati sfying .

Behaviors are e ffortl ess her e. Beh aviors are d ifficul t here .

Obvious

Invisible

Attractiv e

Unattract ive

Easy

Hard

Satisfyin g

Unsatisfy ing

You want to pus h your good h abits toward the l eft sid e of t he spe ctrum by

making th em obv ious, attract ive, e asy, a nd sat isfying . Mean while, you w ant

to cluste r your bad h abits t oward the ri ght si de by m aking them i nvisib le,

unattract ive, h ard, a nd unsa tisfyi ng.

This is a conti nuous process . Ther e is n o fini sh line . Ther e is n o

permanent solut ion. W henever you’r e look ing to improv e, you can

rotate th rough the Fo ur Laws of Be havior Chang e until you f ind th e

next bott leneck . Make it obv ious. Make i t attr active. Make it eas y.

Make it s atisfy ing. R ound an d roun d. Alw ays lo oking f or the next way

to get 1 percen t bett er.

The secre t to g etting result s that last is to never s top ma king

improveme nts. I t’s re markabl e what you c an bui ld if y ou jus t don’ t

stop. It’ s rema rkable the bu siness you c an bui ld if y ou don ’t sto p

working. It’s r emarka ble the body you ca n buil d if yo u don’ t stop

training. It’s remark able th e know ledge you ca n bu ild if yo u don’ t stop

learning. It’s remark able th e fort une yo u can build i f you don’t stop

saving. I t’s re markab le the friend ships you ca n build if yo u don’ t stop

caring. S mall h abits don’t a dd up. They compou nd.

That’s th e powe r of a tomic h abits. Tiny change s. Rema rkable

results.

Appendix

What Shou ld You Read Next?

T hank yo u so m uch fo r takin g the time t o read this b ook. I t has been

a pleasur e shar ing my work w ith yo u. If you ar e looki ng for

something to re ad nex t, allo w me t o offe r a su ggestio n.

If you en joyed Atomic Habits , then you m ay lik e my ot her wr iting as

well. My latest artic les are sent out in my fr ee week ly new slette r.

Subscribe rs are also the fir st to hear a bout m y newes t book s and

projects. Final ly, in additi on to my own work, each y ear I send o ut a

reading l ist of my fa vorite books from o ther a uthors on a w ide ra nge of

subjects.
You can s ign up at:

jamesclea r.com/ newsle tter

Little Le ssons from t he Four Laws

I n this book, I have introd uced a four- step m odel fo r huma n beha vior:

cue, crav ing, r espons e, rewa rd. Th is fra mework not on ly tea ches u s

how to cr eate n ew hab its but also reveal s some intere sting insigh ts

about hum an beh avior.

In this s ection , I ha ve comp iled s ome le ssons (and a few bi ts of

common se nse) t hat ar e confi rmed b y the model. The pu rpose of the se

examples is to clarif y just how us eful a nd wid e-rangi ng thi s fram ework

is when d escrib ing hu man beh avior. Once you un derstan d the model,

you’ll se e exam ples o f it ev erywhe re.

Awareness comes befor e desir e. A c raving is cr eated w hen yo u

assign me aning to a c ue. You r brai n cons tructs an emo tion o r feel ing to

describe your c urrent situat ion, a nd tha t mean s a cra ving c an onl y

occur aft er you have noticed an op portun ity.

Happiness is si mply t he abse nce of desir e. Whe n you o bserve

a cue, bu t do n ot des ire to change your state, you ar e cont ent wi th the

current s ituati on. Ha ppiness is no t abou t the achieve ment o f plea sure

(which is joy o r sati sfactio n), bu t abou t the lack of desir e. It arrive s

when you have n o urge to fee l diff erentl y. Hap piness is the state you

enter whe n you no lon ger wan t to c hange your s tate.

However, happin ess is fleeti ng bec ause a new d esire a lways comes

along. As Caed Budris says, “Happi ness i s the space b etween one

desire be ing fu lfille d and a new d esire formin g.” Lik ewise, suffe ring i s

the space betwe en cra ving a change in st ate an d getti ng it.

It is the idea of ple asure t hat we chase . We s eek the image of

pleasure that w e gene rate in our m inds. At the time o f acti on, we do

not know what i t will be lik e to a ttain that i mage (o r even if it will

satisfy u s). Th e feel ing of satisf action only come s a fterwa rd. Th is is

what the Austri an neu rologis t Vict or Fra nkl me ant whe n he s aid th at

happiness canno t be p ursued, it mu st ens ue. De sire is pursu ed.

Pleasure ensues from action.

Peace occ urs wh en you don’t turn y our ob servat ions in to

problems. The f irst s tep in any be havior is ob servati on. Yo u noti ce a

cue, a bi t of i nforma tion, a n even t. If you do not de sire t o act on wha t

you obser ve, th en you are at peace .

Craving i s abou t want ing to fix ev erythi ng. Ob servati on wit hout

craving i s the realiz ation t hat yo u do n ot nee d to fi x anyt hing. Your

desires a re not runni ng ramp ant. Y ou do not cr ave a c hange in sta te.

Your mind does not ge nerate a prob lem fo r you to solv e. You ’re si mply

observing and e xistin g.

With a bi g enou gh why you ca n over come a ny how .

Friedrich Nietz sche, the Ger man ph ilosop her an d poet, famou sly

wrote, “H e who has a why to live f or can bear almost any ho w.” Th is

phrase ha rbors an imp ortant truth about human behavio r. If your

motivatio n and desire are gr eat en ough ( that i s, why are yo u are

acting), you’ll take action even w hen it is qu ite dif ficult . Grea t crav ing

can power great actio n—even when f rictio n is h igh.

Being cur ious i s bett er than being smart . Bein g motiv ated

and curio us cou nts fo r more than b eing s mart b ecause it lea ds to

action. B eing s mart w ill nev er del iver r esults on its own b ecause it

doesn’t g et you to ac t. It i s desi re, no t inte lligenc e, tha t prom pts

behavior. As Na val Ra vikant says, “The t rick t o doing anyth ing is first

cultivati ng a d esire for it. ”

Emotions drive behavi or. Eve ry dec ision is an emotion al

decision at som e leve l. What ever y our lo gical reasons are f or tak ing

action, y ou onl y feel compel led to act o n them becaus e of e motion . In

fact, peo ple wi th dam age to emotio nal ce nters of the brain can li st

many reas ons fo r taki ng acti on but still will not act becau se the y do n ot

have emot ions t o driv e them. This is why cravi ng come s befo re

response. The f eeling comes first, and t hen th e behav ior.

We can on ly be ration al and logica l afte r we h ave bee n

emotional . The primar y mode of the brain is to feel; the se condar y

mode is t o thin k. Our first respon se—the fast, noncon scious porti on of

the brain —is op timize d for f eeling and a nticip ating. Our se cond

response— the sl ow, co nscious porti on of the br ain —is the pa rt tha t

does the “think ing.”

Psycholog ists r efer t o this as Sys tem 1 (feeli ngs and rapid

judgments ) vers us Sys tem 2 ( ration al ana lysis) . The f eeling comes first

(System 1 ); the ratio nality only i nterve nes la ter (Sy stem 2 ). Thi s work s

great whe n the two ar e align ed, bu t it r esults in ill ogical and e motion al

thinking when t hey ar e not.

Your resp onse t ends t o follo w your emoti ons. O ur thou ghts

and actio ns are roote d in wh at we find a ttract ive, no t nece ssaril y in

what is l ogical . Two people can no tice t he sam e set o f fact s and

respond v ery di fferen tly bec ause t hey ru n thos e facts throu gh the ir

unique em otiona l filt er. Thi s is o ne rea son wh y appea ling t o emot ion is

typically more powerf ul than appea ling t o reas on. If a topi c make s

someone f eel em otiona l, they will rarely be in tereste d in t he dat a. Thi s

is why em otions can b e such a thre at to wise d ecision makin g.

Put anoth er way : most people belie ve tha t the reasona ble re sponse

is the on e that benef its the m: the one t hat sa tisfies their desir es. To

approach a situ ation from a more n eutral emoti onal po s ition allow s

you to ba se you r resp onse on the d ata ra ther t han the emoti on.

Suffering drive s prog ress. T he sou rce of all s ufferin g is t he

desire fo r a ch ange i n state . This is al so the source of al l prog ress. The

desire to chang e your state is wha t powe rs you to tak e acti on. It is

wanting m ore th at pus hes hum anity to see k impr ovement s, dev elop

new techn ologie s, and reach for a higher level . With cravin g, we are

dissatisf ied bu t driv en. Wit hout c raving , we a re sati sfied but la ck

ambition.

Your acti ons re veal h ow badl y you want s omethi ng. If you

keep sayi ng som ething is a p riorit y but you ne ver act on it , then you

don’t rea lly wa nt it. It’s t ime to have an hon est con versat ion wi th

yourself. Your action s revea l your true motiva tions.

Reward is on th e othe r side of sac rifice . Resp onse (s acrifi ce of

energy) a lways preced es rewa rd (th e coll ection of res ources ). The

“runner’s high” only comes a fter t he har d run. The re ward o nly co mes

after the energ y is s pent.

Self-cont rol is diffi cult be cause it is not sa tisfyin g. A r eward

is an out come t hat sa tisfies your cravin g. Thi s makes self - contro l

ineffecti ve bec ause i nhibiti ng our desir es doe s not u sually resol ve

them. Res isting tempt ation d oes no t sati sfy yo ur crav ing; i t just

ignores i t. It create s space for t he cra ving t o pass. Self - contro l requ ires

you to re lease a desi re rath er tha n sati sfy it .

Our expec tation s dete rmine o ur sat isfact ion. T he gap

between o ur cra vings and our rewar ds det ermine s how s atisfi ed we feel

after tak ing ac tion. If the mismat ch bet ween e xpectat ions a nd

outcomes is pos itive (surpri se and delig ht), t hen we are mo re lik el y to

repeat a behavi or in the fut ure. I f the mismat ch is n egativ e

(disappoi ntment and f rustrat ion), then w e are less li kely t o do s o.

For examp le, if you e xpect t o get $10 an d get $100, y ou fee l grea t. If

you expec t to g et $10 0 and g et $10 , you feel d isappoi nted. Your

expectati on cha nges y our sat isfact ion. A n aver age exp erienc e prec eded

by high e xpecta tions is a di sappoi ntment . An a verage experi ence

preceded by low expec tations is a deligh t. Whe n likin g and wantin g are

approxima tely t he sam e, you feel s atisfi ed.

Satisfact ion = Liking - Want ing

This is t he wis dom be hind Se neca’s famou s quot e, “Bei ng poo r is

not havin g too little , it is wanti ng mor e.” If your w ants o utpace your

likes, yo u’ll a lways be unsa tisfie d. You ’re pe rpetual ly put ting m ore
weight on the p roblem than t he sol ution.

Happiness is re lative . When I firs t bega n shar ing my writin g

publicly it too k me t hree mo nths t o get one th ousand subscr ibers.

When I hi t that miles tone, I told my par ents a nd my g irlfri end. W e

celebrate d. I f elt ex cited a nd mot ivated . A fe w years later , I re alized

that one thousa nd peo ple wer e sign ing up each day. An d ye t I didn ’t

even thin k to t ell an yone. I t felt norma l. I w as gett ing re sults ninety

times fas ter th an bef ore but exper iencin g litt le plea sure o ver it . It

wasn’t un til a few da ys late r that I rea lized how abs urd it was t hat I

wasn’t ce lebrat ing so mething that would have s eemed l ike a pipe

dream jus t a fe w year s befor e.

The pain of fai lure c orrelat es to the he ight o f expec tation .

When desi re is high, it hurt s to n ot lik e the outcome . Fail ing to attai n

something you w ant hu rts mor e than faili ng to attain someth ing yo u

didn’t th ink mu ch abo ut in t he fir st pla ce. Th is is w hy peo ple sa y, “I

don’t wan t to g et my hopes u p.”

Feelings come b oth be fore an d afte r the behavi or. Bef ore

acting, t here i s a fe eling t hat mo tivate s you to act — the cr aving. After

acting, t here i s a fe eling t hat te aches you to repeat the a ction in the

future—th e rewa rd.

Cue > Cra ving ( Feelin g) > Re sponse > Rew ard (F eeling)

How we fe el inf luence s how w e act, and h ow we act inf luence s how

we feel.

Desire in itiate s. Ple asure s ustain s. Wan ting a nd liki ng are the

two drive rs of behavi or. If it’s n ot des irable , you h ave no reaso n to d o
it. Desir e and cravin g are w hat in itiate a beh avior. But if it’s not

enjoyable , you have n o reaso n to r epeat it. Pl easure and sa tisfac tion

are what sustai n a be havior. Feeli ng mot ivated gets y ou to act. F eeling

successfu l gets you t o repea t.

Hope decl ines w ith ex perienc e and is rep laced by

acceptanc e. The first time a n oppo rtunit y aris es, the re is hope o f

what coul d be. Your e xpectat ion (c raving s) is based s olely on pro mise.

The secon d time aroun d, your expec tation is gr ounded in rea lity. You

begin to unders tand h ow the proces s work s and your ho pe is gradua lly

traded fo r a mo re acc urate p redict ion an d acce ptance of the likel y

outcome.

This is o ne rea son wh y we co ntinua lly gr asp fo r the l atest get -ri ch-

quick or weight -loss scheme. New p lans o ffer h ope bec ause w e don’ t

have any experi ences to grou nd our expec tation s. New strate gies s eem

more appe aling than o ld ones becau se the y can have un bounde d hope .

As Aristo tle no ted, “ Youth i s easi ly dec eived because it is quick to

hope.” Pe rhaps this c an be r evised to “Y outh i s easil y dece ived b ecause

it only h opes.” There is no experi ence t o root the ex pectat ion in . In t he

beginning , hope is al l you h ave.

How to Ap ply Th ese Id eas to Busine ss

O ver the years , I’ve spoken at Fo rtune 500 co mpanies and g rowing

start-ups about how t o apply the s cience of sm all hab its to run

more effe ctive busine sses an d buil d bett er pro ducts. I’ve c ompile d

many of t he mos t prac tical s trateg ies in to a s hort bo nus ch apter. I

think you ’ll fi nd it to be a n incr edibly usefu l addit i on to the m ain id eas

mentioned in At omic H abits.

You can d ownloa d this chapte r at: atomic habits .com/bu siness

How to Ap ply Th ese Id eas to Parent ing

O ne of t he mos t comm on ques tions I hear from readers is

something along the l ines of , “How can I get m y kids to do this

stuff?” T he ide as in Atomic Habits are i ntende d to ap ply br oadly to all

of human behavi or (te enagers are h umans, too), which means you

should fi nd ple nty of useful strat egies in the main t e xt. T hat sa id,

parenting does face i ts own set of chall enges. As a b onus c hapter , I’ve

put toget her a brief guide o n how to app ly the se idea s spec ifical ly to

parenting .

You can d ownloa d this chapte r at: atomic habits .com/pa rentin g

Acknowled gments

I have re lied h eavily on oth ers du ring t he cre ation o f this book. Befor e

anyone el se, I must t hank my wife, Krist y, who has be en

indispens able t hrough out thi s proc ess. S he has played every role a

person ca n play in th e writi ng of a book : spou se, fri en d, f an, cr itic,

editor, r esearc her, t herapis t. It is no exagge ration to say this book

would not be th e same withou t her. It mi ght no t exist at al l. Lik e

everythin g in o ur lif e, we d id it togeth er.

Second, I am gr ateful to my family , not only f or thei r supp ort an d

encourage ment o n this book b ut als o for believ ing in me no matter

what proj ect I happen to be workin g on. I have benefi ted fr om man y

years of suppor t from my par ents, grandp arents , and s ibling s. In

particula r, I w ant my mom an d dad to kno w that I love them. It is a

special f eeling to kn ow that your parent s are your gr eatest fans.

Third, to my as sistan t, Lynd sey Nu ckols. At th is poin t, her job d efies

descripti on as she ha s been asked to do nearly everyt hing o ne cou ld

imagine f or a s mall b usiness . Than kfully , her skills and ta lents are

more powe rful t han my questi onable manag ement style. Some s ection s

of this b ook ar e as m uch her s as t hey ar e mine . I am deeply grate ful fo r

her help.

As for th e cont ent an d writi ng of the bo ok, I have a long l ist of

people to thank . To s tart, t here a re a f ew peo ple fro m whom I hav e

learned s o much that it woul d be a crime to no t menti on the m by

name. Leo Babau ta, Ch arles D uhigg, Nir E yal, a nd BJ F ogg ha ve eac h

influence d my t hought s on ha bits i n mean ingful ways. Their work a nd

ideas can be fo und sp rinkled throu ghout this t ext. If you e njoyed this

book, I’d encou rage y ou to r ead th eir wr iting as well .

At variou s stag es of writing , I be nefite d from the gu idance of ma ny

fine edit ors. T hanks to Pete r Guzz ardi f or wal king me thro u gh the early

stages of the w riting proces s and for a kick i n the p ants w hen I really

needed it . I am indeb ted to Blake Atwood and R obin De llabou gh for

transform ing my ugly and ins anely long f irst d rafts i nto a tight,

readable manusc ript. And I a m than kful t o Anne Barngr over f or her

ability t o add a litt le clas s and poetic style to my writin g.

I’d like to tha nk the many p eople who re ad ear ly vers ions o f the

manuscrip t, inc luding Bruce Ammons , Darc ey Ans ell, Ti m Ball ard,

Vishal Bh ardwaj , Char lotte B lank, Jerome Burt, Sim Ca mpbell , A 1

Carlos, N icky C ase, J ulie Ch ang, J ason C ollins , Debra Croy, Roger

Dooley, T iago F orte, Matt Ga rtland , Andr ew Gie rer, Ra ndy Gi ffen, Jon

Giganti, Adam G ilbert , Steph an Guy enet, Jeremy Hendon , Jane

Horvath, Joakim Janss on, Jos h Kauf man, A nne Ka vanagh, Chris

Klaus, Ze ke Lop ez, Ca dy Maco n, Cyd Madse n, Kie ra McGr ath, A my

Mitchell, Anna Moise, Stacey Morri s, Tar a-Nich olle Ne lson, Taylor

Pearson, Max Sh ank, T rey She lton, Jason Shen, Jacob Z angeli dis, a nd

Ari Zelma now. T he boo k benef ited g reatly from your fe edback .

To the te am at Avery and Pen guin R andom House who mad e this

book a re ality, thank you. I owe a debt of spe cial th anks t o my

publisher , Mega n Newm an, for her e ndless patie nce as I cont inuall y

pushed ba ck dea dlines . She g ave me the s pace I needed to cr eate a

book I wa s prou d of a nd cham pioned my id eas at every step. To Nin a,

for her a bility to tr ansform my wr iting while still r e taini ng my origin al

message. To Lin dsay, Farin, Casey, and t he res t of th e PRH team f or

spreading the m essage of thi s book to mo re peo ple tha n I co uld ev er

reach on my own . To P ete Gar ceau, for de signin g a bea utiful cover for

this book .

And to my agent , Lisa DiMona , for her gu idance and in sight at eve ry

step of t he pub lishin g proce ss.

To the ma ny fri ends a nd fami ly mem bers w ho ask ed “How ’s the

book goin g?” an d offe red a w ord of encou rageme nt when I ine vitabl y

replied “ Slowly ”—than k you. Every author faces a few dark m oments

when writ ing a book, and one kind word c an be enough to get you t o

show up a gain t he nex t day.

I am sure there are p eople I have forgot ten, b ut I ke ep an update d

list of a nyone who ha s influ enced my thi nking in mean ingful ways at

iamesclea r.com/ thanks .

And final ly, to you. Life is short and y ou hav e share d some of yo ur
precious time w ith me by rea ding t his bo ok. Th ank you .

—May 2018

Notes

I n this sectio n, I h ave inc luded a deta iled l ist of notes, refer ences, and

citations for e ach ch apter i n the book. I trus t that most r eaders will

find this list to be suffici ent. H owever , I al so real ize th at sci entifi c

literatur e chan ges ov er time and t he ref erence s for t his bo ok may need

to be upd ated. Furthe rmore, I full y expe ct tha t I hav e made a mis take

somewhere in th is boo k—eithe r in a ttribu ting a n idea to the wrong

person or not g iving credit to som eone w here i t is du e. (If you b elieve

this to b e the case, please email me at james@ jamescl ear.co m so I can

fix the i ssue a s soon as pos sible. )

In additi on to the no tes bel ow, yo u can find a full l ist of updat ed

endnotes and co rrecti ons at atomic habits .com/e ndnotes .

INTRODUCT ION

We all de al wit h setb acks ; What a bout l uck, y ou migh t ask? Luck matter s, cert ainly. Habit s

are not t he onl y thin g that influe nce yo ur suc cess, b ut the y are probab ly the most

important facto r that is wit hin yo ur con trol. And the only self -i mprove ment st rategy

that make s any sense is to f ocus o n what you c an cont rol.

The entre preneu r and investo r Nava l Ravi kant : Naval Ravika nt (@n aval), “To wr ite a

great boo k, you must first b ecome the bo ok,” T witter, May 1 5, 201 8,

https://t witter .com/n aval/st atus/Q Q6460Q 4802Q. 262176 .

“ stimulu s, res ponse, reward ” : B. F. Sk inner, The Be havior of Or ganism s (New York:
Appleton- Centur y-Crof ts, 193 8).

“cue, rou tine, reward ” : Cha rles D uhigg, The P ower of Habit : Why We Do What We Do in

Life and Busine ss (Ne w York: Rando m Hous e, 201 4).

CHAPTER 1

just a si ngle g old me dal at the Ol ympic Games ; Matt Slater , “How GB Cy cling W ent

from Trag ic to Magic, ” BBC S port, April 14, 20 08,

http://ne ws.bbc .co.uk /sport 2 /hi/ olvmpi cs/cvc ling/ 7 F;. 2 407 . 2 .stm .

the Tour de Fra nce : Tom For dyce, “Tour de Fra nce 201 7: Is Chris Froome Britai n’s Le ast

Loved Gre at Spo rtsman ?” BBC Sport, July 23, 20 17,

https://w ww.bbc .com/s port/cv cling/ 406 Q 204 f ; .

one of th e top bike m anufact urers in Eur ope re fused t o sell bikes : Ric hard Mo ore,

Mastermin d: How Dave Brailsf ord Re invent ed the Wheel (Glasg ow: Ba ckPa ge Press,

2013).

“The whol e prin ciple came fr om the idea” ; Mat t Slate r, “Ol ympics Cycli ng: Mar ginal

Gains Und erpin Team G B Domin ance,” BBC, August 8, 201 2,

https://w ww.bbc .com/s port/ol vmpics /iQi 7 4202 .

Brailsfor d and his co aches b egan b v maki ng sma ll adju stment s ; Ti m Harf ord,

“Marginal Gains Matte r but G amecha ngers Transf orm,” T im Har ford, April 2017,

http://ti mharfo rd.com /2017/0 4/marg inal-g ains-m atter-b ut-gam echang ers-tr ansform .

they even paint ed the inside of th e team truck white ; Eben Harre ll, “H ow 1%

Performan ce Imp roveme nts Led to Ol ympic Gold,” Harvar d Busi ness R eview, Octobe r

30, 2015, https ://hbr .org/20 12/10/ how-1- perfor mance-i mprove ments- led-to -olvmpi c-

gold : Ke vin Cl ark, “ How a C ycling Team Turned the Fa lcons Into N FC Cha mpions, ” The

Ringer, S eptemb er 12, 2017,

https://w ww.the ringer .com/nf l/20i7 /Q/i2/ i62Q22 i6/atla nta -fa lcons- thomas -

dimitroff -cvcli ng-tea m-skv .

Just five years after Brails ford t ook ov er ; T echnica lly, t he Bri tish r iders w on 57 percen t

of the ro ad and track cyclin g meda ls at the 20 08 Olym pics. Fourte en gol d medal s were

available in ro ad and track cyclin g even ts. Th e Brits won e ight o f them .

the Brits raise d the bar : “ World and Ol ympic Records Set a t the 2012 S ummer O lympic s,”

Wikipedia , Dece mber 8 , 2017,

https://e n.wiki pedia. org/wik i/Worl d and Olympi c recor ds set a t th e 2012 Summi

Bradley W iggins becam e the f irst B ritish cycli st : An drew L ongmor e, “Br adley

Wiggins,” Encyc lopaed ia Brit annica , http s://ww w.brita nnica. com/bi ograph y/Bradl cy -

Wiggins . last modifi ed Apri l 21, 2018.

Chris Fro ome wo n ; Ka ren Spa rks, “ Chris Froome ,” Ency clopae dia Br itanni ca,

https: // www.br itanni ca.com/ biogra phv/Ch ris-Fr oome . last m odifie d Octo ber 23, 2017.
During th e ten- vear s pan fro m 2007 to 20 17 ; “ Medals won by the G reat B ritain Cyclin g

Team at w orld c hampio nships, Olymp ic Gam es and Paraly mpic G ames s ince 2 000,”

British C ycling , http s://www .briti shcvcl ing.or g.uk/gb cvclin gteam/ articl e/Gbrst gb -

cvclingte am-GB- Cvclin g-Team- Medal- Histor v—o?c= EN#KodW APiq84 CV8Wzw .QQ .

accessed June 8 , 2018 .

you’ll en d up t hirty- seven t imes b etter ; Jaso n Shen, an en trepre neur a nd writ er,

received an ear ly loo k at th is boo k. Aft er rea ding th is cha pter, he rem ark ed: “If th e gain s

were line ar, yo u’d pr edict t o be 3 .65X b etter off. Bu t beca use it is ex ponenti al, th e

improveme nt is actual ly iox greate r.” Ap ril 3, 2018.

Habits ar e the compou nd inte rest : Many people have n oted h ow hab its mu ltiply over

time. Her e are some o f my fa vorite artic les an d books on th e subj ect: L eo Baba uta, “ The

Power of Habit Invest ments,” Zen H abits, Janua ry 28, 2013,

https://z enhabi ts.net /bank : Morga n Hous el, “T he Frea kishly Stron g Base ,”

Collabora tive F und, O ctober 31, 20 17, ht tp://w ww.coll aborat ivefun d.com/ blog/th e -

freakishl v-stro ng-bas e : Dar ren Ha rdy, T he Com pound E ffect (New Y ork: V anguard

Press, 20 12).

Accomplis hing o ne ext ra task ; As Sam Al tman s ays, “A small produ ctivit y gain,

compounde d over 50 ye ars, is worth a lot .” “Pr oductiv ity,” Sam Al tman. April 1 0, 201 8,

http://bl og.sam altman .com/pr oducti vitv .

Habits ar e a do uble-e dged sw ord : I’d li ke to credit Jason Hreha with o riginal ly des cribin g

habits to me in this way. Ja son Hr eha (@ jhreha ), “The y’re a doubl e edge d sword ,”

Twitter, Februa ry 21, 2018, https: //twit ter.co m/ihreh a/stat us/ q 66430 Q 07 . 271 43 . 2 Q 8

4 .
The more tasks you ca n handl e with out th inking : Mich ael (@ mmay3r ), “Th e

foundatio n of p roduct ivity i s habi ts. Th e more you do autom atical ly, th e more you’re
subsequen tly fr eed to do. Th is eff ect co mpound s,” Twi tter, April to, 20 18,

https://t witter .com/m mav 2 r /statu s/Q 8 .‘ :: t 8 .‘ :: t 7 c ;iQ 27488 Q 2 i 6 .

each book you r ead no t only teache s ; Th is ide a—that learni ng new ideas increa ses th e

value of your o ld ide as—is s omethi ng I f irst h eard ab out fr om Pat rick O ’Shaugh nessy,

who write s, “Th is is why kno wledge compo unds. Old stu ff tha t was a 4/10 in val ue can

become a 10/10, unloc ked by anothe r book in th e futur e.”

http://in vestor fieldg uide.co m/read ing-tw eet-st orm .

Cancer sp ends 8 0 perc ent of its li fe und etecta ble ; “ How to Live a Long er, Hig her

Quality L ife, w ith Pe ter Att ia, M. D.,” I nvesto r’s Fie ld Gui de, Ma rch 7, 2017,

http: /1 invest orfi e ldguide . com /attia .

The San A ntonio Spurs ; Matt Moore , “NBA Final s: A Ro ck, Ha mmer a nd Cra cking o f

Spurs’ Ma jesty in Gam e 7,” C BS Spo rts, J une 21 , 2013,

https://w ww.cbs sports .com/nb a/news /nba-f inals- a-rock- hammer -and-c rackin g-of-

spurs-mai estv-i n-game - 7 .

Inspirati on for this drawing came from a tweet titled “Dece ption of lin ear vs expone ntial”

by

@Mlichael W. May 19, 2 018.

https://t witter .com/M lichael W/stat us/QQ7 878o86 i‘ :: i 28i7Q2 0 .

The seed of eve ry hab it : Th is par agraph was i nspired by a quote from M r. Mirc ea, an

account o n Twit ter, w ho wrot e, “ea ch hab it beg an its life a s a si ngle d ecision .”

https://t witter .com/m istermi rcea .

the goal cannot be wh at diff erenti ates t he win ners fr om the loser s ; Ha t tip t o

CrossFit coach Ben Be rgeron for in spirin g this quote during a con versat ion I h ad wit h
him on Fe bruary 28, 2 017.

You fall to the level of vou r syst ems ; This l ine was inspi red by the f ollowin g quot e from

Archiloch us: “W e don’ t rise to the level of ou r expec tation s, we fall t o the l evel o f our

training. ”

CHAPTER 2

You can i magine them like th e laye rs of an oni on : Ha t tip to Sim on Sin ek. His “Gold en

Circle” f ramewo rk is similar in de sign, but di scusses diffe rent t opics. For mo re, se e

Simon Sin ek, St art wi th Why: How G reat L eaders Inspir e Ever yone t o Take Action

(London: Portfo lio/Pe nguin, 2013), 37.

I resolve d to s top ch ewing m y nail s : Th e quot es used in th is sec tion a re pres ented as a

conversat ion fo r read ing cla rity, but we re ori ginally writt en by Clark. See: B rian C lark,

“The Powe rful P sychol ogical Boost that H elps Y ou Make and B reak H abits, ” Furth er,

November 14, 20 17, ht tps: // furthe r.net/ pride- habits .

Research has sh own th at once a per son ; Christ opher J . Brya n et a l., “M otivati ng Vot er

Turnout b y Invo king t he Self ,” Pro ceedin gs of the Nat ional Academ y of S ciences 108,

no. 31 (2 011): 12653- 12656.

There is intern al pre ssure : Leon Festin ger, A Theory of Co gnitiv e Diss onance (Stanf ord,

CA: Stanf ord Un iversi ty Pres s, 195 7).

Your iden tity i s lite rally v our “r epeate d hein gness” : Tech nicall y, ide ntidem is a w ord

belonging to th e Late Latin langua ge. Al so, th anks to Tamar Shipp ony, a reader of

jamesclea r.com, who o riginal ly tol d me a bout t he etym ology of the word identit y, whi ch

she looke d up i n the America n Heri tage D iction ary.

We change bit b y bit : This is ano ther r eason atomic habits are s uch an effect ive fo rm of

change. I f you change your i dentit y too quickl y and b ecome someon e radi cally d iffere nt

overnight , then you f eel as if you lose your s ense of self. But i f you update and ex pand
your iden tity g radual ly, you will find y oursel f rebor n into someo ne tot ally ne w and yet

still fam iliar. Slowl y—habit by ha bit, v ote by vote —y ou bec ome ac custom ed to y our ne w

identity. Atomi c habi ts and gradua l impr ovemen t are t he key s to i dentit y chang e

without i dentit y loss .

CHAPTER 3

Edward Th orndik e cond ucted a n expe riment ; Pet er Gray , Psyc hology , 6th ed. (Ne w

York: Wor th, 20 11), 1 08-109.

“bv some simple act, such as pulli ng at a loop of cor d” : E dward L. Tho rndike, “Anim al
Intellige nce: A n Expe rimenta l Stud y of t he Ass ociativ e P roc esses in Ani mals,”

Psycholog ical R eview: Monogr aph Su ppleme nts 2, no. 4 (1898) ,

doi:io. 1 037/I1 009298 7.

“behavior s foll owed b v satis fying conseq uences ” : Thi s is a n abbr eviate d versi on of the

original quote from T horndik e, whi ch rea ds: “r esponse s t hat produ ce a s atisfyi ng eff ect

in a part icular situa tion be come m ore li kely t o occur again in th at sit uation, and

responses that produc e a dis comfor ting e ffect become less l ikely to occ ur agai n in t hat

situation .” For more, see Pe ter Gr ay, Ps ycholo gy, 6th ed. ( New Yo rk: Wo rth, 20 11),

108-109.

Neurologi cal ac tivity in the brain is hi gh : C harles Duhigg , The Power of Habi t: Why We

Do What W e Do i n Life and Bu siness (New York: Random House, 2014) , 15; Ann M.

Graybiel, “Netw ork-Le vel Neu roplas ticity in Co rtico-B asal G anglia Pathw ays,”

Parkinson ism an d Rela ted Dis orders 10, n o. 5 ( 2004),

doi:io.io i6/j.p arkrel dis.200 4.03-0 07.

“Habits a re, si mply, reliabl e solu tions” ; Jas on Hreh a, “Wh y Our Consci ous Min ds Are

Suckers f or Nov elty,” Revue, https : //ww w.getr evue.co /profi le/ias on/iss ues/whv -our-

conscious -minds -are-s uckers- for-no veltv- ^ 4121 . acce ssed J une 8, 2018.

As habits are c reated ; John R. An derson , “Acq uisitio n of C ogniti ve Ski ll,” Ps ycholo gical

Review 89 , no. 4 (198 2), doi :io.i0 37/oo3 3-295X .89-4.3 69.

the brain remem bers t he past : Sha hram H eshmat , “Why Do We Rememb er Cer tain

Things, B ut For get Ot hers,” Psycho logy T oday, October 8, 20 15,

https: / / www. psvcho logvtod av.com / us/ blog/s cience - choice /20 1 510 / whv-do- we-

remember- certai n-thin gs-forg et-oth ers .

the consc ious m ind is the bo ttlene ck : W illiam H. Gla dstone s, Mic h ael A . Regan , and

Robert B. Lee, “Divis ion of Attent ion: T he Sin gle -Cha nnel H ypothe sis Re visited ,”

Quarterly Journ al of Experim ental Psycho logy S ection A 41, no. 1 (1989) ,

doi:io.10 80/146 407489 0840235 0.

the consc ious m ind li kes to pawn o ff tas ks : D an iel K ahnema n, Thi nking, Fast a nd Slo w

(New York : Farr ar, St raus an d Giro ux, 20 15).

Habits re duce c ogniti ve load : Joh n R. A nderso n, “Acq uisiti on of Cognit ive Ski ll,”

Psycholog ical R eview 89, no. 4 (19 82), d oi:io. ic>37/o o33 -29 5X.89. 4.369.

Feelings of ple asure and dis appoin tment : Anto nio R. Damasi o, The Stran ge Orde r of

Things: L ife, F eeling , and t he Mak ing of Cultu res (Ne w York : Pant heon B ooks, 2 018);

Lisa Feld man Ba rrett, How Em otions Are M ade (L ondon: Pan Bo oks, 2 018).

CHAPTER 4

The psych ologis t Gary Klein ; I or iginal ly hea rd abou t this story from Daniel Kahnem an,

but it wa s conf irmed by Gary Klein in an email on Mar ch 30, 2017. Klein also c overs the

story in his ow n book , which uses slight ly dif ferent quotes : Gary A. Kl ein, So urces of

Power: Ho w Peop le Mak e Decis ions ( Cambri dge, M A: MIT Press, 1998) , 43 -4 4.
military analys ts can identi fy whi ch bli p on a radar screen : Gar y A. K lein, S ources of

Power: Ho w Peop le Mak e Decis ions ( Cambri dge, M A: MIT Press, 1998) , 38 -4 0.

Museum cu rators have been kn own to disce rn : T he stor y of t he Get ty kou ros, co vered

in Malcol m Glad well’s book B link, is a f amous example . The sculpt ure, i nitiall y beli eved

to be fro m anci ent Gr eece, w as pur chased for $ 10 mill ion. T he con trover sy surr oundin g

the sculp ture h appene d later when one ex pert i dentifi ed it as a f orgery upon f irst g l ance.

Experienc ed rad iologi sts can look at a b rain s can ; S iddhar tha Mu kheije e, “The

Algorithm Will See Yo u Now,” New Y orker, April 3, 201 7,

https://w ww.new vorker .com/ma gazine /2017/ 04/02/ ai -vers us-md .

The human brain is a predict ion ma chine : The German physic ian He rmann von

Helmholtz devel oped t he idea of th e brai n bein g a “pr edicti on mac hine.”

the clerk swipe d the custome r’s ac tual c redit card : Helix van Bo ron, “ What’s the

Dumbest T hing Y ou’ve Done Wh ile Yo ur Bra in Is on Auto pilot, ” Redd it, Au gust 21 ,

2017,

https://w ww.red dit.eo m/r/Ask Reddit /comme nts/6v itQi/wh ats th e dumb est th ing v

she kept asking cowor kers if they had wa shed t heir ha nds : SwordO fTheLl ama, “W hat

Strange H abits Have Y ou Pick ed Up from Y our Li ne of W ork,” Reddit , Janu ary 4, 2016,

https://w ww.red dit.eo m/r/Ask Reddit /comme nts/2z ckq6/wh at str ange h abits have ^

story of a man who ha d spent years worki ng as a lifeg ua rd : Swear lmaChi ck, “Wh at

Strange H abits Have Y ou Pick ed Up from Y our Li ne of W ork,” Reddit , Janu ary 4, 2016,

https://w ww.red dit.eo m/r/Ask Reddit /comme nts/2z ckq6/wh at str ange h abits have i

“Until yo u make the u nconsci ous co nsciou s” ; A lthough this quote by Jun g is po pular, I

had troub le tra cking down th e orig inal s ource. It’s p robabl y a pa raphra se of t his

passage: “The p sychol ogical rule s ays th at whe n an in ner si tuatio n is n ot made
conscious , it h appens outsid e, as fate. That i s to sa y, whe n the indivi dual re mains

undivided and d oes no t becom e cons cious of his inner opposi te, th e worl d must perfor ce

act out t he con flict and be torn i nto op posing halves .” For more, see C . G. Ju ng, Ai on:

Researche s into the P henomen ology of the Self (Prince ton, N J: Pri nceton Univer sity

Press, 19 59), 7 1.

Pointing- and-Ca lling reduces error s : Al ice Go rdenker , “JR Gestur es,” J apan Ti mes,

October 2 1, 200 8, htt ps://ww w.iapa ntimes .c0.ip /news/2 008/10 /21/re ferenc e/ir -

gestures/ #.WvIG 4QMvzu i .

The MTA s ubway system in New York City : Allan Richar z, “Wh y Japa n’s Ra il Work ers

Can’t Sto p Poin ting a t Thing s,” At las Ob scura, March 29 , 20 17,

https://w ww.atl asobsc ura.com /artic les/po inting -and-ca lling- iapan- trains .

CHAPTER 5

researche rs in Great Britain began worki ng ; S arah Mi lne, S heina Orbell , and P aschal

Sheeran, “Combi ning M otivati onal a nd Vol itiona l Inter ventio ns to Promot e Exerc ise

Participa tion: Protec tion Mo tivati on The ory an d Imple mentat ion In tentio ns,” Br itish

Journal o f Heal th Psy chology 7 (Ma y 2002 ): 163 -184.

implement ation intent ions ar e effe ctive : Pete r Gollw itzer and Pa schal Sheeran ,

“Implemen tation Inten tions a nd Goa l Achi evemen t: A Me ta -Ana lysis of Eff ects an d

Processes ,” Adv ances in Expe riment al Soc ial Ps ycholog y 38 ( 2006): 69 -11 9.

writing d own th e exac t time and da te of when v ou will get a flu s hot : Katheri ne L.

Milkman, John B eshear s, Jame s J. C hoi, D avid L aibson, and B rigitt e C. M adrian,

“Using Im plemen tation Intent ions P rompts to En hance I nf luen za Vac cinati on Rate s,”

Proceedin gs of the Na tional Academ y of S cience s 108, no. 26 (June 2011) : 10415 -

10420.
recording the t ime of vour c olonos copy a ppoint ment ; Kather ine L. Milkm an, Joh n

Beshears, James J. Ch oi, Dav id Lai bson, and Br igitte C. Mad rian, “Plann ing Pro mpts a s

a Means o f Incr easing Preven tive S creeni ng Rat es,” Pr eventi ve Med icine 56, no. 1

(January 2013): 92-93 .

voter tur nout i ncreas es : Da vid W. Nicke rson a nd Todd Roger s, “Do You H ave a V oting

Plan? Imp lement ation Intenti ons, V oter T urnout , and O rganic Plan Making ,”

Psycholog ical S cience 21, no . 2 (2 010): 194-19 9.

Other suc cessfu l gove rnment progra ms ; “ Policy makers around the W orld A re

Embracing Behav ioural Scienc e,” Th e Econ omist, May 18 , 2017 ,

https://w ww.eco nomist .com/ne ws/int ernati onal/2 1722162 -exper imenta l-iter ative-
data-driv en-app roach- gaining -groun d-poli cvmake rs-arou nd .

people wh o make a spe cific p lan fo r when and w here ; Edwin Locke and Ga ry Lath am,

“Building a Pra ctical ly Usef ul The ory of Goal Setting and T ask Mo tivati on: A 3 5 -Year

Odyssey,” Ameri can Ps ycholog ist 57 , no. 9 (200 2): 705 -717, doi:io .ic>37 //ooo3-

066X.57.9 .705.

hope is u sually highe r : Hen gchen Dai, K atheri ne L. M ilkman , and Jason Riis, “ The Fr esh

Start Eff ect: T empora l Landm arks M otivat e Aspi rationa l Beha vior,” PsycE XTRA

Dataset, 2014, doi:io .1037/6 513702 014-05 8.

writer Ja son Zw eig no ted : J ason Z weig, “Eleva te Your Finan cial I Q: A V alue Pa cked

Discussio n with Jason Zweig, ” inte rview by Sha ne Parr ish, T he Kno wledge Projec t,

Farnam St reet, audio, https: //www. fs.blo g/2012 /10/ias on -zwe ig-kno wledge -proiec t .

many wavs to us e impl ementat ion in tentio ns ; F or th e term h abit s tackin g , I a m

indebted to S. J. Sco tt, who wrote a boo k by t he same name. From what I unders tand,

his conce pt is slight ly diff erent, but I like the ter m and though t it a ppropri ate to use i n

this chap ter. P reviou s write rs suc h as C ourtne y Carve r and Julien Smith have a lso us ed

the term habit stacki ng, but in di fferen t cont exts.

The Frenc h phil osophe r Denis Dider ot ; “ Denis Diderot ,” New World Encyc lopedia ,

http: //w ww.new worlde ncvclop edia.o rg/ent rv/Den is Dide rot , last m odifie d Octob e r 26,

2017.

acquired a scar let ro be : En cyclop aedia Britan nica, v ol. 8 (1911) , s.v. “Denis Dider ot.”

Diderot’s scarl et rob e is fr equent ly des cribed as a g ift fr om a f riend. Howeve r, I c ould

find no o rigina l sour ce clai ming i t was a gift nor an y ment ion of the f riend w ho sup plied

the robe. If yo u happ en to k now an y hist orians specia lizing in ro be acq uisi tio ns, fe el fre e

to point them m y way so we c an cla rify t he mys tery of the s ource of Did erot’s famous

scarlet r obe.
“no more coordi nation , no mo re uni ty, no more beauty” : Den is Did erot, “Regret s for

My Old Dr essing Gown, ” trans . Mitc hell A bidor, 2005 ,

https://w ww.mar xists. org/ref erence /archi ve/did erot/17 6Q/reg rets.h tm .

The Dider ot Eff ect st ates : Juliet Schor , The Overspe nt Ame rican: Why W e Want What W e

Don’t Nee d (New York: Harper Perenn ial, 1 999).

which was creat ed by BJ Fogg : In this c hapter , I use d the term h abit s tacking to re fer to

linking a new h abit t o an ol d one. For t his id ea, I g ive cr edit t o BJ F ogg. In his w ork,

Fogg uses the t erm an choring to de scribe this approac h beca use yo ur old habit acts a s

an “ancho r” tha t keep s the n ew one in pl ace. N o matte r what term you pr efer, I belie ve it

is a very effec tive s trategy . You can le arn mo re abou t Fogg ’s wor k and his Tin y Habi ts

Method at https ://www .tinvha bits.c om .

“One in, one ou t” : D ev Basu (@dev basu), “Have a one- in-one -out p olicy when bu ying

things,” Twitte r, Feb ruary 1 1, 201 8,

https://t witter .com/d evbasu/ status /Q 627 78 i 4 iQ 6 | : ;ooo 704 .

CHAPTER 6

Anne Thor ndike : Anne N. Tho rndike et al ., “A 2-Phase Label ing an d Choi ce Arch itectu re

Intervent ion to Impro ve Heal thy Fo od and Bever age Cho ices,” Ameri can Jo urnal o f

Public He alth 1 02, no . 3 (20 12), d oi:io. 2ic>5/ ajph.20 ii.300 39i.

choose pr oducts not b ecause of wha t they are ; Multip le res earch studie s have shown

that the mere s ight o f food can ma ke us feel h ungry e ven wh en we don’t have ac tual

physiolog ical h unger. Accord ing to one r esearc her, “d ietary behav iors a re, in large par t,

the conse quence of au tomatic respo nses t o cont extual food c ues.” For mo re, see D. A.

Cohen and S. H. Babey , “Cont extual Influ ences on Eati ng Beh aviour s: Heu ristic

Processin g and Dietar y Choic es,” O besity Revie ws 13, no. 9 (2012) , doi: io.im/j .i467 -

789X.2012 . 0100 1.x; a nd Andr ew J. Hill, Lynn D . Magso n, and John E. Blu ndell,

“Hunger a nd Pal atabil ity: Tr acking Ratin gs of Subject ive Ex perien ce Bef ore, du ring a nd

after the Consu mption of Pre ferred and L ess Pr eferred Food, ” Appe tite 5 , no. 4 (1984 ),

doi:io.io i6/soi 95-666 3(84)8o oo8-2.

Behavior is a f unctio n of th e Pers on in their Environ ment : Kurt Lewin, Princi ples o f

Topologic al Psy cholog y (New York: McGraw -Hill, 1936).

Suggestio n Impu lse Bu nina : Hawkin s Ster n, “Th e Signi ficanc e of I mpulse Buying Today ,”

Journal o f Mark eting 26, no. 2 (19 62), d oi:io. 2307/12 48439.

45 percen t of C oca-Co la sale s ; Mi chael Moss, “Nudged to th e Prod uce Ai sle by a Look in

the Mirro r,” Ne w York Times, Augus t 27, 2013,

https://w ww.nvt imes.c om/2012 /08/28 /dinin g/wooi ng -us-d own-th e-prod uce-

aisle.htm l? r=o .

People dr ink Bu d Ligh t becau se : T he mor e expo sure pe ople h ave to food, the mo re lik ely

they are to pur chase it and eat it . T. B urgoin e et al ., “As sociat ions b etween Exposu re to

Takeaway Food O utlets , Takea way Fo od Con sumpti on, and Body Weight in

Cambridge shire, UK: P opulati on Bas ed, Cr oss Se ctional Study ,” Bri tish M edical Journa l

348, no. 5 (201 4), do i:io.H3 6/bmj. gi464.

The human body has ab out ele ven mi llion sensor y recep tors : Timot hy D. Wilson,

Strangers to Ou rselve s: Disc overin g the Adapti ve Unc o nsciou s (Cam bridge , MA:

Belknap P ress, 2004), 24.

half of t he bra in’s r esource s are used o n visi on : B. R. Sh eth et al., “Orient ation Maps o f

Subjectiv e Cont ours i n Visua l Cort ex,” S cience 274, n o. 529 5 (199 6),

doi:io.H2 6/scie nce.27 4.5295. 2iio.

When thei r ener gy use was ob vious and ea sy to track : This story was to ld to D onella

Meadows a t a co nferen ce in K olleko lle, D enmark , in 19 73. Fo r more , see Donella

Meadows a nd Dia na Wri ght, Th inking in Sy stems: A Prim er (Wh ite Ri ver Ju nction, VT:

Chelsea G reen, 2015), 109.

the stick ers cu t bath room cl eaning costs ; The actual estim ate wa s 8 pe rcent, but gi ven

the varia bles u sed, a nywhere betwe en 5 p ercent and 10 perce nt sav ings a nnually is a

reasonabl e gues s. Bla ke Evan s-Prit chard, “Aimi ng to R educe Cleani ng Cos ts,” Wo rks

That Work , Wint er 201 3, http s: / / workst hatwor k.com/i /urina l -flv .

sleeping ... wa s the only ac tion t hat ha ppened in tha t room : “Te chniqu es invo lving

stimulus contro l have even b een su ccessf ully u sed to help p eople with i nsomnia . In

short, th ose wh o had trouble falli ng asl eep we re told to on ly go to the ir room and l ie in

their bed when they w ere tir ed. If they couldn ’t fall aslee p, the y were told t o get up and

change ro oms. S trange advice , but over t ime, r esearch ers fo und th at by associa ting t he
bed with ‘It’s time t o go to sleep ’ and not wi th othe r acti vities (read ing a b ook, j ust ly i

ng

there, et c.), p artici pants w ere ev entual ly abl e to qu ickly fall a sleep due to the re peated

process: it bec ame al most au tomati c to f all as leep in their bed b ecause a succ essful

trigger h ad bee n crea ted.” F or mor e, see Charl es M. M orin e t al., “Psyc hologic al and

Behaviora l Trea tment of Inso mnia: Update of th e Recen t Evid ence ( 1998 -2 004),” Sleep

29, no. 1 1 (200 6), do i:io.i0 93/sle ep/29. n.i398 ; and G regory Ciott i, “Th e Best Way to

Change Yo ur Hab its? C ontrol Your E nviron ment,” Sparri ng Min d,

https://w ww.spa rringm ind.com /chang ing-ha bits .

habits ca n be e asier to chan ge in a new enviro nment : S. Th ompson , J. M ichaels on, S.

Abdallah, V. Jo hnson, D. Mor ris, K . Rile y, and A. Sim ms, ‘M oments of Ch ange’ a s

Opportuni ties f or Inf luencin g Beha viour: A Rep ort to the De partme nt for

Environme nt, Fo od and Rural Affair s (Lon don: D efra, 2 011),

http://ra ndd.de fra.go v.uk/Do cument .aspx?

Document= Moment sofCha ngeEVo^ o6Fina lRepor t Nov2 0ii(2). pdf.

when you step o utside vour n ormal enviro nment : Vario us res earch studie s have found

that it i s easi er to change your b ehavio r when your e nviron ment c hanges . For e xample ,

students change their televi sion w atchin g habi ts when they transf er sch ools. W endy

Wood and David T. Nea l, “Hea lthy t hrough Habit : Inter ventio ns for Initi ating a nd

Maintaini ng Hea lth Be havior Change ,” Beh aviora l Scien ce and Polic y 2, n o. 1 (2 016),

doi:io.i3 53/bsp .2016. 0008; W . Wood , L. T am, an d M. G. Witt, “Chan ging

Circumsta nces, Disrup ting Ha bits,” Journ al of Persona lity a nd Soc ial Ps ycholog y 88,

no. 6 (20 05), d oi:io. 1037/00 22-351 4.88.6 .918

You aren’ t batt ling o ld envi ronmen tal cu es : P erhaps this i s why 36 per cent of succe ssful

changes i n beha vior w ere ass ociate d with a mov e to a new pl ace. M elissa Guerre ro -Wit t,

Wendy Woo d, and Leona Tam, “ Changi ng Cir cumsta nces, D isrupt ing Ha bits,”

PsycEXTRA Datas et 88, no. 6 (2005) , doi: io.103 7/65294 12014 - 144.

CHAPTER 7

Follow-up resea rch re vealed that i ~ perc ent of servic e memb ers : Lee N. Robins et

al., “Vie tnam V eteran s Three Years after Vietn am: How Our S tudy C hanged Our Vi ew of

Heroin Am erican Journ al on A ddicti ons 19 , no. 3 (2010 ), doi :io.mi /j.i52 i -

0391.2010 .00046 .x.

the creat ion of the S pecial Action Offic e of D rug Abu se Pre ventio n ; “E xcerpts from

President ’s Mes sage o n Drug Abuse Contro l,” Ne w York Times, June 18,197 1,

https://w ww.nvt imes.c om/iQ 7 i/o 6 /i 8 /archi ves/exc erpts - from-p reside nts-mes sage-

on-drug-a buse-c ontrol .html .

nine out of ten soldi ers who used heroin in Vi etnam : Lee N . Robi ns, Da rlene H . Davi s,

and David N. Nu rco, “ How Per manent Was V ietnam Drug A ddicti on?” A merica n

Journal o f Publ ic Hea lth 64, no. 1 2 (sup pl.) ( 1974), doi:io .2i05/ ajph.6 4.i2_su ppl.38 .

QO percen t of h eroin users b ecome re-add icted : Bobby P. Sm yth et al., “Lapse and

Relapse f ollowi ng Inp atient Treatm ent of Opiat e Depen dence, ” Iris h Medi cal Jou rnal
103, no. 6 (Jun e 2010 ).

“discipli ned” p eople are bet ter at struc turing their lives ; Wilh elm Ho fmann e t al.,

“Everyday Tempt ations : An Ex perien ce Sam pling Study o n How People Contr ol Thei r

Desires,” PsycE XTRA D ataset 102, n o. 6 ( 2012), doi:io .1037/ 663411 2013 -1 46.

It’s easi er to practi ce self -restr aint w hen yo u don’t have to use it ; “Our pr ototyp ical

model of self-c ontrol is ang el on one si de and devil on the other , and they ba ttle i t

out.... W e tend to th ink of people with strong willpo wer as peopl e who are abl e to f ight

this batt le eff ective ly. Act ually, the p eople who are reall y good at se lf -cont rol ne ver ha v

these bat tles i n the first p lace.” For m ore, s ee Bria n Resn ick, “ The My th of S elf-Co ntrol, ”

Vox, Nove mber 2 4, 201 6, http s://ww w.vox. com/sc ience -a nd-

health/ 2 0 i 6 /ii/ 2 /i 248 6 Q 40 /self -contr ol-psvc hologv -mvth .

A habit t hat ha s been encode d in t he min d is r eady to be us ed ; W endy W ood and

Dennis Ri inger, “Psyc hology of Hab it,” A nnual Review of Psy cholog y 67, no. 1 ( 2016),

doi:io.ii 46 /a nnurev -psych- i 224 i 4 -c > 334 i 7 .

The cues were s till i nternal i zed : “The Biolo gy of M otivat ion an d Habi ts: Why We Dr op

the Ball, ” Ther apist Uncenso red), 20:00,

http: //w ww.the rapist uncenso red.co m/biol ogv-of -motiva tion-h abits . acce ssed Ju ne 8,

2018.

Shaming o bese p eople with we ight-l oss pr esenta tions ; Sarah E. Ja cks on, Rebecc a J.

Beeken, a nd Jan e Ward le, “Pe rceive d Weig ht Dis crimina tion a nd Cha nges i n Weigh t,

Waist Cir cumfer ence, and Wei ght St atus,” Obesi ty, 201 4, doi :io.io o2/oby .2o89i.

Showing p icture s of b lackene d lung s to s mokers : Kell y McGo nigal, The U pside o f

Stress: W hy Str ess Is Good f or You , and How to Get Go od at It (Ne w York : Avery ,

2016), xv .

showing a ddicts a pic ture of cocai ne for iust thirtv - three millis econds : Fran Sm ith ,

“How Scie nce Is Unloc king th e Secr ets of Addic tion,” Nation al Geo graphi c, Sept ember

2017, htt ps://w ww.nat ionalge ograph ic.com /magaz ine/201 7/QQ/t he -add icted- brain .

CHAPTER 8

Niko Tinb ergen perfor med a s eries of exp erimen ts ; Ni kolaas Tinbe rgen, The Her ring

Gull’s Wo rld (L ondon: Collin s, 195 3); “N ikolaa s Tinbe rgen,” New W orld E ncyclop edia,

http: //w ww.new worlde ncvclop edia.o rg/ent rv/Nik olaas T inberg en , l ast mo dified

September 30, 2 016.

the goose will pull a ny near by rou nd obj ect : James L . Go ul d, Eth ology: The

Mechanism s and Evolut ion of Behavi or (Ne w York : Norto n, 198 2), 36 -41.

the moder n food indus try rel ies on stret ching : Steve n With erly, Why Hu mans Li ke

Junk Food (New York: IUniver se, 20 07).

Nearly ev ery fo od in a bag ; “Twea king T astes and Cre ating Cravin gs,” 6 0 Minut es,
November 27, 20 11. ht tps: // www.v outube .com/w at ch?v =a7Wh2 uqivTc .

French fr ies .. . are a poten t comb inatio n : St even Wi therly , Why Humans Like J unk

Food (New York: IUniv erse, 2 007).

such stra tegies enabl e food scient ists t o find the “b liss p oint” : Mich ael Mos s, Sal t,

Sugar, Fa t: How the F ood Gia nts Ho oked U s (Lon don : Al len, 2 014).

“We’ve go tten t oo goo d at pu shing our ow n butt ons” : This q uote o rigina lly app eared

in Stepha n Guye net, “ Why Are Some People ‘Carb oholics ’?” Ju ly 26, 2017,

http://ww w.step hanguv enet.co m/whv- are-so me-peo ple-car boholi cs . T he ada pted

version i s give n with permis sion g ranted in an email exchan ge wit h the author in Apr il

2018.

The impor tance of dop amine ; “The import ance o f dopam ine wa s disc overed by acc ident.

In 1954, James Olds a nd Pete r Miln er, tw o neur oscient ists a t McGi ll Uni versi ty , deci ded

to implan t an e lectro de deep into the ce nter o f a rat ’s bra in. Th e prec ise pla cement of

the elect rode w as lar gely ha ppenst ance; at the time, the ge ograph y of t he mind

remained a myst ery. B ut Olds and M ilner got lu cky. Th ey ins erted the ne edle ri ght ne xt

to the nu cleus accumb ens (NA cc), a part of the brain that g enerat es ple asurabl e feel ings .

Whenever you ea t a pi ece of chocol ate ca ke, or listen to a favori te pop song, or wat ch

your favo rite t eam wi n the W orld S eries, it is your N Acc th at hel ps you feel s o happ y.

But Olds and Mi lner q uickly discov ered t hat to o much pleasu re can be fa tal. Th ey pla ced

the elect rodes in sev eral ro dents’ brain s and then ra n a sm all cu rrent into ea ch wir e,
making th e NAcc s cont inually excit ed. Th e scie ntists notice d that the r odents lost

interest in eve rythin g. They stopp ed eat ing an d drink ing. A ll cou rtship behavi or cea sed.

The rats would just h uddle i n the corner s of t heir ca ges, t ransfi xed by their blis s. Withi n

days, all of th e anim als had peris hed. T hey di ed of t hirst. For m ore, s ee Jona h Lehr er,

How We De cide ( Boston : Hough ton Mi fflin Harcou rt, 200 9).

neurologi cal pr ocesse s behin d crav ing an d desi re : Ja mes Ol ds and Peter Milner ,

“Positive Reinf orceme nt Prod uced b y Elec trical Stimul ation of Sep tal Ar ea and Other

Regions o f Rat Brain, ” Journ al of Compar ative and Phy siolog ical P sychol ogy 47, no. 6

(1954), d oi:io. i037/h oc>5877 5.

rats lost all w ill to live : Qun-Y ong Zh ou and Richar d D. P almite r, “Do pamine - Defici ent

Mice Are Severe ly Hyp oactive , Adip sic, a nd Aph agic,” Cell 8 3, no. 7 (19 95),

doi:io.10 16/009 2-8674 (95)901 45-0.

without d esire, actio n stopp ed ; K ent C. Berri dge, Is a bel L . Veni er, an d Terry E. Ro binson ,

“Taste Re activi ty Ana lysis o f 6-Hy droxyd opamin e-Induc ed Aph agia: Implic ations for

Arousal a nd Anh edonia Hypoth eses o f Dopa mine F unction ,” Beh aviora l Neur oscienc e

103, no. 1 (198 9), do i:io.i0 37//07 35-704 4.103. 1.36.

the mice develo ped a craving so st rong : Ross A. Mcde vitt e t al., “Sero tonergi c vers us

Nonseroto nergic Dorsa l Raphe Proje ction Neuron s: Diff erenti al Par ticipa tion in Rewar d

Circuitry ,” Cel l Repo rts 8, no. 6 (2014) , doi: io.ioi6 /j.cel rep.2 014.08 .037.

the avera ge slo t mach ine pla ver : Natash a Dow Schiill , Addi ction by Des ign: Ma chine

Gambling in Las Vegas (Princ eton, NJ: Pr inceto n Unive rsity Press, 2014) , 55.

Habits ar e a do pamine -driven feedb ack lo op ; I first heard the te rm dop amine -d riven

feedback loop f rom Ch amath P alihap itiya. For m ore, se e “Cha math P alihap itiya,

Founder a nd CEO Socia l Capit al, on Money as an Instru ment o f Chan ge,” S tanford

Graduate School of Bu siness, Novem ber 13 , 2017 , https : //ww w.vout ube.co m/watch ?

v=PMotvkw oSIk .

dopamine ... pl avs a central role in man y neur ologica l proc esses ; Rese archers later

discovere d that endor phins a nd opi oids w ere re sponsib le for pleas ure re sponses . For

more, see V. S. Chakr avarthy , Denn y Jose ph, an d Raju S. Bap i, “Wh at Do the Bas al

Ganglia D o? A M odelin g Persp ective ,” Bio logica l Cyber netics 103, no. 3 (2010),

doi:io.io o7/soo 422-oi o-040i- y.

dopamine is rel eased not onl y when you e xperie nce ple asure : Wolf ram Sc hultz,

“Neuronal Rewar d and Decisio n Sign als: F rom Th eories to Dat a,” Ph ysiolo gical

Reviews 9 5, no. 3 (20 15), do i:io.i i52/ph ysrev. ooo23.2 0i4, f ig. 8; Fran Smith, “How

Science I s Unlo cking the Sec rets o f Addi ction, ” Natio nal Ge ograph ic, Se pte mber 2017,

https: / / www. nation algeogr aphic. com /m agazin e / 201 7/OQ / the -ad dicted -brain .

whenever dopami ne ris es, so does v our mo tivati on : Do pamine compe ls you to see k,

explore, and ta ke act ion: “D opamin e-ener gized, this m esolim bic SE EKING system,

arising f rom th e vent ral teg mental area (VTA), encour ages f oragin g, exp loratio n,

investiga tion, curios ity, in terest and e xpecta ncy. Do pamine fires each time th e rat (or

human) ex plores its e nvironm ent... . I ca n look at the anima l and tell w hen I a m

tickling its SE EKING system becaus e it i s expl oring a nd sni ffing. ” For more, s ee Kar in

Badt, “De presse d? You r ‘SEEK ING’ S ystem Might Not Be Workin g: A C onvers ation w ith
Neuroscie ntist Jaak P anksepp ,” Huf fingto n Post , Decem ber 6, 2017,

http://ww w.huff ington post.co m/kari n-badt /depre ssed-vo ur-see king-

sv b . 26 i 6 Q 67 .h tml .

the rewar d syst em tha t is ac tivate d in t he bra in : Wo lfram Schult z, “Mu ltiple Reward

Signals i n the Brain, ” Natur e Revi ews Ne urosci ence 1, no. 3 (2000 ),

doi:io.10 38/350 44563.

loo perce nt of the nu cleus a ccumbe ns is activa ted dur ing wa nting ; Kent Berrid ge,

conversat ion wi th aut hor, Ma rch 8, 2017.

Bvrne hac ked hi s stat ionary bike : Hacks ter St aff, “N etflix and C ycle!, ” Hacks ter, J uly 12 ,

2017, htt ps: // blog.h ackster .io/ne tflix- and-cv cle-i 7 24 doi 7 Qde b .

“eliminat ing ob esity one Net flix b inge a t a ti me” ; “ Cycfli x: Exe rcise Powered
Entertain ment,” Robor o, July 8, 20 17, ht tps: / /www. youtub e .com /watch ?v= -nc oirLB-

iY.

“We see T hursda y nigh t as a viewer ship o pportu nity” ; Jeani ne Pog gi, “S honda

Rhimes Lo oks Be yond A BC’s Ni ghttim e Soap s,” Ad Age, Ma y 16, 2016,

http://ad age.co m/arti cle/spe cial-r eport- tv-upf ront/sh onda-r himes- abc-so aps/202 QQ6 .

“more pro bable behavi ors wil l rein force less p robable behav iors” : Jon E.

Roeckelei n, Dic tionar y of Th eories , Laws , and Concept s in P sychol ogy (W estport , CT:

Greenwood Press , 1998 ), 384.

CHAPTER 9

“A genius is no t born , but i s educ ated a nd tra ined” ; Harol d Lund str “F ather o f 3

Prodigies Says Chess Genius Can Be Taugh t,” De seret N ews, D ecembe r 25,1 992,

https://w ww.des eretne ws.com/ articl e/2662 78/FAT HER -OF- 2-PROD IGIES- SAYS-

CHESS-GEN IUS-CA N-BE-T AUGHT.h tml?pg =all .

We imitat e the habits of thr ee gro ups : Peter J. Rich erson and Ro bert B oyd, No t by

Genes Alo ne: Ho w Cult ure Tra nsform ed Hum an Evo lution (Chica go: Un iversi ty of

Chicago P ress, 2006).

“a person ’s cha nces o f becom ing ob ese in crease d bv 57 perce nt” : Nichol as A.

Christaki s and James H. Fowl er, “T he Spr ead of Obesit y in a Large Socia l Netwo rk ove r

32 Years, ” New Englan d Journ al of Medici ne 357 , no. 4 (2007 ),

doi:io.i0 56/nej msao66 o82. J. A. St ockman , “The Spread of Ob esity in a L arge So cial

Network o ver 32 Years ,” Year book o f Pedi atrics 2009 ( 2009), doi:i o.ioi6 /soo8 4-

3954(08)7 9134-6 .

if one pe rson i n a re lations hip lo st wei ght : Amy A. Gorin et al. , “Ran domized Contr olled

Trial Exa mining the R ipple E ffect of a N ationa lly Ava ilable Weigh t Mana gement
Program o n Untr eated Spouses ,” Obe sity 2 6, no. 3 (201 8), do i:io .i oo2/ob y.22098 .

Of the te n peop le in the cla ss, fo ur bec ame as tronaut s : Mi ke Mas simino , “Find ing th e

Differenc e Betw een ‘I mprobab le’ an d ‘Imp ossibl e,’” in tervie w by J ames A ltucher , The

James Alt ucher Show, January 2017, https ://iam esaltuc her.co m/2017 /01/mi ke -

massimino -i-am- not-go od-enou gh .

the highe r your best friend’ s IQ a t age eleven or twe lve : Ryan M eldrum , Nicho las

Kavish, a nd Bri an Bou twell, “On th e Long itudin al Asso ciatio n B etw een Pe er and

Adolescen t Inte lligen ce: Can Our F riends Make Us Smar ter?,” PsyAr Xiv, F ebruary 10,

2018, doi :io.i7 6o5/OS F.IO/TV J9Z.

Solomon A sch co nducte d a ser ies of exper iments : Haro ld Ste ere Gu etzkow , Group s,

Leadershi p and Men: R esearch in Hu man Re lation s (Pitt sburgh , PA: Carneg ie Pres s,

1951), 17 7-190.

By the en d of t he exp eriment , near ly 75 percen t of th e subj ects : Follo w -up st udies

show that if th ere wa s just one ac tor in the g roup wh o disa greed with t he grou p, the n the

subject w as far more likely to sta te the ir tru e belie f that the l ines w ere dif ferent lengt h

s.

When you have a n opin ion tha t diss ents f rom th e tribe , it i s much easie r to st and by it if

you have an all y. Whe n you n eed th e stre ngth t o stand up to the s ocial norm, f ind a

partner. For mo re, se e Solom on E. Asch, “Opini ons and Socia l Pres sure,” Scient ific

American 193, n o. 5 ( 1955), doi:io .i038/ scient ificame ricani i55 -3i ; and William N.
Morris an d Robe rt S. Miller, “The Effect s of C onsensu s -Brea king a nd Con sensus-

Preemptin g Part ners o n Reduc tion o f Conf ormity ,” Jour nal of Exper imenta l Socia l

Psycholog y 11, no. 3 (1975), doi:i o.1016 /80022 -1031(7 5)8002 3-0.

Nearly 75 perce nt of subject s made the i ncorre ct choi ce at least once. However ,

consideri ng the total number of re sponse s thro ughout the ex perime nt, ab out two third s

were corr ect. E ither way, th e poin t stan ds: gr oup pre ssure can si gnific antly a lter o ur

ability t o make accur ate dec isions .

a chimpan zee le arns a n effec tive w av : L ydia V . Luncz , Giul ia Sir ianni, Roger Mundry ,

and Chris tophe Boesch . “Cost ly cul ture: differ ences i n nut - cracki ng eff iciency betwe en

wild chim panzee group s.” Ani mal Be haviou r 137 (2018): 63 -73 .

CHAPTER 1 0

I wouldn’ t sav. “Beca use I n eed fo od to surviv e” : I heard a simi lar ex ample f rom th e

Twitter a ccount , simp olism ( @simpo lism), “Let’ s exten d this metap hor. I f socie ty is a

human bod y, the n the state i s the brain. Human s are u naware of th eir mo tives. If ask ed

‘why do y ou eat ?’ you might say ‘b e food taste s good’ and n ot ‘be I nee d food to sur vive.’
What migh t a st ate’s food be ? (hin t: are pills food?) ,” Twi tter, May 7, 2018,

https://t witter .com/s impolis m/stat us/QQ2 622142 7008266 24 .

when emot ions a nd fee lings a re imp aired : Anto ine Bec hara e t al., “Inse nsitivi ty to

Future Co nseque nces f ollowin g Dama ge to Human Prefron tal Co rtex,” Cogni tion 50 ,

no. 1-3 ( 1994), doi:i o.1016/ 0010-0 277(94 )90018 -3.

As the ne urosci entist Antoni o Dama sio ; “When Emotion s Make Bette r Deci sions —

Antonio D amasio ,” Aug ust 11, 2009. https : //ww w.voutu be.com /watch ?

v=iwup K2 WN0I

You don’t “have ” to. You “ge t” to ; I am indeb ted to my col lege s trengt h and c onditi oning

coach, Ma rk Wat ts, wh o origi nally shared this simple mind -s et shi ft wit h me.

“ I’m not confi ned to mv whe elchai r” : R edhead Banshee , “Wha t Is S omethi ng Some one

Said That Forev er Cha nged Yo ur Way of Th inking ,” Redd it, Oc tober 22, 20 14,

https://w ww.red dit.eo m/r/Ask Reddit /comme nts/2i znoi/wh at is someth ing so meone

“It’s tim e to b uild e nduranc e and get fa st” : WingedA dventu rer, “ Instea d of Th inking ‘Go

Run in th e Morn ing,’ Think ‘ Go Bui ld End urance and Ge t Fast .’ Mak e Your Habit a

Benefit, Not a Task,” Reddit , Janu ary 19 , 2017 ,

https://w ww.red dit.co m/r/sel fimpro vement /comme nts/fio vrqf/i nstead of th inking g(

st=izmzQp ks&sh= 02Q2i2 db .

“I’m gett ing an adren aline r ush to help me con centrat e” : A lison Wood B rooks, “Get

Excited: Reappr aising Pre-Pe rforma nce An xiety as Exci tement with Minima l Cues, ”

PsycEXTRA Datas et, Ju ne 2014 , doi: io.103 7/6578 192014- 321; C arolin e Webb , How t o

Have a Go od Day (Lond on: Pan Books , 2017 ), 238 . “Wend y Berr y Mend es and Jeremy

Jamieson have c onduct ed a nu mber o f stud ies [t hat] sh ow tha t peop le per form be tter

when they decid e to i nterpre t thei r fast heart beat an d brea thing as ‘a resourc e that aids

performan ce.’”
Ed Latimo re, a boxer and wri ter : Ed Lat imore (@EdLat imore) , “Od d reali zation: My

focus and conce ntrati on goes up ju st by puttin g my he adphon es [on ] whil e writi ng. I

don’t eve n have to pl ay any music, ” Twit ter, M ay 7, 2 018,

https://t witter .com/E dLatimo re/sta tus/QQ 24Q64Q 2i7i662 84Q .

CHAPTER 1 1

In the en d, the y had little to sho w for their efforts : Thi s stor y come s from page 2 9 of

Art & Fea r by D avid B ayles a nd Ted Orlan d. In an emai l conv ersati on wit h Orlan d on

October 1 8, 201 6, he explain ed the origi ns of the sto ry. “Y es, th e ‘cer amics s tory’ in ‘Ar t

& Fear’ i s inde ed tru e, allo wing f or som e lite rary li cense in the retel ling. I ts rea l -worl d

origin wa s as a gambi t emplo yed by photo graphe r Jerry Uelsm ann to motiv ate his

Beginning Photo graphy studen ts at the Un iversi ty of F lorida . As r etold i n ‘Art & Fea r’ it

faithfull y capt ures t he scen e as J erry t old it to me — except I rep laced photogr aphy w ith

ceramics as the mediu m being explo red. A dmitte dly, it would ’ve be en eas ier to retain
photograp hy as the ar t mediu m bein g disc ussed, but Da vid Ba yle s ( co-aut hor) & I are

both phot ograph ers ou rselves , and at the time we were consc iously tryin g to br oaden

the range of me dia be ing ref erence d in t he tex t. The intrig uing t hing t o me is that it

hardly ma tters what a rt form was i nvoked —the m oral of the s tory a ppears to hol d

equally t rue st raight across the w hole a rt spe ctrum ( and ev en out side t he arts , for that

matter).” Later in th at same email , Orla nd sai d, “You have our pe rmissi on to r eprint any

or all of the ‘ cerami cs’ pas sage i n your forth coming bo ok.” In th e end, I sett led on

publishin g an a dapted versio n, whi ch com bines their t elling of th e cera mics st ory wi th

facts fro m the origin al sour ce of Uelsma nn’s p hotogra phy st udents . Davi d Bayle s and

Ted Orlan d, Art & Fea r: Obse rvatio ns on the Pe rils (a nd Rew ards) of Art making

(Santa Cr uz, CA : Imag e Conti nuum P ress, 1993), 29.

As Voltai re onc e wrot e ; Vol taire, La Be gueule . Conte Moral (1772 ).

long-term poten tiatio n : Lon g-term poten tiatio n was d iscove red by Teije Lomo i n 1966 .

More prec isely, he di scovere d that when a seri es of s ignals was r epeate dly tra nsmitt ed

by the br ain, t here w as a pe rsiste nt eff ect th at last ed aft erward that made it easie r for

those sig nals t o be t ransmit ted in the f uture.

“Neurons that f ire to gether wire t ogethe r” ; D onald O . Hebb , The Organi zation of

Behavior: A Neu ropsyc hologic al The ory (N ew Yor k: Wile y, 194 9).

In musici ans, t he cer ebellum : S. Hutchi nson, “Cerebe llar V olume of Mus icians, ” Cere bral

Cortex 13 , no. 9 (200 3), doi :io.i0 93/cer cor/i3 .9.943.

Mathemati cians, meanw hile, h ave in crease d gray matter : A. Verma, “Incr eased G ray

Matter De nsity in the Pariet al Cor tex of Mathe maticia ns: A Voxel - Based Morphom etry

Study,” Y earboo k of N eurolog y and Neuros urgery 2008 ( 2008), doi:i o.ioi6 /so5i3 -

5117(08)7 9083-5 .

When scie ntists analy zed the brain s of t axi dr ivers i n Lond on ; E leanor A. Mag uire e t

al., “Nav igatio n-Rela ted Str uctura l Chan ge in the Hip pocamp i of T axi Dr ivers,”

Proceedin gs of the Na tional Academ y of S cience s 97, n o. 8 ( 2000),

doi:io.i0 73/pna s.0700 39597; Kather ine Wo ollett and El eanor A. Mag uire, “Acquir ing
‘the Know ledge’ of Lo ndon’s Layout Drive s Stru ctural Brain Change s,” Cu rrent B iology

21, no. 2 4 (Dec ember 2011), doi:io .ioi6/ j.cub. 20ii.n. oi8; E leanor A. Ma guire,

Katherine Wooll ett, a nd Hugo J. Sp iers, “Londo n Taxi Driver s and Bus Dr ivers: A

Structura l MRI and Ne uropsyc hologi cal An alysis ,” Hipp ocampu s 16, no. 12 (2006) ,

doi:io.io o2/hip o.2023 3.

“the acti ons be come s o autom atic” ; Geor ge Hen ry Lewe s, The Physi ology of Comm on

Life (Lei pzig: Tauchn itz, i8 60).

repetitio n is a form of chan ge : A pparen tly, B rian En o says the s ame th ing in his ex cellen t

creativel y insp iring Oblique Strat egies card s et, whi ch I d idn’t know w hen I w rote t his

line! Gre at min ds and all th at.

Automatic itv is the a bility to per form a behav ior : P hillip pa Lal ly et al., “H ow Are

Habits Fo rmed: Modell ing Hab it For mation in th e Real World, ” Euro pean J ournal of

Social Ps ycholo gy 40, no. 6 (2009) , doi: io.ioo 2/ejsp. 674.

habits fo rm bas ed on frequen cy, no t time : Her mann Eb bingha us was the f irst pe rson t o

describe learni ng cur ves in his 18 85 boo k Uber das Ge dachtn is. He rmann Ebbingh aus,

Memory: A Contr ibutio n to Ex perime ntal P sychol ogy (Un ited S tates: Schol ar Sele ct,
2016).

CHAPTER 1 2

this diff erence in sh ape pla ved a signif icant role in the s pread of agr icultur e ;

Jared Dia mond, Guns, Germs, and St eel: T he Fat es of H uman S ocieti es (Ne w York:

Norton, 1 997).

It is hum an nat ure to follow the L aw of Least Effort : Deep ak Cho pra us es the phrase

“law of l east e ffort” to des cribe one of his S even Sp iritua l Laws of Yo ga. Thi s conc ept is

not relat ed to the pr inciple I am discus sing h ere.

a garden hose t hat is bent i n the middle : Thi s analo gy is a modi fied v ersion of an idea

Josh Wait zkin m ention ed in h is int erview with Tim Fer riss. “The T im Fer riss Sh ow,

Episode 2 : Josh Waitz kin,” M ay 2, 2014, audio, https: //sou ndclou d.com/ tim -

ferriss/t he-tim -ferri ss-show -episo de-2-i osh-wa itzkin .

“it took Americ an wor kers th ree ti mes as long to asse mble t heir s ets” : James

Surowieck i, “Be tter A ll the Time,” New Y orker, Novemb er 10, 2014,

https://w ww.new vorker .com/ma gazine /2014/ 11/10/ better - time .

addition by sub tracti on : Ad dition by su btract ion is an exa mple o f a la rger pr incipl e

known as invers ion, w hich I have w ritten about previo usly a t

https: / /i ame sclear . com / invers ion . Fm ind ebted t o Shan e Parr ish fo r primi ng my

thoughts on thi s topi c by wr iting about why “a voiding stupi dity i s easi er than seeki ng

brillianc e.” Sh ane Pa rrish, “Avoid ing St upidit y Is Ea sier T han Se eking Brillia nce,”

Farnam St reet, June 2 014, ht tps:// www.fs .blog/ 2014/06 /avoid ing -st upidit v .

those per centag e poin ts repr esent millio ns in tax rev enue : Owain Servi ce et a l.,

“East: Fo ur Sim ple Wa ys to A pply B ehavio ural I nsights ,” Beh aviour al Ins ights T eam,

2015, htt p://28 r80m2x ihhl2sm w244Q2 dir.wp engine .netdna -cdn.c om/wp-
conLcnt/u ploads / 20 l s/ 07 / BIT-Pu blicaL ion-EA ST FA W EB.pdf .

Nuckols d ialed in his cleani ng hab its : Oswald Nuckol s is a n alia s, use d by re quest.

“perfect time t o clea n the t oilet” : Sau l_Panz er_NY, “[Ques tion] What O ne Habi t Lite rally

Changed Y our Li fe?” R eddit, June 5 , 2017 , http s: //ww w.redd it.com /r/get

disciplin ed/com ments/ 6fgqbv/ quest ion_wh at_one _habit_ litera lly_ch anged_ your/du e:

CHAPTER 1 3

“arsenal of rou tines” : Twyl a Thar p and Mark R eiter, The Cr eative Habit : Learn It an d Use

It for Li fe: A Practi cal Gui de (Ne w York : Simo n and S chuste r, 200 6).

4.0 to .s o perc ent of our ac tions on any given day ar e done out o f habi t : Wen dy

Wood, “Ha bits A cross the Lif espan, ” 2006 ,

hUps://mv w.rese archga te.net/ public ation/ 2iSSS2 2Q4 Hab its Ac ross t he Lif espan -

habits yo u foll ow wit hout th inking : Ben jamin Gardner , “A R eview and An alysis of the

Use of‘Ha bit’ i n Unde rstandi ng, Pr edicti ng and Influe ncing Health -Relat ed Beha viour, ”

Health Ps ycholo gy Rev iew 9, no. 3 (2014) , doi: io.1080 /17437 199.20 13.876 238.

decisive moment s ; Sh outout to Hen ri Car tier-B resson, one o f the greate st stre et

photograp hers o f all time, w ho coi ned th e term decisi ve mom ent, b ut for an ent irely

different purpo se: ca pturing amazi ng ima ges at just t he rig ht tim e.

the Two-M inute Rule ; Hat ti p to D avid A llen, whose v ersion of th e Two - Minute Rule s tates,

“If it ta kes le ss tha n two m inutes , then do it now.” For mo re, se e Davi d Allen , Gett ing

Things Do ne (Ne w York : Pengu in, 20 15).

power-dow n habi t : Au thor Ca l Newp ort us es a s hutdown ritua l in w hich h e does a last

email inb ox che ck, pr epares his to -do li st for the ne xt day , and says “ shutdow n

complete” to en d work for th e day. For m ore, s ee Cal Newpor t, Dee p Work (Bosto n:

Little, B rown, 2016).

He always stopp ed jou rnaling befor e it s eemed like a hassle : Gre g McKe own,

Essential ism: T he Dis cipline d Purs uit of Less (New Yo rk: Cr own, 2 014), 78 .
habit sha ping : Gail B. Pete rson, “A Day of Gr eat Ill uminat ion: B . F. S kinner’ s Disc overy o

Shaping,” Journ al of the Exp erimen tal An alysis of Beh avior 82, no . 3 (2 004),

doi:io.i9 0i/jea b.2004 .82-3i7 .

CHAPTER 1 4

he remain ed in his st udy and wrote furio usly ; Adele Hugo a nd Cha rles E . Wilbo ur,

Victor Hu go, by a Wit ness of His L ife (N ew Yor k: Carl eton, 1864).

A commitm ent de vice i s a cho ice vo u make in th e prese nt ; G harad Bryan, Dean

Karlan, a nd Sco tt Nel son, “C ommitm ent De vices, ” Annua l Revi ew of Econom ics 2, no. 1

(2010), d oi:io. ii46/a nnurev. econom ics.i0 23o8.1 24324.

outlet ti mer cu ts off the po wer to the r outer ; “Nir Eyal: Addict ive Te ch, Kil ling B ad

Habits & Apps f or Lif e Hacki ng—#26 0,” in tervie w by Da ve Asp rey, B ulletp roof,

November 13, 20 15, ht tps://b log.bu lletpr oof.co m/nir -e val-li fe-hac king-2 60/ .

This is a lso re ferred to as a “Ulv sses p act” ; Peter Ubel, “The U lysses Strate gy,” T he New

Yorker, D ecembe r 11, 2014, h ttps:/ /www.n ewvork er.com/ busine ss /cur rencv/ ulvsses -

strategv- self-c ontrol .

Patterson ’s bus iness went fr om los ing mo ney to making $5.00 0 in p rofit : “John H.

Patterson —Ringi ng Up Success with the In corrup tible C ashier ,” Day ton In novatio n

Legacy, h ttp: / /www.d avtonin novati onlega cv.org /patter son.ht ml . a ccesse d June 8,

2016.

onetime a ctions that lead to bette r long -term habits : Jame s Clea r (@ja mes_cle ar),

“What are one-t ime ac tions t hat pa y off again and aga in in the fu ture?” Twitte r,

February 11, 20 18, ht tps: // twitte r.com/ iames clear/s tatus/ Q 626 Q 4722 7027 Q 06 [: ;Q
“Civiliza tion a dvance s bv ex tendin g the number of ope ration s” ; A lfred North

Whitehead , Intr oducti on to M athema tics ( Cambri dge, UK : Camb ridge Univer sity Pr ess,

1911), 16 6.

The avera ge per son sp ends ov er two hours per d ay on s ocial media ; “GWI Social ,”

GlobalWeb lndex, 2017, Q3,

https://c dn 2 . hubspo t.net/h ubfs/. 204 Q 27 /D ownload s/GWI% 2 oSo cial% 2 oSumm arv% 2 Q i

CHAPTER 1 5

over nine milli on peo ple cal led it home : “Pop ulation Size and Gr owth o f Major Citie s,

1998 Cens us,” P opulat ion Cen sus Or ganiza tion,

http://ww w.pbs. gov.pk /sites/ defaul t/file s//tab les/POP ULATIO N%2oSI ZE%2oA ND%2

Over 60 p ercent of Ka rachi’s resid ents : Sabia h Askar i, Stu dies o n Kara chi: Pa pers

Presented at th e Kara chi Con ferenc e 2013 (Newc astle u pon Ty ne, UK : Camb ridge

Scholars, 2015) .

It was th is pub lic he alth cr isis t hat ha d brou ght Ste phen L ubv to Pakis tan : A tul

Gawande, The Ch ecklis t Manif esto: How to Get T hings R ight ( Gurgao n, Ind ia: Pen guin

Random Ho use, 2 014).

“In Pakis tan. S afegua rd was a prem ium so ap” : All quo tes in this sectio n are f rom an

email con versat ion wi th Step hen Lu by on May 28 , 2018.

The rate of dia rrhea fell bv 52 pe rcent : Step hen P. Luby e t al., “Effe ct of H andwas hing

on Child Health : A Ra ndomise d Cont rolled Trial ,” Lanc et 366 , no. 9481 ( 2005),
doi:io. 1 016/80 140-67 36(05)6 6912-7 .

“Over o~ percen t of h ousehol ds” ; Anna B owen, Mubina Agboat walla, Tracy Ayers,

Timothy T obery, Maria Tariq, and S tephen P. Lu by. “Su staine d impr ovemen ts in

handwashi ng ind icator s more than 5 years after a clus ter -ra ndomis ed, co mmunity -

based tri al of handwa shing p romoti on in Karach i, Paki stan,” Tropi cal Me dicine &

Internati onal H ealth 18, no. 3 (20 13): 2 59-267 .

https://w ww.ncb i.nlm. nih.gov /pmc/a rticle s/PMC4 626884/

Chewing g um had been sold co mmerci ally t hrough out the 1800s ; Mar y Beil is, “Ho w

We Have B ubble Gum To day,” T hought Co, Oc tober 16, 201 7,

https://w ww.tho ughtco .com/hi storv- of-bub ble-an d-chewi ng-gum -iQQi8 s6 .
Wriglev r evolut ionize d the i ndustr y : Je nnifer P. Mat hews, Chicle : The Chewing Gum o f

the Ameri cas, f rom th e Ancie nt May a to W illiam Wrigle y (Tuc son: U nivers ity of

Arizona P ress, 2009), 44-46.

Wriglev b ecame the la rgest c hewing gum c ompany : “Wil liam W rigley , Jr., ”

Encyclopa edia B ritann ica, ht tps:// www.br itanni ca.com/ biogra phv/Wi lliam - Wriglev -Jr .

accessed June 8 , 2018 .

Toothpast e had a simi lar tra jector y ; Ch arles Duhigg, The P ower o f Habi t: Why We Do

What We D o in L ife an d Busin ess (N ew Yor k: Ran dom Hou se, 20 14), c hap. 2 .

he starte d avoi ding h er : Sp arkly_ alpaca , “Wha t Are t he Coo lest P sychol ogy Tri cks Th at

You Know or Hav e Used ?” Redd it, No vember 11, 2 016,

https://w ww.red dit.eo m/r/Ask Reddit /comme nts/sc gqbi/wh at are the c oolest psvchi

The earli est re mains of mode rn hum ans ; Ian Mc dougall , Fran cis H. Brown , and J ohn G.

Fleagle, “Strat igraph ic Plac ement and Ag e of M odern H umans from K ibish, Ethiop ia,”

Nature 43 3, no. 7027 (2005), doi:i o.i038 /natur eo3258.

the neoco rtex . .. was roughl y the same : Some researc h indi cates that t he size of th e

human bra in rea ched m odern p roport ions a round three h undred thous and ye ars ago .

Evolution never stops , of co urse, and th e shap e of th e stru cture appear s to ha ve

continued to ev olve i n meani ngful ways u ntil i t reach ed bot h mode rn siz e and s hape

sometime betwee n one hundred thous and an d thir ty -five thous and ye ars ag o. Simo n

Neubauer, Jean- Jacque s Hubli n, and Phili pp Gun z, “The Evolu tion o f Mode rn Huma n

Brain Sha pe,” S cience Advanc es 4, no. 1 (2018) : eaao5 96i.

society h as shi fted t o a pre domina ntly d elaved -return envir onment : The origin al

research on thi s topi c used the te rms de layed- return societ ies an d imme diate -r eturn

societies . Jame s Wood burn, “ Egalit arian Societ ies,” M an 17, no. 3 (1982 ),

doi:io.23 07/280 1707.1 first heard of the diffe rence b etween immed iate -r eturn

environme nts an d dela yed-ret urn en vironm ents i n a lec ture f rom Ma rk Lea ry. Mar k
Leary, Un dersta nding the Mys teries of Hu man Be havior (Chant illy, VA: Te aching,

2012).

The world has c hanged much i n rece nt yea rs ; T he rapi d envi ronmen tal ch anges o f

recent ce nturie s have far ou tpaced our b iologi cal abi lity t o adap t. On average , it t akes

about twe nty-fi ve tho usand y ears f or mea ningfu l genet ic cha nges t o be s elected for i n a

human pop ulatio n. For more, see Ed ward O . Wils on, Soc iobiol ogy (C ambrid ge, MA :

Belknap P ress, 1980), 151.

our brain s evol ved to prefer quick payof fs to long -te rm one s : Da niel G ilbert,

“Humans W ired t o Resp ond to Short- Term P roblem s,” int erview by Ne al Con an, Tal k of

the Natio n, NPR , July 3, 200 6, htt ps: // www.n pr.org/ templa tes/st orv/st ory.php ?

storvId=5 E;.204 8.2 .

Disease a nd inf ection won’t show u p for davs o r weeks , even years : The topics of
irrationa l beha vior a nd cogn itive biases have become quite popula r in r ecent y ears.

However, many a ctions that s eem ir ration al on the who le hav e rati onal o rigins if you

consider their immedi ate out come.

Frederic Bastia t : Fr ederic Bastia t and W. B. Hod gson , What Is Se en and What I s Not Seen:

Or Politi cal Ec onomy in One Lesson (Lond on: Sm ith, 18 59).

Future Yo u ; Ha t tip to beha vioral econo mist D aniel G oldste in, wh o said , “It’s an un equal

battle be tween the pr esent s elf an d the future self. I mean , l et’ s face it, th e pres ent se l

f is

present. It’s i n cont rol. It ’s in power right now. It has t hese s trong, heroic arms that c a

lift doug hnuts into y our mou th. An d the future self i s not even a round. It’s o ff in the

future. I t’s we ak. It doesn’ t even have a lawy er pres ent. T here’s nobod y to st ick up for

the futur e self . And so the presen t self can t rounce all ov er its dream s.” For more, see

Daniel Go ldstei n, “Th e Battl e betw een Yo ur Pre sent an d Futu re Sel f,” TE DSalon

NY2011, N ovembe r 2011 , video ,

https://w ww.ted .com/t alks/da niel g oldste in the battle betwe en vou r pres ent and

People wh o are better at del aying gratif icatio n have higher SAT s cores ; Walte r

Mischel, Ebbe B . Ebbe sen, an d Anto nette Raskof f Zeiss , “Cog ni tive and A ttentio nal

Mechanism s in D elay o f Grati ficati on,” J ournal of Per sonali ty and Socia l Psych ology

21, no. 2 (1972 ), doi :io.i03 7/hoo3 2i98; W. Mis chel, Y . Shod a, and M. Ro driguez ,

“Delay of Grati ficati on in C hildre n,” Sc ience 244, no . 4907 (1989 ),

doi:io.H2 6/scie nce.26 58o56; Walter Misch el, Yu ichi Sh oda, a nd Phi lip K. Peake, “The

Nature of Adole scent Compete ncies Predic ted by Presch ool De lay of Grati ficatio n,”

Journal o f Pers onalit y and S ocial Psycho logy 5 4, no. 4 (198 8), do i:io.i 037//oo 22 -

3514.54.4 .687; Yuichi Shoda, Walte r Misc hel, a nd Phil ip K. Peake, “Pred icting

Adolescen t Cogn itive and Sel f-Regu latory Compe tencies from Presch ool De lay of

Gratifica tion: Identi fying D iagnos tic Co nditio ns,” De velopm ental Psycho logy 26 , no. 6

(1990), d oi:io. 1037/ /0012-1 649.26 .6.978 .

CHAPTER 1 6

“I would start with 1 20 pape r clip s in o ne iar ” : Tre nt Dyr smid, email to auth or, Ap ril 1,

2015.

Beniamin Frankl in : B enjamin Frank lin an d Fran k Woodw orth P ine, A utobio graphy of

Benjamin Frankl in (Ne w York: Holt, 1916) , 148.

Don’t bre ak the chain of cre ating every day : Shout -o ut to my fri end Na than Ba rry, w ho

originall y insp ired m e with the ma ntra, “Creat e Every Day.”

people wh o trac k thei r progr ess on goals like losing weight ; Ben jamin Harkin et al. ,

“Does Mon itorin g Goal Progre ss Pro mote G oal At tainmen t? A M eta -an alysis of the

Experimen tal Ev idence ,” Psyc hologi cal Bu lletin 142, n o. 2 ( 2016),

doi:io.i0 37/bul ooooo2 5.

those who kept a dail y food log lo st twi ce as much we ight a s thos e who did not :

Miranda H itti, “Keepi ng Food Diary Helps Lose Weight, ” WebM D, Jul y 8, 2 008,

http://ww w.webm d.com/ diet/ne ws/200 80708/ keepin g-f00d- diarv- helps- l0se-w eight :

Kaiser Pe rmanen te, “K eeping a Food Diary Doubl es Diet Weigh t Loss , Stud y Sugge sts,”

Science D aily, July 8 , 2008,

https://w ww.sci enceda ilv.com /relea ses/20 08/07/ 0807080 807.28 .htm : Jack F. Holl is

et al., “ Weight Loss during the In tensiv e Inte rventio n Phas e of t he Wei ght -Los s

Maintenan ce Tri al,” A merican Journ al of Preven tive Me dicine 35, n o. 2 ( 2008),

doi:io.io i6/j.a mepre. 20o8.04 .oi3; Lora E . Burk e, Jing Wang, and M ary An n Sevic k,

“Self-Mon itorin g in W eight L oss: A Syste matic Review of the Liter ature, ” Journ al of the

American Dietet ic Ass ociatio n 111, no. 1 (2011 ), doi: io.ioi 6/j.ja da.20i o.io.oo 8.
The most effect ive fo rm of m otivat ion is progr ess ; T his li ne is paraph rased f rom Gr eg

McKeown, who wr ote, “ Researc h has shown that o f all f orms o f huma n moti v ation the

most effe ctive one is progre ss.” G reg Mc Keown, Essent ialism : The Discip lined P ursuit

of Less ( Curren cy, 20 14).

The first mista ke is never t he one that ruins vou : I n fact , rese arch h as show n that

missing a habit once has vir tually no im pact o n the o dds of devel oping a habit over the

long-term , rega rdless of whe n the mistak e occu rs. As long a s you get ba ck on t rack,

you’re fi ne. Se e: Phi llippa Lally et al. , “How Are Ha bits F ormed: Model ling Ha bit

Formation in th e Real World, ” Euro pean J ournal of Soc ial Ps ycholo gy 40, no. 6

(2009), d oi:io. ioo2/e jsp.674 .

Missing o nce is an ac cident : “Mis sing o nce is an acc ident. Missi ng twi ce is t he sta rt of a

new habit .” I s wear I read t his li ne som ewhere or p er haps p araphr ased i t from

something simil ar, bu t despi te my best e fforts all of my se arches for a source are c oming

up empty. Maybe I cam e up wi th it, but m y best guess is it belong s to a n unide ntifie d

genius in stead.

“When a m easure becom es a ta rget” ; This defin ition o f Good hart’s Law w as actu ally

formulate d by t he Bri tish an thropo logist Maril yn Stra thern. ‘“Imp roving Rating s’: Au dit

in the Br itish Univer sity Sy stem,” Europ ean Re view 5 (1997) : 305 - 321,
https://w ww.cam bridge .org/co re/iou rnals/ europe an-revi ew/art icle/i mprovi ng-rati ngs-

audit-in- the-br itish- univers itv-sv stem/F C2EE64 oCoC44E 2DB87C 2QFB66 6EQAAB .

Goodhart himsel f repo rtedly advanc ed the idea sometim e arou nd 197 5 and put it

formally into w riting in 198 1. Cha rles G oodhar t, “Pro blems of Mon etary Managem ent:

The U.K. Experi ence,” in Ant hony S . Cour akis ( ed.), I nflati on, De pressi on, and

Economic Policy in th e West (Londo n: Row man an d Littl efield , 1981 ), 111 -146.

CHAPTER 1 7

“When I s uggest ed thi s to fr iends in the Penta gon” ; Roger Fisher , “Pre venting Nucle ar

War,” Bul letin of the Atomic Scien tists 37, no . 3 (19 81),

doi:io.10 80/009 63402. 1981.11 458828 .

The first seat belt l aw ; Mi chael Goryl and Mi chael C ynecki , “Res traint System Usage in th e

Traffic P opulat ion,” Journal of Sa fety R esearc h 17, n o. 2 ( 1986), doi:i o. 1016 /0022 -

4375 ( 86 ) 901 07 - 6 .

wearing a seat belt i s enfor ceable by la w : Ne w Hamps hire i s the lone e xceptio n, whe re

seat belt s are only r equired for c hildre n. “Ne w Hamps hire,” Gover nors H ighway Safety

Associati on, ht tps:// www.ghs a.org/ state- laws/s tates/n ew%20h ampshi re . a ccessed

June 8, 2 016.

over 88 p ercent of Am ericans buckl ed up : “Sea t Belt Use in U.S. Reache s Histo ric 90

Percent,” Natio nal Hi ghway T raffic Safet y Admi nistrat ion, N ovembe r 21, 2016,

https://w ww.nht sa.gov /press- releas es/sea t-belt -use-us -reach es-his toric- QQ-perc ent .

Bryan Har ris : Bryan Harris, email conve rsatio n with author , Octo ber 24 , 2017.

She does the “s ong a day” ch alleng e : Co urtney Shea, “Comed ian Ma rgaret Cho’s Tips f or

Success: If You ’re Fu nny, Do n’t Do Comed y,” Gl obe and Mail, July 1, 201 3,

https://w ww.the globea ndmail. com/li fe/com edian- margare t-chos -tips- for-su ccess-i f-
voure-fun nv-don t-do-c omedv/a rticle i 2 Q 02 . 2 04 /?se rvice= mobile .

Thomas Fr ank, a n entr epreneu r in B oulder . Colo rado ; Thomas Frank , “How Buffer

Forces Me to Wa ke Up at 5:55 AM Ev ery Da y,” Co llege I nfo Ge ek, Ju ly 2, 2014,

https://c ollege infoge ek.com/ earlv- waking -with- buffer/ .

CHAPTER 1 8

Phelps ha s won more O lympic medals : “Mi chael Phelps Biogra phy,” Biogra phy,

https://w ww.bio graphv .com/pe ople/m ichael -phelp s-24 [ UQ2 . last m odifie d March 29 ,

2018 .

El Guerro uj : D oug Gi llan, “ El Gue rrouj: The G reatest of Al l Time ,” IAF F, Nove mber 1 5,
2004, htt ps://w ww.iaa f.org/n ews/ne ws/el- guerro uj-the- greate st-of- all-ti me .

they diff er sig nifica ntly in heigh t : He ights and wei ghts f or Mic hael P helps a nd Hic ham El

Guerrouj were p ulled from th eir at hlete profil es duri ng the 2008 Summer Olympi cs.

“Michael Phelps ,” ESP N, 2008 ,

http://ww w.espn .com/o lvmpics /summe ro8/fa nguide /athlet e?athl ete=2Q S47l :

“Hicham E l Guer rouj,” ESPN, 2008,

http://ww w.espn .com/o lv/summ ero8/f an gui de/ath lete?at hlete= 2Q886 .

same leng th ins eam on their pants : Davi d Epst ein, Th e Spor ts Gen e: Ins ide the Scien ce

of Extrao rdinar y Athl etic Pe rforma nce (S t. Lou is, MO: Turtl eback Books, 2014).

average h eight of Oly mpic go ld med alists in th e men’s 1.500 -meter run : Alex

Hutchinso n, “Th e Incr edible Shrink ing Ma rathon er,” Ru nner’s World , Nove mber 12 ,

2013, htt ps://w ww.run nerswor ld.com /sweat -scien ce/the- incred ible-s hrinki ng-

marathone r .

average h eight of Oly mpic go ld med alists in th e men’s 100 -m eter : Alvin Chang,

“Want to Win Ol ympic Gold? H ere’s How Ta ll You Should Be fo r Arch ery, S wimming ,

and More, ” Vox, Augus t 9, 20 16, hU p: //w ww.vox .com/2Q i6/8 / q/ 122 87684/ olympic -

heights .

“Genes ca n pred ispose , but t hey do n’t pr edeter mine” ; Gabor Mate, “Dr. Gabor M ate -

New Parad igms, Ayahua sca, an d Rede fining Addic tion,” The Ti m Ferr iss Sh ow,

February 20, 20 18, ht tps://t im.bl0 g/2018 /02/20 /gab0r - mate/ .

Genes hav e been shown to inf luence every thing ; “All traits are h eritab le” is a bit of an

exaggerat ion, b ut not by muc h. Con crete behavi oral tr aits t hat pa tently depend on

content p rovide d by t he home or cu lture are, o f cours e, not herit able a t all; whic h
language you sp eak, w hich re ligion you w orship in, wh ich po litica l part y you b elong to.

But behav ioral traits that r eflect the u nderly ing tal ents a nd tem perame nts are herit able:

how profi cient with l anguage you a re, ho w reli gious, how li beral or con se rvati ve.

General i ntelli gence is heri table, and s o are the fiv e majo r ways in wh ich per sonali ty can

vary... o pennes s to e xperien ce, co nscien tiousn ess, ex trover sion -i ntrove rsion,

antagonis m-agre eablen ess, an d neur oticis m. And traits that are su rprisi ngl y sp ecific

turn out to be herita ble, to o, suc h as d epende nce on nicoti ne or alcoho l, numb er of

hours of televi sion w atched, and l ikelih ood of divorc ing. T homas J. Bou chard, “Genet ic

Influence on Hu man Ps ycholog ical T raits, ” Curr ent Dir ection s in P sychol ogical Scienc e

13, no. 4 (2004 ), doi :io.mi/ j.c>96 3-72i4 .2004. oo295.x ; Robe rt Plo min, N ature a nd

Nurture: An Int roduct ion to Human Behavi oral G enetics (Stam ford, CT: Wa dsworth ,

1996); Ro bert P lomin, “Why W e’re D iffere nt,” E dge, Ju ne 29, 2016,

https://s oundcl oud.co m/edgef oundat ioninc /edge2 016 -rob ert-pl omin .

There’s a stron g gene tic com ponent : Dan iel Go leman, “Major Perso nality Study Finds

That Trai ts Are Mostl y Inher ited,” New Y ork Ti mes, De cember 2,198 6,

http://ww w.nvti mes.co m/iQ86/ 12/02/ scienc e/maio r-perso nalitv -studv -finds -that-

traits-ar e-most lv-inh erited. html?p agewan ted=al l .

Robert Pl omin : Rober t Plomi n, pho ne cal l with the au thor, August 9, 20 16.

more like ly to become introv erts : Jerom e Kaga n et al ., “Re activi ty in Infants : A Cr oss -

National Compar ison,” Develo pmenta l Psyc hology 30, no . 3 (1 994),

doi:io.i0 37//oo i2-i64 9.30.3. 342; M ichael V. El lis and Erica S. Ro bbins, “In

Celebrati on of Nature : A Dia logue with J erome Kagan,” Journ al of Counse ling an d
Developme nt 68, no. 6 (1990) , doi: io.ioo 2/j. 1 556 -667 6.i990 .tboi4 26.x; Brian R .

Little, M e, Mys elf, a nd Us: The Sc ience of Per sonalit y and the Ar t of W ell -Bei ng (Ne w

York: Pub lic Af fairs, 2016); Susan Cain, Quiet : The P ower o f Intr overts in a W orld T hat

Can’t Sto p Talk ing (L ondon: Pengui n, 201 3), 99 -100.

People wh o are high i n agree ablene ss ; W . G. G raziano and R . M. T obin, “The Co gnitiv e

and Motiv ationa l Foun dations Under lying Agreea bleness ,” in M. D. Robins on, E.

Watkins, and E. Harmo n-Jones , eds. , Hand book o f Cogni tion a nd Emo tion ( New Yor k:

Guilford, 2013) , 347- 364.

They also tend to hav e highe r natu ral ox ytocin levels : Mit suhiro Matsu zaki et al.,

“Oxytocin : A Th erapeu tic Tar get fo r Ment al Dis orders, ” Jour nal of Physi ologica l

Sciences 62, no . 6 (2 012), d oi:io. ioo7/s i2576- oi2-023 2-9; A ngelik i Theo doridou et

al., “Oxy tocin and So cial Pe rcepti on: Ox ytocin Increa ses Pe rceive d Faci al

Trustwort hiness and A ttracti veness ,” Hor mones and Beh avior 56, no . 1 (2 009),
doi:io.io i6/j.y hbeh.2 009.03. 019; A nthony Lane et al., “Oxyt ocin I ncreas es Will ingnes s

to Social ly Sha re One ’s Emot ions,” Inter nation al Jour nal of Psych ology 48, no. 4

(2013), d oi:io. 1080/0 0207594 .2012. 677540 ; Chri stopher Cardo so et al., “ Stress -

Induced N egativ e Mood Modera tes th e Rela tion b etween Oxytoc in Adm inistr ation a nd

Trust: Ev idence for t he Tend -and-B efrien d Resp onse to Stres s?”

Psychoneu roendo crinol ogy 38, no. 1 1 (201 3), do i:io.io i6/j.p syneue n.2013 .05.006 .

hypersens itivit y of t he amyg dala ; J. Or mel, A . Basti aansen , H. R iese, E. H. B os, M.

Servaas, M. Ell enboge n, J. G . Rosm alen, and A. Alema n , “The Biolo gical and

Psycholog ical B asis o f Neuro ticism : Curr ent St atus an d Futu re Dir ection s,”

Neuroscie nce an d Biob ehavior al Rev iews 3 7, no. 1 (201 3), do i:io.i oi6/j. neu

bi0rev.20 12.09. 004. P MID 230 68306; R. A. Depue and Y. Fu, “ Neurog enetic and

Experient ial Pr ocesse s Under lying Major Person ality T raits: Impli cation s for M odelli ng

Personali ty Dis orders ,” Inte rnatio nal Re view o f Psych iatry 23, no . 3 (2 011),

doi:io.31 09/095 40261. 2011.59 9315.

Our deepl y root ed pre ference s make certa in beh aviors easi er : “Fo r exam ple, al l

people ha ve bra in sys tems th at res pond t o rewa rds, bu t in d iffere nt ind ividual s thes e

systems w ill re spond with di fferen t degr ees of vigor to a p articu lar re ward, a nd the

systems’ averag e leve l of re sponse may b e asso ciated with s ome pe rsonal ity tra it.” F or

more, see Colin G. De young, “Perso nality Neuro science and t he Bio logy o f Trait s,”

Social an d Pers onalit y Psych ology Compas s 4, n o. 12 ( 2010), doi:i o.mi/j .i75i -

9004.2010 .00327 .x.

If vour f riend follow s a low -carb diet : Resea rch con ducted in ma jor ra ndomize d clin ical

trials sh ows no diffe rence i n low- carb v ersus low-fat diets for w eight loss. A s with many

habits, t here a re man y ways to the same destin ation i f you stick with i t. For more, see

Christoph er D. Gardne r et al ., “Ef fect o f Low- Fat vs Low-Ca rbohyd rate D iet on 12-

Month Wei ght Lo ss in Overwei ght Ad ults a nd the Associ ation with G enotyp e Patte rn or

Insulin S ecreti on,” J ournal of the Ameri can Me dical A ssocia tion 3 19, no . 7 (20 18),

doi:io.io oi/jam a.20i8 .0245.

explore/e xploit trade -off : M. A. Addico tt et al., “A Prime r on F oragin g and t he

Explore/E xploit Trade -Off fo r Psyc hiatry Resea rch,” N europs ychoph armaco logy 42 ,

no. 10 (2 017), doi:io .i038/n pp.201 7.108.

Google fa mously asks employe es : B harat Medira tta and Julie Bick, “The Google Way:

Give Engi neers Room,” New Yo rk Tim es, Oc tober 21, 200 7,

https://w ww.nvt imes.c om/2007 /10/21 /iobs/ 21pre. html .

“ Flow is the m ental state ” : Miha ly Csi kszent mihalyi , Find i ng Fl ow: Th e Psych ology of

Engagemen t with Every day Lif e (New York: Basic Books, 2008) .

“ Everyon e has at lea st a fe w area s ”: S cott A dams, “ Career Advic e,” Di lbert B log, J uly 20 ,

2007, htt p://di lbertb log.tvp epad.c om/the dilbe rt blog / 2007 / 07 /caree r -advic e.html .

CHAPTER 1 9

most succ essful comed ians ; Steve Martin , Born Standi ng Up: A Com ic’s L ife (Le iceste r,

UK: Charn wood, 2008).

“4. years as a wild s uccess” ; Ste ve Mar tin, B orn Sta nding Up: A Comic’ s Life (Leice ster,

UK: Charn wood, 2008), 1.

“just man ageabl e diff iculty” ; Nic holas Hobbs, “The P sychol ogist as Adm inistra tor,”

Journal o f Clin ical P sycholo gy 15, no. 3 (1959 ), doi: io. 10 02/109 7 -
4679(1959 07)15: 33.0x0 ; 2-4; Gilber t Brim , Ambi tion: H ow We Manage Succe ss and

Failure T hrough out Ou r Lives (Linc oln, N E: IUn iverse. com, 2 000); Mihaly

Csikszent mihaly i, Fin ding Fl ow: Th e Psyc hology of Eng agemen t with Every day Lif e

(New York : Basi c Book s, 2008 ).

In psycho logy r esearc h this is kno wn as the Ye rkes -Do dson l aw : R obert Yerkes and

John Dods on, “T he Rel ation o f Stre ngth o f Stim ulus to Rapid ity of Habit Format ion,”

Journal o f Comp arativ e Neuro logy a nd Psy cholog y 18 (1 908): 459 -48 2.

4 percent bevon d vour curren t abil ity ; Steven Kotler , The Rise o f Supe rman: D ecodin g

the Scien ce of Ultima te Huma n Perf ormanc e (Bos ton: Ne w Harv est, 2 014). In his book,

Kotler ci tes: “ Chip C onley, AI, Se ptembe r 2013 . The r eal ra tio, a ccordi ng to c alcula tions

performed by [M ihaly] Csiksz entmih alyi, is 1:9 6.”

“Men desi re nov elty t o such an ext ent” : Nicco lo Mach iavell i, Pet er Bon danella , and

Mark Musa , The Portab le Mach iavell i (Lon don: P engui n, 2005) .

variable reward : C. B. Fers ter an d B. F . Skin ner, “S chedul es of Reinfo rcement ,” 195 7,

doi:io.10 37/106 27-000 . For m ore, s ee B. F. Ski nner, “ A Case Histo ry in Scienti fic

Method,” Americ an Psy chologi st 11, no. 5 (1956 ): 226, doi:i o. 103 7/I100 47 662.

This vari ance l eads t o the g reates t spik e of d opamine : Mat ching Law sh ows tha t the

rate of t he rew ard sc hedule impact s beha vior: “Matchi ng Law ,” Wik ipedia ,

https://e n.wiki pedia. org/wik i/Matc hing l aw .

CHAPTER 2 0

there is usuall y a sl ight de cline in per forman ce : K. Ander s Eric sson a nd Robe rt Poo l,

Peak: Sec rets f rom th e New S cience of Ex pertis e (Bost on: Ma riner Books, 2017), 13.

“ The pun dits w ere sa ving” : Pat R iley a nd Byr on Laur sen, “ Tempor ary In sanity and O t her

Managemen t Tech niques : The L os Ang eles L akers’ Coach Tells All,” Los An geles T imes

Magazine, April 19,19 87, htt p://ar ticles .latim es.com/ iq87 -0 4-iQ/m agazin e/tm-

i66q 1 la kers .
a system that h e call ed the Career Best Effort progra m or C BE : M acMull an’s bo ok

claims th at Ril ey beg an his CBE pr ogram during the 19 84 -198 5 NBA season . My

research shows that t he Lake rs beg an tra cking statist ics of indiv idual players at th at

time, but the C BE pro gram as it is descr ibed h ere was first used in 198 6 -1987.

If they s ucceed ed, it would be a C BE : L arry B ird, Ea rvin J ohnson , and Jackie

MacMullan , When the G ame Was Ours (Bosto n: Hou ghton M ifflin Harco urt, 2 010).

“Sustaini ng an effort ” : Pat Riley and B yron L aursen, “Temp orary Insani ty and Other

Managemen t Tech niques : The L os Ang eles L akers’ Coach Tells All,” Los An geles T imes

Magazine, April 19,19 87, htt p://ar ticles .latim es.com/ iQ87 -0 4-iQ/m agazin e/tm-

i66q 1 la kers .

Eliud Kip choge : Cath al Denn ehy, “ The Si mple L ife of One of the W orld’s Best M aratho ners,”

Runner’s World, April 19, 20 16, ht tps: / /www.r unnersw orld.c om/eli te -run ners/th e-
simple-li fe-of- one-of -the-wo rlds-b est-ma rathon ers . “ Eliud Kip-ch oge: F ull Tra ining Log

Leading U p to M aratho n World Recor d Atte mpt,” Sweat E lite, 2017,

http://ww w.swea telite .co/eli ud-kip choge- full-t raining -log-l eading -marat hon-wor ld-

record-at tempt/ .

her coach goes over h er note s and adds h is tho ughts : Yuri Suguiy ama, “ Trainin g Kati e

Ledecky,” Ameri can Sw imming Coache s Asso ciatio n, Nove mber 3 0, 201 6,

https://s wimmin gcoach .org/tr aining -katie -ledec kv-bv-v uri-su guivam a-curl -burke-

swim-club -2012/ .

When come dian C hris R ock is prepar ing fr esh ma terial ; Pete r Sims , “Inn ovate L ike

Chris Roc k,” Ha rvard Busines s Revi ew, Ja nuary 26, 200 9,

https://h br.org /200Q/ oi/inno vate-l ike-ch ris-ro ck .

Annual Re view : I’d l ike to thank Chris Guille beau, w ho ins pired me to start m y own annual

review pr ocess by pub licly s haring his a nnual review each y ear at

https://c hrisgu illebe au.com .

“keep vou r iden tity s mall” : Paul Graham , “Kee p Your Identi ty Sma ll,” F ebruary 2009,

http://ww w.paul graham .com/id entitv .html .

CONCLUSIO N

No one ca n be r ich un less on e coin can m ake hi m or he r so ; Desid erius Erasmus and
Van Loon Hendri k Will em, The Prais e of F olly ( New Yor k: Bla ck, 19 42), 3 1. Hat tip to

Gretchen Rubin. I fir st read about this parabl e in he r book , Bett er Tha n Befor e, and

then trac ked do wn the origin story . For more, see Gre tchen Rubin, Bette r Than Before

(New York : Hodd er, 20 16).

LITTLE LE SSONS FROM T HE FOUR LAWS

“Happines s is t he spa ce betw een on e desi re” : Caed (@ caedbu dris), “Happ iness i s the

space bet ween d esire being f ulfill ed and a new desire formi ng,” T witter , Novem ber 10 ,

2017 , ht tps:// twitte r.com/c aedbud ris/st atus/Q 2Q04228 QQ20 l ! ;Q42 04 .

ha ppines s cann ot be pursued , it m ust en sue : Frankl’ s full quota tion i s as fo llows:

“Don’t ai m at s uccess . The m ore yo u aim at it and mak e it a targe t, the more y ou are

going to miss i t. For succes s, lik e happ iness, cannot be pu rsued; it mu st ensu e, and it

only does so as the u nintend ed sid e effe ct of one’s p ersona l dedi cation to a c aus e g reater

than ones elf or as th e by-pr oduct of one ’s sur render to a p erson other than on eself. ” For

more, see Vikto r E. F rankl, Man’s Search for M eaning: An In troduc tion t o

Logothera py (Bo ston: Beacon Press, 1962) .

“He who h as a w hy to live fo r can bear a lmost any how ” : Fr iedric h Niet zsche a nd

Oscar Lev y, The Twili ght of the Id ols (E dinbur gh: Fou lis, 1 909).

The feeli ng com es fir st (Sys tem 1) : Dan iel Ka hneman, Think ing, F ast an d Slow (New

York: Far rar, S traus and Gir oux, 2 015).

a ppealin g to e motion is typ ically more powerf ul than appea ling t o reas on : “I f you

wish to p ersuad e, app eal to intere st, ra ther t han rea son” ( Benjam in Fra nklin).

Satisfact ion = Taking - Want ing : This i s simi lar to David Meiste r’s fi fth law of se rvice

businesse s: Sat isfact ion = p ercept ion - expect ation.

“Being po or is not ha ving to o litt le, it is wa nting m ore” : Luciu s Anna eus Sen eca an d
Anna Lydi a Mott o, Mor al Epis tles ( Chico, CA: S cholars Press , 1985 ).

As Aristo tle no ted ; It is d ebated wheth er Ari stotle actual ly sai d this . The q uote h as bee n

attribute d to h im for centur ies, b ut I c ould f ind no primar y sour ce for the ph rase.