The more you think of yourself as worthless, stupid or ugly, the more you condition yourself to interpret life that way.
In order to make a meaningful difference, habits need to persist long enough to break through Plateau of Latent Potential - time when you have no success despite working hard.
Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results.
"Once I reach my goal, then I will be happy" means you putt off happiness off until the next milestone.
Once a person believes in a particular aspect of their identity, they are more likely to act in alignment with that belief.
There is internal pressure to maintain your self-image and behave in a way that is consistent with your beliefs.
There are three levels of change: outcome change, process change and identity change. The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve, but on who you wish to become. Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity.
The real reason habits matter is not because they can get you better results, but because they can change your beliefs about yourself.
The first law (Cue): Make it obvious. The second law (Craving): Make it attractive. The 3rd law (Response): Make it easy. The 4th law (Reward): Make it satisfying.
A habit is a behaviour that has been repeated enough times to become automatic.
The ultimate purpose of habits is to solve the problems of life with as little energy and effort as possible.
Any habit can be broken down into a feedback loop that involves four steps: cue, craving, response, and reward.
The Four Laws of Behavior Change are a simple set of rules we can use to build better habits. They are (1) make it obvious, (2) make it attractive, (3) make it easy and (4) make it satisfying.
With enough practice, your brain will pick up on the cues that predict certain outcomes without consciously thinking about it.
Once our habits become automatic, we stop paying attention to what we are doing.
The process of behavior change always starts with awareness. You need to be aware of your habits before you can change them.
Pointing-and-Calling raises your level of awareness from a nonconscious habit to a more conscious level by verbalizing your actions.
People who make a specific plan for when and where they will perform a new habit are more likely to follow through.
Habit stacking is a strategy you can use to pair a new habit with a current habit.
The habit stacking formula is: After [current habit], I will [new habit]
Habits can be easier to change in a new environment.
Small changes in context can lead to large changes in behavior over time.
Every habit is initiated by a cue. We are more likely to notice cues that stand out.
Make the cues of good habits obvious in your environment.
Gradually, your habits become associated not with a single trigger but with entire context surrounding the behavior. The context becomes the cue.
It is easier to build new habits in a new environment because you are not fighting against old cues.
The inversion of the 1st Law of Behavior Change is make it invisible.
Once a habit is formed, it is unlikely to be forgotten.
People with high self-control tend to spend less time in tempting situations. It is easier to avoid temptation than resist it.
Once of the most practical ways to eliminate a bad habit is to reduce exposure to the cue that causes it.
Self-control is a short-term strategy, not a long-term one.
The more attractive an opportunity is, the more likely it is to become habit-forming.
Habits are a dopamine-driven feedback loop. When dopamine rises, so does our motivation to act.
It is the anticipation of a reward - not the fulfillment of it - that gets us to take action. The greater the anticipation, the greater the dopamine spike.
Temptation bundling is one way to make your habits more attractive. The strategy is to pair an action you want to do with an action you need to do.
The culture we live in determines which behaviours are attractive to us.
We tend to adopt habits that are praised and approved of by our culture because we have a strong desire to fit in and belong to the tribe.
We tend to imitate the habits of three social groups: The close (family and friends), the many (the tribe) and the powerful (those with status and prestige)
One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where (1) your desired behavior is the normal behavior and (2) you already have something in common with the group.
The normal behavior of the tribe often overpowers the desired behavior of the individual. Most days, we would rather be wrong with the crowd than be right by ourselves.
If a behavior can get us approval, respect, and praise, we find it attractive.
The inversion of the 2nd law of behavior change is make it unattractive.
Every behavior has a surface level craving and a deeper underlying motive.
Your habits are modern-day solutions to ancient desires.
The cause of your habits is actually the prediction that precedes them. The prediction leads to a feeling. Highlight the benefits of avoiding a bad habit to make it seem unattractive.
Habits are attractive when we associate them with positive feelings and unattractive when we associate them with negative feelings. Create a motivation ritual by doing something you enjoy immediately before a difficult habit.
The most effective form of learning is practice, not planning.
Focus on taking action, not being in motion.
Habit formation is the process by which a behavior becomes progressively more automatic through repetition.
The amount of time you have been performing a habit is not as important as the number of times you have performed it.
Human behaviour follows the law of least effort. We will naturally gravitate toward the option that requires the least amount of work.
Create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible.
Reduce the friction associated with good behaviors. When friction is low, habits are easy.
Increase the friction associated with bad behaviors. When friction is high, habits are difficult.
Prime your environment to make future actions easier.
Habits can be completed in a few seconds but continue to impact your behavior for minutes or hours afterward.
Many habits occur at decisive moments - choices that are like a fork in the road - and either send you in the direction of a productive day or an unproductive one.
The 2 minute rule states, when you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.
The more you ritualize the beginning of a process, the more likely it becomes that you can slip into the state of deep focus that is required to do great things.
Standardize before you optimize. You cannot improve a habit that doesn't exist.
A commitment device is a choice you make in the present that locks in better behavior in the future.
The ultimate way to lock in future behavior is to automate your habits.
Onetime choices - like being a better mattress or enrolling in an automatic savings plan - are single action that automate your future habits and deliver increasing returns over time.
Using technology to automate your habits is the most reliable and effective way to guarantee the right behavior.
Success in nearly every field requires you to ignore an immediate reward in favor of a delayed reward.
We are more likely to repeat a behavior when the experience is satisfying.
The human brain evolved to prioritize immediate rewards over delayed rewards.
The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change: what is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided.
To get a habit to stick you need to feel immediately successful - even if it is in a small way.
The first three laws of behavior change - make it obvious, make it attractive and make it easy - increase the odds that a behavior will be performed this time. The 4th law of behavior change - make it satisfying - increases the odds that a behavior will be repeated next time.
Never miss twice.
A habit tracker is a simple way to measure whether you did a habit - like marking an X on a calendar.
Habit trackers and other visual forms of measurement can make your habits satisfying by providing clear evidence of your progress.
Don't break the chain. Try to keep your habit streak alive.
Never miss twice. If you miss one day, try to get back on track as quickly as possible.
Just because you can measure something doesn't mean it is the most important thing.
We are less likely to repeat a bad habit if it is painful or unsatisfying.
An accountability partner can create an immediate cost to inaction. We care deeply about what others think of us, and we do not want others to have a lesser opinion of us.
A habit contract can be used to add a social cost to any behavior. It makes the costs of violating your promises public and painful.
Knowing that someone else is watching you can be a powerful motivator.
What comes naturally to me? For just a moment, ignore what you have been taught. Ignore what society has told you. Ignore what others expect of you. Look inside yourself and ask, "what feels natural to me? When have I felt alive? When have I felt like real me?" No internal judgments or people pleasing. No second guessing or self-criticism. Just feelings of engagement and enjoyment. Whenever you feel authentic and genuine, you are headed in the right direction.
The secret to maximizing your odds of success is to choose the right field of competition.
Pick the right habit and progress is easy. Pick the wrong habit and life is a struggle.
Genes cannot be easily changed, which means they provide a powerful advantage in favorable circumstances and a serious disadvantage in unfavorable circumstances.
Habits are easier when they align with your natural abilities. Choose the habits that best suit you.
Play a game that favors your strengths. If you can't find a game that favors you, create one.
Genes do not eliminate the need for hard work. They clarify it. They tell us what to work hard on.
Solve problems by reversing them. You want to achieve success? Try ask yourselft what you want to avoid first. You have an important project? Envision the project failed und study the consequences. In court, the jury has to listen to both sides of the argument before making up their mind.