I’ve been reading this amazing book called “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. Just writing down a bunch of things that i find interesting from that book!
“Behaviors followed by satisfying consequences tend to be repeated and those that produce unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated”
By Thorndike
What is a Habit? A habit is basically a behavior that is repeated enough times to become automatic.
Whenever we face a problem repeatedly, our brain begins to automate the process for us. Habits are just a series of automatic solutions that solves the problems and stresses we face regularly.
Habits are mental shortcuts learned from experiences.
There are two parts of the human brain – The conscious mind & the unconscious mind. The conscious mind is the one that actively works and it cannot work on several things together. Whenever we create a habit, the next time we want to do it, the conscious mind just pawns it off to the unconscious mind.
Lets take an example: Whenever the door bell rings, we go and open the door. The first time this activity happened, our conscious mind picked it up and figured out the solution for the problem “door bell ringing”. So whenever we face this problem again, the conscious mind just throws this activity to the unconscious mind and is like – Go do it – as it knows what to do. This helps to reduce the cognitive load and the conscious mind can focus on newer tasks!
Habits create Freedom. The more free our conscious mind is, the more time we have to do new things. Building habits in the present allows you to do more in the future!
How do we make a habit?
Habit making is divided into 4 steps :
- Cue
- Craving
- Response
- Reward
The cue is about noticing the reward. The craving is about wanting the reward. The response is about obtaining the reward.
Why do we need rewards?
- They satisfy us
- They teach us
Important thing being, if a behavior is insufficient in any of the four stages, it will not become a habit! Eliminate the cue, and your habit will not start. Reduce the craving and you wont have the motivation to act. Make the behavior difficult and you would not want to do it. And if the reward fails to satisfy your desire, then you will have no reason to do it again.
Examples:
| Cue | Craving | Response | Reward |
| Your phone rings | You want to know what new message came | You pick up your mobile | You read the message |
| You see a packet of cream biscuits | You want to feel the taste of the cream biscuit | You open and eat the cream biscuit | You get the sugar rush |
| You see a candle | You want the room to be scented | You light a candle | You become happy with the scent. |
How to create a good habit?
- Cue: Make it obvious
- Craving: Make it attractive
- Response: Make it easy
- Reward: Make it satisfying
How to break a bad habit?
- Cue: Make it invisble
- Craving: Make it unattractive
- Response: Make it difficult
- Reward: Make it unsatisfying
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