How habit works
Charles Duhigg in his book “The Power of Habit” defines the process of forming habits within our brains as a THREE-STEP LOOP.
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First, there is a CUE, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use. Cues can be almost anything, from a visual trigger such as a candy bar or a television commercial to a certain place, a time of day, an emotion, a sequence of thoughts, or the company of particular people.
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Then there is THE ROUTINE, which can be physical or mental or emotional. Routines can be incredibly complex or fantastically simple (some habits, such as those related to emotions, are measured in milliseconds)
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Finally, there is A REWARD, which helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future. Rewards can range from food or drugs that cause physical sensations, to emotional payoffs, such as the feelings of pride that accompany praise or self-congratulation.
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Over time, this loop—cue, routine, reward; cue, routine, reward—becomes more and more automatic. The cue and reward become intertwined until a powerful sense of anticipation and CRAVING emerges. Cravings are the motivational force behind every habit. Without some level of motivation or desire—without craving a change—we have no reason to act. You do not want to turn on the television, you want to be entertained. Every craving is linked to a desire to change your internal state. Cues are meaningless until they are interpreted. The thoughts, feelings, and emotions of the observer are what transform a cue into a craving.
James Clear in his book “Atomic Habits” introduces another view of the process: building a habit can be divided into FOUR simple steps: cue, craving, response, and reward, which is more or less the same process described by Charles Duhigg.
Understanding how habits work—learning the structure of the habit loop—makes them easier to control.
Habits never really disappear. They’re encoded into the structures of our brain, and that’s a huge advantage for us, because it would be awful if we had to relearn how to drive after every vacation. The problem is that our brains can’t tell the difference between bad and good habits, and so if we have a bad one, it’s always lurking there, waiting for the right cues and rewards.
This is how new habits are created: by putting together a cue, a routine, and a reward, and then cultivating a craving that drives the loop.
WHY SMALL HABITS MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE
Improving by 1 percent isn’t particularly notable—sometimes it isn’t even noticeable—but it can be far more meaningful, especially in the long run.
If you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done. Conversely, if you get 1 percent worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero. What starts as a small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more.
1% BETTER EVERY DAY
1% worse every day for one year. 0.99365 = 00.03
1% better every day for one year. 1.01365 = 37.78
The effects of your habits multiply as you repeat them. A slight change in your daily habits can guide your life to a very different destination. Making a choice that is 1 percent better or 1 percent worse seems insignificant in the moment, but over the span of moments that make up a lifetime these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be. Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.
