How to build better habits and change you life| Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
Research shows that over 40% of human daily behavior is driven by habits. As a result, many of our actions and decisions are made unconsciously. However, it also reveals ways to improve our lives through intentional habit change.
“Atomic Habits” is a book that helps you understand how habits work and how to intentionally build better ones.
How habits work
There are four steps involved in every habit: cue, craving, response, and reward. Each time a habit is triggered, your brain automatically goes through these steps.
The first step is the cue: a cue is a signal that predicts a reward. When you encounter a cue, it triggers the start of a behavior.
The second step is craving: after noticing a cue, you experience a craving. Craving is the motivational force behind habits—it's what drives you to take action.
The third step is the response: this is the action you take, which is the habit itself.
The final step is the reward: the reward is the ultimate goal of every habit.
All these four steps are all about reward. The cue signals the potential reward, the craving is the desire for the reward and the response is the action taken to obtain it.
For instance, If you are a smoker, when you see cigarettes (cue), you crave smoking(craving). Then, you smoke(response). Finally, you feel relief(reward).
The four laws of behavior change
- make it obvious
- make it attractive
- make it easy
- make it satisfying
To break a bad habit you can invert these four laws :
- make it invisible
- make it unattractive
- make it difficult
- make it unsatisfying
This is a short summary of “Atomic Habits”. You can apply the four laws to change your habits, and the book provides more detailed explanations. If you are interested in building better habits or breaking bad ones, check out the book -- It’s worth your time.
