Habits

You might have something that you want to make a habit. Maybe an exercise routine. Maybe you want to break an existing habit, like snacking on cookies during the day. You're in luck; there's a framework for this.

This is information I learned from Atomic Habits by James Clear. You can find a summary of the book on his site at https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits-summary.

Building a good habit

In this example, we want to build a habit of exercise every morning.

1. What is the cue that reminds us of the activity? It should be obvious. Maybe it's putting your exercise clothes in an obvious spot. Or putting a note where you'll see it.
2. What is the craving? Why are you exercising? It could be that you need to do it for health reasons, or maybe there's an upcoming event that you want to compete in. Or there might be something that you reward yourself with only after exercise.
3. How can you make it easy? Maybe you exercise at home, so there's no drive to a gym. Or maybe you have friends at the gym that you like to socialize with.
4. What is the reward? An example might be that you have a delicious protein shake after the gym, or it might be how you feel after exercising.

Breaking a bad habit

In this example, we want to stop snacking on cookies during the day.

1. Make the cue invisible. If the cookies are in a cupboard, out of sight, you're less likely to get one when you go through the kitchen.
2. Make the craving unattractive. Focus on the positive outcome that you're trying to achieve. Maybe going down a pant size, or just not having to clean cookie crumbs off your keyboard.
3. Make it difficult. Put the cookies in a hard to reach place. Or just don't buy them.
4. Make it unsatisfying. Have a friend or family member as an accountability partner, or make a rule that every time you snack on a cookie you have to do something you hate.