How Habits Are Built & Broken

If there was one thing I wish that I had learned much earlier in life, it would be how habits work.

Last week I shared how even one or two small “edits” in our daily habits can have a profound impact on our lives.

If you repeatedly do something again and again - whether it is a physical routine or just a mental thought pattern - it is going to have an impact.

The key is doing the thing consistently over time.

But how do you actually get yourself to start doing something different?

And keep doing it?!

That is what I want to explore this week - how habits work.

Fortunately for us, this topic has been thoroughly studied and explored by several well-known authors (e.g. Charles Duhigg, Nir Eyal, and James Clear to name a few).

If you get interested in this topic, I highly recommend reading any of the three.

But for now, I want to focus on James Clear’s framework from his bestseller Atomic Habits.

Clear defines a habit as the following:

“A behavior that has been repeated enough times to become automatic.”

Seems simple enough.

If you repeat something a bunch, it turns into a habit - easy!

But the secret lies in how you get yourself to repeat it…

According to Clear, a habit is really made up of 4 steps:

Cue -> Craving -> Response -> Reward

The “cue” is the trigger - the “bit of information that predicts a reward” and initiates a behavior in anticipation of that reward.

Think of your cellphone buzzing when you receive a message - that is a cue.

Or when you walk into a dark room and want to see - that is a cue.

Then comes the “craving” - or what you instinctively desire because of the cue.

When my phone vibrates (cue), I want to know what message I received (craving).

Or when I walk into a dark room (cue), I want to be able to see (craving).

“Response” is where the action takes place - it is how you respond to the craving.

Phone buzzes (cue) -> I want to know the message (craving) -> I check my phone (response)

Dark room (cue) -> I want to see (craving) -> I find a light switch (response)

And finally, your response leads to a reward like reading the message or having the room lit up.

Habits are really that simple - and you probably already realize that your life is packed with them.

We like a lot of our habits and the routines that make up for us.

Habits and routines make life more predictable, and thus safer and more enjoyable.

And that is also why habits are so critical and impactful.

Our habits define much of our life experience and, therefore, they define a large part of who we are.

You are (or become) what you do.

So if you want to grow into a new version of yourself, it starts with understanding and managing your habits.

Then, break the habits down into the 4 steps - Cue/Craving/Response/Reward.

Once you see each step on paper, then you can strategize how you want to reinforce or disrupt the habit.

You can use Clear’s framework for behavior change to help guide you.

If you want to create or reinforce a good habit, he suggests the following:

Cue -> Make it obvious

(I put on my workout clothes right when I wake up)

Craving - Make it attractive

(I watch shows at the gym so I have that to look forward to)

Response - Make it easy

(I started using the gym in my complex instead of the one 2 blocks away)

Reward - Make it satisfying

(When I get back from the gym, I eat an incredibly delicious protein bar - FitCrunch, look it up!)

And, on the flipside, if you are trying to break a habit, then you do the opposite:

Cue -> Make it invisible

Craving -> Make it unattractive

Response -> Make it difficult

Reward -> Make it unsatisfying

With this basic framework, you can get started on creating or refining your existing habits almost immediately.

And that’s because we intuitively understand a lot more about how ourselves and how we work than we give ourselves credit for.

This is one of the biggest reasons that knowing you are not alone - or unique - when it comes to these challenges is so important.

We all form and break habits the same way - so I know this can work for anyone.

What habit are you trying to break?

How can you make it invisible, unattractive, difficult and unsatisfying?

What habit are you trying to create?

How can you make it obvious, attractive, easy and supremely satisfying?

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