Jul '24 • Books and Philosphy
Lessons from "Atomic Habits" by James Clear - Stopping Bad Habits
The information here is still valuable on its own but I encourage that you read the first post on "Atomic Habits" before this.
James Clear established the Four Laws of Behavior Change early on in his book "Atomic Habits". Those four laws describe how habits form and the reason why some habits, good and bad, can be really hard to break away from.
Those four laws are:
- Cue - Make it Obvious
- Craving - Make it Attractive
- Response - Make it Easy
- Reward - Make it Satisfying
An example of these laws in action:
Cue:
You smell a coffee shop on the way to work.
Craving:
You begin to want a cup of coffee, your tired, so the appeal of a little energy boost very attractive.
Response:
You enter the coffee shop and buy a cup of coffee, it only took you 5 minutes to pay and receive your coffee.
Reward:
You drink your cup of coffee and receive the satisfying energy boost as you finish your commute to work.
Looking at habits through the lens of the Four Laws of Behavior Change it is easy to see how buying coffee every morning is a habit that millions of Americans possess.
These four laws are what binds us to our habits. So when we identify a habit that we would like to stop, because it is unhealthy or distracting, we have to inverse these laws to make the habit go away.
The inversion of these laws are:
- Cue - Make it Invisible
- Craving - Make it Unattractive
- Response - Make it Difficult
- Reward - Make it Unsatisfying
The reverse of the example above is this:
You noticed you buy coffee every day on the way to work. You decided that buying coffee everyday was costing you too much money per month, so you want to stop.
Cue:
Instead of taking the old route to work you specifically avoid a route where you can see or smell the coffee shop. (Make it invisible)
Craving:
As an alternative to coffee you decide you are going to drink tea. Coffee represents your bad spending habits, so buying coffee makes you feel bad. (Make it unattractive)
Response:
You used to buy so much coffee from your local shop that you have an account on their app. You decide to delete the app. Now you can't order ahead of time and it takes longer to get a coffee.
(Make it difficult)
Reward:
Buying a coffee now after avoiding the route that passes the shop and deleting the coffee shop's app makes purchasing the coffee feel more like a chore. Half of the benefit of coffee was the convenience. (Make it unsatisfying)
By framing your habits using the Four Laws of Behavior Change you can make significant progress in your life by either adding healthy habits using the four laws. Or getting rid of bad habits by using the inversion of the Four Laws of Behavior Change.
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Lessons from "Atomic Habits" by James Clear - Stopping Bad Habits
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