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Psychology

How habits form

Cue, routine, reward · 12 min

Why almost half of what you do runs on autopilot, and how to rewrite the loop instead of fighting it.

Takeaways

  • A habit is a loop: cue, routine, reward. You can't delete it; you can swap the routine.
  • About two months on average to feel automatic. Missing one day changes nothing; never miss twice.
  • Design the cue and shrink the first step. Willpower is the weakest tool you have.

Chapters

  1. The autopilot0:17
  2. The loop1:44
  3. Sixty-six days4:09
  4. Make the cue obvious5:41
  5. Make it small, make it feel good7:46
  6. Use the fresh start9:32
  7. The recap10:43

References

  1. Wood, W., Quinn, J. M., & Kashy, D. A. — Habits in everyday life: Thought, emotion, and action(2002)
  2. Lally, P. et al. — How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world(2010)
  3. Duhigg, C. — The Power of Habit(2012)
  4. Clear, J. — Atomic Habits(2018)
  5. Wood, W. — Good Habits, Bad Habits(2019)
  6. Fogg, B. J. — Tiny Habits(2019)
  7. Gollwitzer, P. M. — Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans(1999)
  8. Milkman, K. L., Minson, J. A., & Volpp, K. G. M. — Holding the Hunger Games hostage at the gym: An evaluation of temptation bundling(2014)
  9. Dai, H., Milkman, K. L., & Riis, J. — The fresh start effect: Temporal landmarks motivate aspirational behavior(2014)
  10. Wood, W., Tam, L., & Guerrero Witt, M. — Changing circumstances, disrupting habits(2005)