Habit & Routine

Lessons

1. 01

   The Situation Decides

   See why most repeated actions are set off by your surroundings, and why trying harder rarely changes them.

   10 steps
2. 02

   Find the Real Cue

   Work out what actually sets a habit off by comparing the times it happens with the times it doesn’t.

   9 steps·Builds on The Situation Decides
3. 03

   What Rewards Teach

   See why payoffs that arrive straight away train a habit and distant ones barely do, and give a wanted habit a payoff now.

   10 steps·Builds on Find the Real Cue
4. 04

   How Long a Habit Takes

   See how a habit grows on a curve that levels off over weeks to months, and why a steady cue matters more than a date.

   8 steps·Builds on The Situation Decides, Find the Real Cue
5. 05

   Design the Place

   Put the cue and the kit where a wanted action happens, and move the cue for an unwanted one out of reach.

   10 steps·Builds on Find the Real Cue
6. 06

   Make It Easy, Make It Hard

   Count the steps on every route to a habit, add steps to the one you want to lose, and make the good route the default.

   9 steps·Builds on Design the Place
7. 07

   If–Then Plans and Anchors

   Hand the decision to a moment you already meet: write an if–then plan that fires, start small and grow it.

   9 steps·Builds on Find the Real Cue, How Long a Habit Takes
8. 08

   Breaking an Unwanted Habit

   See why knowing a habit is bad rarely stops it, and use the moves that do: dodge the cue, add steps, replace the response and catch the moment.

   10 steps·Builds on What Rewards Teach, Make It Easy, Make It Hard, If–Then Plans and Anchors
9. 09

   Keep Score Without a Streak

   Count a habit by its chances, not by unbroken days, so one miss can’t wipe out the picture.

   9 steps·Builds on How Long a Habit Takes
10. 10

    When You Miss

    See why one missed day barely dents a habit, and restart at the next real chance rather than waiting for Monday.

    11 steps·Builds on Keep Score Without a Streak, How Long a Habit Takes
11. 11

    When Life Changes Your Routine

    Use a house move, a new job or another big change to leave old habits behind and set up new ones on purpose.

    10 steps·Builds on Find the Real Cue, How Long a Habit Takes, Design the Place, If–Then Plans and Anchors, Breaking an Unwanted Habit, Keep Score Without a Streak