Atomic Habits Chapter 15: The cardinal rule of behavior change

 The cardinal rule of behavior change

The 4th Law of Behavior Change is make it satisfying.

We are more likely to repeat a behavior when the experience is satisfying. Feelings of pleasure -- even minor ones like washing your hands with soap that smells nice and lathers well -- are signals that tell the brain: "This feels good. Do this again, next time." Pleasure teaches your brain that a behavior is worth remembering and repeating.

The human brain evolved to prioritize immediate rewards over delayed rewards. You value the present more than the future. A reward that is certain right now is typically worth more than one that is merely possible in the future.

With our bad habits, the immediate outcome usually feels good, but the ultimate outcome feels bad. With good habits, it is the reverse.

The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change: What is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided. Our preference for instant gratification reveals an important truth about success: because of how we are wired, most people will spend all day chasing quick hits of satisfaction. The road less traveled is the road of delayed gratification. If you're willing to wait for the rewards, you'll face less competition and often get a bigger payoff. As the saying goes, the last mile is always the least crowded.

Thankfully, it's possible to train yourself to delay gratification -- but you need to work with the grain of human nature, not against it. The best way to do this is to add a little bit of immediate pleasure to the habits that pay off in the long-run and a little bit of immediate pain to ones that don't. To get a habit to stick you need to feel immediately successful -- even if it's in a small way.

The ending of any experience is vital because we tend to remember it more than other phases. You want the ending of your habit is to be satisfying. The best approach is to use reinforcement, which refers to the process of using an immediate reward to increase the rate of a behavior. Reinforcement ties your habit to an immediate reward, which makes it satisfying when you finish.

A habit needs to be enjoyable for it to last. Simple bits of reinforcement -- like soap that smells great or toothpaste that has a refreshing mint flavor or seeing $50 hit your savings account -- can offer the immediate pleasure you need to enjoy a habit. And change is easy when it is enjoyable.

The first three laws of behavior change -- make it obvious, make it attractive, and make it easy -- increase the odds that a behavior will be performed this time. The fourth law of behavior change -- make it satisfying -- increases the odds that a behavior will be repeated next time.

Saduran dari: Clear, James. 2018. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones (Chapter 15).