Atomic Habits Chapter 8: How to make a habit irresistible

 How to make a habit irresistible

The 2nd Law of Behavior Change is make it attractive.

The more attractive an opportunity is, the more likely it is to become habit-forming.

Society is filled with highly engineered versions of reality that are more attractive than the world of our ancestors evolved in. Stores feature mannequins with exaggerated hips and breasts to sell clothes. Social media delivers more 'likes' and praise in a few minute than we could ever get in the office or at a home. Online porn splices together stimulating scenes at a rate that would be impossible to replicate in real life. Advertisements are created with a combination of ideal lighting, professional makeup, and Photoshopped edits -- even the model doesn't look like the person in the final image. These are the supernomal stimuli of our modern world. They exaggerate features that are naturally attractive to us, and our instincts go wild as a result, driving us into excessive shopping habits, social media habits, porn habits, eating habits, and many others.

We begin by examining a biological signature that all habits share -- the dopamine spike. Habits are a dopamine-driven feedback loop. When dopamine rises, so does our motivation to act. When it comes to habits, the key takeaway is this: dopamine is released not only when you experience pleasure, but also when you anticipate it.

It is the anticipation of a reward -- not the fulfillment of it -- that gets us to take action. Interestingly, the reward system that is activated in the brain when you receive a reward is the same system that is activated when you anticipate a reward. This is one reason the anticipation of an experience can often feel better than the attainment of it. As a child, thinking about Christmas morning can be better than opening the gifts. As an adult, daydreaming about an upcoming vacation can be more enjoyable than actually being on vacation. Scientists refer to this as the difference between "wanting" and "liking." The greater the anticipation, the greater the dopamine spike. It is the craving that leads to the response.

Temptation bundling is one way to make your habits more attractive. The strategy is to pair an action you want to do with an action you need to do.

You can even combine temptation bundling with the habit stacking strategy to create a set of rules to guide your behavior:

1. After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [HABIT I NEED].

2. After [HABIT I NEED], I will [HABIT I WANT].

If you want to read the news, but you need to express more gratitude:

1. After I get my morning coffee, I will say one thing I'm grateful for that happened yesterday (need).

2. After I say one thing I'm grateful for, I will read the news (want).

Saduran dari: Clear, James. 2018. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones (Chapter 8).