The brain is always trying to create habits to reduce effort.
Habit cycle:
1. Cue: Something that causes routine to happen. Often creates automatic routine. (Sight of food)
2. Routine: process (Eat the food)
3. Reward: is this process worth remembering? (Neuro-chemical pleasure)
Habits are all based on cravings.
There are three rules for creating better habits:
1. Find simple and obvious cue
2. Clearly define the reward of accomplishing the habit
3. Use cravings to create better habits and more obsession
Changing bad habits: as habits never go away, it is best if you redefine the routine. It is integral to change habits in a group setting and use the belief that you can change for the habit to revert
Keystone habits are important habits that matter more than others. Changing these habits will often transform everything for the better. A good example is the steel factory whose keystone habit was safety. These keystone habits often have small rewards that will compound for a big win and often create the environment necessary for other habits to flourish
Willpower is more than keystone habits. It is like a muscle and can get trained (ex: radish vs cookie).
To overcome willpower humps, it is necessary to make a plan for the difficult willpower moments
Successful people have right truces and right alliances, but truces wil fail if justice is unbalanced
Turn unfamiliar things into a habit for maximum hapiness (ex: Hey Ya sandwiching in songs)
Keys of a successful social organization
1. Social habits of friendship and strong tie
2. Habits of community that hold neigh bors together
3. Leaders that give new habits, identity and owership
How to change habits:
1. Identify your habit loop and start replacing components
2. Use different rewards to identify why your are following habit in experiment style. Once experiment is over, ask if you still feel urge
3. Isolate the cue: usually a location, time, emotional, other people or immeditely preceding action that causes habit. Write down as soon as urge hits
4. Make a plan to rengineer the habit