1st layer outcome, 2nd process, 3rd identity.

Improvements are only temporary until they become part of who you are. your habits are how you embody your identity, repeated beingness. focus should always be on becoming that type of person, not getting a particular outcome.

First cue predicts a reward. second cravings the motivational force between habits. third response the actual habit performed. fourth reward.

The Four Laws of Behavior Change (1) make it obvious, (2) make it attractive, (3) make it easy, and (4) make it satisfying.

the tendency for one purchase to lead to another one has a name: the Diderot Effect.

human body has 11 million sensory receptors, ten million sight. experts estimate 50% brain’s resources used on vision. Given that we are more dependent on vision than on any other sense, visual cues are the greatest catalyst of our behavior. A stable environment where everything has a place and a purpose is an environment where habits can easily form.

You can break a habit, but you’re unlikely to forget it. Self-control is a short-term strategy, not a long-term one. your energy would be better spent optimizing your environment.

brain’s reward centers have not changed for approximately fifty thousand years. 100 percent of the nucleus accumbens is activated during wanting. Meanwhile, only 10 percent of the structure is activated during liking. we want more than we like. Your habits are modern-day solutions to ancient desires.

nothing sustains motivation better than belonging to the tribe. The reward of being accepted is often greater than the reward of winning an argument, looking smart, or finding truth. We imitate people we envy.

We tend to imitate the habits of three social groups: the close (family and friends), the many (the tribe), and the powerful (those with status and prestige).

The most effective form of learning is practice, not planning.

successful companies design their products to automate, eliminate, or simplify as many steps as possible. Business is a never-ending quest to deliver the same result in an easier fashion.

Researchers estimate that 40 to 50 percent of our actions on any given day are done out of habit.

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

habit tracking (1) creates a visual cue that can remind you to act, (2) is inherently motivating because you see the progress you are making and don’t want to lose it, and (3) feels satisfying whenever you record another successful instance of your habit.

The first mistake is never the one that ruins you. It is the spiral of repeated mistakes that follows. Missing once is an accident. Missing twice is the start of a new habit.