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Psychological Habits Strategies
There was once a stonecutter who spent his days hitting a big rock with a hammer. He hit it once, twice, a hundred times, and nothing happened. People laughed and said he was wasting his time. But the stonecutter kept going. On the 101st strike, the rock finally broke. It wasn’t the last hit that broke it, it was all the hits before that.
Building good habits is the same. You don’t need one big moment. You need small actions, done again and again, even when you feel like giving up. 1
- All of your bad habits initially started out as a solution.
- Smoking? Solved stress.
- Three hours spent browsing TikTok? Boredom solved.
- Bad habits can feel rewarding even if they aren’t.
- We don’t do things because they are good for us.
- We act based on pleasure, not logic.
- We do it because it’s pleasurable,
- We keep doing things that give us rewards.
- Rituals survive when motivation dies.
- Your brain loves habits over willpower.
- Brushing teeth is a prime example of a ritual.
- You don’t really want the bad habit itself. You want the feeling it gives you.
- Recognize that bad habits fulfill emotional needs. Replace these habits with healthier alternatives that satisfy the same emotional need.
- Smoking feels like stress relief
- Snacking feels like comfort
- Scrolling feels like escaping your boring life for 20 minutes
- If you just yank the habit out but don’t deal with the feeling, your brain will find another bad habit to replace it.
- Address the underlying emotion, not just the habit itself.
- Act Like the Person You Wish to Be
- Your actions shape your identity.
- Consistent actions reinforce your desired identity.
- Your brain dislikes inconsistency, so acting accordingly will strengthen your habits.