We are continuing to read through Atomic Habits and today we are discovering how to make our habits SATISFYING. By this point, you should have completed chapters 14, 15, and 16.
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In Chapter 15, James Clear introduces the 4th Law: Make it Satisfying. We are likely to repeat a behavior when the experience is satisfying.
Over time, the human brain evolved to process immediate rewards over delayed rewards. However, in more recent times, we have discovered that delayed gratification actually leads to better habits.
Clear tells us that the cardinal rule of behavior change is: What is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided.
To get a habit to stick, you need to feel immediately successful, even if it’s in a small way. And this is where he will show us how to work with human nature to make this possible.
The more a habit becomes part of your life the less encouragement you need. Incentives can start a habit. Identity sustains a habit. That said, it takes time for the evidence to accumulate and the new identity to emerge.
Immediate reinforcement helps us maintain our new identity in the short term while waiting for the long-term rewards to arrive.
A habit needs to be enjoyable for it to last! He gives us some examples of simple reinforcement, such as soap that smells great, toothpaste with mint flavor, or $50 in your savings account.
I like the example of the couple that decided they wanted to create a habit of teaching themselves to cook. This means they needed to eat-in more than dining out. So, every time they skipped going out for a meal, they took the amount they saved and put it in a savings account labeled “Trip to Europe.” They watched that account grow — a satisfying reward for eating in. Whatever it is for you, think about offering yourself an immediate pleasure you need to enjoy a habit — and something that will make the changes in your new identity easier!
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Chapter 16 is where a lot of this is really going to come together through the Habit Tracker. Think about how stores like Subway gives you a punch card every time you eat a sandwich. This is a visual tracker that you want to keep punching to ultimately gain the reward of a free sandwich. Visual trackers are effective — that’s why so many companies like Subway offer them.
In the documentary, The Comedian, Jerry Seinfeld revealed that he writes a new joke every day. It doesn’t matter whether it’s good or horrible. The point is: he “doesn’t break the chain” of practicing this habit and will also likely make him a better writer over time. It’s no wonder he is such a pro at observational humor. He probably forced himself to find humor in everything around him on a daily basis. (More from James Clear on “The Seinfeld Strategy.”)
Clear shows us how HABIT TRACKING provides three benefits towards behavior change:
#1 Habit Tracking is a way to make our habits OBVIOUS (it’s a visual cue)
Naturally builds a series of cues (calendar)
The mere act of tracking sparks an urge to change it
It keeps you honest (accountable) to notice what is really going on each day
When evidence is right in front of you, less likely to lie to yourself
#2 Habit tracking is ATTRACTIVE (MOTIVATING)
The most effective encouragement is PROGRESS
A visual cue of progress
Each small win feeds your desire to keep going
It also helps you on a bad day; it provides visual proof of your hard work
The empty square you see each morning is motivational because you don’t want to interrupt your progress by breaking the streak.
#3 Habit tracking is SATISFYING
It feels good to complete a habit and watch your results grow
If it feels good, you are more likely to endure
Keeps you focused on the progress, not the result
Provides visual proof you are casting votes for the kind of person you’d like to become
You can find some sample HABIT TRACKING TEMPLATES here. I also highly recommend the Habit Tracking Journal that James Clear sells. It’s really great and includes 12 Habit Tracking pages — one for each month! Plus, a section to do “one line” journaling each day. You’ll see your year fill up and have opportunities to review.
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If Habit Tracking is so effective, WHY DID JAMES CLEAR WAIT UNTIL CHAPTER 16 TO TELL US ABOUT THIS? Because habit tracking is a habit itself. He wanted us to discover the process of building a habit. Now that we have done that through CUES, CRAVINGS, and RESPONSES, he is now teaching us how to track those new habits.
So, what should we track?
Measurement should be automated – you're probably tracking some already
Credit card tracks how often you go out to eat
FitBit tracks how many steps you take
Digital calendars record places traveled to each year
Once you know where to get the data, add a note to your calendar to review it each week or each month.
Manual tracking should be limited to our most important habits
Easier to consistently track one habit than sporadically tracking 10
Record it immediately after the habit occurred
The completion of behavior is the cue to write it down
Combines the habit stacking with habit tracking
After (current habit) I will track my habit
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Every habit does have an end streak – perfection isn’t possible – life happens. But here’s the best tips James Clear gives us when our habits breakdown:
“Never miss twice” - don’t miss two in a row!
The first mistake doesn’t hurt; the spiral of repeated mistakes is what ruins you
When successful people fail, they rebound quickly
“Just show up” on your bad or busy days is better than not showing up at all
“Why bad workouts are often most important ones” - it shows you that you can get through a sluggish day
“Don’t put up a zero”
Be the person who doesn’t miss workouts
Keeping a streak going reaffirms your identity
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Just because you can measure something, doesn’t mean it’s the most important thing. Just because you can’t measure something, doesn’t mean it’s not important at all.
When we measure the wrong thing, we get the wrong outcome.
Keep habit tracking in its proper place.
Habit tracking provides a brief moment of satisfaction each day.
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In Chapter 17, Clear shows us how to put into place more accountability to complete our habits — and this will involve having an accountability partner. That’s right — no one takes their journey alone!
And he also teaches us the inversion of the 4th law of behavior change. If you want to avoid a habit, make it UNSATISFYING. Pain is an effective teacher! If a failure is painful, it gets fixed. If it is relatively painless, it gets ignored.
The more immediate and more costly a mistake is - the faster you will learn from it. Think about all those bad reviews on Yelp and how they impact a restaurant’s behavior to correct their bad service.
Add an instant cost! We must increase the speed of the punishment associated with the behavior. Bad actions need to incur an immediate consequence.
Customers pay their bills on time when they are charged a late fee
Students show up to class when grades are linked to attendance
The strength of the punishment must match the relative strength of the behavior it is trying to correct. The more local, tangible, and immediate the consequence, the more likely it is to influence a behavior.
Solution: Create a Habit Contract
A verbal or written agreement of a punishment that will occur if you don’t follow through on a habit.
Find one or two people to act as an accountability partner and sign off on the contract with you.
If he does not complete (this task), he will have to do (this behavior).
This makes it public and painful (how about the story of the guy who had a tweet scheduled to tell the world he hadn’t woken up yet? That’s some accountability that will make you wake up to stop the tweet!)
Solution: Have an Accountability Partner
Knowing someone else is watching can be a powerful motivator.
Creates an immediate cost to inaction
We care deeply what others think of us and do not want others to think less of us