Chapter 3: How to Build Better Habits. Atomic Habits

Chapter 3: How to build better habits? 

Welcome back to the Third Chapter of Atomic Habits. 

So, let's keep the dream rolling and dive into How to build better habits. 

WHY YOUR BRAIN BUILDS HABITS: 

A habit is a behavior that has been repeated enough times to become automatic, and the process of habit-building begins with Trial and Error. 

The first time you come across a problem, you face yourself asking: Hold On! How do I respond to this? 
Neurological activity in the brain is high during this period, as you are carefully analyzing the situation and trying to find a way with this. 

Occasionally, you hit on a lever, and Voila! that is the solution. You are exploring, exploring, and —BAM— a reward. That is the next step. 

Entering Feedback Loop: 

After you stumble upon something unexpected reward, your brain begins to rewire everything you had done past the reward. 
Feedback loop: try, fail, learn, try differently. 

With enough practice, these movements literally become involuntary, and and and... This is a habit forming. 
Your habits are just a series of automatic solutions to solve problems and stress you face regularly.
They are simply reliable solutions to recurring problems in our environment. 

As you repeatedly perform the task, your brain skips the trial and error part and simply locks in the cue and dives into the solutions. Our brain is always working to preserve conscious attention for whatever task is most essential. Whenever possible this conscious tries to pass the task to the non-conscious, and this is what basically a habit does. 

Now many people think that if I form this 'xyz' thing as a habit, I won't do the things I like, or I am losing my freedom. 
But Habits do not restrict freedom as most people think they do, in fact, when you have your habits dialed in and the basics of life are handled, your mind is free to focus on new challenges and master the next set of problems, and maybe you can actually start enjoying the things you like, and not feel guilty about it. 

The Science of How Habits Work: 

The process of building habits involves 4 steps: Cue, Craving, Response, and reward. 

Cue: 

The cue triggers the brain to initiate a behavior. As our minds are continuously analyzing our internal and external environment for hints of rewards, the cue is the first indication that we are close to a reward. It naturally leads to craving.

Cravings:

Cravings are the second step, and they are the motivational force behind every habit. Every craving is linked to a desire to change our internal state. Cues are meaningless until they are interpreted. The feelings and emotions of the observer are what transform a cue into a craving. 

Response: 

The third step in any habit-building is Response. The response is the actual habit you perform (we perform), which can take the form of a thought or an action. Whether a response depends on how motivated you are and how much friction is associated with the work, your response also depends on your ability. 
It is so simple to understand: You will do things only that you are capable of doing, if anything requires more than what your mind or your body can do, you are highly likely to drop it mid-way, BYE BYE Habit, see you later. 

REWARD!

Finally, the reward! Response delivers a reward. Rewards are the end goal of any habit. If I ain't getting that reward for my work, why would I even start working? 
Habits are like that if I am not getting my desired outcome out of the things I am locked in then, WHY? 

The first purpose of the reward is to satisfy your cravings. Then they also help in identifying which actions are worth remembering for the future. So REWARDS close the feedback loop and close the habit cycle. 

The two categories of feedback loop:

The above steps of the feedback loop: Cue, Cravings, Response, and Reward, can be split into two phases: The Problem Phase and the Solution Phase. 

Problem Phase: Cue and the Craving, it is when you realize that something needs to be changed. 

Solution Phase: Response and the Reward, it is when you take action and achieve the change you desire. (GOALS achieved, habits acquired, what else do I want in life?) 

Now, James has provided a two-page table in the book with examples and a lot of examples to help you identify the actions that come under the Problem phase and the Solution phase. I would highly recommend yall to have a look, but if you're lazy I'll drop them below and a few other images from the book that would reflect back on the four steps of The Feedback Loop.

With this, I would love to wrap it up here. Have an Amazing day. See you soon. 
And a quick question to everyone: Now that you know this feedback loop, did you already start questioning your daily habits or are you still wondering?