Habits

“Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.”
– Munger and Buffett at the 2015 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting

Recently, I attended a talk by James Clear, author of Atomic Habits. Below is a summary of his framework for making and breaking habits—along with some of my reflections and questions.

Chains of habit (image credit: Gemini)

How Habits Are Formed

According to Clear, habits form through the repeated execution of four steps:

1. Cue – A trigger or reminder (e.g., you see a cookie).

2. Craving – The cue leads to a desire (e.g., you want the cookie).

3. Response – The craving drives an action (e.g., you eat the cookie).

4. Reward – The action provides a reward (e.g., you feel good).

Note:I like the simplicity of this framework, but it's not airtight. For instance, you can experience a craving without an external cue—sometimes I just feel like a cookie without seeing one. Also, some habits form through training rather than immediate rewards—like brushing my teeth every morning. There's no cue, no craving, and no rush of dopamine, just decades of conditioning.

Much of this thinking traces back to Pavlov, yet Clear didn’t mention that in the talk. Maybe he gives credit in the book. 

How to Create a New Habit

Want to start eating carrots? Here's how Clear would break it down:

1. Cue – Make it obvious (e.g., place carrots—or pictures of carrots—around the house).

2. Craving – Make it attractive (e.g., associate eating carrots with getting fit).

3. Response – Make it easy (e.g., wash and prep them in advance)

4. Reward – Make it satisfying (e.g., eat them with a dip you like, say yogurt).

Note: I’m not convinced this works if you fundamentally dislike carrots. You can dress a carrot up, but you can’t make me like it.

How to Break an Old Habit

Want to stop eating cookies? Try this:

1. Cue – Make it invisible (e.g., hide the sweets).

2. Craving – Make it unattractive (e.g., think about the sugar crash or weight gain).

3. Response – Make it difficult (e.g., don’t keep cookies in the house).

4. Reward – Make it unsatisfying (e.g., eat a stale or disappointing cookie... somehow that’s supposed to help?).

Note: This part feels a bit optimistic. Can you really make a craving unattractive? Or a reward unsatisfying? My brain tends to say, “Nice try,” and reach for the Oreos anyway.

Other Tips & Tricks

1. Curate your environment. We are products of our surroundings—so make yours habit-friendly.

2. Make external commitments. Accountability works. Tell someone. Bet money. Shame yourself (constructively).

3. Choose your tribe wisely. We mimic the people we hang out with, often without realizing it.

4. Use rituals as entry points. Tie your new habit to an existing routine (e.g., kiss the family, before you go to the gym).

5. Start with what’s easy. Build confidence by mastering simple habits first.

6. Use the 2-minute rule. Want to write for an hour? Just start with two minutes a day. The act of doing something consistently helps create habit. 

7. Track your progress. A visual “X” on the calendar every gym day makes your brain crave streaks. The mind wants consistency and does not want to break the chain. 

8. Never miss twice. Life happens. If you slip once, don’t let it become a slide.

9. Identity matters. Don’t just do the thing—become the person who does it. ("I'm a runner" beats "I run.")

10. Invest in habits with a long shelf life. Health, relationships, learning—these pay compound interest.

Despite a few logical gaps, the talk was engaging, and I broadly agree with Clear’s message: find the approach that works for you. Whether you're breaking cookie habits or building carrot ones, consistency strengthens willpower.