James Clear

While researching the book, I was able to find 40 different models of human behavior that biologists and neuroscientists and psychologists, a bunch of different industries had come up with over the last, say, about 150 years. broadly speaking, those models of human behavior tended to fall into one of two categories. The first category are what I would call like motivation models.

So they explain things like internal drives and motivations and cravings and kind of like what compels us to act. And then the second category were what I would call reinforcement models. And so they described the rewards that we get from behaviors and how those things kind of reinforce our behavior and essentially what happens like after an action.

So they explain things like internal drives and motivations and cravings and kind of like what compels us to act. And then the second category were what I would call reinforcement models. And so they described the rewards that we get from behaviors and how those things kind of reinforce our behavior and essentially what happens like after an action.

And what I wanted to do was try to come up with a model that I felt like accurately described both the motivation that may come before and the reinforcement that may come after and how those things influence the actions that we take. And there were a variety of what I thought were fairly simple questions about human behavior that weren't totally answered by the previous models.

And what I wanted to do was try to come up with a model that I felt like accurately described both the motivation that may come before and the reinforcement that may come after and how those things influence the actions that we take. And there were a variety of what I thought were fairly simple questions about human behavior that weren't totally answered by the previous models.

So things like what causes somebody to try a habit in the first place? You haven't experienced the reward at that point. So why would you take the first bite of a pancake or the first smoke of a cigarette? What would motivate you to do that? Started with BF Skinner stimulus response reward.

So things like what causes somebody to try a habit in the first place? You haven't experienced the reward at that point. So why would you take the first bite of a pancake or the first smoke of a cigarette? What would motivate you to do that? Started with BF Skinner stimulus response reward.

Charles Duhigg in Power of Habit kind of popularized his cue routine reward, but we say, okay, habits are a cue, and then there's the action, there's some kind of outcome. Well, how come two people respond differently to the same thing?

Charles Duhigg in Power of Habit kind of popularized his cue routine reward, but we say, okay, habits are a cue, and then there's the action, there's some kind of outcome. Well, how come two people respond differently to the same thing?

Like, why would one person see a cigarette and feel like, oh, I have to smoke and another person's like, I've never smoked a day in my life, I'm not interested at all. Because if it's just the cue that leads to the action, you would think they would do the same thing. Why would the same person respond differently to the same cue?

Like, why would one person see a cigarette and feel like, oh, I have to smoke and another person's like, I've never smoked a day in my life, I'm not interested at all. Because if it's just the cue that leads to the action, you would think they would do the same thing. Why would the same person respond differently to the same cue?

How come when I walk in my kitchen at 7 a.m., I see a loaf of bread and I think, oh, I'm going to make some toast for breakfast. But then I walk in at 4 p.m. and I see that same queue and I don't think anything of it. I just move on.

How come when I walk in my kitchen at 7 a.m., I see a loaf of bread and I think, oh, I'm going to make some toast for breakfast. But then I walk in at 4 p.m. and I see that same queue and I don't think anything of it. I just move on.

So to summarize all of this, I think one of the meaningful distinctions about the four stages that I put together and why I feel like it accurately describes human behavior is. and sort of the insight that I came across as I was researching. A neuroscientist named Lisa Feldman Barrett, she has a bunch of studies and a couple books on this topic.

So to summarize all of this, I think one of the meaningful distinctions about the four stages that I put together and why I feel like it accurately describes human behavior is. and sort of the insight that I came across as I was researching. A neuroscientist named Lisa Feldman Barrett, she has a bunch of studies and a couple books on this topic.

One book in particular that was useful for me while I was researching is called How Emotions Are Made. The key insight is that we often think that human behavior is reactive in the sense that somebody does something and I respond or somebody says something and I feel a certain way. But in fact, human behavior is mostly predictive.

One book in particular that was useful for me while I was researching is called How Emotions Are Made. The key insight is that we often think that human behavior is reactive in the sense that somebody does something and I respond or somebody says something and I feel a certain way. But in fact, human behavior is mostly predictive.

You are kind of endlessly going through your experience in life, predicting about what to do next. It's actually this prediction that I think was the key thing that was missing from a lot of the previous models of habits and behavior.

You are kind of endlessly going through your experience in life, predicting about what to do next. It's actually this prediction that I think was the key thing that was missing from a lot of the previous models of habits and behavior.

There's a bazillion studies on dopamine, of course. Also, I should say, like, I think if you only talk about dopamine, it's not the full story about habits. Like there's many neurochemicals that are involved in the process and dopamine is just one part of the overall picture. But it does play a very important role. For a long time, we thought it was about reward and satisfaction and enjoyment.