James Clear

Why do we care about delaying gratification to get a PhD or delaying gratification to save more money? Primarily because it affords some form of status, which is very hierarchical and very, we think, evolutionarily wired in. So there's still connections there. It's just that not all of it is aligned.

I'll kind of give a roundabout answer here, but I'll come back to your question. So What is it that determines whether a habit is good or bad? You know, we use these phrases a lot of the time in conversation. We say, oh, it's a bad habit, it's a good habit. And sometimes people will ask me, like, well, why do I repeat this habit if it's bad for me?

I'll kind of give a roundabout answer here, but I'll come back to your question. So What is it that determines whether a habit is good or bad? You know, we use these phrases a lot of the time in conversation. We say, oh, it's a bad habit, it's a good habit. And sometimes people will ask me, like, well, why do I repeat this habit if it's bad for me?

You know, if it's so terrible, then how come I keep coming back to it? And I think we can divide, in a sense, if you want to get really pedantic about it or really academic about it, some researchers don't even like to use the word good or bad because they're habits and they all serve you in some way.

You know, if it's so terrible, then how come I keep coming back to it? And I think we can divide, in a sense, if you want to get really pedantic about it or really academic about it, some researchers don't even like to use the word good or bad because they're habits and they all serve you in some way.

Right. Yeah. I think we could make a meaningful division in the sense of how we use it in most conversation and say that pretty much all behaviors produce multiple outcomes across time. Broadly speaking, we could lump it into an immediate bucket, an immediate outcome and an ultimate outcome. And what you find is that for most bad habits, the immediate outcome is actually pretty favorable.

Right. Yeah. I think we could make a meaningful division in the sense of how we use it in most conversation and say that pretty much all behaviors produce multiple outcomes across time. Broadly speaking, we could lump it into an immediate bucket, an immediate outcome and an ultimate outcome. And what you find is that for most bad habits, the immediate outcome is actually pretty favorable.

The classic example is smoking a cigarette. But if you smoke a cigarette outside the office at 10 a.m. with a friend, well, then immediately you get some socialization. Maybe it curbs your nicotine craving or just lets you like de-stress for a couple minutes or get a break from work. There are all kinds of things that you might be benefiting from.

The classic example is smoking a cigarette. But if you smoke a cigarette outside the office at 10 a.m. with a friend, well, then immediately you get some socialization. Maybe it curbs your nicotine craving or just lets you like de-stress for a couple minutes or get a break from work. There are all kinds of things that you might be benefiting from.

It's only two or five or 10 years later that the ultimate outcome is negative. With the good habits, especially the first time you perform them, it's often the reverse. The first week of training in the gym, your body looks the same in the mirror, you're sore, you don't really have much to show for the effort that you're putting in. You feel kind of stupid in there.

It's only two or five or 10 years later that the ultimate outcome is negative. With the good habits, especially the first time you perform them, it's often the reverse. The first week of training in the gym, your body looks the same in the mirror, you're sore, you don't really have much to show for the effort that you're putting in. You feel kind of stupid in there.

You're wondering if people judge you or if you're doing it the wrong way. There are a lot of upfront costs and it's only two or five or 10 years later that you get the outcome that you're looking for. In a sense, the cost of your good habits is in the present. The cost of your bad habits is in the future.

You're wondering if people judge you or if you're doing it the wrong way. There are a lot of upfront costs and it's only two or five or 10 years later that you get the outcome that you're looking for. In a sense, the cost of your good habits is in the present. The cost of your bad habits is in the future.

And that misalignment between when you feel rewarded and when you feel punished helps to explain why we tend to fall pretty easily into a lot of things that we would categorize as bad, like eating donuts or smoking a cigarette or whatever, and fall less easily into things that we would categorize as good or feels like I have to force myself to write or whatever.

And that misalignment between when you feel rewarded and when you feel punished helps to explain why we tend to fall pretty easily into a lot of things that we would categorize as bad, like eating donuts or smoking a cigarette or whatever, and fall less easily into things that we would categorize as good or feels like I have to force myself to write or whatever.

Now that's very similar to what you just mentioned about the immediacy of the feedback. Bad habits are giving you pretty immediate feedback, kind of like riding a bike. Good habits are giving you pretty delayed feedback, maybe a little bit analogous to swimming. I think that example of the medium that you're in, air versus water, is fascinating to think about water as being a feedback dampener.

Now that's very similar to what you just mentioned about the immediacy of the feedback. Bad habits are giving you pretty immediate feedback, kind of like riding a bike. Good habits are giving you pretty delayed feedback, maybe a little bit analogous to swimming. I think that example of the medium that you're in, air versus water, is fascinating to think about water as being a feedback dampener.

But there is another element to it, which you also mentioned, which is the strength of the feedback. Falling on the ground off a bike and skinning your knee is pretty painful. You learn quite quickly. Technically, making a bad stroke in the water, you don't really pay too much of a cost if you're being sloppy with your form. It's unlikely that you rectify that quickly.

But there is another element to it, which you also mentioned, which is the strength of the feedback. Falling on the ground off a bike and skinning your knee is pretty painful. You learn quite quickly. Technically, making a bad stroke in the water, you don't really pay too much of a cost if you're being sloppy with your form. It's unlikely that you rectify that quickly.

And this is a phenomenon that I think is so critical or so important to behavior change. I called it the cardinal rule of behavior change in atomic habits, which is Behaviors that get immediately rewarded get repeated. Behaviors that get immediately punished get avoided. And it's really about the speed and the intensity of that feedback.