The key to forming a good mindset is to understand that habits are about much more than what you do.

Habits can be separated into two major categories: macro and micro. Each category involves an ecosystem that includes behavior, action, routine and process. These dynamics are the seeds of our lives. They describe what happens immediately after we awake in the morning, the amount of time we spend on our phones, what we do when we are hungry, how we work, the way we react to a rude waiter, if we exercise, how we deal with money and the thousands of threads contributing to the tapestry of our lives.

To create the healthiest habits, these “micro” actions and behaviors should be of the highest possible quality since they will be repeated regularly, over and over, and begin to shape your life. The micro habits eventually cluster together and turn into “macro” habits we call routines. A group of routines is called a process and a group of processes is called life. It’s a bit cartoonish, but this is a great way to frame the path of success.

It’s easy to assume macro habits are under our control. However, Power of Habit author Charles Duhig said macro habits tend to be governed automatically by our basal ganglia, a subconscious part of the brain. In fact, the automatic nature of a habit is why they can be so effective in shaping our lives. Imagine if you had to check every street or consult a map before driving home from work each day. That would be exhausting and a huge waste of time. Habits are the brain’s way of making life more efficient. Unfortunately, the unconscious brain is terrible at recognizing if a new habit bad or good, which is how bad habits can creep into our lives.

How Habits Work

The most common advice about habits is to simply avoid doing certain things or, in the words of Spike Lee, “just do the right thing.” Oh, if it were that easy. Habits, both good and bad, can rely enormously on your environment. For example, you are more likely to dress better if you hang out with well-dressed people and if your friends are at the gym, then you will likely make a greater effort to exercise as well. Social feedback cues are critical to building routine and good habits.

James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, offers a framework called the “habit loop” to explain how the environment plays a role in forming our habits. The habit loop starts with an external cue (something in the environment) which then bubbles into a craving. This craving leads to a response by your body which then receives a reward when it acts. Once the reward is achieved, the habit loop is closed. Of course, a new environmental cue will trigger a fresh craving, and the habit loop starts again. This is the story of our lives.

An environmental cue could be your cellphone making a noise, informing you of an incoming text from a friend or colleague. The craving is your desire know the true message of the text. Is someone in trouble? What did that celebrity tweet about? The response is the action taken to satisfy a craving, such as responding to the text, which leads to a feeling of reward that comes from hitting send on that message.

Clear writes:

“The four stages of habit are best described as a feedback loop. They form an endless cycle that is running every moment you are alive. This “habit loop” is continually scanning the environment, predicting what will happen next, trying out different responses, and learning from the results. In summary, the cue triggers a craving, which motivates a response, which provides a reward, which satisfies the craving and, ultimately, becomes associated with the cue.”

Clear’s framework is great both for creating good habits and getting rid of bad habits. To reduce bad habits, he simply advises reversing his four key laws. To see the power of this framework, let’s take a close look at those laws.

The First Law of Habit Change – Make it Obvious

Clear’s First Law is that behavior is always primed by our environment, so organizing a good environment is crucial for developing good habits. For example, if you want to eat better, put apples on the counter rather than in the crisper. Conversely, if the goal is to wean yourself out of a bad habit, you must invert this law and make the tempting negative cues less obvious. So, someone aiming to eat more healthy food shouldn’t have candy or potato chips lying around in their house.

The Second Law of Habit Change – Make It Attractive

Often, the core motivation for a person’s action is to be accepted by other people or by someone we feel close to. This desire and implicit promise of acceptance works on the reward pathways of the brain and the anticipation of a reward can be as powerful as the reward itself. To diagnose if a potential action is good or bad, simply ask if “future you” will be proud of the decision. As above, avoiding bad habits simply requires flipping this law around: don’t spend time with people who exhibit bad habits.

The Third Law of Habit Change – Make It Easy

The most effective way of building consistently good habits is to plan ahead. Don’t make it easy to pick up the TV remote. Don’t make it easy to eat junk food. Understand that the most challenging part about creating good habits is just to start. The trick is, once you begin, you are less likely to abandon a habit. For example, if you want to work out before breakfast, then leave a set of workout clothes where they are easy to spot, like hanging on the back of your bedroom door. The goal is to make starting a habit as seamless as possible.

The Fourth Law of Habit Change – Make It Satisfying

We are more likely to repeat a satisfying habit. This means finding a way to tell your brain to be proud that you did the workout or made those phone calls. The environment helps with satisfaction as well. For example, surround yourself with people who cheer you on or who will give you a dirty look when you renege on your promises. But be sure they aren’t encouraging your bad habits. You should teach your body and mind to only achieve satisfaction when you know you’ve taken the right action.

Nowhere in Clear’s four laws does he say that will power and grit are important in forming good habits. They certainly play a role. But a big part of habit-building is to purposefully design an environment in which making the right decision is the easier path than procrastination.

Keep in mind, however, that in forming those new habits your life may get worse before it gets better and don’t expect to see a large payoff for a while (even as you spend more resources at the beginning). Just know that what hurts you in the short run will probably help you in the long run.

Paradox 1: Life will get worse before it gets better

It is a bit of a fantasy to expect immediate results the moment a habit is changed. It simply isn’t reasonable to expect to lose a bunch of weight after one workout. James Clear said your life is a lagging indicator of your habits which means every positive change includes a negative consequence. The reality is, you will feel sore and tired the next day and say in despair “not chicken breast again...” If you decide to go to couples’ therapy, your rocky relationship will get even rockier as you start dealing with the suppressed issues.

But no advertising campaign will ever tell the truth that your life will get worse before it gets better. Can you imagine a gym that said although you will be sore and tired for three days, it can help you get thinner? No one would by a membership to that gym.

Paradox 2: What hurts in the short run will help in long run 

Although it is always your responsibility to change your life, change won’t happen in an instant. Saving ten percent of your income does nothing for you right now because you cannot take advantage of the sale on shoes, but it may allow you to buy a decent house in 20 years’ time. If you choose to read a book, upgrade your skills or go to a networking event you won’t be able to indulge in that latest popular Netflix show. Conversely, eating a tub of ice cream will create a rush of dopamine, but will probably hurt you in the long run.

The hard part is there’s no guarantee these sacrifices will work. Even if you are careful with money, an unexpected bill may blow up your savings. And it’s not always true that eating healthy will protect you from illness, especially genetic illnesses. Sometimes, kicking the can down the road can be the right decision. For example, if you need to skip a day of work to spend time with your kids, then that sacrifice might be worth it.

Paradox 3: It takes more resources to get going than to keep going

Starting anything new always takes more time, energy and resources at the beginning. If you want to start a new diet, you will need to spend more on groceries, buy new kitchenware and convince your family to follow the food changes to help you out. To organize a better morning routine, you’ll have to get up earlier and go to bed earlier. Trains pump out stacks of smoke when starting up from the station, but once they reach cruising speed further on down the tracks, it takes far less coal to keep them moving.

Understand that the goal is not to change your life today, it is to change the trajectory of your life starting from today. Results come slowly over time, it may even take a couple of years.

The Interconnected Life

Think of your habits as the building blocks of life. Habits in one area of your life will affect the decision making in other parts. For example, should you have a tiff with your spouse, expect that argument to affect your mood at work as well. One of the leading causes of divorce is financial issues since the stress weighs on all aspects of your life. Financial stress might affect your sleep cycle, which will lead to not eating right which will perhaps cause you to make bad decisions and in turn create even more financial stress. In fact, research shows a person who is sleep deprived has the same decision-making ability as a drunk person. That’s worth keeping in mind.

Your life is an interconnected ecosystem that relies on positive decision making in all areas. That’s why it is unwise to devote all your attention to one endeavor. By doing a little bit to improve multiple areas of your life, you can achieve phenomenal overall success.

Conclusion

Actions, behaviors, habits and processes are the fundamental building blocks of life. The quality of these will determine the quality of your life. It is simple math, really: to improve the output of your life, improve the inputs. Habits can make or break you, so make sure you create good ones.

Three short lines

Habits are about much more than what you do

Organizing a good environment is crucial for developing good habits

Will power and grit are important in forming good habits, but not critical

Three longer lines

To create the healthiest habits, these “micro” actions and behaviors should be of the highest possible quality since they will be repeated regularly

It is a bit of a fantasy to expect immediate results the moment a habit is changed. It simply isn’t reasonable to expect to lose a bunch of weight after one workout

Habits, both good and bad, can rely enormously on your environment. For example, you are more likely to dress better if you hang out with well-dressed people and if your friends are at the gym, then you will likely make a greater effort to exercise as well.