39 - Atomic Habits Chapter 15: The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change

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Behavior is repeated when the experience is satisfying. For habits to stick, you need to feel immediately successful – even if it’s in a small way.

Habits produce outcomes across time that often need to be more aligned. The costs of your good habits are in the present. The costs of your bad habits are in the future.

The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change: “What is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided.”

Add a little bit of immediate pleasure to the habits that pay off in the long run and immediate pain to ones that don’t.

In the beginning, make the ending of your habit satisfying so you stay on track. Use reinforcement with an immediate reward to increase the rate of the behavior.

Select short-term rewards that reinforce your identity rather than ones that conflict with it.

For example, rewarding exercise with ice cream is conflicting. Reward yourself with a massage, a luxury, and a vote toward taking care of your body.

You can also make avoidance visible. Open a savings account for something you want – like a “Leather Jacket.” The immediate reward of seeing yourself save money toward the jacket feels better than being deprived. You are making it satisfying to do nothing.

Eventually, intrinsic rewards (better mood, more energy, etc.) kick in, and you’ll be less concerned with chasing the secondary reward. You do it because it’s who you are. Identity sustains a habit.
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