How to build a habit that sticks
Short answer
Find the cue, routine, reward by logging cues for three days. Keep the cue and reward, swap the routine for a small one. Shrink the new routine until laughable and anchor it to an existing habit: after X I do Y. Make the start tiny, a two minute door you do on contact, for example one page or roll the mat. Celebrate each small completion to wire the loop. Show up daily; volume will follow when the chain stays unbroken.
Assembled by AI from the RefineAura lessons below
The lessons behind this answer
1 · Habits
The Habit Loop
Explains cue, routine, reward and three days of cue-logging to edit loops.
- Cue → routine → reward; cravings attach to cues, not routines.
- Keep cue and reward, swap the routine: never leave a loop unanswered.
- Three days of cue-logging makes any invisible loop editable.
2 · Habits
Tiny Habits
Tells you to shrink habits, anchor them to routines, and celebrate completions.
- Motivation-fuelled behaviour fails on low days; laughably small behaviour doesn't.
- Anchor to an existing routine: after-X-I-do-Y.
- Celebrate completions: emotion is what wires the loop.
3 · Habits
The Two-Minute Rule
Shows making a two minute gateway that makes starting the habit easy.
- Scale the door down, never the work: starting is the expensive part.
- Under two minutes? Do it on contact; scheduling small tasks costs more than doing them.
- Every deep task has a two-minute door. Build it deliberately.
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