Yesterday, we talked about the habit loop.
This concept is based on the work of Charles Duhigg in his book The Power of Habits.
The habit loop has been popularized by Nir Eyal’s book Hooked and James Clear’s book Atomic Habits.
In this post, we’ll cover the first phase of the loop – THE CUE.
James Clear sees five primary triggers that can cue a new habit:
- Time – Considering the time of day where the trigger fits best can be the perfect cue.
- Location – When we go to a specific location that triggers us to do the routine.
- Preceding Event – This is when another activity is the cue for the habit you wish to build.
- Emotional State – These are difficult to use to build a habit, but key to recognize a negative cue.
- Other People – Surrounding ourselves with people who have the habits we want can be a cue.
You can learn more about these five cues in this blog post.
Another book with strategies for habit formation is Gretchen Rubin’s book Better Than Before.
This book outlines 21 different strategies to create and keep habits. This post mentions all 21 strategies.
My Perspective
Understanding the triggers that we can leverage to create a new habit is the foundation.
If we consider the habit we want to create, we can start with the five primary triggers.
Depending on the habit, one of the five is likely a good approach to try.
We can always go back and try another if the first one proves not to be as effective as planned.
The trigger that seems to work best for me is time.
Occasionally I’ll use location or a preceding event.
I don’t know if I’ve ever tried emotion or other people.
Your Turn
Have you ever used the cues described here?
If you consider a habit you are looking to build, which cue might work best?
Do you have more challenges starting a habit or sustaining it over time?