FIGURE 6: 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.
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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. Together,
these four steps form a
neurological feedback loop—cue, craving, response, reward; cue, craving,
response, reward—that ultimately allows you to create automatic habits.
This cycle is known as the habit loop.
This four-step process is not something that happens occasionally, but
rather it is an endless feedback loop that is running and active during every
moment you are alive—even now. The brain
is continually scanning the
environment, predicting what will happen next, trying out different
responses, and learning from the results. The entire process is completed in
a split second, and we use it again and again without realizing everything
that has been packed into the previous moment.
We can split these four steps into two phases: the problem phase and the
solution phase. The problem phase includes the cue and the craving, and it
is when you realize that something needs to change.
The solution phase
includes the response and the reward, and it is when you take action and
achieve the change you desire.
Problem phase
1. Cue
2. Craving
Solution phase
3. Response
4. Reward
All behavior is driven by the desire to solve a problem. Sometimes the
problem is that you notice something good and you want to obtain it.
Sometimes the problem is that you are experiencing pain and you want to
relieve it. Either way, the purpose of every habit is to solve the problems
you face.
In the table on the following page, you can see a few examples of what
this looks like in real life.
Imagine walking into a dark room and flipping on the light switch. You
have performed this simple habit so many times that it occurs without
thinking. You proceed through all four stages in the fraction of a second.
The urge to act strikes you without thinking.
