Habit book notes · Marshall Goldsmith · 2015
Triggers — the big ideas
An executive coach on how environment triggers behaviour, and on daily self-questions to stay aligned with what you intend.
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An executive coach explains how environments trigger behaviour and recommends daily self-questions to stay aligned with what you intend.
The big ideas
Environment triggers behaviour
We often behave differently than we intend because our surroundings pull us.
Daily questions
Asking yourself each day “did I do my best to…?” keeps attention on effort you control.
Anticipate triggers
Plan for the situations that pull you off course.
Key concepts
- Behavioural triggers
- Daily questions
- Active questions
- Self-monitoring
Limits
- Based mostly on coaching experience rather than controlled research.
- Daily scoring of effort can feel like grading — use words, not numbers, if that helps.
What the research says
- Harkin, Webb, Chang, Prestwich, Conner, Kellar, Benn & Sheeran (2016) — Pooled 138 experiments with close to 20,000 people. Interventions that increased how often people monitored their progress also improved goal attainment on average, and effects were larger when progress was physically recorded or shared with others. Limits: An average across very different goals; monitoring can feel like a chore, and what you choose to monitor matters.
Apply this idea
Write two daily questions about effort you control, and answer them in words each evening for a week.
Described in our own words with the source named — not a summary of the whole book.
Techniques drawn from it
- Track the behaviour — Record each time you do it — quickly, honestly, where you’ll see it. (Supported by multiple studies)
- Coping plan for obstacles — Name the obstacle most likely to get in the way, and decide now what you’ll do. (Research-supported)
- Steer around high-risk moments — Where it’s sensible, avoid the situations where the unwanted habit almost always happens. (Research-supported)