Module 4 · Build & change

Change & break habits

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Understand what an unwanted habit does for you, then redesign the system around it.

By the end of this module

You will map what triggers an unwanted habit and what it gives you, change the situation around it, and handle slips without giving up.

Not “more willpower” — a better system — Why fighting a habit head-on usually fails, and what works instead. (5 min · Beginner)
Find the triggers — The times, places, feelings and people that set the habit off. (6 min · Beginner)
What the habit gives you — Every unwanted habit pays you something. Name it, and you can pay yourself another way. (6 min · Intermediate)

Remove or reduce the cue — Change what you see, where you go and what’s within reach. (6 min · Beginner)
Make it harder to do — Add steps, distance and delay between you and the habit. (5 min · Beginner)
Swap in something else — Keep the cue, change the response — an alternative that meets the same need. (6 min · Intermediate)
If–then plans for unwanted habits — Decide in advance exactly what you’ll do when the trigger arrives. (6 min · Intermediate)
Noticing an urge without obeying it — Awareness of the early signs, and riding out an urge until it passes. (6 min · Intermediate)

A lapse is not a relapse — One slip is information, not a verdict — and how to stop it becoming giving up. (6 min · Beginner)
Restarting after an interruption — Coming back after illness, travel or a hard month — smaller, sooner, without guilt. (5 min · Beginner)