Anchor health behavior triggers to stable external signals…
Anchor health behavior triggers to stable external signals rather than subjective internal states, as internal assessments degrade under the conditions when the behavior is most needed.
Why This Is a Principle
Grounds to Human memory under stress and cognitive load is unreliable… (memory unreliable under stress), Behavior requires an initiating signal to occur… (behavior needs initiating signal), and Event-based prospective memory is easier and more reliable… (event-based > time-based). The principle prescribes trigger design: use external/objective cues (9:30 PM) not internal/subjective ones (when I feel tired). It's actionable, general across health domains, and explains why external beats internal.
Source Lessons
Health agents
Agents for sleep exercise nutrition and stress management decisions.
Agent inheritance
New agents can inherit properties and patterns from existing successful agents rather than being built from scratch.
Agent components: trigger, condition, and action
Every agent has a trigger that activates it, a condition that validates it, and an action it takes.
Agents must be specific and testable
Vague agents do not fire reliably — specificity is required.
Event-based triggers
Linking an agent to a specific event like arriving at work or opening your laptop.
Delegation to habits
A well-designed habit is delegation to your future automatic self.
Internal triggers versus external triggers
Internal triggers are thoughts and feelings — external triggers are events and cues.