Frequently asked questions about thinking, epistemology, and cognitive tools. 604 answers
Select a habit you are currently building or attempting to build. Write down the reward you have been using (or assuming). Now run Duhigg's craving isolation protocol: the next three times the cue fires, try a different reward each time. After each alternative reward, wait fifteen minutes and.
Pick one habit you are currently maintaining or attempting to build. Write two columns on a piece of paper. In the left column, list every extrinsic reward you currently receive or have set up for the habit — money, treats, social praise, streak counts, points. In the right column, list every.
Choose a habit you are currently building or want to build. Identify the natural reward — is it immediate or delayed? If delayed, design three immediate reward candidates: one physical (a sensation or action you perform right after), one visual (something you see or log), and one narrative (a.
Pick one habit you are currently trying to build or have recently abandoned. Set a timer for ten minutes. Write at the top of a page: "What am I actually craving when I feel the urge to do (or avoid) this behavior?" Then write continuously without editing. Do not censor yourself. After ten.
Choose one habit you want to understand better — not change yet, just understand. Over the next five occurrences, complete a diagnostic log at the moment the urge appears (not after the routine executes). For each occurrence, record: (1) the time, (2) your physical location, (3) your emotional.
Select a habit you diagnosed in L-1032. Write out its full cue-routine-reward loop. Now generate three modification plans — one that changes only the cue, one that changes only the routine, and one that changes only the reward — while keeping the other two elements identical. For each plan, rate.
Select one habit you want to change. Using the diagnosis from L-1032 and the craving identification from L-1031, write the full loop: the specific cue (time, location, emotional state, preceding action), the current routine (the full behavioral sequence), and the real reward (the underlying.
Select one habit you want to change. Using the diagnostic checklist from this lesson, work through all four steps on paper. Step 1: Identify the cue with full specificity — time, location, emotional state, preceding action, people present. Step 2: Run the reward isolation test — when the cue fires.
Choose one behavior you want to perform daily but currently have no craving for — a behavior that you know is beneficial but that generates no anticipatory pull. Design a craving engineering protocol for it using all five steps from this lesson. Step 1: Define the cue — a specific time, location,.
Select a positive habit you have been maintaining for at least two weeks with a consistent reward. First, identify the reward category — is it relief, stimulation, competence, connection, or something else? Second, design three variations within that category: one baseline reward (your current.
Tomorrow morning, carry a small notebook or keep a notes app open from the moment you wake up until you leave the house (or sit down at your desk if you work from home). Write down every single action you take, no matter how small — including reaching for your phone, which foot hits the floor.
Pull your habit scorecard from L-1038. Circle your five most reliable positive habits — behaviors you perform every single day without exception, with clear physical endpoints. For each one, ask: Is there a new behavior I want to install that fits this context (location, energy level, available.
Conduct a Complete Behavioral Design Protocol on one area of your life — morning, work transition, evening, or any recurring time block. Step 1 (Awareness): Run the habit scorecard from L-1038 for this time block, listing every behavior and marking it positive, negative, or neutral. Step 2.
Map one existing behavioral sequence from your daily life — your morning wake-up, your work startup, your evening wind-down, or any recurring block where you perform multiple actions in rough succession. Write each action as a discrete step, then identify: (1) which transitions between steps are.
Map your current morning as a chain diagram. From the moment your alarm sounds to the moment you begin your primary work, write each action as a link: action, duration, and what triggers the next action. Circle any link where the trigger is a decision rather than an automatic cue. These decision.
Map your current work startup sequence tomorrow morning by writing down every action you take from the moment you arrive at your workspace until you begin your first meaningful task. Include timestamps. Then design a replacement chain of no more than six links, each taking under two minutes, that.
Design and run your shutdown chain tonight. Step 1: Open your task manager, calendar, and inbox. Scan each for unfinished items and capture every open loop into a single list — nothing stays in your head. Step 2: From that list, select the one to three priorities for tomorrow morning and write.
Map your current exercise behavior as a chain. Write each step from the moment you first think about exercising to the moment you finish and transition to the next activity. Circle every point where you currently make a decision — what to do, where to go, how long, how hard. For each decision.
Select your strongest behavioral chain — the one that runs most reliably across your week. Write out every link from trigger to terminal action. For each link, assign a reliability percentage: how often does this link fire successfully when the previous one completes? Be honest — 100% means it has.
Choose one behavioral chain you currently run (morning routine, work startup, exercise, or shutdown). Write out every link in order. Now circle each transition — the moment between finishing one link and starting the next. For each transition, answer three questions: Does the end of one link.
Identify the longest behavioral chain you currently run — the sequence with the most links between trigger and terminal reward. Write out every link. Count them. If the count exceeds seven or eight, draw horizontal lines at the natural breakpoints — the places where the chain shifts context,.
Identify one behavioral chain you currently run that breaks or stalls when context changes — a morning routine that fails on weekends, a work chain that collapses on remote days, an exercise chain that stalls when traveling. Write out the linear chain as it currently exists. Then identify the.
Select one behavioral chain you currently run or are building. Evaluate the first link and the last link independently by asking three questions about each: (1) Does it fire reliably at least six out of seven days? (2) Does it require willpower or self-regulation to initiate? (3) Is it connected.
Choose one behavioral chain you run regularly — morning, work startup, shutdown, or exercise. This week, deliberately simulate a chain break. On a day you choose in advance, allow the chain to be interrupted after the third or fourth link (set a timer, have someone call you, or simply stop and.