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My 2 cents:

3. Habits are often formed because of/to adapt the environment. (evolution?) Hang out with smoker friends all the time, higher chance of becoming a smoker. Or if you have a door that doesn't shut/lock properly. It could lead you to form a habit of double checking the door every time you close it. Fixing the door would probably cause you to lose that habit.

6. A lot of behaviors are set off by certain triggers. It could be different for everyone. Smoker trying to quit should probably avoid being at places where everyone is smoking. AA member probably should avoid going to bars. Recognizing triggers allow you to avoid things that lead to undesired compulsive behaviors. At the same time they can be used to create desirable ones. Perhaps listening to motivational music or phrases will trigger someone to study and seek self improvement.

Triggers are very powerful indeed. I'm pretty happy to see this list - since I nailed probably 6-7 out of them while hacking the smoking habit out of myself last year.

Coincidentally I've written this up earlier today for one of my friends who's just 3 days into the journey - and thought to share here as well. If it helps anyone at all - I'd be happy.

http://bnpcs.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-to-quit-smoking.html

I have heard of triggers used in stories about focus in blogs that reached the frontpage here.

The examples were things like, "I only use my computer for fun or to surf if I'm in my easy-chair. If I'm at my desk, I only use it for work"

Personally, it makes me think of how some people arrange their whole living room to be focused on the TV... chairs & couches arranged to point at it, etc. My parents had theirs arranged to point towards the center of the room, encouraging people to talk or read, as you had to situate yourself oddly to face the TV.

And, if anyone wants the list above formatted in positive terms (maybe to put in your evernote inspiration folder or w/e):

1. Willpower alone isn't sufficient motivation for long term change.

- Imagine willpower doesn't exist.

2. Attempt Baby Steps, not Big Leaps

- Seek tiny successes, one after another

3. Notice how the environment shapes your behavior

- Change your context to change your life

4. Focus on creating new behaviors, not stopping old ones.

- Focus on action, not avoidance

5. Failures don't necessarily indicate a lack of motivation

- More like a failure of planning. Find a way to make the behavior easier to do

6. Recognize and understand the power of triggers.

- No behavior happens without a trigger

7. Information alone doesn't lead to action

- Our environment needs to be set up in a way that helps us capitalize on that information

8. Focusing on concrete behaviors rather than abstract goals

- Abstract: Get in shape. Concrete: Walk 15 min. today

9. Try to change a behavior for a short time, rather than forever

- A fixed period works better than "forever"

10. Remember, behavior change need not be difficult.

- Behavior change can be relatively easy when you take many steps to increase the probability that your desired behavior will occur.

3: A great illustration for this is the infamous Stanford prison experiment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment

6: You don't just start behaving in any way for no reason -- you do it because something happened. There's always a push, initiating your actions.

A great example of using it for your benefit is described in The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp, where she says that having daily rituals helps in shaping new habits. In her example every morning she goes outside and hails a taxi; then she goes to the gym where she exercises for an hour. The point is she's not going to the gym every morning (that's hard, I tried it); instead she's just hailing a taxi (sounds much easier, doesn't it?). This puts her in motion. Waking up is a trigger to have a shower and dress, this leads to putting your shoes on and getting outside; once you're outside you just call the taxi, and once you're in the taxi there's no going back. You've tricked yourself into going to the gym. Again!

  > 3: A great illustration for this is the infamous Stanford prison experiment:
  > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment

It is infamous largely for having no controls and rapidly deteriorating scientific conditions. Please do not draw conclusions from Zimbardo's failure; there's a whole body of better social psychology on this topic.

I would love to see some links to more reading on this if you have some.

Re: 6

It much easier to change behaviour that you initiate, than it is to change reactive behaviour. As an example, I tend to use 'yeah, but ...' a lot: I tend to pose questions as challenges. This does not work well with everyone and I would like to interact with those people differently. However, the 'Yeah, but ...' is so ingrained in my way of discussing proposals that it has proven quite hard to change it. Even though I really, really want to, because some people near to me don't respond well to that way of discussing something obviously unfinished.

FWIW:

I was bedridden for about 3.5 months and then was mostly housebound for a long time. During that time, I spent a lot of time on the internet. Getting a job, at a large company no less, after so much physical isolation and mostly interacting online was really bizarre. It is very clear to me that it is a lot harder to not be reactive in person. I think it has to do with things like pheromones. I have found that putting a little more physical distance between myself and others can help reduce that effect. And some people do more "broadcasting" than others, so some individuals are just harder to not be reactive with. I guess developing better habits with other folks (who are easier to deal with) would be a good place to start so that those new habits have some hope of overriding your old habits.

It also helps to not be on any medication (even OTC cold meds and such), not hopped up on caffeine, not suffering blood sugar spikes or lows, etc.

pg's essay on Cities and Ambition describes an instance of 3, namely, the way cities can shape personal behaviour, sometimes in subtle ways: http://www.paulgraham.com/cities.html

As 1440x900 wallpaper: http://jekdoce.fastmail.fm/behavior-wallpaper.png

Interesting.

Seems an awful lot like what happens in AA (not the mistakes part, but the way to handle or avoid those mistakes).

#5 and #6 seems to be contrary. Sometimes motivation is the bigger trigger to make things happen.