How to Hack the Habit Loop to Build a Better Life

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 30 December 2024

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Think about your habits, the things you do automatically without much thought — from brushing your teeth in the morning to scrolling social media before bed. There’s a lot going on with these behaviors. On one level, they’re just routines and actions wired into our brains through repetition. But there’s also more to it than that. Our habits shape who we are, influence our health and happiness, and determine much of our success in life. There’s a reason changing habits is one of the most powerful ways to transform ourselves. Today on the show, Dr. Gina Cleo will help us understand the science of habit formation and how we can harness it to build better behaviors. Gina is a researcher with a PhD in habit change and the author of The Habit Revolution: Simple Steps to Rewire Your Brain for Powerful Habit Change. Gina and I discuss the three elements of the habit loop and how to hack them to develop good habits and break bad ones. Along the way, we talk about why micro-habits are so effective for creating lasting change, the differences between men and women when it comes to forming habits, how long it really takes for a habit to stick, and much more.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, this is Brett. Before we get to today's show, I have an announcement. When the Art of Manley's podcast started in 2009, we offered listeners one episode per week.
0:08.2	Later, we expanded to two episodes weekly. Starting this year in 2025, we'll be returning to publishing just one episode a week.
0:15.7	There are two big reasons we've decided to do this. First, we want to continue to be highly selective in choosing
0:20.9	guest. We've always been highly selective in choosing guests to have on the show.
0:24.9	Looking for people with interesting, unique, edifying, and useful ideas who are able to express
0:29.5	those ideas articulately. The interviews almost always center on an author in their book.
0:33.7	And while there are endless so-so books and guests out there, we're not looking for so-so,
0:37.5	we're looking for great. Now, with 1,000 books read and 1,000 episodes recorded,
0:42.4	we've hosted some of the best thinkers multiple times, covered hundreds of subjects multiple
0:47.0	times, and already highlighted many, many the best books out there. Subsequently, it's become
0:51.8	harder and harder to maintain our standard of guest selection.
0:54.8	To find topics we haven't already done and done well, and to book folks who have something
0:58.5	fresh and worthwhile to say. We've never wanted to find ourselves in a position where we have to
1:02.8	book someone we only think is so-so, simply to fulfill a contractually obligated slot on the
1:07.1	calendar. Moving to one episode a week ensures that we can continue to maintain our
1:10.9	standards of selection and only offer our listeners episodes that are truly valuable. Each week,
1:15.8	there will be an episode that is definitely worth listening to. The trend these days, of course,
1:19.7	is for podcast to add more and more episodes and even spin-off shows in order to maximize downloads
1:24.0	and thus revenue. But quality has always mattered more to us than earnings.
1:28.1	The second reason we're moving to one episode a week is that allows to spend more time on our
1:32.1	first love, writing. This shift isn't just about doing less. It's about making room for something
1:37.7	that both Kate and I have had the itch to do more of in the past few years. Deep, thoughtful,
	...

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