13. The 4 Laws of Behavior Change

Welcome to Part 3 of Build Strong Habits!

Switch over to the Materials tab and download your Part 3 Workbook. Then, push Play, and let’s get started!

LESSON SUMMARY

🌲 Recall the story I shared with you in this lesson about the father and daughter walking in the woods. Remember what the father said to his daughter? “My child, you’ve just demonstrated the powerful influence that habits can have over your life… Just like the trees in this forest—the older they get, the stronger the roots become, the harder they are to uproot. Some get so big and so strong, you might hesitate to even try.”  

💡 Habits can be hard to change. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible. It simply means that some habits are tougher to change than others. And with the right strategies, you can change the habits that are holding you back and transform them into habits that propel you forward and toward your greatest goals and ambitions. That’s what we’ll be tackling in Part 3 of Build Strong Habits—how to change and transform your habits. 

💡 The four laws of behavior change are a simple set of principles we can use to break weak habits and build strong habits. If we want to build new habits, we need to make them: obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying. 

Find examples for each below:

1. Make it OBVIOUS. Don’t hide the books you need to read or the fruit you want to eat, display them to remind yourself to form better habits. Establish a running habit by placing your running shoes at the foot of your bed.

2. Make it ATTRACTIVE. Read the books you like to read, and it’ll encourage you to read more. Make establishing a running habit more attractive by getting a nice pair of running shoes and some new workout clothes.

3. Make it EASY. If you want to eat more fruit, eat the fruits that are easy to eat. If your Target Habit is to go jogging for at least 45 minutes per day, you can make it easier to create this running habit if you start small—by scaling this Target Habit down to a Tiny Habit, such as “Jog for five minutes a day.”

4. Make it SATISFYING. If you are satisfied, you will want more. If you want to make your running habit more satisfying, prepare a delicious, healthy meal to enjoy when you’ve finished your run. 

💡 Reverse the laws to break bad habits. Make them invisible, unattractive, difficult, and unsatisfying:

1. Make it INVISIBLE. If you want to establish healthy eating habits, hide the junk food, or get rid of it. 

2. Make it UNATTRACTIVE. Junk food feels great while you’re eating it. Diabetes does not. Think of the latter if you’re working on breaking your junk food habit.

3. Make it DIFFICULT. Make it hard to find your junk food by asking a family member to hide it for you. 

4. Make it UNSATISFYING. Find the nutrition label on your favorite junk food and look up the ingredients you haven’t heard of. Once you learn what they REALLY are and how much damage they’re doing to your body, it’ll be less satisfying if you still decide to binge. 

ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS

Whenever you want to build a positive habit, ask yourself: 

• How can I make it obvious?
• How can I make it attractive?
• How can I make it easy?
• How can I make it satisfying?

Whenever you want to break a negative habit,  ask yourself: 

• How can I make it invisible?
• How can I make it unattractive?
• How can I make it difficult?
• How can I make it unsatisfying?