CLUE INDUCED CRAVING.

 

Recently, my roommate and I decided to test one rule from Atomic Habits by James Clear, and honestly, I am still shocked, I knew this rule theoretically, because yay I've read the book.

So I have this thing for glasses, an obsession even, recently it had become a part of my aesthetic. To the point that I hardly stepped out without wearing one. It felt natural, almost compulsory.

But then we took a closer look.

My glasses lived on my dressing drawer. Right there. Every single day. As I reached for my perfume, there they were, sitting pretty, staring at me. So I wore them. Not because I deeply loved glasses(I like them a lot though) but because they were there.

Convenient, accessible, in my face.

My roommate saw this and said, let us test something. She packed all my glasses into a box and kept them out of sight. 

Ladies and gentlemen.

I have not worn glasses in a week or so.

Like guyyy.

That was when it clicked.

James Clear talks about cue induced craving. The idea that habits do not start because we love something deeply. They start because we see a cue. And once the cue shows up, the craving follows.

I did not crave glasses, I craved the feeling of being put together and the glasses were just the easiest path to that feeling.

Remove the cue and suddenly the habit has no power.

This small experiment taught me something important. Sometimes, who we think we are is just a reflection of what is always around us.

Change your environment and you might just change your habits without stress, willpower, or long motivational speeches. Again, within habits lies the lazy approach to living well.

Dearest reader, if there is something you keep doing and you are not sure why, look around you. What is always within reach? What keeps showing up in your space? Sometimes the problem is not you. It is just the cue quietly doing its job.

@favvy_Okwans🖤.