Habitopedia

Terms from behavior science, James Clear’s Atomic Habits, Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit, BJ Fogg’s Tiny Habits, Carol Dweck’s Mindset, Angela Duckworth’s Grit, Cal Newport’s Deep Work, and the broader literature on habits and identity.

Ability

In the Fogg Behavior Model (B=MAP), ability is one of three factors that must align for a behavior to occur. Ability means you have the skills, resources, and time to perform the behavior. When motivation is low, make the behavior easier to increase ability.

Example: If you can’t meditate for 20 minutes, start with 2 breaths. Lower the bar until the behavior is doable.

Anchor

In Tiny Habits, an anchor is an existing behavior you use as a prompt for a new habit. The formula: After I [anchor], I will [new behavior]. Anchors must be specific and consistent.

Example: After I brush my teeth, I will floss one tooth. The anchor (brushing) triggers the new habit.

Atomic Habits

Small, incremental changes that compound over time. The idea that 1% better every day leads to 37x improvement in a year. From James Clear’s book, tiny habits are easier to start and sustain than big ones.

Example: Instead of “run a marathon,” start with “put on running shoes.”

Celebration

In Tiny Habits, celebration is a positive emotion you create immediately after a behavior to wire it into your brain. A quick “Yes!” or fist pump reinforces the habit. Celebration makes the behavior satisfying.

Example: After doing two push-ups, say “Nice!” out loud. The positive feeling strengthens the habit loop.

Compound Effect

The principle that small, consistent actions accumulate into significant results over time. Habits compound, both good and bad. Your daily choices shape your outcomes more than occasional big efforts.

Example: Reading 10 pages daily adds up to 3,650 pages per year, dozens of books.

Craving

The motivational force behind a habit, the desire for a change in internal state. Not the behavior itself, but the feeling you expect from it. The second step in the habit loop.

Example: Craving the calm of meditation, the energy of coffee, the relief of scrolling.

Cue

The trigger that initiates a habit. Cues can be time, location, emotion, preceding event, or another person. The first step in the habit loop. Also called a trigger or prompt.

Example: Waking up (time), sitting on the couch (location), feeling stressed (emotion).

Deep Work

Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. From Cal Newport, deep work creates value and is increasingly rare. Building deep work habits requires ritual and environment design.

Example: Blocking 4 hours each morning for focused writing, with phone off and notifications disabled.

Deliberate Practice

Purposeful, focused practice with clear goals and immediate feedback. From Anders Ericsson, popularized in Grit, deliberate practice is how experts improve. It requires effort and is not inherently enjoyable, but it builds mastery.

Example: A musician practicing a difficult passage slowly, correcting each mistake, rather than playing through the whole piece.

Environment Design

Shaping your surroundings to make good habits obvious and easy, and bad habits invisible and difficult. Context shapes behavior more than motivation. From Atomic Habits, design your space for the person you want to become.

Example: Put fruit on the counter, hide the remote in a drawer, leave your journal on your pillow.

Fixed Mindset

The belief that abilities are innate and unchangeable. From Carol Dweck’s Mindset, people with a fixed mindset avoid challenges, give up easily, and see effort as fruitless. Contrast with growth mindset.

Example: “I’m just not a math person” vs. “I can get better at math with practice.”

The Four Laws of Behavior Change

For building good habits: Make it obvious (cue), attractive (craving), easy (response), satisfying (reward). To break bad habits, invert each law, make cues invisible, cravings unattractive, responses difficult, rewards unsatisfying. From Atomic Habits.

Golden Rule of Habit Change

To change a habit, keep the same cue and reward, but change the routine. From Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit, you can’t eliminate a bad habit, you can only change it. Identify the cue and the reward, then substitute a new routine.

Example: Craving stress relief (reward) when stressed (cue), replace scrolling with a short walk.

Growth Mindset

The belief that abilities can be developed through effort and learning. From Carol Dweck’s Mindset, people with a growth mindset embrace challenges, persist through setbacks, and see effort as the path to mastery.

Example: “I’m not good at this yet” implies that improvement is possible.

Grit

Passion and perseverance for long-term goals. From Angela Duckworth, grit predicts success more reliably than talent. Gritty people sustain effort and interest over years despite failure and plateaus.

Example: Sticking with a difficult skill for years, not just weeks or months.

Habit

A behavior that has been repeated enough times to become automatic. Habits reduce cognitive load, you don’t decide each time, you just do. Habits can serve you or work against you.

Example: Brushing teeth, checking your phone first thing, going for a run after coffee.

Habit Contract

A written or verbal agreement that makes the costs of breaking a habit explicit and painful. From Atomic Habits, a habit contract adds accountability by involving others or creating consequences.

Example: Telling a friend you’ll pay them $50 if you skip the gym this week.

Habit Loop

The four-stage cycle: Cue → Craving → Response → Reward. Every habit follows this pattern. To change a habit, you can intervene at any stage. Charles Duhigg’s version uses Cue → Routine → Reward; James Clear expanded it to include craving.

Habit Stacking

Linking a new habit to an existing one. Formula: After [current habit], I will [new habit]. Leverages strong neural pathways of established behaviors. From Atomic Habits and Tiny Habits.

Example: After I pour my morning coffee, I will write one sentence in my journal.

Habit Tracking

Recording when you perform a habit. Provides visual evidence, reinforces identity, and creates a simple form of accountability. Don’t break the chain, but avoid making streaks the goal over sustainable practice.

Example: Marking an X on a calendar each day you complete the habit.

Identity

Who you believe you are. Identity shapes behavior, your habits are votes for the type of person you wish to be. Identity-based change focuses on becoming, not achieving. From Atomic Habits and RiteLoop’s philosophy.

Example: “I am a reader” leads to reading habits. “I am someone who moves” leads to exercise.

Identity-based Habits

Focusing on who you want to become rather than what you want to achieve. Habits are votes for the type of person you wish to be. Each small action reinforces your identity. From Atomic Habits.

Example: Not “I want to run a marathon” but “I am a runner.”

Implementation Intentions

Specific plans that specify when and where you will act. Format: When [cue], I will [response]. Removes decision-making and increases follow-through. Research by Peter Gollwitzer shows they significantly boost habit formation.

Example: When I sit down for lunch, I will read one page of my book.

Keystone Habits

Habits that lead to other positive habits. Small changes that create a cascade of good behavior. From The Power of Habit, keystone habits often relate to identity or environment. Identify and nurture them.

Example: Exercise often leads to better eating, sleep, and productivity.

Motivation

In the Fogg Behavior Model, motivation is one of three factors (with ability and prompt) that must align for behavior. Motivation fluctuates, don’t rely on it. When motivation is high, tackle hard behaviors; when low, make behaviors tiny.

Example: Use high motivation to set up systems (environment design) that work when motivation drops.

Plateau of Latent Potential

The delay between effort and visible results. Habits compound beneath the surface before breakthroughs appear. From Atomic Habits, patience is required. Results lag behind habits.

Example: Ice melts at 32°F, but warming from 31° to 32° shows no visible change until the threshold.

Prompt

The moment or trigger that initiates a behavior. In Tiny Habits (B=MAP), the prompt is the third element, without a prompt, behavior won’t happen even with motivation and ability. Prompts can be external (alarm) or internal (emotion).

Example: A sticky note on the bathroom mirror prompts you to do one push-up.

Response

The actual behavior or action you perform. The habit in action. Must be feasible given your motivation and ability. The third step in the habit loop.

Example: The act of meditating, drinking coffee, or opening your phone.

Reward

The outcome that reinforces the habit loop. Satisfies the craving and teaches the brain to repeat the behavior. Can be immediate (pleasure) or delayed (health). The fourth step in the habit loop.

Example: Feeling calm, feeling alert, feeling entertained.

Ritual

A sequence of actions performed with intention and meaning. Rituals differ from habits in that they carry symbolic significance, they’re about who you’re becoming, not just what you’re doing. Central to RiteLoop’s philosophy.

Example: A morning ritual of coffee, journaling, and movement, performed with presence, not on autopilot.

Routine

The core behavior in a habit loop. In Charles Duhigg’s model: Cue → Routine → Reward. The routine is what you actually do, the action you want to change when modifying a habit.

Example: The routine of scrolling social media (which you might replace with reading).

Shallow Work

Non-cognitively demanding, logistical tasks often performed while distracted. From Cal Newport, shallow work doesn’t create much value but feels productive. The opposite of deep work. Design your environment to minimize shallow work during focus blocks.

Example: Checking email, attending status meetings, filling out forms.

Small Wins

Minor victories that create momentum and belief. From The Power of Habit, small wins fuel transformative change by building confidence and shifting patterns. Celebrate small wins to reinforce new habits.

Example: Flossing one tooth leads to flossing all; one push-up leads to a habit of exercise.

Temptation Bundling

Pairing something you want to do with something you need to do. Only allow the desired activity during or after the required one. From Atomic Habits, makes good habits more attractive.

Example: Only listen to your favorite podcast while running.

The 2-Minute Rule

Scale new habits down so they take less than two minutes to start. From Atomic Habits, the goal is to make the habit easy to begin; the full behavior can grow from there. A gateway habit.

Example: “Read before bed” becomes “read one page.” “Exercise” becomes “put on workout clothes.”

Trigger

Another word for cue, the signal that initiates a habit. Triggers can be external (time, place, people) or internal (emotion, thought). Identifying your triggers is the first step to changing habits.

Example: Feeling bored triggers scrolling; the sight of the couch triggers TV.