According to the picture above, simply put, when the peak power is at 100, the willpower consumed is 0. When the peak willpower is at 100, the motivation is 0 (Another explanation: When there is motivation, there is also willpower as energy support. When there is no motivation, only willpower can be relied on for support.) (If you want to change bad habits continuously and long-term, you must learn to use willpower in a balanced way and reduce the consumption of willpower, or balance willpower and motivation in a range. Because we are not interested in everything, this is a flaw in motivation )

Those who focus on motivation can use the software "Ren Sheng" to design appropriate strategies, or other knowable methods. In my opinion, neither motivation nor willpower is better or worse. What we need to do is to effectively balance the relationship between these two driving forces and reduce our own energy consumption.

Willpower is reliable

Willpower can be strengthened

Willpower strategies can be executed through planning

How willpower works

Making decisions also consumes willpower

A critical meta-analysis of willpower

First, you start with one habit and continue it for a week using the mini-habits strategy. The mini habit strategy is a self-improvement strategy that advocates starting with extremely small, almost impossible-to-fail actions and gradually developing good habits. Then, at the end of the week, you need to take stock. Things assessed include: Do you feel exhausted? Can you easily exceed your goals every day? Does accomplishing these goals feel so effortless that you're eager to develop more good habits? Based on this assessment, you can decide whether to continue focusing on this habit or add more habits. It’s important to note that each habit is not equally difficult, so there is no set length of time that will work for everyone. At the same time, the more mini habits you have, the less likely you are to overachieve every day. Next, you need to imagine what your hardest day would look like, such as a big party and a long day of driving, and consider whether you would still be able to complete your mini habit under these circumstances. If you can complete a mini habit when the times are toughest, you can complete it in any situation. If you feel that your willpower can handle more mini habits, then you can try adding more. But be aware that all mini habits taken together don’t take more than 10 minutes, so anyone can make time for these important things. (My understanding is supplemented: the author is talking about simplified habits, such as only 1 push-up, not spending 1 hour to exercise, but building a habit first) Finally, the author recommends a one-week flexibility plan for those who want to try the mini habit strategy but are not sure how to get started. This plan automatically becomes part of other plans. However, be sure to mark the week on your calendar so that you can actually complete each day's tasks, and remember, don't interrupt. (My understanding is supplemented: recording can be used, and other methods that are more convenient and more accustomed to you can be used instead)

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This is my current strategy and the most advanced one, but that doesn’t mean it’s difficult for beginners to succeed with it. I have three mini habits, but you will find that two of them are actually the same thing: 1. I have to write at least 50 words every day on various miscellaneous things; Second, I have to write at least 50 words every day to write a book; 3. Read at least 2 pages of books every day. In addition, working out three times a week has become a regular habit (evolved from the "1 push-up challenge"). Even with three different goals, I can easily complete the entire to-do list in less than 10 minutes if necessary.

If you’re really just starting out and want to try four or more mini habits, feel free. Maybe you can succeed, but if the number is so high that you can't continue to complete it, I don't want such a good strategy to be ruined in front of you. Each mini habit is super small, and completing all mini habits every day requires only a small amount of willpower and self-discipline. And the goal of mini habits is 100% success, not 95%. If you only fail on one mini habit, you will not feel completely successful, and the feeling of complete 100% success is important to maintaining a high sense of self-efficacy. (Additional understanding from me: When making plans, try to adapt to 100% success and improve self-efficacy. What your ideal number of mini habits is depends largely on the difficulty of each mini habit. For most people, drinking water is simpler than a fitness program (even if scaled down). Plans that require driving somewhere are a more difficult choice, mainly because it is affected by factors such as feasibility, location, etc. Since I take my laptop with me everywhere, my habit is simple to implement. Before, I would think “I can’t write because I’m going on vacation for two days,” but that’s no longer the case! Now, I can be productive while on vacation (I know what you’re thinking, but if I want to relax, I can just complete minimal goals). (Additional to my understanding: Even if we may encounter some obstacles, such as time factors, we can also implement a smaller version of our daily habits, not necessarily how long we execute them as planned, and maintain micro habits flexibly)

You'll develop a skill as you practice mini habits—if you feel resistant, find creative ways to make the actions smaller and smaller. If you resist the goal of doing 1 push-up today, then get into a push-up position, or even simpler, lie on the floor; if your mini habit is to drink a glass of water every day, then you can simplify the goal and fill the cup with water. Next pick up the cup; if your mini-habit is to write 50 words a day but you feel defensive, open the document and write one word. Because your mini habits are already "incredibly small", you don't need to do this most of the time, but whenever you encounter extreme resistance, remember that you can use this method.

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Once you’ve made your list of habits, look at why you want to achieve them, but don’t stop here. Ask why again, and keep asking until a cycle and repetition are formed, because at this time you have found the core. For this method to work, you have to answer the questions honestly, so dig deep. Some questions have more than one answer, so try to choose the most relevant one. The two examples I give below are both real and sincere. One is a good choice for building a habit, the other is extremely unreliable. First example: I want to write every day. Why? Because I love writing. Why? Because this way of expressing ideas and telling stories is my favorite. I get to connect with people and help them through writing, not to mention I enjoy the process. Why is this important? Because these things make me feel particularly energetic and happy. Why? Because writing is something in life that I find valuable and take extremely seriously. Second example: I want to get up at 6 o'clock every morning. Why? Because that’s what successful people seem to do, and it’s very embarrassing to stay in bed. Why? Because I feel that staying up late and getting up after 6 o'clock is not accepted by the mainstream of society, and some people I know will despise me for this. In the second example, you can see that the main reason for changing yourself is external pressure. Even so, waking up at 6am still makes me happier. Because I have some preconceived notions about waking up early or late, I feel more accomplished and feel less guilty if I wake up earlier, so this is not just a throwaway comment. But I'm not going to give it priority over something like writing (it's late at night as I write this). My choice to stay up late and write is a true reflection of my inner worth, and even if the whole world disagrees, I won’t waver. It doesn’t matter if the whole world is against what you are doing – don’t let timidity lead you to choose a lifestyle that doesn’t suit you. (My understanding is supplemented: the first case is about adhering to the value you yearn for, and the second case is about the value defined by the outside world.)

A strict time-based schedule without ambiguity (such as "start on time at 4 p.m.") will help you get work done while developing self-control. The downside is a lack of flexibility - maybe you're having a headache at 4pm but you're being asked to complete some physically demanding tasks. Life doesn't always go according to your schedule. If you miss the habit basis and put off completing the task until later, you will fall into an embarrassing situation where you don't know whether to feel successful or guilty.

Scheduling based on behavioral patterns is more flexible, but also more ambiguous. They help you develop routine in a life that lacks routine, where the trouble lies in knowing exactly when one activity ends and another begins. If I’m going to start writing after lunch at a restaurant, do I want to get into the zone before I start writing and then check my email later? Do I have to turn on my computer directly? You might be thinking “that doesn’t matter,” but it actually does because, as the power of mini habits shows, small tasks can easily scale into larger tasks. Habits may lead you to start organizing your desk, and then you think, “Oh, I should be writing.” Micro-steps get us started and build momentum toward a meaningful goal, but they can also do a disservice. If you allow yourself to take a small step back, you'll soon find that it escalates against your will.

Should we choose based on time or behavior? The question is not that important, both methods work well. The important thing is that you have to choose, and you have to choose resolutely. If you don't make a decision at this point, you'd be wrong, but before you make your final choice, there's another option that might surprise you. It's my preferred option and fits all of my current mini-habits.

What are non-specific habits?

The author did not follow the customary basis (According to my previous state, before I realized the habitual basis, I used it based on a combination of multiple habitual basis)

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Initially, if the endorphins from your workout and your anticipation of the end result aren't enough to reward your brain, you'll need to call in reinforcements. The world is so rich and colorful, and we can find new ways to develop habits. What we can do is associate behavior with completely unrelated rewards, and over time, the brain will associate the behavior with the reward, and that’s what we want! Afterwards, the brain no longer needs this (hardly associated) reward to prompt action.

I love a creative reward for the brain - laughter, which releases chemicals that make you feel better. I sometimes watch funny YouTube videos of misreading lips after finishing a writing assignment. Next time someone sees you watching a funny video, tell them you’re training your brain, it’s science! At first I would give my brain an extra reward after working out, but eventually the satisfaction and endorphins were enough for the brain to sustain the behavior on its own. It's coming to realize the value of these secondary rewards, and that they are in many ways more enjoyable and solid than the sugary rewards, it just takes time.

After the experience of reward ends, the physical feeling will disappear, but the psychological feeling of being in good shape or doing one positive thing for 98 consecutive days will remain. At the moment, I’m looking at a giant wall calendar full of ticked boxes that remind me of the progress I’ve made.

Because mini habits are based on enjoying and leveraging small accomplishments.

My understanding is supplemented: 1. Use smiling and laughing to influence psychological factors and increase extra rewards. 2. Increase the sense of accomplishment by keeping track of the completion of events and recording them every day. 3. Through practice, discover problems, ask questions, and solve problems every day to increase the sense of accomplishment. 4. Increase the sense of accomplishment by over-fulfilling tasks, but don’t set too high a goal all at once. Just gradually increase it every day to avoid affecting the rapid establishment of habits in the early stage. Setting goals that are too high at once will actually affect the speed of building habits.

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What good is your willpower if you only have it for 2 hours a day? We want our willpower to last throughout the day. Endurance training in the gym requires you to lift lighter weights multiple times, which is training your muscles for durability. The principle of mini habits is the same: we set ourselves tasks that require low willpower but high frequency. Completing a push-up requires a very small amount of willpower, but it may take a little more than expected - everything is difficult at the beginning, especially when it comes to willpower. Over time, by repeatedly forcing ourselves to perform achievable tasks like this, our willpower will become stronger. This is called practice.

My understanding is supplemented: This is somewhat different from the willpower training discussed in the book "Energy Management", but it is also very similar. What energy management provides is equivalent to the ultimate willpower breakthrough of heavy weight and few reps. Maybe he also said that there are points containing low mass and high frequency, but he may not have seen them. And this branch talks about low-quality, but high-frequency tasks to train our willpower

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I mentioned this in a previous chapter, but what really makes the Mini Habits strategy stand out is that you have no excuse for failure, no fear of failure, and no guilt. Even if your willpower is exhausted, the task requirements of mini habits are so low that you can always find a way to complete them. I can't remember a time when my willpower was so weak that I couldn't complete a push-up, read a few pages of a book, or write 50 words. Not once. For these reasons, microsteps won’t hinder your progress—they’ll be the key to success.

We need to put our expectations and energy into sticking to our goals, rather than having high expectations for the workload. The most powerful weapon in life is persistence, because this is the only way to turn behavior into a habit, and when a non-habit becomes a habit, it means that you have indeed gone from fighting your brain to cooperating with it.

Signs that a behavior has become a habit include: No resistance: The behavior seems easy to do and harder not to do. Identity: Now you identify with the behavior and can confidently say "I read a lot" or "I am a writer." Act without thinking: You don’t need to make a decision to perform in order to initiate the behavior. You don’t think, “Okay, I’ve decided to go work out.” You naturally pack up and go because it’s Tuesday, or it seems like it’s time to exercise. You no longer worry: At first, you may worry about missing a day or giving up early, but when the behavior becomes a habit, you know you will keep doing it unless there is an emergency. Normalization: Habits are non-emotional. Once something becomes a habit, you won't get excited because "you're actually doing it." When a behavior becomes a norm, it is a habit. It's boring: good habits aren't exciting, they're just good for you. You'll be more passionate about life because of them, but don't expect the same for the actions themselves.

There are several ways to cheat in the mini habit system. The first and most common one is to develop a mini habit for yourself, such as doing one push-up every day, but secretly requiring yourself to complete more than one push-up. You need to be especially careful to avoid doing this, because every time you raise the demands on yourself, it will require more willpower to meet the requirements, and even if you can handle the extra willpower burden, you may still have the goal of cultivating multiple habits at the same time. We want to ensure success rather than be dictated by success and failure. You can always exceed your goals, so let the extra reward come from you, not the goals you set. If you want to exceed your goal at some point but are resistant, then set some additional micro goals after completing the mini habits.

When you reward yourself after completing a mini habit—whether that's with food, a night out, just doing something you love, or looking in the mirror and telling yourself how awesome you are—that reward will motivate you. Perform the mini habit again and it will reward you this way. Eventually, you create a positive feedback loop. You become "obsessed" with living a good life, and if that doesn't count for perfection, I don't know what does. A perfect act will reward you now and will continue to reward you in the future. Since most healthy habits (like nibbling on uncooked broccoli) will give you limited rewards now and more in the long run, giving yourself some rewards for completing tasks in the early stages may help you stick with them.

Let's imagine this. You are about to sit down, but you want to exercise, but you don’t want to do it in your heart. The resistance is very strong, so what should you do? In this scenario, you don’t want to compete with your brain if you can trick it into doing things the way you want. It is recommended to gradually make the tasks smaller and smaller until your resistance is minimal. If your goal is "go to the gym," narrow the requirement to "drive yourself to the gym." If that doesn't work, all you can do is open your closet. After completing this task, take out your workout clothes and put them on. If you feel silly doing this, that's great, because if the task sounds silly, it means your brain has agreed to do it. These "impossibly small" steps slip under the brain's radar like a professional jewelry thief dodging security cameras and motion sensors. By the time your brain figures it out, you're already on the treadmill at the gym. The steps can be reduced infinitely. (My understanding is supplemented: This strategy is more suitable for breaking through things you don’t want to do. Then establish mini habit steps first)

The good news is that the only thing that will keep you moving even when your energy is running low is these “impossibly small” micro-steps. Energy depletion means depletion of willpower, which occurs when people force themselves to do too many things for too long. When you're sitting on the floor and feeling exhausted, you can ask your brain, "Hey, can we do one push-up now?" Once you've done that, you may be motivated to do more, and you can do more Set up a few of these “impossibly small” micro-steps. (My understanding is supplemented: This strategy is more suitable for maintaining mini habits when energy is exhausted)