I used to have this strange little habit.
Whenever I was deep in thought, figuring things out, sitting still at my computer, I’d bite or pick my lip. Not a cute nibble, but a cranky, sometimes bleeding lip kind of habit.
I told myself to stop. Many times.
But I didn't.
Until I asked myself, If I were my own client, what would I suggest?
After all, I’ve spent 18 years practicing applied behavior science, coaching people across the world to change what they do to achieve their goals, helping leaders and teams change what their culture so they can change their impact.
What would I advise myself if I were my own coach here?
I’d start simple. Back to basics. Back to science.
Habits always follow a loop: Cue → Action → Reward.
The cue - what "launches an app", aka habit, in your brain. Just like a tap on your phone screen launches a program.
My cue had a couple of things - sitting down to work and starting to think, and feeling my lips were dry.
I couldn't change the sitting down to work part. But I could change something about the feeling and how convenient biting, picking the lip was.
So I would put on lip balm, even better a bright lipstick. Suddenly, biting my lip was messy and uncomfortable. The habit broke INSTANTLY. My lip has stayed intact ever since.
And this isn’t just my solo story. Research backs it.
In the book, Behavioral Science in the Wild, researchers reviewed dozens of real-world food studies. The biggest factor in healthy eating wasn’t knowledge, calorie labels, or “willpower”, your intent to eat healthy. It was convenience (making the better choice easier) and inconvenience (making the worse choice harder).
Think:
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Pineapple already cut up in the fridge vs. a whole one you have to peel.
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Ice cream hidden away in a plain freezer at the store where you have to go to vs. shiny packs at arm’s reach.
Convenience and inconvenience were the clear winners - 3X more powerful than knowledge, awareness, your intention.
We want to believe transformation comes from more willpower or more information, us getting smarter, better at closing the intention-action gap. But the science tells us a different story: your environment is the king.
That’s how I stopped biting my lip not by “trying harder,” but by tweaking the setup.
So over to you, dear reader.
What habit are you trying to stop, or start, or continue?
And is your environment/convenience working for you to make the right choice?
