Overview
The speaker outlines a self-brainwashing formula—Focus, Emotion, Agitation, and Repetition (FEAR)—as a method to establish new habits and achieve goals.
The FEAR Formula for Habit Formation
- Focusing attention is the first key step in implementing new habits.
- Building emotion involves understanding your core motivation ("why") and keeping it present, not just at the start.
- Making the cost of inaction emotionally significant can help sustain motivation.
- Agitation refers to disrupting environmental cues to prevent falling back on old routines.
- Changing familiar surroundings interrupts the brain’s tendency to run habitual scripts.
- Repetition means consistently exposing yourself to the desired stimuli to reinforce new patterns.
Applying the FEAR Formula
- Questions arise about practical ways to enhance focus and maintain emotional drive for new goals.
- Consider actively revising routines and environments to keep the brain from resorting to old habits.
- Regularly reinforce the new habit by repeated exposure and engagement with relevant cues.