Fifty dollars. That’s how much this couple transferred to their “Trip to Europe” savings account each time they cooked dinner instead of going to a restaurant.
By year’s end, they had funded their dream vacation — not through strict budgeting or sheer willpower, but by creating habits that worked for them.
This story illustrates how James Clear approaches creating habits and behavior change. He explains the four-stage cycle that drives every action: cue, craving, response, and reward.
You see a restaurant (cue), predict it will be convenient and tasty (craving), eat out (response), and satisfy your hunger (reward). Repeat this loop enough times, and the behavior becomes automatic.
Clear translates these four stages into four laws for building good habits: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying. Want to break a bad habit? Flip the script — make it invisible, unattractive, difficult, and unsatisfying.
We explore practical strategies like habit stacking, where you attach a new behavior to an existing routine. Clear suggests saying, “After I make my morning coffee, then I will review my budget for two minutes,” rather than relying on motivation alone.
He explains temptation bundling — pairing something you need to do with something you want to do, like only listening to your favorite podcast while meal prepping.
The conversation also covers why most people focus on outcomes when they should focus on identity. Instead of saying, “I want to save $10,000,” Clear suggests thinking, “I want to become a saver” — then asking what actions a saver would take daily.
He addresses the challenge of delayed gratification with money habits. Saving feels unrewarding in the moment because the benefits come later. He shares techniques for creating immediate satisfaction, like the couple’s Europe fund or using habit tracking to mark small wins.
This episode is from our “Greatest Hits” vault and originally aired in 2018.
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Timestamps:
Note: Timestamps will vary on individual listening devices based on dynamic advertising run times. The provided timestamps are approximate and may be several minutes off due to changing ad lengths.
(0:00) Paula introduces trade-offs and habit foundations
(3:00) James explains four habit stages
(5:22) Cue and craving examples
(8:47) Four laws of behavior change
(11:05) Making habits obvious through environment design
(14:56) Habit stacking with existing routines
(16:12) Travel and changing contexts
(18:58) Temptation bundling strategies
(25:21) Motivation rituals and triggers
(29:52) First ad break ends
(33:11) Habits of avoidance challenges
(39:10) Social reinforcement and tribes
(41:09) Making habits easy through friction reduction
(44:03) Delayed gratification and immediate rewards
(54:16) Second ad break ends
(57:16) Making habits satisfying
(1:03:01) Commitment devices and accountability
(1:08:35) Identity-based versus outcome-based habits
(1:15:33) Where to find James Clear
Resources Mentioned:
- JamesClear.com
- Atomic Habits, by James Clear
- AtomicHabits.com
- Stickk
- Bee Minder
- Original Episode
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