Today’s Word: trigger

June 25, 2017 =========

☆  trigger きっかけ

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If something acts as a trigger for another thing, it is the cause of that second thing. Charles Duhigg wrote the book The Power of Habit, and in it he talks about triggers being part of the Habit Loop that we can follow to create a new habit. First the trigger (the event that starts the habit), then the routine (the new habit) and then the reward (the benefit of the new habit.)

So what kinds of things can be triggers? Here are some common ones:

Time – for example, a “morning” habit
Location – for example, a bad habit of eating snacks, whenever you are in the kitchen (location) at work. So to trigger a new habit, you could start taking your own snacks to work.
Another Event – for example, when your phone buzzes, you open it up to answer the phone or message. Again, this can be a negative trigger, if you then waste time on your phone. However, it can also be a positive trigger, for example, after I brush my teeth, I floss them.

When you choose the right trigger, you can make it a lot easier to develop new habits. What triggers are you currently using?

Bye,

Chris