Limitless

one important issue is how strongly you really want to break the habit in question. Second, how established is the problem habit? It is easier to break a new habit than an old one. Third, what are the consequences of not breaking the habit?

“a person must have sufficient motivation, sufficient ability, and an effective prompt. All three factors must be present at the same instant for the behavior to occur.”

You need the desire to do it, since it is exceedingly difficult to make habitual anything you really don’t want to do; you need the skills to do it, since it’s nearly impossible to make a habit out of anything you don’t have the capacity to accomplish; and you need something to get the habit loop started

We only perceive something to be simple if we have the time available to perform the function.

We consider things that are physically easy for us to be simple. Brain cycles: Simple things don’t tax our thinking, and we shy away from things that require us to think too hard.

A spark is a type of prompt that immediately leads to a form of motivation.

W is for Want: Make sure you really want it. It’s nearly impossible to turn something into a habit if you don’t want to do that thing.

Does the new habit you're trying to adopt align well with your innate abilities?

N is for Now: Create a prompt for yourself that encourages you to perform the new habit now.

two particular challenges: brushing his teeth with his opposite hand and taking a cold shower every morning.

if you jump-start your day by jump-starting your brain with a series of simple activities, you have a huge advantage

Before I even get out of bed, I spend some time reflecting on my dreams. Dreams are an expression of the work your subconscious is doing while you’re sleeping, and there’s gold to be mined from them.

The first thing I do after I get out of bed is make the bed.

After that, I have a tall glass of water.

Then I brush my teeth with my opposite hand. I do this to train my brain to do difficult things, because it stimulates a different part of your brain, and because it forces me to be present

Then I do a three-minute workout.

Once I’m finished with that, I take a cold shower.

cold therapies of this type do a great job of resetting the nervous system and have the added benefit of helping manage any inflammation.

When I’m out of the shower, I go through a series of breathing exercises to fully oxygenate my body.

Then I do about 20 minutes of meditation to give me a clear mind as I enter the day.