Habit Dictionary
Clear definitions for habit tracking, behavior change, and personal development terms.
Atomic Habits
Atomic Habits is James Clear's framework for building better habits through small, incremental changes that compound over time, built around four laws of behavior change.
Never Miss Twice
Never Miss Twice is James Clear's rule for habit resilience: missing one day is inevitable, but missing two consecutive days starts a new (bad) pattern.
Two-Minute Rule
The Two-Minute Rule is a productivity and habit-building heuristic with two versions: do quick tasks immediately (GTD) or scale new habits down to two minutes (Atomic Habits).
Habit Loop
The habit loop is the neurological cycle of cue, routine, and reward that drives automatic behavior, first described by Charles Duhigg in The Power of Habit.
Implementation Intention
An implementation intention is an if-then plan that specifies when, where, and how you will act on a goal, dramatically increasing follow-through.
Cue-Routine-Reward
Cue-routine-reward is the three-part structure underlying every habit: a trigger starts the behavior, the behavior runs, and a payoff reinforces it.
Habit Tracking
Habit tracking is the practice of monitoring whether you complete your daily habits. It creates awareness, accountability, and data for improvement.
Habit Formation
Habit formation is the process by which new behaviors become automatic through repetition. Research shows it takes an average of 66 days, not 21.
Habit Stacking
Habit stacking is a behavior change technique where you link a new habit to an existing one, using the old behavior as a trigger for the new.
Bounce-Back Rate
Bounce-back rate measures how quickly you return to a habit after missing it. It's a more reliable predictor of long-term habit success than streaks.
Completion Rate
Completion rate is the percentage of scheduled habit occurrences that you actually completed. Unlike streaks, it gives a proportional view of consistency.
Streak
A streak counts the number of consecutive days you've completed a habit. While motivating short-term, streaks can create anxiety and all-or-nothing thinking.
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