Mike uses "behavioral intercepts" to build habits by attaching tiny unavoidable actions to existing routines. He put his sneakers on the toilet seat so grabbing them after the bathroom led to the gym. The same trick works for money: link savings or bill payments to something you already do daily, and skip the willpower.
Mike, I really appreciate this. You emphasize working with existing habits instead of forcing new ones.
That speaks to me.
How did you uncover that insight and why do you think it's so overlooked in personal finance?
So I did it with fitness. I work out very regularly. Religiously. Religiously. But it's not because of willpower and it's not because I like working out. I can't think, including this morning, a single time like, "Oh, that was so fun. Yes." At the end, I'm like, "Oh, I—" Oh, I lament it, but after it's done done and I'm in the recovery state and I'm sitting down, I'm like, oh, I just feel good. I feel healthy. So after the pain, the future point feels good, but getting through the pain is very difficult. So I was like, okay, how do I get through it? I found a hack for myself. This was about 15, 20 years ago. I tried to use willpower. It's like, I'm going to work out on my own. I'm going to really commit to it. I played sports in college and I kind of got off the wagon a little bit and I'm like, I'm getting back on. It's going to be great. And that lasted for about a day or two. So what I started to do is observing my patterns. I'd wake up in the morning, say I'm going to work out in the gym. I say, "Well, the bathroom first." So go to the bathroom. Okay. Then I'm like, "Well, let me make a little cup of coffee or have something to drink first and then settle in and then I'm going to go work out." And then I'm like, "I got to check the news. There's a lot going on in the news." And then I'm like, "Oh my gosh, the day's getting away again. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow." Well, in that pattern, I noticed there was a predictable pattern. Wake up, bathroom, coffee. So I said, "Okay, I'm gonna insert a behavioral intercept." What I did, I literally took my sneakers and put 'em on the toilet seat. I'd wake up in the morning, I'd walk into the bathroom, and I cannot use a bathroom now without grabbing my sneakers. With my sneakers in my hand, I put 'em on my feet, and then behavioral momentum kicks in. I'm like, "Okay, it's on my feet. At least go walk down to the gym or walk out to the gym." I get to the gym, I'm like, "Just even have to work out for 5 minutes. Just move a little bit." And the momentum continues. So the key here is what is the smallest step that you cannot avoid, that you must take. And when you take that step, momentum will be your ally. Don't ask yourself to do huge things. Don't say, "Well, now I'm going to have a 20-mile run," or something. With the sneakers on, can I get to the track? Once I get to the track, just even if I do a lap, it's okay. And over time you start building this and it becomes habit. Today I don't put my sneakers on the toilet seat. I'll do it when I go to a hotel.
Okay.
But I now have a different behavioral intercept. My pajamas I store in our closet. In a drawer where when I open the drawer, the sneakers are sitting in there. So at night when I go to bed, I'll put my pajamas on, put the sneaker in, sneakers. And then when I get changed again, I have to grab my sneakers to put my pajamas back.
So it triggers it.
