In hindsight, I should have seen this coming. I felt that the new wake-up habit I had engineered would be solidified after more than a week of use. It was starting to feel somewhat autonomous, so I thought I could return my alarm to its previous resting place. This morning I fell immediately into my old routine, and no wonder, as I reverted to the previous cue. Of course, I acted out the routine congruent with the presented cue. This reinforces a point made by The Power of Habit; habits can never be removed, only overwritten. If the cue for an old habit is recreated, or the cue for the overwriting habit is removed, the routine for the old habit will take over. Old habits don’t simply die hard, they never die. They can only be superseded, but they will lay in wait indefinitely.
I need to be more conscious of the sustainability of my cue, as it should be altered only when necessary and with great care. Perhaps I will set my clock back to the position I am used to, but I will find a new clock, specifically for alarm use, and place it on the other side of the room like before. This experience is very valuable, and I’m glad that I was hesitant to attempt to alter all of my habits at once.
A new habit I have my eyes on is the habit of eating breakfast. My routine includes making coffee in the morning, and I’ll rarely eat. I wonder what sort of cue I can implement to trigger a routine involving eating breakfast. I imagine the reward would be the dopamine released by eating. If that doesn’t work, perhaps I could supplement the reward with the coffee I’m so used to.