Term

Trigger

A signal that sets off a habitual behavior. In Brewer's model it is the first of the loop's three links.

Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind, Judson Brewer

Explained in

• Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind, Judson Brewer
• The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery, Brianna Wiest

  An event or word that sets off an emotional reaction far stronger than the situation calls for. For Wiest, triggers point to old wounds or to places ready for growth.

• Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts, Becoming the Person You Want to Be, Marshall Goldsmith, Mark Reiter

  In the book, any stimulus that changes our thoughts and actions: a person, a situation, a smell, a word.

• Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life, Nir Eyal

  A cue that prompts us to act. In Eyal's book it can be external, like a notification, or internal, like boredom or anxiety.

• Contagious: Why Things Catch On, Jonah Berger

  Here: something in a person's surroundings that reminds them of a related thing. Coffee, for example, can remind you of a chocolate bar.

• Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, Nir Eyal

  a signal that sets an action off — it can come from outside (a notification) or from within (boredom, anxiety)

• Stillness Is the Key, Ryan Holiday

  An event or word that instantly sets off a strong emotional reaction before reason has a chance to engage.

• The Let Them Theory, Mel Robbins

  something that instantly sets off a strong emotion — irritation, hurt, anxiety

All terms