Habit formation works a lot like learning math. When most of us first learn to compute 2 + 2, we get the answer by totaling up 1 + 1 + 1 + 1. But after some homework, we no longer need to do the computations, and instead retrieve the answer directly from memory. That’s the feeling of 2 + 2 just “looking” like 4. Or of the path by the lake just “looking” like it’s time for a jog. When we act on habit, we are essentially retrieving our practiced answers to previously solved problems.
habits are ways of seeing
