I also found "The Power of Habit" a fascinating read. It's one of the books I recommend most often. Understanding your habits & learning new ones is such a fundamental/essential part of living. I almost wish "Habit Management" had been a discrete subject in my school curriculum.

My understanding of the 3 second exercise from the article is that it's the simple steps of experiencing a pleasant moment (trigger), noticing & reflecting on the simple pleasure (routine) and then the boost in happiness felt after this awareness (reward).

For those reading this comment, I would honestly advise just picking up a psychology textbook that focuses on learning; the "Power of Habit" he refers to is just basic learning and behavior modification. The "Power of Habit" book is full of rambling anecdotes that do more to obfuscate the valuable content than emphasize it.

I too found the anecdotes rambling and in the way. On the other hand, some folks may find the stories to be parables or mind palaces [1] that enhance retention of key points. YMMV

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci

Active learning is usually more effective than passive learning , so reading a shorter focused book while building memory palaces should be more efective .

Which one would you recommend?