People don’t always act rationally, so sometimes you need an irrational solution. Sometimes you need a hack.

It’s Good…In Theory

Imagine that you have a five year old son. Ever since he was born, you’ve been setting aside some money every month to eventually help pay for Junior’s college expenses. You’ve been putting it into a special savings account that earns 2% interest per year and it’s been steadily growing.

But you’re not always that good at saving. Sometimes you just need to buy that new gadget which costs a little bit more than you can afford. What do you do? Ideally, you probably should avoid purchasing it altogether, but you really want it. This means if you are able buy it, you will.

Even though you cannot afford it, you are still able to buy it, so you will buy it. You have two options: use a credit card with 15% interest or spend the money you saved for your son’s college tuition.

From a purely rational perspective, it is better to borrow from your son’s college account and lose the 2% interest, than to use a credit card and be charged 15% interest.

The Problem of a Rational Solution

If you borrow from your son’s college fund and immediately pay it back, then it may be better than paying for your gadgets with a credit card. Unfortunately, if you’re the type of person who is compelled to purchase things when you can’t afford them, you probably will not be able to ever pay back your son (since you will spend your money every chance you get). That rational solution now destroyed the hope of your son’s higher education.

In a perfectly ideal world, shock absorbers would be unnecessary. They weigh the car down and add additional costs to the car. Unfortunately, the roads are not ideal: they have pot holes, are dirty, and bump and dip in inconvenient places. Shock absorbers help you get over imperfections, so you can continue on your journey. The world is not ideal. Hacks help you get over your imperfections, so you can continue on your journey.

How Actions Work

In order for you to do any action, three prerequisites must be met:

• 1. You must know how to perform the action: You can’t perform an action if you do not know how to do it.
• 2. You must have the resources required for the action: I may know how to lift a car with my hands, but I do not have the muscles to do so.
• 3. The environment must allow for you to do the action: Even if I somehow gain the muscles to lift a car, if there is no car to lift, then I cannot lift a car.

If any of these three are missing, then you cannot perform the action.

Hacking Your Behaviors

Behaviors that you want to hack (rather than fix) are probably unconscious behaviors that you will execute if you are given the chance. If all three elements of the action are present, then you go into autopilot, despite your will.

To hack your behaviors, you must remove at least one of the elements of the action.

• 1. Prevent knowledge: Unfortunately, it is difficult to unlearn something once you learn it. The best way to prevent doing an undesirable action is to not learn it in the first place.
• 2. Disable resources: If you are compelled to purchase that gadget, then it may be prudent to deny yourself access to both your son’s college fund and to a credit card. If you do not have access, then you cannot purchase anything.
• 3. Avoid enabling situations: Another method to prevent you from indulging your desire for gadgets is to not step into the store in the first place. If you do not think of the temptation, then you will not be tempted.

The Trade-Off: Preventing Negative Behavior through Inconvenience

Just as shock absorbers weigh down a car, behavior hacks inherently are inefficient. They stop you from performing undesired behaviors by making it more difficult to perform them. The trade off is that hacks can also make other desired actions more difficult as well. A credit card may enable you to indulge your gadget desires, but it is also useful for purchasing your groceries.

Remember that hacks are designed to get you over your imperfections, so you can continue on your journey. Hopefully part of that journey is to reduce those imperfections so you depend less on hacks.

If you want to read more on how I personally hack my behaviors, you can read how I deal with distractions