This post originally appeared onJames Clears blog.
A perfectly normal size.
But there was nothing normal about what happened next.
Within six months, Wadlow had doubled in height and quadrupled in weight.
By the age of five, Wadlow had exploded to 5 feet 6 inches tall.
On his first day of kindergarten he wore clothes made for a seventeen-year-old.
Wadlow suffered from an overproduction of human growth hormone triggered by hyperplasia of his pituitary gland.
The more he grew, the more his body released growth hormone.
It was like a car going downhill without a brake.
His growth kept picking up speed.
Sadly, but not unexpectedly, the rest of his body could not keep pace.
Wadlow outgrew his nervous system and began to lose feeling in his legs and feet.
His immune system began to shut down.
Physiological feedback loops and behavioral feedback loops arent really that different.
The human body is governed by a wide range of feedback loops.
When each process works as intended, our bodies function properly and we remain balanced.
When something in the system breaks, we steadily slip away from equilibrium.
In extreme cases, things spiral out of controllike the growth of Robert Wadlow.
In fact, I would say that feedback loops are the invisible forces that shape human behavior.
Reinforcing Feedback Loops: we will use these to build good habits.
Generally speaking, balancing feedback loops are associated with maintaining equilibrium or oscillating around a desired level.
Meanwhile, reinforcing feedback loops are associated with continuous increases or decreases.
Lets break down each pop in and discuss how to use it to improve your habits.
These systems can be very effective at both moderating bad habits and kickstarting good habits.
On average, Your Speed signs decrease the driving speed by 10 percent.
Not only that, but drivers continue to drive more slowly for miles down the road.
These signs are one example of a balancing feedback loop.
When the temperature rises above your setting, the air conditioning kicks on and cools the room.
The thermostat acts as a balancing feedback loop and keeps the temperature oscillating between a narrow range.
How can we apply balancing feedback loops to governing bad habits and building good ones?
This simple balancing feedback loop will trigger a reminder to stand up straight each time you feel a tug.
(In fact, it can work for any repeated task.)
Reinforcing Feedback Loops
Reinforcing feedback loops increase the effect of a particular system or process.
Heres one example from my own life: I am the happy owner of a Honda Accord.
On the dashboard of my car, there is a light that circles the speedometer.
This light changes color based on how I am driving.
If I drive aggressively and accelerate quickly, the light is white.
If I accelerate moderately, the color changes to light green.
If I drive in a fuel efficient manner, the light turns bright green.
After one year, you have $1.10.
And so the cycle continues with each run through the feedback loop compounding into larger and larger growth.
Of course, reinforcing feedback loops can amplify the impact of harmful behaviors as well.
The more people hear an untrue rumor, the more the rumor spreads.
Gossip is a self-reinforcing feedback loop.
Measure
Compare
Adjust
Lets breakdown each step of this framework.
Data improves awareness and awareness is the first step to behavior change.
Comparison is essential for making sense of your feedback loop.Measuring something is useless if its not relevant to you.
Remember the Your Speed Is… sign from earlier?
That reading of your current speed is only relevant when compared to the actual speed limit.
Effective feedback loops help you make comparisons that are personal and relevant.
Adjustment is the action that closes the feedback loop.Adjustments should be made as quickly as possible.
The more rapid the change, the tighter the feedback loop.
In the words of Seth Godin, The best way to change long-term behavior is with short-term feedback.
When 8am rolls around, the GlowCap and the night-light start to pulse with a gentle orange light.
A few minutes later, if the pill bottle isnt opened, the light pulses a little more urgently.
A few minutes more and the equipment begins to play a melodynot an annoying buzz or alarm.
The overall effect is a persistent feedback loop urging patients to take their meds.
When feedback loops fail, it is often because of one of these three problems:
Measurement isnt automatic.
The GlowCap solves all three of these problems and that makes it an excellent feedback loop.
Second, it is specifically tailored to your prescription, which makes it instantly relevant to your needs.
Solving these three problems is essential to building an effective feedback loop.
People want to lose weight, but dont know how many calories they eat each day.
People want to learn a new language, but they dont know how many hours they practiced last month.
People want to write a best-selling book, but dont know how many words they wrote last week.
People want to build a successful business, but dont know how many sales calls their team made yesterday.
People want to get stronger, but dont know how much weight they lifted at the gym last week.
Most people dont measure things, and a feedback loop cant happen without measurement.
Thankfully, the reverse is true as well.
Image byMascha Tace(Shutterstock), James Clear.
