elegantly simple solution as well: paying attention to the perceived rewards of our actions. Seeing the outcomes of actions more clearly helps us reduce our subjective biases, and this reorientation naturally leads to our stepping out of unhealthy habits, moving from stress toward a type of happiness that isn’t dependent upon our getting something.

the Buddhist psychologists may have stumbled on a solution when they examined the same processes as Skinner. Focusing on the self and the development of subjective biases through reward-based learning as the core of the afflictive process, they may have identified not only a key component (craving and reactivity) of the process, but an elegantly

The beautiful thing here is that simply by paying attention to how we are causing our own stress—simply by being mindful—we can begin to train ourselves to walk the other way.

In any type of addictive behavior, reactivity builds its strength through repetition—resistance training. Each time we look for our “likes” on Facebook, we lift the barbell of “I am.” Each time we smoke a cigarette in reaction to a trigger, we do a push-up of “I smoke.” Each time we excitedly run off to a colleague to tell her about our latest and

Acting in an automatic or knee-jerk manner to quickly satisfy a craving just feeds it.

The more we reinforce any of these habits, the more “grooved” they become in our brain circuitry and corresponding behavior. The deeper we groove these pathways, the more likely they are to become ruts that we get stuck in—or to switch metaphors, they become the kind of worldview glasses worn so naturally that we don’t even notice we have them on.

In Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life he writes: “In principle any skill or discipline one can master on one’s own will serve: meditation and prayer if one is so inclined.” Yet as part of establishing the conditions for flow, he emphasized one’s attitude or motivation for partaking in the activity: “The important thing,

Did the results help you learn how to properly read your stress compass—what types of rewards orient you toward or away from stress?

Returning to the idea that we learn from rewards and punishments: is it possible that instead of meting out punishments for “bad behavior”—and such consequences would have to be immediate in order to work most effectively—there may be an alternate strategy for success? Louis C.K. pointed out something important about kids using smartphones: “Kids