Which of these 10 categories of loopholes do you invoke?

1. “Do You Break Your Good Habits?
Avoid These Loopholes.”

2. 1. False Choice Loophole
“I can’t do this, because I’m so busy doing that.” (This is one I often use,
myself). I pose two activities in opposition, as though I have to make an
either/or decision, when in fact, the two aren’t necessarily in conflict. I
remind myself that whenever I’m inclined to think “Can I have
this or that?” I should stop and ask, “Can I have this and that?” It’s
surprising how often that’s possible. Is the habit that I want to foster really
in conflict with my other values? Usually, if I’m honest with myself, it’s not.

3. 2. Moral Licensing
Loophole
We give ourselves
permission to do something
“bad” (eat potato chips,
bust the budget) because
we’ve been “good.” We
reason that we’ve earned it
or deserve it, or that some
“good” behavior has offset
something “bad.”

4. TODAY
3. Tomorrow Loophole
This loophole depends on “tomorrow logic.” Now doesn’t matter
much, because we’re going to follow good habits tomorrow.
Tomorrow logic undermines good habits by making it easy to
deny that our actions clash with our intentions.
TOMORROW

5. 4. Lack of Control Loophole
“I can’t help myself.” This is a very loophole. We argue that
we don’t have control over the situation, and circumstances
have forced us to break a habit. However, usually we have
more control than we admit.

6. 5. Planning to Fail Loophole
It’s odd. When it comes to keeping our
good habits, instead of fleeing
temptation, we often arrange to
succumb. In what Dr. Alan
Marlatt dubbed “apparently irrelevant
decisions,” we make a chain of
seemingly insignificant decisions that
allow us covertly to engineer the very
circumstances that we’ll find irresistible.

7. 6. “This Doesn’t Count” Loophole
“I’m on vacation,” “I’m sick,” “It’s the weekend.” We tell ourselves
that for some reason, this circumstance doesn’t “count” — but in fact,
while we can always mindfully choose to make an exception to our
habits, there are no magical freebies, no going off the grid, no get-out-of-
jail-free cards, nothing that stays in Vegas.

8. 7. Questionable
Assumption Loophole
A very popular loophole!
Consciously or unconsciously, we
make assumptions that influence our
habits— and often, not for the better.
They often become less convincing
under close scrutiny.

9. 8. Concern for Others Loophole
“I can’t do this because it might make other people
uncomfortable.” We often use the loophole of telling
ourselves that we’re acting out of consideration for
others and making generous, unselfish decisions. Or,
more strategically, we decide we must do something in
order to fit in to a social situation.
Maybe we do -- and maybe we don’t.

10. 9. Fake Self-Actualization
Loophole
“You only live once! Embrace the
moment!” This loophole comes in the
disguise as an embrace of life or an
acceptance of self, so that the failure to
pursue a habit seems life-affirming—
almost spiritual. But for most of us, the
real aim isn’t to enjoy a few pleasures
right now, but to build habits that will
make us happy over the long term.
Sometimes, that means giving up
something in the present, or
demanding more from ourselves.

11. 10. One-Coin
Loophole
“What difference does it make
if I break my habit this
one time?”
This is the most insidious of loopholes
-- insidious because it’s absolutely
true. This loophole gets its name from
“the argument of the growing
heap,” which I learned about in
Erasmus’s Praise of Folly. According
to a footnote, the argument of the
growing heap is: “If ten coins are
not enough to make a man rich,
what if you add one coin? What if
you add another? Finally, you will
have to say that no one can be
rich unless one coin can make
him so.”

12. What loophole do you invoke most often,
to get yourself out of a habit that
you’re trying to keep?

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