You see, most animals live in an immediate-return environment. As an animal, most of your decisions have an immediate impact. You are always thinking about what to eat or where to sleep or how to avoid a predator. You are constantly focused on the present or very near future.

Now switch back to your human self. In modern society, many of the choices you make today will not benefit you immediately. If you do a good job at work, you’ll get a paycheck in a few weeks. You live in what scientists call a delayed-return environment because you can work for years before your actions deliver the inteded payoff.

The human brain did not evolve for life in a delayed-return environment.

Every habit produces multiple outcomes across time. Unfortunately, these outcomes are often misaligned.

With our bad habits, the immediate outcome usually feels good, but the ultimate outcome feels bad.

With our good habits, it is the reverse: the immediate outcome is unenjoyable, but the ultimate outcome feels good.

This is why immediate rewards are essential. They keep you excited while the delayed rewards accumulate in the background.

Immediate reinforcement can be especially helpful when dealing with habits of avoidance, which are behaviors you want to stop doing.

It can be challenging to stick with habits like “no frivolous purchases” or “no alcohol this month” because nothing happens when you skip happy hour drinks or don’t buy that pair of shoes. One solution is to pair that habit with an instant reward.

-Atomic Habits, p.187