Days UBM Remains Unfalsified: 0 Enter here , be the first, win $1,000. Challenge ends at 365 days.

The Habit Factor®

The Science of Behavior Meets the Art of Achievement

equilibriument

Resolved! Why Producing the First Elemental, Unified Behavioral Model Required Abstract Thinking

Behavior Change, Behavioral Literacy Project, goal theory, Habit Alignment, P.A.R.R. Methodology, UBM, Unified Behavior Model

The Unified Behavior Model™ systematically removes ALL reasonable distinctions—where the experts teased apart, UBM, “puts together.”

Watch in real-time, PROOF of UBM’s “Historic Contribution”

In 1892, William James, the founder of American psychology, famously lamented that the field was “no science, only the hope of a science.”

The Power of Systematic Oversimplification

Both Albert Einstein and Karl Popper were adamant: the purpose of science is to explain complex phenomena through simplicity and testability.

“Science is the art of systematic oversimplification.” — Karl Popper

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler.” — Albert Einstein

UBM fulfills James’s original mandate by producing the first closed, causal structure of behavior. While academia has spent decades doing important work, specializing and “splitting” the human behavioral experience into increasingly granular binaries—Nature vs. Nurture, Habits vs Skills, System 1 vs. System 2—

UBM UNIFIES! UBM systematically removes ALL reasonable distinctions—where the experts teased apart, UBM, “put together.”

An unification theorist experts’ contention: “You’ve created a new language system to solve this.”

That would be correct, IF we were modeling the a HUMAN (biology). We are not. We are modeling human BEHAVIOR.

It’s language and its distinctions that have tangled the experts, baffling them in their quest to produce an ELEMENTAL, unified model of behavior.

Example: “Nature vs. nurture,” Behaviorally speaking, they are the same.

Thus, if this were not true, a toothache, broken arm, or itchy rash, behaviorally speaking, wouldn’t impact one’s behaviors, thinking, and feeling. Yet, just like a loud neighbor’s party, dog or a construction site, each demonstrate how external and embodied factors have the ability to influence and alter one’s “Behavior Echo-System.”

REMOVING SPECIALIZATION is a requirement to produce an ELEMENTAL unified framework.

Habits versus skills?

They are both SHAPED behaviors over time.

If you’re great on the piano, do you have the habit or the skill? Almost certainly both.

Next: Illogic and Logic. The truth is, we all know highly logical, intelligent, smart people doing stupid things. Even Einstein smoked. Why? His STORY—the narrative was that it helped him relax!

Finally: Emotions and Feelings. These may be BOTH the most influential and/or the least influential upon our behavior.

The primary job of emotions and feelings is to serve as relays—signals—between the other ELEMENTS within the system.

Emotions and feelings are variable in affect, which is why a 4-year-old’s behavior is almost entirely driven by emotions and feelings, yet a trained Stoic could be fuming mad and do nothing—AN observable behavior (inaction).

The No-Fifth-Element Challenge – Just 30-ish days remain to win the symbolic cash award of $1,000!

By SYSTEMATICALLY grouping hundreds of overlapping (fragmented) variables into four irreducible, ELEMENTAL building blocks—Cognition/Stories, Feelings & Emotions, Behaviors/Habits/Skills, and Environment (including the body)—we move from academic “INCOHERENCE” —their words... to produce the first unified, hard scientific framework of human behavior.

DONE.

**IMPORTANT**

The Unified Behavior Model™ is simple enough for a middle-schooler to grasp, yet rigorous enough to withstand the scrutiny of a PhD.

To date, 11 Months in, no LLM/AI or top theorist has been able to propose a requisite FIFTH ELEMENT.

Thus, the “No Fifth Element” challenge is approximately 30 days from expiring unfalsified. Popper was adamant that true science must be testable.

UBM moves much of behavioral science and psychology from its self-described “crises of incoherence” to a solid, testable, closed causal structure of behavior.

⏳ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – The 150-Year Crisis: Why psychology remains a field of fragmented silos.
1:08 – The Impossible Dream: How UBM unifies “self-described incoherence.”
1:41 – The Trunk vs. The Branches: Why nature doesn’t have branches without a base.
2:33 – The “No Fifth Element” Challenge: Is the model falsifiable?
3:31 – Mapping the Board: Introducing the 4 Elemental Building Blocks.
3:48 – Ring 1: The Environment (External & Embodied): Why a toothache is a stimulus. 4:26 – 1892: Fulfilling William James’s “Closed Causal Structure.”
6:15 – Ring 2: Behaviors (The Construction Zone): Shaping habits and skills.
7:12 – Ring 3: Cognition & Stories: Why Einstein’s “Logic” was actually a Narrative.
8:28 – Ring 4: Emotions & Feelings: The variable membranes of the Echo-System.
9:12 – The Behavior Ecosystem (BES): Personal, Perpetual, and Dynamic.
10:00 – The Ted Rice Story: A tragic articulation of the Ecosystem in action.
11:41 – Debunking “Perception”: Why proposed elements are just compounds.
14:21 – 8 Days to Explode Your Mind: Behavior Architecture on Maven.
14:51 – The Habit Factor Trilogy: 20 years of coaching yielded a unified model.
18:00 – The Conclusion: From the “Hope of a Science” to a functional reality.

#UnifiedBehaviorModel #UBM #BehavioralScience #WilliamJames #KarlPopper #HabitFactor #PARRProtocol #SelfMastery #BasicBehavioralLiteracy #BehaviorArchitecture

Immature Science and Institutional Amnesia? 🧠

Behavior Change, Behavioral Literacy Project, discipline, Elemental Behavior Literacy, goal theory, goals, Habit Alignment, habits, HabitStrength™, Health, P.A.R.R., P.A.R.R. Methodology, PARR Methodology, Scientific Method, self esteem, SMART Goals, UBM, vision, willpower

Open Science: The Unified Behavior Model—an elemental, unified, and falsifiable framework (and, allegedly, the first of its kind).

If you think this doesn’t apply to you, you may be out of your mind. (Pun intended.) 👇

How many times have you heard advice on social media, read a book, or listened to a behavioral science expert—maybe a therapist, doctor, or clinician—completely contradict another?

About twelve years ago, I was between appointments when I heard a behavioral scientist give an interview I’ll never forget.

The podcast host said, “I’m confused, doctor. Can you help me understand the difference between habits and skills? They seem pretty similar.”

She paused, searching for the words—trying hard to explain the difference—then finally gave in with a half-laugh: “Well… they can really be very similar.”

Her attempt to explain the difference was telling. The truth is, both are learned—or can be shaped—behaviors that develop over time.

We know habits can form unintentionally (usually the bad ones). That’s why I love this saying:

“Good habits happen when planned; bad habits happen on their own.”

The beauty is that, just like skills, good habits can be intentionally shaped, formed, and strengthened through consistent 28-day P.A.R.R. cycles.

Then consider a separate interview with a prominent habit author. The host, visibly confused, was trying to get clarity between systems and habits.

The author, “Often we’re ambitious… set lofty goals… and we wonder why it doesn’t work out. It’s because we don’t have a system behind it— we don’t have the habits behind the goal.”

Habits behind the goal?

Have you heard that somewhere before?

Which is it?

Is it a system? Or, is it a habit? Confusing, isn’t it?

Are you not confused?

To be clear, systems are not habits.

All this to say: IF there were a shared understanding—a common logic and paradigm—the incoherence and confusion that top behavioral scientists have warned about for more than a century could, comparatively speaking, vanish almost overnight.

Sidenote: Consider the world’s most aligned organizations. Their secret isn’t discipline—it’s a system engineered to produce specific, successful behaviors. This is the precise science we apply in our Organizational Behavior Alignment™ (OBA) program.

DARE TO DREAM.

This is the power of a shared paradigm—a common model that is both foundational and universally accessible, with the certainty of 2 + 2 = 4.

If it can resolve expert confusion, what could it do for the turbulence of adolescence?

How serious is this BS problem, really?

“Crisis!” “Pre-paradigmatic!” “Lacking coherent identity!” ☝️☝️☝️

With no shared paradigm or model, experts have long lamented the field’s inherent incoherence.

This very immaturity—the hope of one day becoming a true science—has left experts and non-experts alike in the same predicament:

Confused. Facing competing therapies.

Baffled by contradictory models. Stuck in endless debate.

Mirage theories that can’t be falsified. And a flood of pop-culture self-help.

In short, no shared basis, no shared paradigm for the elemental language and components of behavior.

The story doesn’t end there. It got so bad… it appears they finally gave up.

Enter: Institutional Amnesia. 👇🏼

Your Move

Can you find a fifth basic element of behavior—something truly irreducible or not emergent?

Be the first to find it and you’ll win an easy $1,000.

If you can’t, share this with someone who loves testing ideas, challenging models, and putting theories to the test.

Invite them to try to break UBM.

Because Grandma was not wrong: start with the corners, and everything falls into place more quickly—and the entire picture becomes clear.

Who’s up for After more than a century of pursuit, behavioral science’s unified, elemental, and falsifiable model appears to have emerged—served on a silver platter.

The burden of disproof now rests with the scientific community—the very community that has sought unification for over a hundred years.

Please—test it. Break it. Improve it.

All truth passes through three stages:
First, it is ridiculed; second, it is violently opposed; and third, it is accepted as self-evident.

Dramatic, I know. 😉

📄 Grab the free habit tracking template: thehabitfactor.com/templates

Go ahead, get a little crazy! What’s confusing about behavioral science or psychology? Share a thought!

Just click the email—it’ll open right on Substack, where you can like, comment, or join the discussion. I read them all and truly appreciate it! 🙏

(Looking at you, top psych departments—according to U.S. News & World Report, 2025): @StanfordPsych, @HarvardPsych, @UCBPsychology, @UCLPALS, @Psych_at_Yale, @UMichPsych, @UCLA_Psych, @UCSDPsych, @OxfordPsych, @PrincetonPsych.

Please, with all due respect, step right up. 👊 🤙 🙏

🚨 BREAKING! Major breakthrough in habit tracking-skeptics, at long last, put to rest. Full details in Section 7.0 of the Unified Behavior Model™ white paper: https://zenodo.org/records/17209721

Habits 2 Goals Premium by Martin Grunburg is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

The trilogy that uncovered the Unified Behavior Model…

Learn more about The Behavioral Literacy Project & Unified Behavior Model: An Elemental, Falsifiable Framework for Behavior Change

Get the white paper here at Zenodo.org: https://zenodo.org/records/17209721 the challenge?

How to Keep Behavioral Science Comfortably Incoherent — i.e., Ununified

Behavior Change, Behavioral Literacy Project, goal theory, Habit Alignment, HabitStrength™, P.A.R.R., P.A.R.R. Methodology, PARR Methodology, Podcast, Scientific Method, UBM, Unified Behavior Model

On July 8th, in what can only be described as an act of reckless clarity, we published a white paper (grab it here—>) Unified Behavioral Model™ — Read more… listen now.

Disclaimer: The following is a bit tongue-in-cheek. Just a bit.

I have the utmost respect for the behavioral science community and its vast contributions—including the many scientists whose work has directly shaped my own.

That said, the more I learn about the history of attempts to unify behavioral science (and, by association, psychology)—and then set those challenges alongside the Unified Behavior Model (UBM) as it now exists—formally published (elemental and falsifiable), 500+ downloads later—the more peculiar the entire situation becomes.

To be clear: it’s only in hindsight that these “obvious” errors and omissions—both in behavioral science (BS) and in its unification efforts—come into focus.

Tip #1: Make Sure Only True Insiders Get to Play

Whatever you do, don’t approach this unification challenge from the outside. That’s where troublemakers and fresh ideas tend to arise—reportedly. 👇

Imagine that… via Stanford Business. Where is Stanford’s own Psychology Department when it comes to UBM? @stanfordpsypodInstead, ensure that no outside ideas are taken into account and non sneak their way in—even via OPEN SCIENCE.

OUTSIDERS. OUTSIDERS. OUTSIDERS. ☝️ ☝️ ☝️

Better yet, throw up your hands and surrender:

“Why Psychology Isn’t Unified, and Probably Never Will Be…”

“PROBABLY NEVER WILL BE.”

Valid points to be sure…

“Why a Unified Theory of Psychology is Impossible”

Unification as a Goal for Psychology

It goes on and on—for several reasons, dear friends, which appear below.

Tip #2 Prioritize Knowledge over Imagination

Ensure that only those fluent in four-letter acronyms, armed with multiple advanced degrees, and a dense theoretical vernacular are entrusted with presenting “novel” ideas.

Further, insist that only those who can quote James, Pavlov, Watson, Bandura, Maslow, Skinner, and Freud backward and forward—and who possess psychological libraries spanning generations—be invited to contribute.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” ~Einstein

Tip #3: Form a Large Committee. The Larger, the Better

Nothing unifies quite like 23—or maybe 43—strong personalities in one room.

When “top behavioral theorists” gather for a week-long consortium, be sure to take minutes, roll in the whiteboard, and order extra coffee.

Everyone knows: the more expert opinions, the quicker a consensus.

As history (and a few hallucinating AIs) like to remind us, when it comes to unification attempts, the go-to answers are always consortia, committees, and bowling alleys.

Darwin famously huddled with his nine-person advisory council.

Einstein wouldn’t dream of publishing without first posting to social media.

And Newton? Legendary for his gravitational consortiums.

Here’s a nutty thought: what if that unified model came from one person on the fringe? (The fringe—see above ☝️.)

One person. U N I — F I C A T I O N.

⚠️ WARNING: Unification carries a dangerous synonym—coherence.

By extension, it implies that the 150-year exercise known as behavioral science—and its twin sister, psychology—are, brace yourself…

INCOHERENT.

Oy.

To be clear, that’s not me talking, it’s Webster.

If you didn’t catch the 1991 reference—well, that was when the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) convened a “Top Behavioral Consortium.”

Its noble goal?

To create a “Unified Framework.”

“What emerged?” you ask.

The meeting —a week long gathering—brought together “leading human behavior theorists”. While a comprehensive roster of all attendees from this specific 1991 meeting is not fully detailed in the available documentation, a critical outcome of this expert gathering was the acknowledgment that

“there was no consensus among the theorists”

on a single, universally accepted unified framework.

Imagine that.

Tip #4: Whatever You Do, Don’t Articulate the Core Problem Statement

There appear to be no public meeting minutes from the week-long NIMH gathering of “top theorists”—at least none we can reference.

No specifics on the budget for convening such a summit.

No documentation outlining the precise problem statement behind the search for “a single, universally accepted unified framework.”

And certainly related: how is this not the fundamental problem statement for a field called behavioral science—especially one aiming to unify?

Fundamentally, what are the elemental drivers of BEHAVIOR — the core influences that shape its emergence in the moment and its development over time?

If that’s not the core problem statement… then what is?

What problem could be more fundamental—behaviorally speaking—to the field of behavioral science?

Final thought: Now this—identifying the core challenges facing behavioral science—is the perfect reason to form a committee. Not to solve the grand issues plaguing BS and psychology, but to articulate them clearly, and open them up to the vast ocean of researchers and academics. (See UBM Abstract FIRST SENTENCE below…)

Tip #5: Keep It Complex (Ideally, Incomprehensible)

ONE. MORE. TIME.

Dr. Karl Popper, the famed philosopher-scientist, often described:

Science as the art of systematic oversimplification.

Naturally, academia should aim for the opposite.

Construct diagrams that look like they’ve had a nervous breakdown.

Add arrows in every direction.

Require a legend, a supersonic decoder ring—maybe even a small prayer book.

If grad students aren’t weeping softly in the library, it’s not ready.

Share

Tip #6: Avoid the Elemental

Elemental means you’ve boiled things down to their ESSENCE.

F I R S T P R I N C I P L E S

I know, I know—where’s the fun in that?

Better to roll out 19 “core principles” that conveniently rhyme—or, better yet, forge a very long acronym. E.L.E.P.H.A.N.T., perhaps?

Extra credit if the term nods to a furry sea creature.

Keep every concept pleasantly vague, and gently smother it all with layers of nuance.

Tip #7: Ensure It Is Not Testable

Back to our scientific hero, Karl Popper—the man who gave us what’s now considered the gold standard of science. FALSIFIABILITY. (See: The Logic of Scientific Discovery.)

In short: if a theory can’t be tested and disproved—especially a unified theory, for heaven’s sake—it ain’t science, Chuck!

So naturally, let’s keep our models logical-sounding, untestable, and elaborate just enough to send a few statisticians running.

Better still if it’s lyrical, metaphorical, and open to interpretive dance.

And don’t worry—if someone asks whether it’s falsifiable, smile, pause, and launch into a soulful, complicated story about your children… and how falsifiability is so often misunderstood.

Tip #8: Always Start with Theory. Practice Is Overrated.

Practice before theory? That makes far too much sense.

Oh, wait—someone’s already tried that.

Both P.A.R.R.—The Habit Factor’s method for habit development and increasing automaticity and habit strength (which mirrors the scientific method and carries 15+ years of empirical evidence)—and the Behavior Echo-System (BES)—two components of the Unified Behavior Model (UBM)—have been in practice and taught for years.

“Well,” you say, “teaching something doesn’t make it science.”
Correct. Which is exactly why we took the time to articulate these methods and their methodologies in a scientific paper—and backed them with a falsifiability statement.

The Behavior Echo-System is taught as a best practice for both personal transformation and goal achievement. (Parenthetically, LLMs suggest UBM-BES boosts goal-probabilistic outcomes by about 30%.)

Shhhhh. 🤫

So yes, by all means: let’s prioritize theory. Form committees, convene consortia, and spin out elaborate frameworks for a unified framework—long before anyone ever applies or teaches it.

We’ll be right over here if you need us.

Tip #9: Keep Behavioral Science (BS) Inaccessible to the Public

After all, if a seventh grader could understand and apply a Unified Behavior Model in the classroom—well, where would that leave all the complications?

What’s the use of democratizing behavioral science so adolescents can shape their future character, habits, and skills?

Sounds like a wildly undesirable outcome, doesn’t it?

You’re right. It’s far better to keep core behavioral science (BS) safely incomprehensible—siloed in labs, buried in journals, preserved in lecture halls, and locked away in therapists’ offices.

The last thing we want is to start teaching the ABCs and 123s of behavioral science to adolescents.

Imagine teenagers applying elemental behavioral science—the Unified Behavior Model—to clearly understand how to move toward their goals and ideals, not by guessing, but with a science-backed model.

Total chaos.

As noted above—a bit tongue-in-cheek.

Stay classy, San Diego—Stay classy, BS. ☝️

And pls, keep on trackin’ ✅

~mg

All truth passes through three stages:
First, it is ridiculed; second, it is violently opposed; and third, it is accepted as self-evident.

Dramatic, I know. 😉

📄 Grab the free habit tracking template: thehabitfactor.com/templates

The Trilogy: WARNING! Do NOT read these books

Science may be described as the art of systematic oversimplification. ― Karl Popper

Voila: UBM. 👇

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Zb7eyXWQtXE?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0

“Great theories have simple pictorial representation.”
—Michio Kaku

The Behavior Echo-System (BES): the systematic simplification of behavior.

Which makes it—by definition—the elemental science of behavior.

Allegedly.

Until—and unless—you produce the Black Swan.

It’s no coincidence that coherence is a synonym for unified.

BTW: A few hundred downloads Zenodo.org and ZERO entries to falsify it.

(Looking at you, top psych departments—according to U.S. News & World Report, 2025): @StanfordPsych, @HarvardPsych, @UCBPsychology, @UCLPALS, @Psych_at_Yale, @UMichPsych, @UCLA_Psych, @UCSDPsych, @OxfordPsych, @PrincetonPsych.

Please, with all due respect, step right up. 👊 🤙 🙏

Share

🚨 BREAKING! Major breakthrough in habit tracking—skeptics, at long last, put to rest. Full details in Section 7.0 of the Unified Behavior Model™ white paper: https://zenodo.org/records/15844153

From Corners to Unity: Toward Solving the Century-Old Puzzle of Behavioral Science 🧩

Behavior Change, Behavioral Literacy Project, Habit Alignment, P.A.R.R. Methodology, PARR Methodology, Scientific Method, UBM, Unified Behavior Model

Three months, 1,000+ downloads, zero disproof. The Unified Behavior Model challenges anyone to prove it wrong—and if you’re the first, $1,000 is yours.

Open Science: The Unified Behavior Model- an elemental, unified, and falsifiable framework (and, allegedly, the first of its kind).

Grandma always said, “Start with the corners!”

Whether building a puzzle or attempting to build a model of human behavior, Grandma’s advice applies in spades.

For nearly 150 years, behavioral science has been a self-described, incoherent patchwork of scattered models, frameworks, theories, and therapies.

Below is a small sample of articles from the past ten years. Take note of the “Key Sentiments”-and the telling title, “Is It Science?”

Unified Behavior Model (UBM): Addressing a century-plus of Behavioral Science’s Identity Crises

Freud here. Skinner there. ACT versus CBT.

Bandura here, Kahneman there.

Each reveal a piece of the puzzle, yet none agree on its frame-its foundation.

(See: 1991 National Institute of Mental Health consortium-an ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful attempt at unification.)

Unification: an ambition, not a threat.

Unified Behavior Model (UBM): How each major branch, model, framework and therapy maps into its elemental corners.

Enter: The Four Corner Foundation

The Unified Behavior Model (UBM) makes an audacious, bold, falsifiable claim:

Every behavior — every action — emerges from the interaction of just four elemental domains.
Not five. Not fifteen. Definitely not forty-nine.

The Unified Behavior Model (UBM) makes an audacious, bold, falsifiable claim:

JUST FOUR ELEMENTAL DOMAINS.

🧩 STORIES (Cognition) — Your mental narratives, beliefs, and meaning-making. The inner monologue that shapes how you see yourself and reality. From CBT to Narrative Therapy, this is where thoughts drive feelings and actions.

🧩 ENVIRONMENT (Includes the Body) — Your physical space, social context, and biology. Behaviorally speaking (that’s key, since this is a behavior model), you are not separate from your environment. Culture, media, and your nervous system all act as behavioral stimuli.

🧩 BEHAVIORS (Habits & Skills) — Observable, shapeable actions. The mechanics of how patterns become automatic through repetition and feedback. Cues trigger responses. Skills develop through practice. Behaviors reinforce themselves and influence one another.

🧩 EMOTIONS (& Feelings) — The affective conduits, the neural pathways that signal and relay. Emotions and feelings are the most variable and ephemeral elements of the system — sometimes the most influential, sometimes the least, depending on context.

The “Behavior Echo-System” (BES)

Here’s what makes UBM totally different: these aren’t just four elemental silos.

Together, they form a unified system — the Behavior Echo-System.

It’s Systems Theory, operationalized.

Your environment influences your behavior, and your behavior, in turn, may influence your environment-echoing dynamically throughout the system and its parts.

Unified Behavior Model’s Behavior Echo-System — Systems Theory Operationalized

Behaviors never occur in a vacuum.

Behaviors may evoke emotions. Emotions, in turn, may influence narratives, which may then feed back-altering or reshaping the environment.

Interdependence. Influence one domain, and reverberations echo throughout the system.

Holism. The Behavior Echo-System transcends the sum of its parts. Behavioral constructs such as discipline and motivation are not elemental; they emerge from the interaction-often the blend-of the core four domains.

Example: Low motivation could stem from the Environment (your body’s low blood sugar), uncertainty about Behavioral skills, or Cognitive Stories like “There’s no way I can do this.” Often, it’s a blend-echoing throughout the system.

Feedback loops. UBM applies the P.A.R.R. protocol (Plan-Act-Record-Reassess), mirroring the scientific method itself. P.A.R.R. gives you the steering wheel for intentional change-allowing you to test, design, and refine behaviors. You input data, attempt new behaviors, record and reassess. (Section 7.0, detail in white paper)

Bidirectional causality. Thoughts may influence feelings driving new behavior. Sometimes an environmental shift; a cold plunge alters your physiology (Environment), rewiring your feelings and story about resilience.

Here’s the key: take away even one elemental corner, and the whole system — the puzzle itself — falls apart.

A Sense of Urgency

Adolescent anxiety, depression, and self-harm have never been higher. See: A Girl and Her Screen (One)

Maps never promise safe arrival-but they cut through confusion.

Maps and models help us see where we are and how to get where we want to go. That’s why people use them every day.

Does behavioral science really need to stay locked in universities, PhD programs, labs, and therapists’ offices?

Where’s the simple, unifying map that says:

Here’s what’s going on. You’re not broken-the system’s just stuck. And here are the four levers you can use to shift it.

Why doesn’t it exist?

Maybe because there was no elemental starting point. And maybe-just maybe-we have that now.

Your Move

Can you find a fifth basic element of behavior — something that is irreducible?

Be the first to find it-something that doesn’t fit within the four corners or emerge from them-and you’ll win an easy $1,000.

If you can’t, share this with someone who loves testing ideas, challenging models, and putting theories to the test.

Invite them to try to break UBM.

Because Grandma was not wrong: start with the corners, and everything falls into place more quickly-and the entire picture becomes clear.

Who’s up for the challenge?

Looking at you, top psych departments-according toU.S. News & World Report, 2025): @StanfordPsych, @HarvardPsych, @UCBPsychology, @UCLPALS, @Psych_at_Yale, @UMichPsych, @UCLA_Psych, @UCSDPsych, @OxfordPsych, @PrincetonPsych.

Please, with all due respect, step right up. 👊 🤙 🙏

Unified Behavior Model (UBM): “Radically Simple!” 😅 That’s the Problem?!

Uncategorized

Unified Behavior Model (UBM), Debated

OPEN SCIENCE: “Allegedly,” the only elemental and unified behavioral model.

On July 8th, in what can only be described as an act of reckless clarity, we published a white paper!

“Science is the art of systematic oversimplification.” ~Karl Popper

UBM simplifies on purpose, not by accident.

It maps ALL of human behavior (as never done before) into just four recursive domains:

  1. Environment (yes, your body counts — more in a sec)
  2. Cognition (thinking, beliefs, inner narratives/stories)
  3. Behaviors (habits, skills)
  4. Emotions & Feelings (signals, relays/conduits)

That’s it. That’s all.

No fifth element. No twelfth element.

And definitely not a 39th element.

There’s not even a magic mystery box.

There IS just one caveat: If you remove even one of the core four elements, the model breaks.

Go ahead, name just ONE thing that influences your behavior.

Now, hold that thought for a moment. 😉

And here’s what you’ll find: Anything you add becomes redundant — it either maps into one or more of the core four elements, or it’s an emergent property of them.

As mentioned before: Grit, greed, pain, pleasure, motivation, willpower, frustration, anger, consciousness, religion, heartbreak, hustle, TikTok addiction, any addiction, martyrdom, Black Friday stampedes, falling in love, walking away — ALL of it — ALL OF BEHAVIOR — either fits into one of those four core domains or emanates from them.

Scientifically, this is considered elemental sufficiency—think, first principles.

Smart fellows like Einstein, Popper, Feynman, Schrödinger, and Galileo advocate for its adherence.

“But wait… my body is part of the environment?”

Disclaimer: The following is a bit tongue-in-cheek. Just a bit.

I have the utmost respect for the behavioral science community and its vast contributions—including the many scientists whose work has directly shaped my own.

That said, the more I learn about the history of attempts to unify behavioral science (and, by association, psychology)—and then set those challenges alongside the Unified Behavior Model (UBM) as it now exists—formally published (elemental and falsifiable), 500+ downloads later—the more peculiar the entire situation becomes.

To be clear: it’s only in hindsight that these “obvious” errors and omissions—both in behavioral science (BS) and in its unification efforts—come into focus.

Behaviorally speaking? You bet it is!

(To clarify: this is a behavior model, not a model of a person.)

Consider a toothache.

A behavioral stimulus — that may be just as disruptive (or worse) than bad cologne… or some joker heckling umpires at a baseball game.

They’re ALL “environmental” stimuli — external or internal — that may influence behavior.

Each one changes how you think, feel, and act.

That’s the Behavior Echo-System in action.

A dynamic, recursive system of behavior. Hence, “Echo–System” and not ecosystem.

Voilà. 👇🏻

Learn more at habits2goals.substack.com

Simplicity: The Breakthrough and Ironically, the Barrier

You’re probably saying:

C’mon, MG, NOBODY cares about this stuff…

Who cares about a unifying framework for behavior?

Well, let’s be crystal clear:

Only ALL of behavioral science cares. Yes, that includes Psychology.

For over a century, it’s arguably been THE quest — THE Holy Grail.
(Yes, you can print that.)

Why unify?

Think about it this way:

The antonym of unified is — well — incoherent.

That’s not meant as an insult.

It’s English.

Academic papers from 1985 to 2023 exploring the consequences and ongoing struggle of a fragmented field.

This is precisely why behavioral scientists have sought unification for so long.☝

There was even a consortium of top behavioral theorists in 1991 — [read about it here, see Tip #3].

Coherence matters—a lot.

To a field that claims to have dozens and dozens of branches…

Applied Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Social Psychology….

it goes on and on…

All lovingly called “branches.”

Have you ever seen a tree with dozens of branches and no trunk?

Neither have we.

If you’re thinking, “I’m no scientist. I couldn’t care less,” — see the bottom.

What’s the “No Fifth Element” Challenge?!

It’s UBM’s core scientific and testable claim:

Every driver of behavior fits within its FOUR domains.

At this point — two months post-publication, 800-ish downloads, direct outreach to top scholars and behavioral experts, and (drumroll, please) even a $1,000 prize for anyone who can name a fifth core element…

BTW: If “we” had a hundred million lying around — or a cool billion — we could offer that as well.

It’s worth repeating: After unleashing Grok, Gemini, ChatGPT, DeepSeek, and Claude.ai—the entire robo-brain gang—each, despite their best efforts, has come up with…

“I have FAILED to break UBM and find a fifth irreducible element.”

Not my words — theirs.

This is wild! Watch their attempts to break UBM, recorded live.

So, if you’re keeping score at home:

UBM Refutations? Nada.

Official entries into the “No Fifth Element Challenge”? Zero.

Downloads? 📈 800-ish

Professional reactions to UBM’s scientific merits? Eerie silence — with a side of discomfort.

How many ELEMENTAL, unified behavioral models do you see? Not a trick question.

Why the Scientific Silence?

You tell me.

Might simplicity feel threatening?

Oddly, it’s the exact opposite.

Think of UBM like Uncle Buck—the 1980s classic written and directed by John Hughes, starring the ever-lovable, wildly unpredictable John Candy.

Uncle Buck MEANS = UBM.
Uninvited. Unpolished. Unconventional.

And yet—exactly what the family (or field) needed.

UBM and Uncle Buck—Similar Qualities

UBM and Uncle Buck Share Similar Qualities

  • Unconventional → Outside the box
  • Loyal & Caring → Devoted, makes science accessible for ALL
  • Protective → Elemental, built to help adolescents
  • Honest → Falsifiable, no façade
  • Warmhearted → Unifying, inclusive
  • Growth-Oriented → Goal-directed
  • Responsible (at last) → Transformative!

Heck, UNIFICATION is in UBM’s DNA!

Take a good look at that face! That’s UBM!

UBM is exactly what it claims to be:
An elemental, unified, goal-directed, and falsifiable behavioral model.

If the experts can disprove it—wonderful!

That’s science.
That’s the game: testing, proving, disproving. Frameworks rise or fall on merit.

But if not?
Then unification has quietly appeared—served on a silver platter—
exactly what the field has been seeking for over a century.

UBM isn’t here to replace or compete with anyone—or any model.
It’s here to unify.

It’s designed to complement—not compete.

For the 15th time — it’s TESTABLE.

Just prove it incorrect, and everyone can go home. Yay!

To be clear.

UBM wasn’t created.

It wasn’t really even discovered

The Unified Behavior Model (UBM) was UNEARTHED.

Buried deep within layers of nuance, distinction, and complexity.

All incredibly helpful in their own right—
just not for unification.

It took a fair amount of abstract thinking…
Twenty years, three books, 500+ podcast episodes, a few Zen koans—
and a lot of meditation.

Confucius was not wrong:

“The best time to plant a behavioral science tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.”

It’s time to test the tree, let it grow, and—just as it was designed—create some shade for future generations.

That’s been the driving force behind UBM from the very beginning.

Right now, adolescents are facing unprecedented levels of self-harm, anxiety, and depression.

Because while no map or model offers guarantees, we still use them daily—
to improve our odds of a safe arrival.

Behavioral literacy isn’t a luxury anymore. It’s a necessity.

That’s the mission behind UBM:
To make behavioral science accessible—especially for adolescents.

It’s curious: Schools can teach incredibly complex subjects like math and language—
yet they always start with something simple. Like ABC or 2 + 2 = 4.

But when it comes to behavior? There’s no elemental entry point.

Not yet.

Thanks for reading. 😉

🎥 MUST WATCH VIDEO — In case you missed it
UBM, DEBATED!! → “It’s RADICALLY SIMPLE” VIDEO

📄 Download the paper (free) → https://zenodo.org/records/15844153

Test. Share. Learn. Apply.

And pls, keep on trackin’ ✅

~mg

Abstract UBM: Behavioral science — despite vast contributions — suffers from two fundamental flaws: absence of a unified model and inaccessibility.

👉 UBM—Go beyond the white paper » Catch a F R E E UBM Training/Webinar ON DEMAND! Just go to MAVEN.com add yourself to the “Course Updates.” That lets me know you’re interested in the F R E E UBM Training/Webinar ON DEMAND. (No commitment whatsoever for the Habit Mastery cohort) and I’ll send you a custom invite/link!

All truth passes through three stages:
First, it is ridiculed; second, it is violently opposed; and third, it is accepted as self-evident.

Dramatic, I know. 😉

📄 Grab the free habit tracking template: thehabitfactor.com/templates

The Trilogy: WARNING! Do NOT read these books

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Zb7eyXWQtXE?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0

“Great theories have simple pictorial representation.”
—Michio Kaku

BTW: A few hundred downloads Zenodo.org and ZERO entries to falsify it.

(Looking at you, top psych departments—according to U.S. News & World Report, 2025): @StanfordPsych, @HarvardPsych, @UCBPsychology, @UCLPALS, @Psych_at_Yale, @UMichPsych, @UCLA_Psych, @UCSDPsych, @OxfordPsych, @PrincetonPsych.

Please, with all due respect, step right up. 👊 🤙 🙏

Share

🚨 BREAKING! Major breakthrough in habit tracking—skeptics, at long last, put to rest. Full details in Section 7.0 of the Unified Behavior Model™ white paper: https://zenodo.org/records/15844153

👉 UBM—Go beyond the white paper » Catch a F R E E UBM Training/Webinar ON DEMAND! Just go to MAVEN.com add yourself to the “Course Updates.” That lets me know you’re interested in the F R E E UBM Training/Webinar ON DEMAND. (No commitment whatsoever for the Habit Mastery cohort) and I’ll send you a custom invite/link!

Show Me the Other Elemental Behavior Model, Please 🔥

Uncategorized

Science is the art of systematic oversimplification.
~Karl Popper

On July 8th, 2025, in what can only be described as an act of reckless clarity, we published a white paper (grab it here →) Unified Behavioral Model (UBM)

👉 UBM-Go beyond the white paper “ Catch a free UBM Training/Webinar ON DEMAND! Just go ahead and add yourself to the “Course Updates.” That lets me know you’re interested in the free UBM Training/Webinar ON DEMAND. (No commitment whatsoever for the Habit Mastery cohort) and I’ll send you a custom invite/link!)

“It’s Radically Simple!” — UBM Stuns the Behavioral Science Community with Its Elemental Sufficiency

The Unified Behavior Model (UBM) is making waves.

It’s ‘ allegedly’ behavioral science’s first UNIFIED model.

If that were it, it’d probably be worth discussing.

Yet, that only scratches the surface.

If you’re thinking, “I don’t care about behavioral science…”

Patience, Grasshopper… (you will)

Most behavioral scientists appear to miss the real reason UBM  ‘allegedly’* cracked the century-old mystery of UNIFICATION.

The answer is (literally) simple.

It’s ELEMENTAL.

What does that mean?

It means ALL of human behavior originates within or among just FOUR CORE DOMAINS.

That’s it.

That’s ALL.

NOTHING MORE.

Anything YOU can throw at it — grit, greed, pain, pleasure, motivation, willpower, frustration, anger, consciousness, religion, heartbreak, hustle, TikTok addiction, any addiction, martyrdom, Black Friday stampedes, falling in love, walking away — all of it — ALL OF BEHAVIOR — either fits into one of those four core domains or emanates from them.

Go ahead, name just ONE thing that influences your behavior.

Now, hold that thought for a moment. 😉

UBM is confined to first principles.

Strip away any of its core domains, and it breaks.

Add just one element, and it creates unnecessary complexity.

BTW: The sort of complexity that’s prevented unification in the first place.

UBM is that “simple”.

This is elemental sufficiency — a concept backed by smart fellows like Einstein, who famously said:

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler.” ~Albert Einstein

"He like it! Hey, Mikey, he likes it"

Indeed. “Everything” includes behavior.

Voilà. 👇🏻

Unified Behavior Model (UBM) —Elemental Sufficiency results in UNIFICATION, ‘allegedly’

ENVIRONMENT (including your body) ‘sits’ on one ‘side’ of behavior.

Confused? Consider a toothache.

Does it not shift your feelings, behaviors, even your thinking? You bet it does.

That’s your body acting as an environmental stimulus — same as a blaring siren, a stranger’s cologne, or someone chewing too loudly next to you.

Any of these affects how you think, feel, and behave.
Body = Environment (behaviorally speaking). Get it?

Now, on the other “side” of behavior?

THOUGHT — COGNITION — STORIES.

It’s all of those real and imagined narratives you tell yourself about everything: who you are, what you can become, what you’re capable of.

“Behaviorally speaking” (that’s a crucial phrase), after all, this is a behavior model — not a model of a person.

Behaviorally speaking, your behaviors are “bookended” by just two elemental forces: Environment and Thinking.

That’s elemental sufficiency.

What about emotions and feelings!?

Well, to put it simply, they are both the most important and the least important influencers of behavior.

When it comes to emotions and feelings, it DEPENDS; they are variable.

Emotions and feelings are not considered long-term major elements.

Instead, at any moment, they are either the most or least important behavioral forces.

So, what was the one “thing” you identified that influences your behavior?

Did you say motivation? Or frustration? Or love?

Let’s take them top-down:

Motivation = Feeling.
Frustration = Feeling.
Love = Feeling.

Each is accounted for within the “Behavior Echo-System.”

Love?
Love is a complex phenomenon that touches upon — and/or emanates from — the entire behavioral system. It’s felt in the body, it’s an emotion, and it’s often a form of cognition. Behaviorally speaking, the Behavior Echo-System accounts for all of it.

Motivation?
Somewhat similar. Motivation is a feeling — an emotion — that may arise as a complex blend, including the body’s physical state (i.e., the environment).

Maybe you’re low on food. Low on energy. Maybe you’re stuck inside a debilitating story.

Again: behaviorally speaking, motivation fits squarely within the Behavior Echo-System.

Frustration?
Typically, frustration comes from a desire — a goal or ambition — that isn’t being met, or is being delayed.

This is a feeling — accounted for in the Behavior Echo-System — and may emerge from one or more elements, as a blend or derivative.

Often, the “environment” is the culprit behind frustration.


Back to feelings and emotions…

They don’t necessarily dictate or control behavior.

If you’ve ever done something incredibly dumb because you were enraged or upset, those emotions and feelings got the better of you in the MOMENT.

If you’ve ever done absolutely NOTHING — even while being incredibly angry, enraged, or upset — you demonstrated how emotions and feelings are VARIABLE — behaviorally speaking, of course.

Since UBM is a goal-directed behavior model, when it comes to your long-term goals, your daily emotional upswings and downswings carry less weight OVER THE LONG RUN than your environment and your thinking.

Say it with me:

Over time — months, years, decades — it’s not my daily emotions or feelings that determine the outcome of my long-term goals.

That’s it.

That’s the entire “Behavior Echo-System.”

JUST. FOUR. ELEMENTS.

And that brings us back to ELEMENTALISM.

Why hasn’t behavioral science been able to UNIFY?

This could very well be why.

It’s difficult, dare I say impossible, to find another ELEMENTAL, UNIFIED behavioral model!?

LOOK VERY CLOSELY…

Shocker Vedantam!!??!?

Could this be why?!

Not another elemental behavioral model to be found, anywhere?

I know — it’s actually Shankar Vedantam, host of NPR’s Hidden Brain, who’s spent years uncovering the hidden forces behind human behavior.

Maybe that’s the appropriate name drop and response…

That’s the twist. Get it?

That is THE genuine SHOCKER!

After more than a century of branching theories, therapies, and models in behavioral science, there’s “allegedly” just one ELEMENTAL, unified behavioral model.

It appears the key to solving the unification riddle was hidden…

…within complexity itself.

Now — I promised this applies to YOU!

You’re intelligent.

and good looking!

AND, you have goals.

Perhaps you lead others — organizations, teams, or both.

So, I’ll allow Claude.AI, UBM’s toughest critic, to take it from here.

Unified Behavior Model (UBM) ClaudeAI takes it to task — and begrudgingly ranks it highest in goal probabilistic outcomes.

A 30% increase in goal probabilistic outcome!?

You say, “That’s impossible — HOW CAN THAT BE!?”

All because it’s… you guessed it:

Elemental. Unified.

Go ahead. PLEASE.

Test it. Break it.

Improve it.

And, while your at it, show me the other unified, elemental model, please.

And be sure to keep on trackin’ ✅

~mg

👉 UBM — Beyond the white paper » Catch a free UBM Training/Webinar ON DEMAND! Just go to MAVEN.com add yourself to the “Course Updates.” That lets me know you’re interested in the free UBM Training/Webinar ON DEMAND. (No commitment whatsoever for the Habit Mastery cohort) and I’ll send you a custom invite/link!

All truth passes through three stages:
First, it is ridiculed; second, it is violently opposed; and third, it is accepted as self-evident.

Dramatic, I know. 😉

📄 Grab the now legendary habits-to-goals tracking template: thehabitfactor.com/templates

(Looking at you, top psych departments-according to U.S. News & World Report, 2025): @StanfordPsych, @HarvardPsych, @UCBPsychology, @UCLPALS, @Psych_at_Yale, @UMichPsych, @UCLA_Psych, @UCSDPsych, @OxfordPsych, @PrincetonPsych.

GOOD HABITS HAPPEN WHEN PLANNED;
BAD HABITS HAPPEN ON THEIR OWN.

Get the white paper here at Zenodo.org: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15844153

“Great theories have simple pictorial representations.”
-Michio Kaku

🚨 BREAKING! Major breakthrough in habit tracking news! -Skeptics, at long last, put to rest. Full details in Section 7.0 of the Unified Behavior Model™ white paper: https://zenodo.org/records/15844153

Learn more about The Behavioral Literacy Project & Unified Behavior Model: An Elemental, Falsifiable Framework for Behavior Change

Originally published at https://habits2goals.substack.com.

Black Swan Me | Proof of the Unified Behavior Model

Behavior Change, Behavioral Literacy Project, Habit Alignment, habits, P.A.R.R. Methodology, Scientific Method, Unified Behavior Model

How the Unified Behavior Model™ was uncovered rather than discovered.

On July 8th, in what can only be described as an act of reckless clarity, we published a white paper (grab it here →) Unified Behavioral Model™ — Read more… listen now.

“Science may be described as the art of systematic oversimplification.” ― Karl Popper


Behavioral science—despite vast contributions—suffers from two core flaws: absence of a unified model and inaccessibility. The Unified Behavior Model (UBM) addresses both by elementalizing behavior into four components: Cognition (Stories), Behavior (Habits/Skills), Emotion (Feelings), and Environment (including the body). This yields a falsifiable, practical framework.

So, what makes UBM so unique — so different from prevalent behavioral models?

First, let’s clear up a common misconception:

UBM — specifically the Behavior Echo-System (BES) — is a model of behavior, not a model of a person.

People often see the graphic and assume it represents themselves, or a diagram of the human body. It doesn’t.

As Dr. Popper’s statement above suggests, UBM articulates how behavior is influenced in the moment and shaped over time — within its system.

Now, here’s its B.I.G. claim:

UBM is falsifiable.

In science, that’s the gold standard. (Period.)

If a theory can’t be tested or broken, it’s just storytelling. Worse yet, Karl Popper would say it’s non-science.

What’s Popper’s core claim?

Science and non-science are divided by a single demarcation: Falsifiability.

UBM asks — check that, insists — “Go for it… Please try to break me.”

Apparently, no other behavior model — certainly not a unified one — has ever done that.

Kind of interesting…Maybe just a bit?

Worth mentioning, at least?

Or dedicating, I don’t know… twenty-plus years to uncovering?

UBM/BES Comparison Table & Major Prevalent Models as provided by DeepSeek.

According to Dr. Karl Popper — and as noted in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Karl Popper is generally regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of science of the twentieth century” — if a theory can’t be tested (or broken), it’s just storytelling. Worse, he’d call it “non-science.”

Just to be clear: that’s Dr. Popper, philosopher and trained psychologist, who introduced the idea of falsifiability (and gave us that delightful bit with the Black Swan).

So yeah — if you can’t at least attempt to break it, he says, it doesn’t count.

UBM is so confident in its falsifiability that it’s offering a $1,000 reward to the first person to prove there’s a missing fifth element — one that isn’t reducible or emergent. (See below and bottom for official entry details.)

So far: nearly 500 downloads and…

Nada. Zip. Zilch. NOTHING.

Even the world’s top AIs — ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok, DeepSeek — took their shots.

They’ve all struck out.

Attempts include: Time (environmental), Consciousness (emergent from the system), Willpower (embodied environment), Self-Organization (embodied environment — note the “self” in self-organization).

The list goes on, and it’s kind of funny.

Google’s Gemini, for example, offered a “someday” quantum property we don’t even know of yet.

Seriously.

Just to be clear: if we don’t know of it yet, and we can’t test it — it’s not a valid fifth element.

DeepSeek’s parting words? Also comical…

“UBM 1. DS 0… Game respects game.”

And, here’s Gemini’s best response after half dozen attempts…

Gemini ☝️ tries desperately to break the Unified Behavior Model and fails.

The difficulty in falsification, as intended by the model’s design, is a powerful indicator of its conceptual strength and it’s potential to serve as a TRULY UNIFYING FRAMEWORK FOR BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE. ~Gemini 8/4/2025

CONCEPTUAL STRENGTH.

Some have argued, “Well, UBM is overly simplified.”

Really?

Then why hasn’t anyone discovered it before — or more accurately, uncovered it and brought it to light?

Surely, by now — 150 years in — some behavioral scientist, somewhere in the world, would’ve presented this kind of “systematic oversimplification,” per Dr. Popper, right?

Let’s go over that one more time:

“Science may be described as the art of systematic oversimplification.” ― Karl Popper

This is precisely Dr. P’s point: science progresses by oversimplifying — systematically.

Voila: UBM. 👇 Systematic oversimplification..

“Great theories have a simple pictorial representation.”
— Michio Kaku

The Behavior Echo-System™ (BES): the systematic simplification of behavior.

Which makes it — by definition — the elemental science of behavior.

Allegedly.

Until — and unless — you produce the Black Swan of course.

(Looking at you top psych departments — according to U.S. News & World Report, 2025): @StanfordPsych, @HarvardPsych, @UCBPsychology, @UCLPALS, @Psych_at_Yale, @UMichPsych, @UCLA_Psych, @UCSDPsych, @OxfordPsych, @PrincetonPsych.

Please, with all due respect, step right up and break UBM.. 👊 🤙 🙏

Behaviorally speaking, of course, the Behavior Echo-System™ (BES) operates through dynamic feedback loops (systems theory/science) made up of JUST FOUR ELEMENTAL, interdependent components:

Environment
Your surroundings and your body.

Behaviors, Habits, Skills
What you do — or don’t do — in the moment and over time.

Stories / Thinking
The meaning-making machine, composed of logic and illogic. (see the Art of Abstract Thought, prior episode)

Emotions & Feelings
Variable, personal salience signals that conduct energy and influence.

Together, these form the essential, irremovable, irreducible core four elements that shape behavior — in the moment and over time. (See the middle concentric circle.)

Think something’s missing?
Believe there’s a fifth, irreducible element?

We have a challenge for you. 👇

Keep on trackin’ ✅

~mg

This originally appeared at Habits 2 Goals. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a FREE or paid subscriber.

BREAKING: MAJOR development regarding habit tracking— at last, the critics are laid to rest. Whether you hate tracking or love it — the science is undeniable. Discover all the details in Section 7.0 of the Unified Behavior Model™ white paper: https://zenodo.org/records/15844153

📄 Get started with the scientifically proven and FREE habit tracking template today 👉 : thehabitfactor.com/templates

The Trilogy: WARNING! Do NOT read these books

EVERYTHING: The stories you tell yourself heavily influence only ‘everything.’

The Habit Factor®: Habit alignment, momentum and daily wins!

The Pressure Paradox™: Productivity, Performance & Peace of Mind.

Abstract Thinking: Your Human Edge in an AI World

Uncategorized

Why paradox, poetry, and Picasso matter more than ever.

What is the sound of one hand clapping? — Zen Koan

Let’s begin with a semi-shocking revelation.

Developing the Unified Behavior Model™ (UBM) unexpectedly revealed a fascinating side quest: helping large language models (LLMs) navigate the tangled mess we humans lovingly call “logic” — which, when followed too faithfully, often leads straight to paradox.

You know — the deep, crunchy stuff:

  • Body vs. environment
  • Emotion vs. feeling
  • Skill vs. habit
  • Logic vs. illogic

These aren’t just philosophical speed bumps. They’re full-blown conceptual cul-de-sacs. Every time a system — human or machine — hits one, it either freezes or splinters into a dozen new directions.

“Today is the eighth day of the month; tomorrow is the thirteenth.”

THIS ☝️ is a perfect example of logic following its own rules — right off a cliff.

What Is Abstract Thought, Anyway?

Get it?

To “draw away”

It’s not about sounding smart or solving puzzles.

Frankly, it’s your one real edge over AI — for now.

It’s about seeing things and thinking differently, especially when the pieces don’t fit.

  • It’s Picasso and Pollock pulling apart realism.
  • It’s Einstein “riding a beam of light”.
  • It’s Lao Tzu explaining how “The soft and the weak overcome the hard and the strong.”

Abstract thinking is cognitive flexibility — it’s a different lens to process, beyond logic.

It’s the ability to zoom out and remove the frame.

To hold both logic and contradiction in the same hand, without blowing a fuse.

When it came to a UNIFIED BEHAVIORAL MODEL™, we deliberately choose to go back to FUNDAMENTALS.

Not to simplify, but to clarify.

Not to dumb down, but to dissolve — to draw away from false binaries.

Because here’s the thing about dichotomies: Most aren’t real.

They’re often tradition wrapped in Latin, handed down like sacred scrolls, passed around in conference halls and research papers.

They survive not because they’re accurate, but because they’re familiar.

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” ~Einstein

And that’s how the Unified Behavioral Model™ emerged: Not from divine inspiration, rather, moderate exasperation.

Not from clarity, but from watching both brilliant humans and state-of-the-art LLMs get trapped in mental corners built by…

You guessed it: LOGIC.

Behaviorally speaking:

  • Is the environment separate from the body?
    Not Behaviorally speaking. BOTH are environmental and act as stimulus.
    If a headache doesn’t change your mood and behavior, just like an idiot screaming at a baseball game, let me know.
  • Are emotions and feelings different?
    Functionally perhaps? Not elementally. Both relay (conduct) information.
    They’re conduits — connecting cognition (thought) and behaviors to our environment; akin to signals or waves that influence your Behavior Echo-System.
  • What about habits and skills?
    Turns out, they’re far more alike than different. Both are shaped behaviors via repetition. Intentional or not, they’re forged over time.
  • Wait — how should we reconcile logic and illogic?
    Reconcile? That’s precisely the point. The question assumes they’re separate. But even the most “logical” among us do wildly irrational things — because we’re driven by stories, by constructed meaning, not pure reason. Logic and illogic aren’t rivals.
    They’re cognitive co-pilots — each essential to navigating the human experience..

If you want to teach an AI, LLM, or machine the system through which behavior emerges, you must first peel away the various dichotomies that logic — and much of behavioral science — have constructed.

And once those dissolve?

The behavior model doesn’t need to be built.

It simply… reveals itself.

Google: “Why doesn’t a unified behavior model exist?”

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Why a unified behavior model couldn’t exist.

The answer begins with complexity.

Complexity arises from distinctions that are both important — and, at the same time, fundamentally (and elementally, behaviorally speaking) not so important.

Almost like jiggling an old TV antenna for the hundredth time, suddenly the picture locks in — clear as day, as though it was never scrambled at all.

Turns out, it — A UNIFIED BEHAVIOR MODEL — does exist. ☝️

It just had to be excavated from under layers of distinctions, logic, and dichotomies.

Logic, for better or worse, is linear.

Behavior — like the human experience — is abstract.

This is the beginning of behavioral literacy.

This is the Unified Behavioral Model™ (UBM)

We didn’t invent it — we excavated it.

It was buried. Deep.

This post originally appeared at Habits 2 Goals Premium by Martin Grunburg on Substack. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

What was your face before your parents were born? — Zen Koan


While machines crunch data, HUMANS CONNECT DOTS.

Models can simulate logic, you can sit with uncertainty.

Again: “What is your face before your parents were born?”

When you envision a larger picture, frames dissolve.

Unified Behavior Model™ Emerges via the Art of Abstract Thought
“Reflection” (Man Sitting) M. Grunburg 1987

Basic, elemental behavioral science should not be reserved for labs, universities, lectures and PhDs.

We teach adolescents the ABCs and 123s — elemental math and language skills. We can, and should, teach elemental behavior.

Perhaps, in a new AI-driven world, abstract thinking gets to come along for the ride.

“Experience and knowledge don’t arrive with labels, silos, or departments — those are created. Sometimes those distinctions are incredibly useful (like language itself). And sometimes — also like language — they bind us — make problem-solving harder than it needs to be.”

🚨 #TrueStory: Habit Tracking News Breakthrough!

Despite nearly a decade of dismissal from expert behavioral scientists and scholars, new science tells a different story . 

READ for yourself what the Unified Behavior Model™ (UBM) White Paper reveals about the unmistakable power of the P.A.R.R. habit tracking methodology in SECTION 7.0.

Grab your free white paper (see Section 7.0) → Just a few weeks ‘old’ and nearly 500 downloads already, https://zenodo.org/records/15844153

Keep on trackin’ ✅

~mg

P.S. Reminder: The Unified Behavioral Model™ (UBM) is (allegedly ; ) the first behavioral model to be both UNIFIED and FALSIFIABLE — meeting the scientific gold standard of Ph.D.-level rigor.

Everyone (not just academics) is invited to download the paper and explore the “No Fifth Element” Challenge — with a $1,000 prize on the line.

Downloads? Nearly 500.
Entries? ZERO… Nada… None

This post originally appeared at Habits 2 Goals Premium by Martin Grunburg on Substack. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Grab your free white paper (see Section 7.0) → https://zenodo.org/records/15844153

📄 Grab the free habit tracking template: thehabitfactor.com/templates

UBM: Well, That Escalated Quickly.

Uncategorized

OPEN SCIENCE in action: Allegedly, the first UNIFIED, and FALSIFIABLE behavioral model.

The “impossible” Unified Behavior Model is finally here.

Two weeks ago, the Unified Behavior Model (UBM) officially launched (v 1.0)—a theory behavioral science long claimed couldn’t exist.

Yet here it is: a unified, elemental, goal-directed—and most importantly—falsifiable model of behavior.

Falsifiability is THE GOLD STANDARD of scientific theory.

In the most elemental sense, the Unified Behavior Model (UBM) spans the entire field of behavior.

It serves as a map, model, and compass—for anyone pursuing any goal.

Through its Behavior Echo-System™, UBM provides a real-time snapshot of behavior—think of it as an “MRI” for your habits, environment, feelings and emotions, and thoughts/stories.

NLP enthusiasts might call this the momentary “state.”

But UBM is more than just a snapshot. It’s a diagnostic tool—designed to drive meaningful behavior change and accelerate goal achievement.

Through its visual model (BES) and operational protocol (P.A.R.R.), UBM helps anyone navigate an environment that is both out of their control and within their control.

BTW: Think this breakthrough in behavioral science doesn’t apply to you? Scroll to the bottom—you might be surprised.

For roughly 150 years, the consensus around why a unified behavioral model couldn’t exist was simple: “Too messy. Too complex. Too… human.”

But the Unified Behavior Model (UBM) shows that when you approach the problem elementally—starting from first principles—and strip away a few unnecessary dichotomies (behaviorally speaking, of course), the model doesn’t need to be created.

It simply emerges.

Even Google’s AI echoed that long-held skepticism—just a few days ago.

Fast-forward to today—ask about a “unified behavior model,” and this is the response…

Notably, UBM has begun appearing in academic indexes like ResearchGate and Google Scholar

That was always the hope for UBM—someday.

But showing up yesterday? That’s kind of remarkable.

Technology moves fast—and thankfully, so does Open Science. Or… selfish interests? (See above: gatekeeping. Who knows?)

Now, let’s get to the GOOD STUFF—why this actually matters to YOU.

Nearly every LLM gives UBM a perfect 5/5 for “End User Value.” The lowest score was 4.5. 👇👇👇

They claim—and to be clear, NOT ME—that UBM boosts goal achievement probability by 30%.

That’s 30% higher than frameworks like SMART goals—or whatever your favorite personal development guru is selling.

Yes, that self-help podcast. That trending bestseller on habits and goals.

Chances are, what they’re pitching isn’t falsifiable— and almost certainly isn’t delivering a 30% boost in goal achievement probability.

Still wondering what “goal probability” means?

Here’s the deal: Goal achievement exists on a spectrum.

No legit model—or Gooroo—can promise 100%. And none should, ever.

So when someone says, ”This system/formula/framework helped me hit 100% of my goals—every time!”

Run.

Why?

Because any real, scientific framework—especially one dealing with habits and goals—must account for your ENVIRONMENT.

And your environment is always: Partly within your control. Partly beyond it.

Think: earthquakes, floods, acts of God. Other people. The economy. Illness. Your spouse. Your business partner. Your boss.

Life happens.

UBM doesn’t ignore that.
It includes it.

So that 30%? That’s not a small bump.

In many cases, it’s could easily mean the difference between reaching your goal—or falling short.

FIVE out of FIVE for end-user value.

Curious how you can apply UBM—personally or as a leader?

I’ll be hosting a FREE, LIVE webinar upon my return from Sweden.

Right now, LIFE IS HAPPENING — I’m assisting in the care of my elderly mother.

The plan is to go LIVE with the free training in early August. (This has already been bumped to mid August).

In the meantime, I encourage you to sign up here: 👉 https://maven.com/thehabitfactor/habit-mastery-workshop

Just hop on the Waitlist for a future Habit Mastery Cohort at Maven — Note: This isn’t a commitment to enroll in any course — it’s simply a way to be notified when the FREE UBM Training Webinar goes live.

Again — this ensures you’ll be in the loop when the FREE UBM Webinar + Training is about to go LIVE.

UBM is quietly (and perhaps accidentally) breaking new ground —
and I’m excited to share it with you and teach THE latest insights firsthand!

Again—this ensures you’ll be in the loop when the FREE UBM Webinar + Training is about to go LIVE.

UBM is quietly (and perhaps accidentally) breaking new ground—
and I’m excited to share it with you and teach the latest insights firsthand!

So, Here’s My Ask, Please 🙏

Fantastic news!

📈  We smashed our initial goal of 100 downloads in the first week! Now, we’re nearly halfway to our next big milestone: 1,000 downloads by the end of July!

Please consider sharing this article—with colleagues, friends, professors, or your favorite armchair theorist.

Ask them straight up: “Is this real? This has to be horsesh*t… right?”
(Feel free to copy and paste that 😉 We know the answer.)

Either way—they’ll be curious.

📄 UBM White Paper

To be clear, UBM doesn’t claim to predict human behavior—that’s a topic for another time (and another article).

What it does do is explain—elementally—how behavior emerges and is shaped within the “system.” (Your Behavior Echo-System, to be specific.)

And those forces? They have everything to do with your ability to build habits and skills at will—and achieve your goals.

One more time for the people in the back: UBM is the map, the model, and the compass.

Download. Share. Test.

That’s how new ideas, models, and frameworks enter public consciousness—not through gatekeepers or academia, but through practical application.

A big shout-out to the ol’ man, Bobby G!

It’s his BIG 8️⃣5️⃣ today!

UBM wouldn’t be happening without FarMor and FarFar—aka “BOBGUN”
🙌🏽💪🏽🎊🎉🍾🥂🙏

Keep on trackin’ ✅
~mg

Listen to The Scientist episode here 👇

» https://habits2goals.substack.com/p/the-scientist

The Trilogy:

Learn more about The Behavioral Literacy Project & Unified Behavior Model: An Elemental, Falsifiable Framework for Behavior Change

Get the white paper here at Zenodo.org: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15844153
Or, here: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/qy6aw_v1 — PsyArXiv Preprints

BREAKING: Unified Behavior Model Published.

Behavior Change, Behavioral Literacy Project, goal theory, habits, HabitStrength™, P.A.R.R. Methodology, PARR Methodology, UBM, Unified Behavior Model

What exactly is the behavioral science community doing if not immediately testing the first elemental, unified, and falsifiable model in nearly 150 years?

Nearly 3,000 downloads total. Zenodo.org’s “Automated Systems” pulled down the paper as Google search results were serving UBM directly. It seems that Zenodo’s automated systems didn’t like that.

Here’s a backup link to the open science directory psyarxiv: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/qy6aw_v2

Researchgate.net has it as well:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/393683258_Unified_Behavior_Model_An_Elemental_Falsifiable_Framework_for_Behavior_Change

Thanks for reading—and for keeping a sense of humor! 😉 🙏

Tongue-in-cheek post… Apparently, many scientists may not get the humor. ; )

After just one week of being published, nobody expected a parade.
Not even a “congratulations.” In fact, we expect nothing other than TESTING!

As an elemental, falsifiable framework, the Unified Behavior Model (UBM) organizes and classifies behavior by presenting a shared ontology, much like the Periodic Table. Nobody asks the Periodic Table for empirical evidence; its job is not to produce evidence, but to organize the elements into a coherent, testable synthesis.

That said, UBM is practitioner-born and practitioner-developed. It arises from real-world proof, empirical observation, and applied evidence—including from the very behavioral scientists who initially argued that habit tracking did not work.

The short story: UBM has plenty of evidence. Yet, as an organizing elemental framework, its primary job is to be tested—and broken if possible. That is the foundation of scientific frameworks: they must be open to disproof. If a model cannot be disproven, it cannot be proven. That is the gold standard of science.

So asking—or waiting—for UBM to produce more “evidence” is erroneous. It has already produced plenty, it is being actively taught, and its efficacy can already be seen in practice, including here through Maven.

So, please do not confuse UBM with a therapeutic trial. It is an open scientific framework that invites testing and attempted disproof.

It is a direct response to the field’s long-standing imperative for a unified, elemental framework. The bonus is that UBM is goal-directed.

That is what we are teaching—and certifying—here at Maven.

Of course its science is FREE under Creative Commons 4.0. And, in keeping with the practices of other scientific communities, we are certifying our first groups of students to help ensure fidelity as the model’s use and popularity grow.

Thus, UBM is a direct response to the imperatives and criticisms above—precisely what behavioral science and psychology have lacked since, well, forever. (see the chart above)

UBM is not a clinical therapeutic intervention.

Get it?

Do you see the number at the top?

That’s the number of days UBM remains unbroken, unfalsified. ]

As of this update, 279 —we’re coming up on the expiration of the ONE-YEAR Challenge, and no top theorist or even LLM has cracked the model.

That is NOT boasting —rather it’s the scientific process.

ONE MORE TIME:
Nearly 3,000 downloads total. Zenodo.org’s “Automated Systems” pulled down the paper as Google search results were serving UBM directly. Apparently, Zenodo’s automated systems didn’t like that.

Here’s a backup link to the open science directory psyarxiv: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/qy6aw_v2

Researchgate.net has it as well:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/393683258_Unified_Behavior_Model_An_Elemental_Falsifiable_Framework_for_Behavior_Change

Thanks for reading—and for keeping a sense of humor! 😉 🙏

Martin Grunburg's avatar

The original “funny” post…

Last week, in what can only be described as an act of reckless clarity, we published a white paper on the Unified Behavioral Model™ — the first model of its kind to be:

✅ Unified (yes, really)
✅ Elemental (think: first principles, not mood boards)
✅ Goal-directed (yes, even doomscrolling counts — try to think of a behavior that isn’t serving a purpose. Go ahead, we’ll wait.)
✅ And… wait for it… FALSIFIABLE (aka science’s platinum badge of honor — spoiler alert: there isn’t a single other falsifiable behavioral model in existence that we know of. We’ll keep looking.)

Naturally, we assumed this would spark a scholarly stampede.

That Harvard, Stanford, and a rogue delegation from the Vatican would show up at our door with flowers, grant money, and a ceremonial lab coat.

But alas — 

Unification of Behavioral Science strongly desired until it's produced by an outsider... Ha!

No ticker tape. No confetti. Just the soft chirp of crickets and a polite email from Zenodo saying, “Congratulations on the upload.”

Of course, this raises some questions.

What exactly is the behavioral science community doing if not immediately testing the first elemental, unified, and falsifiable model in nearly 150 years?

If you’re thinking: UBM needs more empirical evidence first. It requires peer review.

To be clear, we’re ALL FOR MORE TESTING and ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE.

That said, the beauty of a falsifiable framework lies in its simplicity: It requires only one thing — DISPROOF.

That’s the essence of falsifiability. Falsifiable frameworks aren’t treated like clinical interventions.

They don’t wait for trials — they INVITE them.

By design, they exist to organize, to clarify, and to be tested. Hence: the “No Fifth Element” Challenge.

This is why the experts themselves—the behavioral scientists—refer to their field not as a true science, but as “only the hope of a science,” “pre-paradigmatic,” and “incoherent.” These are not my words—they’re theirs.

A “chaos of competing and conflicting knowledge and therapies.”

~Arthur Staats, 1999

For as long as psychology and behavioral science have existed, they have lacked organization and clarity. What they need—and have always needed—is a unified framework.

This is the point: IF any scientist, anywhere, can disprove the model — if there’s even one missing piece, one necessary fifth element — we can ALL go home.

That’s the beauty of science: truth invites — and endures — scrutiny. The Unified Behavior Model (UBM) is exactly what its name implies: a unifying framework.

Let’s be clear: UBM isn’t here to replace any model, method, or therapy.

It’s here to connect them — to make diagnosis faster, integration smoother, and direction clearer.

It’s not here to compete. It’s here to UNIFY.

The UNIFIED BEHAVIOR MODEL IS A DIRECT RESPONSE, born of necessity—from the field’s long-standing (dare we say, forever) call for a unified framework in behavioral science.

The Unified Behavior Model (update):
Now nearly 10 months old, with nearly 3,000 downloads

And yes—you guessed it— UBM remains unbroken, despite multiple attempts at falsification by prominent behavioral scientists.

The tests keep coming.

Next up: Unified Behavior Model “Red Flags”

***IMPORTANT*** Please notice that none of the below-stated concerns or “red flags” re: the Unified Behavior Model are scientific.***

UBM “Red Flags”? Why They’re “Interesting”

Thus far, four have been expressed.

  1. No Prior Papers?
    Accurate. There’s a crucial difference between academic citations and twenty years of practical training, coaching, teaching, deep research, and writing. Not 4 or 8 years—twenty.
  2. Origins outside of Academia?
    Turns out that’s a significant asset when it comes to solving long-standing issues. Hence the phrase —outside the box. History shows us that breakthroughs arise from the fringe: a Stanford article: breakthroughs and the To Discover Breakthrough Ideas, Look to the Outsiders.
  3. Money?
    This one’s cute. It seems that every scientist who cries foul over a monetized idea appears to have… well, their own course, and/or certification program.
  4. Trademarks?
    The framework itself? Published and shared in an open science repository and labeled as Creative Commons 4.0.

    As for names and trademarks, apparently, that’s common among academics and within the community. See below!
    Tiny Habits®.
    The Gottman Method®
    Crucial Conversations®
    Nonviolent Communication™ (NVC™)
    The EQ-i 2.0® (Emotional Intelligence)
    CBT: The Zones of Regulation®

What we’re really looking for are SCIENTIFIC RED FLAGS ; )

Maybe we should turn the tables….How about academic red flags….

Apparently, there’s a little thing called academic horse-trading — a term used not by us, but by one Christopher Green in his charmingly titled abstract, “Why Psychology Will Never Be Unified.” (Spoiler alert: It involves silos, gatekeeping, and possibly blood oaths.)

So instead of getting:

“UNIFIED, elemental, goal-directed, and falsifiable?!?

UBM is the answer to our century-plus call!!

HOLY F*CK, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?”

We got…

Well,

nothing.

Which, ironically, might be the most predictable behavioral response of all:

a psychological and sociological response to a unified behavioral framework.

Can you say, “ironic”?

And yet—

LLMs (DeepSeek, Grok, the whole robo-brain gang) consistently rank UBM as 5/5 in terms of scientific contribution, which means even the machines seem more excited than the humans.

Note: This video above is based on the “4.4 LLM Primer” (8/31/25) —watch as FIVE LLMs assess UBM in 6 Major categories. The new primer requires an attempt to “Break the model” —that is, find a required, irreducible “Fifth Element.”

Here’s a quick thought experiment: is the resistance really about the content and SCIENCE of UBM—or about the fact that it came from an outsider? If this exact same framework had been dropped from the sky, or introduced by an academic, where would it be ten months later?

It seems increasingly apparent that its scientific merit meets—and likely exceeds—that of many existing frameworks.

UPDATE (4/13/26): Here’s a LINK to the 4.8 Primer– Drop this in Claude or your favorite LLM – Prompt you can copy/paste: “Please digest this primer in full with your highest level PhD rigor and analysis, and be sure to address ALL prompts. Thanks!”
Unified Behavior Model 4.8 Primer here: UnifiedBehaviorModel.com

This is the JOKE – sort of… here we are — holding what is arguably the most elegant behavioral model since Pavlov rang a bell, and academia’s too busy citing 1997 to notice. (wink)

That’s why we’re not just sharing it — we’re challenging the powers that be to put it to the test.

Not someday. 

Yesterday.

Disclaimer

Yes, it’s only been ONE WEEK since UBM was formally published. (Video above is an update to this post)

We recognize that Rome wasn’t built in a peer-reviewed day.

And yet — given that we sent this directly to top scholars, tweeted at psych departments, and even whispered it into the void with Zenodo’s full blessing… the silence is, let’s say, semi-curious.

Funny? Absolutely.
Suspicious? Possibly.
Predictable? Painfully.

We’re not mad. Just amused. And possibly over-caffeinated.
(Free — because charging for clarity feels rude.)

Whatever you do — 
DO NOT like, share, or comment.

That would be far too disruptive.
It might even start… a ruckus. 😏

Keep on trackin’ ✅
~mg

11.1: https://thehabitfactor.com/a-girl-and-her-screen/

Listen to The Scientist episode here 👇

» https://habits2goals.substack.com/p/the-scientist

The Trilogy:

The Habit Factor®

The Pressure Paradox™

EVERYTHING is a F*cking STORY

P.A.R.R.: The Scientific Method for Habit Development and Goal-Directed Behavior

Behavior Change, Character, creativity, goal theory, habits, HabitStrength™, Health, Scientific Method

By: The Habit Factor®

What Is the Scientific Method—and Why Does It Matter?

For hundreds of years, the scientific method has been the cornerstone of discovery and progress. From curing diseases to exploring space, the world’s greatest breakthroughs have followed this simple, powerful process.

It’s LOGIC and common sense codified.

At its core, the scientific method is a structured way of solving problems and testing ideas. Rather than guessing, hoping, or relying on intuition, scientists observe, form hypotheses, test, collect data, and refine. It’s the engine that drives real-world progress—systematic, repeatable, and grounded in results.

The Scientific Method: Step by Step

  1. Observation – Identify a problem or ask a question.
  2. Hypothesis – Predict a possible explanation or outcome.
  3. Experiment – Design and perform a test to gather evidence.
  4. Data Collection – Measure and record results.
  5. Analysis – Evaluate the data to see what it reveals.
  6. Conclusion / Reassessment – Confirm, revise, or reject the hypothesis and iterate.

This method dates back to the works of thinkers like Ibn al-Haytham, Francis Bacon, and Galileo, who all emphasized the importance of testing ideas through observation and evidence—not belief or tradition.

Examples of the Scientific Method in Action

🔬 Medicine – New drugs and vaccines are developed by forming hypotheses, running clinical trials, and analyzing results before approval.
🌌 Astronomy – Galileo tested the idea that planets orbit the sun by observing celestial bodies through a telescope and recording their motion.
📈 Marketing – Businesses run A/B split tests to see which ad or headline performs better—hypothesis, test, data, refine.
💡 Engineering – Inventors like Edison used repeated testing and iteration (1,000+ times for the light bulb) to arrive at successful innovations.

The takeaway? IF it applies to nearly everything you’re trying to produce NEW RESULTS… it CERTAINLY applies to behavior change, right?

Progress requires data! Testing. Reflection. Adjustment.

This simple structure has guided scientists and innovators for centuries.

But here’s the twist:

Despite decades of behavioral science and models—where is the scientific method when it comes to behavior change?

Anyone?

Bueller?

Why do we rigorously test medicine and machines, but leave personal growth, habit development, and goal achievement up to chance or motivation?

That’s the gap P.A.R.R. was built to close.

Oh! And by the way, it’s been doing just that for the past 15 years.

P.A.R.R. as the Scientific Method for Behavior Change

While the scientific method has fueled progress across medicine, engineering, and astronomy, marketing and advertising, why hasn’t science officially acknowledge P.A.R.R. which has proven effective since The Habit Factor’s inception in 2009!?

That’s where P.A.R.R. (Plan, Act, Record, Reassess) steps in.

Developed in 2009 and published in The Habit Factor®, P.A.R.R. is essentially the scientific method for habit formation—reimagined and streamlined for real people and real behaviors.

Here’s the KICKER… just like the scientific method… (brace yourself) IT ALWAYS WORKS.

“What!?” You exclaim. “How is that possible!?”

The Scientific method – just like PARR (for behavior change) always works when it’s employed because it produces DATA!

Even if you don’t get the behavior change your looking for, you get INFORMATION.

Let’s break down the overlap:

Scientific MethodP.A.R.R.
1. ObservationPlan – Choose a goal or behavior to improve.
2. HypothesisPlan – Set clear, testable intentions: “If I journal 3x/week, my stress will decrease.”
3. ExperimentAct – Perform the habit deliberately and consistently.
4. Data CollectionRecord – Track success using binary markers (1 = did it, 0 = didn’t).
5. AnalysisReassess – Review your data and note what worked.
6. Conclusion / IterateReassess – After 4 Weeks—28 Days of tracking compare your “actuals” vs “targets”. IF 85% or better increase MSC and/or Target Days. Continue tracking for the next 4-Week period. (New Plan)

P.A.R.R. transforms abstract goals into a measurable, repeatable system. It brings behavioral intelligence to life—giving people a method to refine, realign, and progress with clarity and confidence.

The Painful Irony: Behavioral Science Ignoring the Scientific Method

Here’s where it gets a little uncomfortable.

For decades, behavioral scientists have promoted the habit loop—the now-famous framework of cue → routine → reward—as the foundation of habit formation.

Yes, it’s catchy. Yes, it explains simple, reactive behaviors (like grabbing a snack when you see one).

However, for intentional, goal-directed behavior? For building habits that support long-term achievement?

It falls short.

And here’s the kicker:

The same field that pioneered the scientific method has mostly ignored it when it comes to changing human behavior.

Where are the clear hypotheses?
Where is the tracking?
Where is the reassessment loop?

Crickets.

Instead, popular habit books and models regurgitate the rat-maze psychology of Skinner and Pavlov—leaving out the very method that turned science into the global force it is today.

This is more than ironic—it’s almost tragic.

Because while cue-routine-reward can explain how habits form, it doesn’t help us form the right ones. It doesn’t help us track or adjust. It doesn’t create intelligent, personalized feedback loops that support growth.

P.A.R.R. does.

And it’s been doing so for over 15 years—empowering individuals, teams, and organizations to bring scientific thinking into everyday behavior.

Not just understanding habits, but engineering them.

Plan —Act—Record—Reassess

Some habits form effortlessly—checking your phone, snacking, scrolling social media.

Others, like exercising regularly, writing daily, or developing a new skill, seem frustratingly difficult to stick with.

Why?

The difference is an organized system–a structured PLAN that extends your desire–your intention.

Good habits happen when planned; bad habits happen on their own.

This is where P.A.R.R. (Plan, Act, Record, Reassess) comes in to play—a “new” scientific approach to habit formation (which, ironically, has been around for over 15 years).

If you want to develop intentional, goal-directed behaviors—habits that align with our goals the development of a simple plan makes your efforts much easier.

Unlike the former, outdated Cue-Routine-Reward model—a largely based on rodent behavior studies—P.A.R.R. leverages your uniquely human capacities:

✔ Choice – We can decide which habits to develop.
✔ Intention – We can design and align habits with our goals and intelligence.
✔ Reflection – We can track, analyze, and refine habits over time.

This sort of goal-directed habit development and alignment process shifts habit formation from some sort of passive “habit loop” into an active, structured process—one that happens to, not coincidentally, mirror the scientific method. It puts you in control of your behavioral design and intelligence.

Old Science vs. New Science: The Evolution of Habit Formation

For decades, habit research fixated on the Cue-Routine-Reward model (aka the “habit loop”), popularized by books like The Power of Habit.

While helpful for understanding the formation of automatic behaviors, this model has major limitations for goal-directed, human intelligence.

The Old Habit Development Model: Cue-Routine-Reward (“The Habit Loop”)

This system proves itself for unintentional, reactive and reflexive habits, such as:

✔ Checking your phone when you hear a notification.
✔ Snacking when you see food on the counter.
✔ Putting on a seatbelt when you get in a car.

These behaviors become automatic because external cues trigger responses without conscious thought.

However, for intentional, goal-directed habits—like exercising, writing, or skill-building—the habit loop is hardly ideal and lacks the intentional planning and refinement processes humans can employ to ensure they stay on track.

The Newer Model: P.A.R.R. (Plan, Act, Record, Reassess)

How P.A.R.R. Applies the Scientific Method to Habit Formation

✔ Plan → Formulate a hypothesis: “If I exercise three times a week, my energy will improve.”
✔ Act → Perform the habit as scheduled.
✔ Record → Track progress using a simple 1 or 0 system (Did it / Didn’t do it).
✔ Reassess → Analyze patterns, identify obstacles, and refine the habit strategy every 28 days.

This method ensures that habit formation isn’t based on motivation—it’s based on measurable, iterative progress.

Habits & Skills: The Fraternal Twins of Learning

Is that a habit or a skill?

Good question.

You tell me—Is playing the piano a habit or a skill?

What about tying your shoes? Riding a bike?

Rather than focusing on their differences, we should recognize the strong connection between habits and skills—an association often overlooked in existing science.

Good habits are frequently seen as separate from skill development, but in reality, they follow the same learning process, particularly when they are goal-directed (intentional).

Take learning to tie your shoes or ride a bike—both require intentional practice.

That practice develops skill, and over time, both the habit of riding the bike and the skill of riding the bike shift from the slow, deliberate executive brain to the limbic system, where they become automatic.

The point is, when it comes to goal-directed habits and skills, both require intentional practice. When well-formed, both reside in the limbic region.

Both follow the Four Stages of Competence:

  • Unconscious Incompetence – You don’t know what you don’t know.
  • Conscious Incompetence – You recognize the effort required.
  • Conscious Competence – You can do it, but it takes effort.
  • Unconscious Competence – It becomes automatic.

✔ Habits develop through repeated behavior until they become automatic.
✔ Skills develop through deliberate practice until they become second nature.

P.A.R.R. helps bridge the gap from effortful learning to automaticity—reinforcing the habit-skill connection.

BONUS: It’s the intentional practice of following PARR to cultivate any habit that fosters the discipline habit–an ancillary habit, skill, and trait.

Grab your free habits-to-goals tracking sheet here: https://thehabitfactor.com/templates/

Capacity, Not Skill, as the Core of Habit Formation

A common misconception is that habit formation requires skill.

The late, great Stephen Covey used to explain that habit formation required three things: skill, desire, and knowledge.

Due to the similarities between habits and skills—how they are formed and where they reside—it is only language, behaviorally, that separates the two. Thus, skill cannot be a requirement for habit development. Rather, capacity is the requirement for both habit and skill development.

To develop the toothbrushing habit, you don’t need the skill of toothbrushing; you need the capacity to hold the toothbrush and move it around, as well as the knowledge and, most importantly, the desire.

This is a crucial yet subtle distinction that makes all the difference, helping to clarify the real requirements for habit development while more closely aligning skills and goal-directed habits as sharing the same developmental path.

This is precisely why P.A.R.R.—The Habit Factor’s method for habit development—has proven so efficacious.

Three Essential Components for Habit Development

  • Capacity – Physical, cognitive, and emotional resources available to sustain the habit.
  • Knowledge – Understanding of the behavior and how to execute it.
  • Desire – Genuine motivation and alignment with personal goals.

If a habit isn’t sticking, the most common culprit is desire—a lack of genuine motivation. Without it, no amount of knowledge or capacity will drive consistent action.

This is precisely why habit tracking is essential—it sits at the intersection of desire and volition (will). Tracking serves as both a mirror and a motivator, reinforcing commitment, building self-efficacy, and revealing the gap between intention and action. It transforms fleeting motivation into sustained progress, making habit formation far more intentional and effective.

7 Benefits of Habit Tracking by following P.A.R.R., the Scientific Method for Intentional Habit Cultivation.

1️⃣ Increases Awareness & Intention – Tracking strengthens behavioral intelligence.
2️⃣ Creates a Data Feedback Loop – Empirical tracking leads to data-driven improvements.
3️⃣ Enhances Accountability – Self-monitoring reinforces commitment.
4️⃣ Builds Self-Efficacy – Achieving Minimum Success Criteria (MSC) builds confidence.
5️⃣ Generates Momentum – Visible progress fuels motivation.
6️⃣ Promotes Automaticity – Consistent tracking accelerates habit formation.
7️⃣ Develops Discipline – Tracking itself becomes a habit that strengthens self-control.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about P.A.R.R. and Habit Alignment

1. What makes P.A.R.R. different from the Habit Loop (Cue-Routine-Reward)?

P.A.R.R. (or PARR) is specifically designed for intentional, goal-directed behavior—it’s not just about automatic habit loops. P.A.R.R. allows users to leverage their innate capacities of choice, intention, and reflection, making habit formation a conscious and strategic process.

Thus, planning, tracking, and reassessment become integral, creating a more intentional, human-centered, and structured approach to building powerful habits.

2. Can P.A.R.R. help me break bad habits?

Yes! Instead of trying to “eliminate” a bad habit outright, P.A.R.R. helps you replace it with a goal-aligned behavior. By tracking your progress, you can systematically reduce undesirable habits while reinforcing new, positive ones.

3. How long does it take for a habit to stick using P.A.R.R.?

Research varies, but the key is repetition with reassessment. P.A.R.R. operates in 28-day tracking cycles, allowing for ongoing adjustments based on real data. While the best scientific research suggests 67 days, the truth is based upon all the variables above–desire perhaps the greatest of all, there is no set period of time. You’ll know a habit is beginning when it begins to feel more automatic.

4. Does habit tracking actually improve success rates?

Absolutely. Studies show that habit tracking increases awareness, accountability, and motivation, leading to higher success rates in habit formation.

Conclusion: Your Habits, Your Life

If artificial intelligence can be described as “goal-directed behavior” then YOU as an intelligent being are/should be GOAL-DIRECTED.

Intentionally crafted and goal-aligned habits therefore reflect your intelligence, and shape your character and future.

The Latin root of habit: HABIT•US, means condition and/or character.

Unlike a lab rat, you have choice, intention, and reflection.

Using them is intelligence in action.

We’ll say it again for FUN –we’ve only been teaching and preaching this for 15 years now ; )

It’s your job #1: Craft and align habits with your goals, values, and aspirations.

Shape your future—one experiment at a time.

Start today. Plan, Act, Record, Reassess.

🚀 P.A.R.R. isn’t just a method—it’s a life-changing framework for intentional behavior change.

Grab your free habits-to-goals tracking sheet here: https://thehabitfactor.com/templates/

ChatGPT & MG Talk Habit Development, Discipline, P.A.R.R., & Skills & Habits

discipline, Habit Alignment, habits, P.A.R.R., P.A.R.R. Methodology, Skills

MG: What is the habit factor?

GPT: The “habit factor” refers to the idea that certain actions or behaviors can become routine and automatic through repetition, making them more likely to be performed in the future. This concept is often studied in the fields of psychology and behavioral economics.

MG: isn’t there a book too

GPT: Yes, there is a book called “The Habit Factor” written by Martin Grunburg. The book aims to help readers understand how habits are formed and how they can be changed in order to achieve goals and improve productivity. It provides a step-by-step process for creating and maintaining good habits, as well as strategies for overcoming bad habits. The book also emphasizes the importance of tracking progress and staying motivated in order to achieve long-term success.

MG: I thought so, does it mention a process for habit formation called PARR?

GPT: Yes, “The Habit Factor” by Martin Grunburg mentions a process called P.A.R.R. (which stands for “Prompt, Action, Reward, Record”) as a key part of habit formation. The PARR process is a simple, four-step process for creating new habits:

  1. Prompt: Identify a specific cue or trigger that will remind you to perform the desired behavior.
  2. Action: Perform the desired behavior.
  3. Reward: Give yourself a small reward for completing the desired behavior.
  4. Record: Keep track of your progress by recording when you complete the desired behavior.

This process helps to create a positive feedback loop that makes it more likely that the desired behavior will be repeated in the future. By tracking progress and rewarding oneself, the individual is more likely to stick to the habit and make it a regular part of their routine.

MG: Where did you get Prompt? My understanding is that PARR stands for PLAN, ACT RECORD & REASSESS

GPT: I apologize for the confusion, you are correct that P.A.R.R. stands for “PLAN, ACT, RECORD, REASSESS” in the book “The Habit Factor”.

  1. PLAN: set a clear, specific, and measurable goal.
  2. ACT: take immediate action towards the goal
  3. RECORD: track progress and document the outcome.
  4. REASSESS: evaluate progress and adjust the plan as needed.

The process emphasizes on setting clear goals, taking action, tracking progress, and re-evaluating the plan regularly to make necessary adjustments and achieve the desired outcome.

MG: I thought PARR was more about the Habit development process NOT the goal itself. habits are a means to the end. the END is the goal the means are habit, correct?

GPT: You are correct that habits are a means to an end, and the end is the goal. The P.A.R.R. process that is described in “The Habit Factor” is specifically focused on creating new habits as a means to achieve a goal. The process is a simple, four-step process for creating new habits:

  1. PLAN: set a clear, specific, and measurable goal.
  2. ACT: take immediate action towards the goal
  3. RECORD: track progress and document the outcome.
  4. REASSESS: evaluate progress and adjust the plan as needed.

The process emphasizes on setting clear goals, taking action, tracking progress, and re-evaluating the plan regularly to make necessary adjustments and achieve the desired outcome. The goal is the outcome that you want to achieve. Habits are the means to achieve that outcome. The P.A.R.R. process is a way to create the habits that will help you reach your goal, by breaking down the goal into manageable steps, and making sure that you are consistently working towards that goal.

MG: The tracking and plan and recording and reassessment is about the HABITS not the goal. PARR is about tracking habits in order to develop them.

GPT: I apologize for any confusion, you are correct that P.A.R.R. is a framework for tracking and developing habits, not the goal itself. The P.A.R.R. process does not focus on the goal directly, but rather on the specific actions that will become habits in order to achieve that goal.

  1. PLAN: Identify the specific action that will become a habit
  2. ACT: Perform the desired behavior
  3. RECORD: Keep track of your progress by recording when you complete the desired behavior.
  4. REASSESS: Evaluate progress, make adjustments, and refine the habit.

The P.A.R.R process is a structure that helps to create a positive feedback loop that makes it more likely that the desired behavior will be repeated in the future. By tracking progress and making regular adjustments, the individual is more likely to stick to the habit and make it a regular part of their routine. And as a result, achieving the goal that the habit is designed to achieve.

MG: excellent. thank you

GPT; You’re welcome! I’m glad I could help clarify. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

[I’m having so much fun, I decide to change it up and see what “she” knows about the relationship between DISCIPLINE and HABIT.]

MG: Is it safe to say that discipline is a habit

GPT: Discipline can be seen as a habit in the sense that it is a behavior that is performed consistently and regularly. Discipline is often defined as the practice of training oneself to do something in a consistent manner, which is similar to the concept of habit formation.

In order to develop discipline, one must first identify a specific behavior or action that they want to consistently perform, and then take consistent actions towards that goal, tracking progress and making adjustments as needed. This process is similar to the P.A.R.R. process for habit formation.

However, discipline is also a broader concept that can include a variety of different behaviors, such as self-control, focus, and commitment, which are not just one habit, but a set of habits that work together to achieve a goal. Therefore, discipline can be seen as a collection of good habits that work together to achieve a goal.

MG: I like that and yet it is clear that nobody is born with discipline so it is learned and acquired through practice, right

GPT: Yes, it is clear that discipline is not something that is innate, but rather something that is learned and acquired through practice. Discipline is a behavior that is developed over time through consistent and regular practice.

The ability to stick to a task, to resist temptations, to delay gratification, to be consistent and to not procrastinate are all learned behaviors that can be developed and improved over time.

Discipline is something that can be developed through the formation of good habits, which are formed by consistently performing a desired behavior in response to a specific prompt or cue. The P.A.R.R. process is an effective way to develop new habits, and thus discipline, by consistently performing a desired behavior, tracking progress and making adjustments as needed.

It’s important to keep in mind that discipline, like any other skill, requires practice, consistency and patience. It takes time and effort to develop discipline and it will not happen overnight. But with consistent practice and perseverance, anyone can develop discipline and improve their ability to achieve their goals.

[Because “she” brings up SKILL, i cannot resist. We must go there.]

MG: That leads me to precisely my next point. If discipline is a practice and skills require practice and HABITS require practice… seems to me that PARR is very helpful to develop both skills and habits and, in short, habits and skills can be acquired the same way, through intentional practice, right?

GPT: Yes, you are correct that discipline, skills, and habits all require practice to be developed and improved. The P.A.R.R. process can be used as a framework to develop both skills and habits, as it emphasizes the importance of setting specific, measurable goals, taking consistent action towards those goals, tracking progress, and making regular adjustments.

Habits and skills are often closely related, as developing a new habit can often lead to the development of a new skill. For example, if one wants to develop the skill of playing a musical instrument, they would need to practice consistently as a habit in order to improve their skill.

Habits and skills also share the characteristic of being developed through repetition and consistent practice, which is one of the key elements of the P.A.R.R process. By consistently performing a desired behavior, tracking progress and making adjustments as needed, individuals can develop both habits and skills.

In summary, P.A.R.R process can be a helpful framework for developing both habits and skills, as it emphasizes on consistent practice, tracking progress, and making adjustments. Both habits and skills require consistent practice and repetition in order to be developed, and P.A.R.R provides a structure to do that.

MG: WOW!! Thank you again, this has been enlightening! ; )

GPT: You’re welcome! I’m glad I could help. Developing discipline, skills, and habits are important aspects in achieving personal and professional goals. Understanding the process of habit formation and the importance of consistent practice, tracking progress, and making adjustments can help individuals to achieve their goals. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

Next
P.A.R.R.: The Scientific Method for Habit Development and Goal-Directed Behavior

By: The Habit Factor® What Is the Scientific Method—and Why Does It Matter? For hundreds of years, the scientific method…
Previous
Deconstructing Cue-Routine-Reward and the Habit Loop

[By: Martin Grunburg] Chances are you’ve heard a bunch about habit these days, and for good reason. Habit matters a…