Your brain did not evolve with a desire to smoke cigarettes or to check Instagram or to play video games. At a deep level, you simply want to reduce uncertainty and relieve anxiety, to win social acceptance and approval, or to achieve status.

Look at nearly any product that is habit-forming and you’ll see that it does not create a new motivation, but rather latches onto the underlying motives of human nature. ~ Clear, James. Atomic Habits (p. 127). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Do you want to reduce uncertainty
and relieve anxiety,
to win social acceptance and approval,
or to achieve status?
What are the underlying motives of human nature?
Do we all want to feel secure
in the path we’re walking?
Do we all want to be a part of
rather than apart from?
Do we try to hide from life
through computer games,
trashy novels, stuffing our face?
are you anxious, embarrassed, intimidated?
Isn’t it true you really want to feel different?
What behaviors could you substitute
for what you choose to do
when what you want, what you crave
is to avoid the feelings you loathe?