After you stumble upon an unexpected reward, you alter you strategy for next time. Your brain immediately begins to catalog the event that preceded the reward. wait a minute- that felt good. What did I do right before that? This is the feedback loop behind all himan behavior: try, fail, learn, try differently. With practie the useless movements fade away andthe useful actions get reinforced. That's a habit forming. whenever you face a problem repeatedly, your brain begins to automate the process of solving it. Your habits are just a series of automatic solutions that solve the problems and stresses you face regularly. As behavioral scientist Jason Hreha writes, "habits are, simply, reliable solutions to recurring problems on our environment." As habits are created, the level of activity in the brain decreases. You learn to lock in on the cues that predict success and tune out everything else. When a similar situation arises in the future, you know exactly what to look for. There is no longer a need to analyze every angle of a situation. Your brain skips the process of trial and error and create a mental rule: it this, then that. These cognitive scripts can be followed automatically whenever the situation is appropriate. Now, whenever you feel stressed, you get the itch to run.