“Lack of Control Loophole: Weirdly, **we often have an illusion of control over things we can’t control**—­“If I spend a lot of time worrying, the plane is less likely to crash,” “If I play my lucky numbers, I’ll win the lottery eventually”—­**but deny control over things we can control** (“If my cell phone buzzes, I have to check it”). We argue that circumstances force us to break a habit, but often, **we have more control than we admit**. “When I work in my favorite coffee shop,” a friend told me, “I absolutely have to get a muffin. Their muffins are so good, I can’t resist, but I really don’t want to eat them.” “Why don’t you work in a different coffee shop?” I asked. “Oh, but that’s my favorite coffee shop,” she said earnestly. “Right,” I said. “Because you always have one of those delicious muffins when you go there.” “That’s not why I go,” she said. Then she laughed. “Well, now that you mention it, maybe it is.” “Although we can’t control every aspect of a situation, we usually can control it more than we tell ourselves. --- **Tags** -- [[quotes]], [[illusion-of-control]] , [[control]] , [[diet]] , [[exercise]] , [[habits]] , [[making-decisions]] , [[ownership]], **Source** -- [[20240806084000 - B - Better Than Before]]