Addictions may be able to spontaneously dissolve during a drastic change in the environment. There were high levels of heroin use by soldiers in the Vietnam war, but the majority of them returning home did not continue to use heroin. This challenges the notion of bad habits as a moral weakness such as not having discipline. When analyzing people who appear to have tremendous self-control, it turns out they are better at structuring their lives in a way that it does not require willpower and self-control. It is easy to practice self-constraint when you rarely need to use it.

An encoded habit is ready to be used whenever the situation arises. The urge to act follows whenever the environmental cues appear. Cue induced wanting: an external trigger causes a compulsive craving to repeat a bad habit. Quickly showing addicts a picture of cocaine sparks desire. It is too fast for the brain to register. Once the mental grooves of a habit are carved, they stay. Resisting temptation is possible in the short term but the real thing for the long run is to change the environment. Also, cut bad habits off at the source. Reduce exposure to the cue that causes it. Make the cue invisible. By removing the cue, the entire habit may fade away. You can resist temptation once or twice but will not be able to raise the necessary willpower every time. Energy is better spent optimizing the environment.