[ Why theorizing about your addictions fails to help you combat them: an addict-thinker's version of "just do it." ]

For a few years, I've struggled to overcome several addictions. I'll list them here briefly: (nicotine, nail-biting, overeating, physical inactivity, and sleeping late). I call them addictions because it's the simplest word, but they could also be called akrasia or maladaptive behaviors.

Whatever we call them, they are just behaviors which (a) I would like to stop doing because they negatively impact my body and (b) for whatever reason, are very difficult to stop doing. For years, I've been obsessed with beating these addictions. I've thrown everything I can at them, but they won't budge. Why is that?

I claim that the reason I haven't been able to make any headway is that I've been approaching the problem of addiction (and more broadly, the problem of my life) from the top down. By switching to a 'bottom-up' approach, these addictions (and my life) have become much more manageable.

For as long as I can remember, whenever I've run into a problem, I've always found that there is some way I can mentally or abstractly frame the issue that makes it resolvable. There has always been some near-correct understanding I can achieve that makes solving the problem feel easy and natural. The exception is, of course, anything that resembles an addiction.

For the past four years, I've been trying to apply this 'understanding-first' way of solving problems to my addictions. I take space and allow myself to think creatively and rationally until I arrive at some crystallized strategy. This can be a simple strategy, like "I just need to take it one day at a time!" or something a bit more complex, like "Negative intention (trying not to do something) goes nowhere. Rather than focusing on what I won't do, I'm going to focus on what positive thing I am doing. By doing this, I'll escape my addictions indirectly." And so on... I've probably tried on hundreds of 'understandings' to see if they give me any power against addiction - so far they haven't. I come up with what seems like a good plan, then it fails.

When it comes to addiction/akrasia, I argue that understanding cannot come first. For instance, I always hate knowing I'm about to exercise, and I dislike the feeling of exercise itself. I can't access the felt-sense understanding of why I shoul...

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