Episode•February 2, 2023•18 min

Anthony Weaver's Top Tips For Creating Good Habits | Ep. 199

There's no doubt that good habits can help you live a better life. But how do you go about creating them? In this episode, Anthony Weaver shares his top tips for forming good habits and sticking to them! About Our Guest Anthony, was a student of Baltimore City College and grew up on the east side of town. So, he's seen his fair share of poverty and the common mentality of being broke. It was during his final years as an undergrad at Morgan State, he realized that money is really simple, it's the people that make it difficult. He spent years trying out different strategies from people in his family, strangers on the street and even his college professors. He now runs his own financial podcast, About That Wallet, where he discusses the common financial pitfalls, the struggles of being broke, having an abundance mindset, multiple ways to generate generational wealth by changing small behaviors, and much more with amazing guests. Connect with Anthony Email: [email protected] Website: aboutthatwallet.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/aboutthatwallet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aboutthatwalletpodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/aboutthatwallet Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/aboutthatwallet Connect with Tiffany Facebook: Money Talk With Tiff Twitter: @moneytalkwitht Instagram: @moneytalkwitht LinkedIn: Tiffany Grant This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

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Key Takeaways

1
Habits follow a cue-routine-reward loop
Cues (triggers like notifications or hunger) prompt routines (actions like checking your phone or eating)
Routines lead to rewards (feeling connected, full, or satisfied)
Recognizing this loop allows you to hack or replace routines while keeping the same reward
2
You can change both cues and routines once you identify them
Awareness of cues is the first step to intentional change
You can swap routines (e.g., using a nicotine patch instead of smoking) or even alter cues
The goal is to reach the same reward through a healthier or more productive routine
3
Habits shape identity and can be reverse-engineered from others
Combined habits create personal idiosyncrasies that define who you are
Observe successful people’s cues and rewards to copy or adapt their habits
Missing pieces (like the grind behind flashy rewards) are revealed by asking about processes
4
Financial habits are often inherited and can be updated through exposure to new models
Anthony recognized he was mimicking his mother’s check-cashing routine
New information (direct deposit forms, podcasts, mentors) provides alternative routines
Open conversations about money help surface better options

Intro

Tiffany Grant welcomes Anthony Weaver of About That Wallet to break down how habits form and how to intentionally redesign them for better financial and life outcomes.
Anthony Weaver grew up on Baltimore’s east side, studied at Morgan State, and now hosts the financial podcast About That Wallet, where he discusses money pitfalls, abundance mindsets, and generational wealth strategies.

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– What Is a Habit?

Anthony explains that daily routines become ingrained habits when tied to emotional cues and rewards.

Habits are something that we start to do that start off as routines, but then they become something more ingrained in us that we kind of like. We don’t feel together. It’s more of like a feeling type deal.
– Anthony Weaver

– The Cue-Routine-Reward Loop

Every habit follows three parts: a cue (trigger), a routine (action), and a reward (feeling).

Phone notification (cue) → Checking phone (routine) → Feeling connected (reward)
Hunger (cue) → Eating (routine) → Feeling full (reward)

– Recognizing Your Own Cues

Awareness starts by observing triggers in daily life. Anthony discovered his inherited money habits by reflecting on his childhood.

I got started on this process by just growing up… recognizing that my mom was doing something with money that I saw that she was doing.
– Anthony Weaver

– Changing Habits: Cigarettes & Brushing Teeth

The same cue can lead to different routines that deliver the same reward. Nicotine patches or minty toothpaste are examples of routine swaps.

The cues could be pretty much the same. But that’s where that routine comes in.
– Anthony Weaver

– Life-Hacking with the Habit Framework

Once you understand cue-routine-reward, you can redesign any behavior—including global issues like hunger via future nutrient patches.

This gets you to almost now you’re life hacking at this point.
– Anthony Weaver

– Copy, Adapt, or Ignore Habits

You can use someone else’s habit, modify it, or discard it. Tiffany shares her podcasting cue (calendar alerts) as an example others could adapt.

Topics

habit formationbehavior changepersonal financefinancial traumamindsetroutine hackinggenerational wealthself-awarenessproductivity