THE HABIT PYRAMID: Building Habits in a World of Endless Stimulation Guided by Principles from Zen and Science

After his second divorce, Per Rodstrom realized he had quietly become a mediaholic. He turned to self-help books and tried to fix himself by changing his habits. Each attempt failed, pointing toward an uncomfortable truth.The real issue wasn’t discipline or willpower. It was avoidance:Avoiding difficult emotions that feed his addictive behavior.He avoided the more challenging task of taking a clear, honest inventory of his own life.Over time, Per gathered the most valuable habits he had encountered, combined them with his understanding of the mind, and shaped them into a coherent system.The Habit pyramid system helped him face himself directly and build a stronger, more stable self by working systematically through every layer of his life.The book takes readers on a journey that blends software development, neuroscience, and ancient Zen wisdom.Per came to see that his struggle was not unique. It reflects a widespread problem in today’s digital world. We now live in a world that overstimulates the mind and exhausts the body. Constant notifications, endless scrolling, and competing demands quietly erode focus, drain energy, and disconnect us from ourselves.If you see your child trapped in their phone and feel uneasy about their future, this book is written for you as a parent and for them as well.The Habit Pyramid offers a path back to clarity and strength. Grounded in Zen principles and modern science, it presents a robust and practical system for restoring balance and creativity in the digital age.The Habit Pyramid: A Four-Layer Framework• The Core: You will get insight into your traits, values, and identity, using stillness, planning, and journaling rituals. When you have control and insight into your core, you have the foundation needed to build habits on top that last.• Body Habits: these habits support your physical health and include sleep, diet, and physical activity. This layer addresses modern challenges like "calorie overload" and the physical decline of "sarcopenia."• Mind Habits: These habits shape your emotional and mental well-being. This includes managing your relationships, your media consumption, and the environment you intentionally create to avoid the "information overload" of the digital world• The Outcome: this is the peak of the pyramid, resulting in mental power and a transformative shift from passive consumption to the joy of creating. As stability grows at the base, daily life begins to feel lighter, more intentional, and grounded in both Western goal-driven mindsets and Eastern "Zen" values of inner calm.New (scientific) hypotheses guide the path. Many of these are already present in the zeitgeist, but I have not yet seen a clear or well-defined formulation of them. Some are entirely new and highly speculative and will be subject to scientific scrutiny.These are the hypotheses:The Theory of Enlightenment as a SuperconductorThe Memory Slot Theory of DreamingThe Theory of Depression Healing via StillnessThe Theory of Information Overload Gives Low Mental BandwidthA New Creativity DefinitionA New Information DefinitionWhat began as a self-help book gradually became a book about the human reality filter.After reading it, you should:see the world more clearlyshift from consumer to producer, independent of employmentact with ethical guidance and toward meaningful action