Justin Skycak: "Protect the habit above all else. Even if you have to dial volume way down, never let the chain break. Once it snaps, restarting is an order of magnitude harder." The load-bearing claim is that restart cost is non-linear — roughly 10× the cost of maintenance, not a little more. Continuity, not volume, is what you defend. Five minutes beats zero, because the five-minute version preserves the identity ("I am someone who does this") and the behavioral momentum; zero risks a cascade, where "I already broke it" becomes the permission slip to wait until Monday, next month, after the trip. This is the activation-energy view of habits: starting must overcome static friction; continuing only overcomes kinetic friction. Missing once is a mistake; missing twice starts a new, opposite habit. Practical rule: define a floor — the minimum non-zero version — and hit the floor on bad days rather than skipping. Protect, don't optimize. Cross-domain: training deloads, creative practice, fasting and diet adherence, savings streaks. --- *Source: Justin Skycak (@justinskycak), X, 2026-04-08 — captured in [[Protect the Habit Above All Else - Justin Skycak X Thread 20250408]]*