Your entire life is made up of loops. Trigger, behavior, reward, repeat. Every habit you have, good or bad, is running on the same basic mechanism.

The loop isn't the problem. The trajectory is. Stress that leads to scrolling gives you the same immediate relief as stress that leads to exercise. Run either one for a year and you end up in completely different places.

That's the trap with a destructive habit. It isn't failing, it's succeeding, just at the wrong thing. A loop can feel like it's working today and still be wrecking you over time.

You can't fix that by deciding to be a different person. Identity doesn't lead, it follows. Change what you actually do, on repeat, and give it long enough. Every loop has a trajectory. Change loops, change trajectory.