What does it mean that the commitment contract for extinction?

Making a formal commitment to stop a behavior increases success.

Example: You have been trying to stop checking your phone during meals for months. You tell yourself every evening that tonight will be different, and every evening you are scrolling before the main course arrives. Then you write a commitment contract: "For the next 30 days, I will place my phone in a drawer before sitting down to dinner. If I retrieve it during the meal, I will donate $20 to a political organization I disagree with." You sign it, hand a copy to your partner, and put $600 in escrow via a commitment app. On day three, you feel the pull so intensely your hands itch. But $20 is concrete. Embarrassment in front of your partner is concrete. The vague intention to "be more present" never had teeth. The contract does. You make it through dinner, and the next, and the next — not because the urge disappeared, but because the cost of giving in became real.

Try this: Choose one behavior you are currently trying to extinguish. Write a commitment contract that includes all four structural elements: the specific behavior to be eliminated (not vague — operationally defined so that an outside observer could verify compliance), the timeline (a start date and an end date, no longer than 60 days for your first contract), the stakes (what you will forfeit if you violate the contract — financial, social, or both — set high enough to actually hurt but not so high that a single lapse feels catastrophic), and the verification mechanism (who or what will confirm your compliance — a person, an app, a physical check-in). Sign the contract. Share it with your verifier. Begin tomorrow.