How to Build a New Habit
- Start with an incredibly small habit, one that is easy enough that you don't need motivation to do it
- Increase your habit in very small ways - start small and gradually improve
- As you build up, break habits into chunks
- When you slip, get back on track quickly.
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Peer pressure works. And a good support network shows us that change is possible.
Hang out with pals who have the habit you want. Across many different kinds of behavior (voting, smoking, weight loss and weight gain, happiness, etc), people are very meaningfully affected by the behaviors of other people to whom they’re connected.
The harder the habit change, the more likely you are to fail or relapse into old ways of being. Your reaction when this happens is critical.
One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new behavior on top - habit stacking.
Habit stacking is a special form of an implementation intention. Rather than pairing your new habit with a particular time and location, you pair it with a current habit.