How often have you set a goal for yourself, then failed to follow through? Hitting the gym every day, stopping yourself from procrastinating your homework, and adopting a healthier diet are all easier said than done. However, these can be made more manageable by forming positive habits. Habits are automatic behaviors created through repetition, or the tasks you complete every day without even thinking about it: fixing coffee in the morning, walking your dog, taking a shower every morning or night, checking your phone every so often, and more. We are so dependent on our habits, both positive and negative, oftentimes without realizing it. Senior Joy Berriman said, “If I don’t wake up on time, then my entire schedule is messed up. I have to use my alarm to stay on track.” By understanding the psychology behind habits, you can gain more control over them, thus, allowing you to accomplish more of your goals.

  During the 1890s, scientist Ivan Pavlov conducted a study that determined that all dogs salivate every time they see food, even before they have tasted it. Pavlov’s study demonstrates the idea that a habit is formed when a stimulus generates a response. Then, an additional response is added, and the first response goes away. Another example of this is smoking. The first stimulus is seeing the cigarette, the second stimulus is feeling bored, and the response would be smoking. Eventually, the individual will smoke without even having seen the cigarette and simply because they felt bored.

  Another method of understanding habits is in terms of cues and rewards. In Charles Duhigg’s highly acclaimed novel The Power of Habit, he explains that the key to making positive habits stick is by determining cues, or signals that will cause you to think about a given habit, its rewards, and ways of treating yourself after you complete a task. The key to successfully implementing healthy habits is to identify what these cues and rewards should be ahead of time. An example of a habit you want to commit to might be running every day. A potential cue could be putting your running shoes by the door where you will see them, and a reward could be drinking a smoothie.

  However, it might take more than cues and rewards to stick to your positive habits. You may want to consider starting with a smaller habit before working up to a more frequent, difficult, or time-consuming one. Using the previous example, running, you could begin by power-walking or jogging three days a week and work your way up to running five to seven days a week. In addition, try to envision what your final goal is, and possibly write it down. Use the idea of the results the habit could produce as motivation to continue to uphold it. It also helps to have support as you work towards your end goal. Tell your friends and family about what you are trying to accomplish, and they can encourage you as you make progress and hold you accountable. 

  On average, it takes sixty-six days to create a habit, so stick to your goals, and it may get less difficult with time. Forming positive habits and sticking to them is seldom easy to do, but by establishing cues and rewards, starting small, staying motivated, and having supporters, it will surely be much easier.