Habits are a bit like school grades: If you want to improve them, you have to practice. Psychology professor Lars Schwabe explains how to get started and then persevere.
Mr. Schwabe, biting nails, eating chocolate, we all have habits that we would like to change. Why is this so difficult?
This is in the nature of habits: they are largely automated. We engage in certain behavior without giving it much thought, and because we don’t give it much thought, it’s difficult to stop the behavior.
How is a habit formed?
At the beginning there is an action that we carry out and with which we achieve success. So we repeat them. Over time, the action creeps into everyday life and becomes a habit.