Emotions create habits. Not repetition. Not frequency. Not fairy dust. Emotions. When you are designing for habit formation — for yourself or for someone else — you are really designing for emotions.
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There is a direct connection between what you feel when you do a behavior and the likelihood that you will repeat the behavior in the future.
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For too long people have believed the old myth that repetition creates habits, focusing on the number of days a new habit requires. Some of today’s popular habit bloggers still talk about repetition or frequency as the key. Just know this: They are recycling old ideas.
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You can use many types of positive reinforcement to wire in a habits – this includes pleasure, a sense of relief, and more – but in my research and teaching, I’ve found that the real winner is creating a feeling of success.
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Break down big change into tiny actions, find where they fit naturally into your life, and then you feel good by celebrating. That’s it. People are shocked at how easy and fast this system works when it comes to forming habits, zegt BJ Fogg.