Implementation intention and habit stacking are efficient techniques for creating and maintaining wanted habits
An implementation intention is a strategy that requires you to state the time and location of the activity you want to perform. The formula is simple, and it goes like this: “I will (behavior) at (time) in (location).” While there are many cues for your actions, the two most common prompts are time and location. Implementation intentions leverage both of these reminders.
Habit stacking is a technique that encourages you to combine routines. You can attach your morning coffee to reading the news.
⚡️It’s easier to learn a new habit when you attach it to an existing one.
A whole chain of patterns can form from nailing down the fundamentals of habit stacking. You won’t be overwhelmed doing something completely different and figuring your way from scratch. Instead, your existing routines will provide you with the necessary comfort, and you’ll complement them with minor changes.
The effectiveness of routine stacking depends on the foundational cue that begins the chain. You don’t have to worry about time and location with this technique. The existing pattern has built in those details.
These strategies are effective ways to apply the first law of behavior change. The cues they create are vivid, and the correct application makes it easy to elicit new behavior.
Your environment often leads you to make certain choices that betray your identity. Subtly, your environment can make you behave in specific ways. Kurt Lewin suggested that behavior is a function performed by a person under the conditions of their environment. You should be more aware of that and know when not to succumb to the impulses the outside world creates for you. For example, if you want to quit smoking and your friends smoke frequently, you should note when your urge to smoke appears just because you don’t want to miss out.
Less than 20 years later, an economist, Hawkins Stern, found that the same principle applies to advertising. Stern found that seeing a product for the first time can make shoppers create a need in their minds for the product. He called the phenomenon “suggestion impulse buying.”