Habits develop when there is a reward that gets attached to a cue.

The cue for a habit can be very difficult to determine.

Understanding the complexities of habits can lead to successful changes.

A healthy lifestyle is an accumulation of the choices we make on a regular basis. Many of us know we should be eating right, getting enough exercise, ditching tobacco, and going easy on the alcohol, but it can be difficult. If we take stock of our current habits, we may find we are falling short.

What happens when we want to ditch some of our unhealthy habits for healthier ones? Where do we start? How can we move past “I’ll start tomorrow”?

Habits Are Complicated

First, let’s look at the definition of habit from the American Psychological Association (APA), which defines it as “a well-learned behavior or automatic sequence of behaviors that is relatively situation-specific and over time has become motorically reflexive and independent of motivational or cognitive influence—that is, it is performed with little or no conscious intent.”

This definition gives us an inkling of the complexities involved.

Habits become strong when we are in a stable, consistent environment. That is why it is often suggested that, in order to change a habit, we should try to change our environment to make the change easier.

Some programs have had success with this approach. For instance, replacing soda machines in schools........

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