Affirmation # 27
You Should Start the Thing
How to save your New Year’s resolution
William James, father of psychology, wrote in 1890 that there are two maxims that people seeking to form a habit should follow. Since his work is public domain I’m going to quote him at length, here, for flavor:
The first (maxim) is that in the acquisition of a new habit, or the leaving off of an old one, we must take care to launch ourselves with as strong and decided an initiative as possible. Accumulate all the possible circumstances which shall re-enforce the right motives; put yourself assiduously in conditions that encourage the new way; make engagements incompatible with the old; take a public pledge, if the case allows; in short, envelop your resolution with every aid you know.
The second maxim is: Never suffer an exception to occur till the new habit is securely rooted in your life. Each lapse is like the letting fall of a ball of string which one is carefully winding up; a single slip undoes more than a great many turns will wind again. — William James (from Principles of Psychology)
William James is revered by psychologists so it’s no small thing when I say that his two maxims listed above are disastrous advice. In fairness, he was echoing the wisdom of his time, but much of that old wisdom…
